Trusses were slow in arriving....

Trusses were manufactured elsewhere and shipped here.  Well, they didn't arrive right when expected, and then, there were also some beams that didn't make it with the trusses, though they were supposed to.

So, we have trusses.

The photo doesn't show all of them, there are two other piles elsewhere on the lot.  If you look closely at the house you can see some trusses are already up.

The missing beams should be here today, so expect the second floor photos after the weekend.

First Floor!

We heard from Nick yesterday (Monday) morning that the framers were on site and working and by 4 pm we'd be able to walk the first floor.  When we arrived, this is what we saw.  As you can guess we were pretty excited.

View from the East

They hadn't finished sheathing the back and when the crew left at 5 it was mostly sheathed, but not completely.

The purpose of the J-bolts that were inserted in the foundation became clear.  They hold the footing, and the frame, to the foundation.  (duh!)

garage side

J-bolts grab the footings and hold them to the foundation

7 trucks of concrete...

Thursday morning, May 22, 2014

Progress....

When we drove up last evening, we noticed we have a street number painted on the foundation forms.




Then noticed they'd discovered the location of the water service.

There's more detail to the forms.  There are sections marked for different levels of concrete.  The front porch isn't as high at the house slab and there's more detail at the garage openings.  There's also a pit for the future elevator.

Forms create the elevator pit.

More action... but no concrete yet....

It's not a matter of just poring concrete into the forms.

First they have to set the plumbing that needs to be in/under the slab and have it inspected.  They seal it up and pressurize the system then watch to make sure it holds.  You can see the pressure gauge at the bottom of the photo to the right.



Here's the process as Nick describes it once the plumbing has been installed and inspected:

• digging beams and placing poly
• steel and cable crew will be installing cable
• marking for windstorm lags and floaters
• Engineering Inspection
• pour when concrete available.

You can see from these photos that the beams have been dug and poly is in place.  Those green cables and the steel cables that get tightened as the concrete cures to make the whole foundation stronger.  

There is some rebar in place, but you can't see it in these photos.

So, unlike last week, when things were slowed down by 2 inches of rain, we're expecting the week to be in the mid-upper 80s and no precipitation. Unless there's heavy call on concrete by other projects, we hope to see concrete trucks at the end of the week.

And, did you notice the Building Permit, posted to the right of this post?

We have initial foundation outline in place.

    We have the outline of the foundation in place.  They will be working on the forms this week, with an estimated day to pour concrete of  Monday May 19.

There's more to this foundation than just setting a perimeter form and pouring the concrete.  There are some conduits and pipes for water and sewer that need to be put in the correct locations, and there are a set of  beams that need to be dug beneath the load-bearing locations. Plus there are horizontal tension wires through the concrete (7 wire strands with tensile strength of 270K psi), and of course the rebar.

   This is a small version of the foundation plan, but provides some cross-section views of the beams that will undergird the slab.

While we're waiting for the permit to finalize...

Every day is an adventure and there's plenty to do whenever we drop by the address 134 MIE Drive, the lot previously known as 9 (and the drop-bys are now multiple times per week).

There were piles of sand to look at and argue over whether it was enough.  And now there's a smooth, raised rectangular pad to sit in beach chairs and sigh over.  Plenty of ducks and herons and swallows and meadowlarks to identify. There was even a sudden need for an intervention for a special plant.

Yard sitting:
Beach chairs... check, breeze... check,
smiling... check.

And there's yard sitting.  Much like our water sitting days in the hot tub of the past, but drier and with clothes on.  Here we and our shadows  sit and jump for joy.

More yard sitting:
All of the above, plus
we can also watch our shadows lengthen.

Is Ray happy? Oh yes he is!
Did you even know he could jump for joy
 this high?

So, there's been a delay...

Have you been wondering why we didn't have photos up of the foundation forms or the concrete pad?  Well, we also were wondering why there was nothing new to photograph.  We found out Tuesday afternoon.

Apparently, the basic concern Nick had in taking on projects in Corpus Christi was proven correct.  The City permitting group contacted Nick and told him there were additional building permits required.  I don't know all the details, but one was a permit for building on the dunes.  Another for being within 1000 feet of the water.

Nick decided he couldn't resolve this on the phone, and so had to travel to downtown Corpus to meet with the permit folks.  Nick knows what the rules are and had to explain it to the folks who do this for a living.  Apparently, they made phone calls to some agency to verify that Nick was right.  He's been doing this a long time and is also on the Port Aransas Zoning Board.  Yet another confirmation that we selected someone who knows what he's doing!

The next day, on Wednesday, we received a message forwarded from Nick saying the permits would be ready for pickup, but Nick had to travel again downtown to pick them up.

For you who don't know the local geography, that means a 50 minute commute each way.  Nick is based in Port Aransas, which is on the North end of Mustang Island.  Our lots is about equi-distant from the JFK Causeway -- the overland route from Corpus and from downtown Port A.  If you choose to leave for downtown Corpus heading West from Port A, the route starts with a ferry ride across the channel.  The problem, especially when there are tourists or at commuting time, is that there's a wait to get on the ferry.  There are electronic road signs along the way that post the ferry wait-time. It is never less than 15 minutes, but it can be 45 minutes or longer!  The Port A Chief of Police once said, if the wait is 45 minutes or more, it's better to take the overland South route to Corpus.

Here's the link to one of the ferry cams to check the wait.