Day 73: More Snow

Snow!!!???

I stopped by after I dropped the kids off for school in the morning. Max was out there with a lady & her clipboard. Maybe she's the inspector? I'm sure the snow will melt by lunchtime but seriously?? We need this house built!

Day 72: Property Line from Septic

Here's the space we have between the Property line (the orange spray paint line) and the Septic System (the dirt piles on the right). Does it look wide enough for a full size basketball court? We think it's about 40 feet.

Due to the lack of dirt- never thought I would say that! LOL- They sloped the land pretty drastically off the back west end of the house. Not sure what we are going to do with that but the kids are looking forward to using it as a sled hill or for a slip-n-slide. [I know you can't get a feel for the drop from this picture but it drops off about 3 or 4 feet pretty quickly.]

Day 71: Four Septic Pipes & a Porta Potty

It rained today!

It looks like our slab is still in tack- just A LOT wet.

The first addition we noticed today was the new Porta Potty!! I'm sure the workers will be very happy! (not to mention my kids;)

They also finished all FOUR of the pipes for our Septic System. Now they just need to bury them all and level out the ground again. They go way out into our backyard. It will make for very green grass back there but not so helpful for our basketball court or our trampoline hole.

Last thing- This will eventually be our back porch. It will be awesome! Justice doesn't think it's going to be big enough though.

Day 70: Septic and More

We got back in town this evening. They were still busy working out on Faith Lane.

They put a gravel base in the garage to prepare for the Garage Floor.

Despite the 2 inches of snow they had this morning, they ended up pouring our slab in the basement. Wahoo! We are so excited! It's beautiful.
Slab- A 3-inch to 4-inch thick concrete slab is poured between the walls. The slab helps to stabilize the base of the foundation walls, and also forms the basement floor.

They actually came out and installed our Septic System today AND got the inspection done. They are speedy! Max showed us the filter we need to change out every year. We just have to lift the million pound lid and then it's easy peesy. LOL
The only bummer is that the system is right where we had planned our basketball court. Guess we'll have to move it back farther. Oh well!

They put a wood beam thingy all around the top of the foundation wall. I looked up a few things so my guess is that it's either Anchor Bolts or Beam Pockets or both.
Anchor bolts are embedded at pre-determined points along the top of the foundation walls. They'll be used during framing to secure the framing to the foundation.
Beam pockets are cast in the top of the foundation walls to receive, support, and hold beams in place.

I can't believe how much they got done today. We are on a roll, people! Yeah

Day 69: Backfill and Grading

We were out of town today but Allie took a few pictures for us. Thanks lady!

They are completely done backfilling and have graded around the entire house.

Backfill is pushed into the trenches around the exterior of the foundation walls, burying a portion or all of the walls below the surface for added stability. Ideally, backfill is soil that drains easily. 

Proper grading (in conjunction with a gutter and downspout system) is one of the easiest ways to manage surface water, reduce the possibility of water penetration and structural damage from hydrostatic pressure, and control the water content in expansive soils. 

The first rule to grading is: the soil should always slope away from your home. It sounds like common sense but foundations are often set too deep in the ground during construction causing marshy ground, wet basements or flooded slabs. 

Many building code officials respond to this problem by requiring that the top of the foundations or slabs sit at least six inches above the highest point of the soil at any location around the house. Also the ground must fall away from the foundation at least six inches within the first 10 feet around the perimeter of the house. Remember, this is just the minimum requirement. When it comes to residential grading - the more slope the better. 

I can't believe that all the piles are now gone. Crazy!!!

Day 68

The kids and I stopped by early before we left town for Spring Break.

Here's the pipes for our Gas Hook ups/

Day 67: Stealing Dirt

Today it looks like they have something worked out with our across-the-street neighbors.  They are stealing the dirt piles they have left to fill in our place. Don't ask me where all the dirt went that we took from our hole. It must be magic moon dust that disappears. Weird!
[It turns out that we are buying it from them. Grrr! We are spending more more to buy DIRT. Go figure!]

Day 66: Radon Mitigation

The kids and I stopped by on our 1st Day of Spring Break. It was a chilly but beautiful day.

They finished up the window wells on the west side of the house and mostly backfilled that side. It's crazy to see all the piles disappear.
They put a layer of rock on the basement floor in preparation to pour the slab this week.
And it looks like now there is a plumbing pipe off the east side of the house.
We asked about that white pipe running down the middle of the basement. I guess it's for the Radon Mitigation. Here's what I found out about that:

Because high levels of radon have been found in every state of the United States, testing for radon and installing radon mitigation systems has become a specialized industry in the last two decades. Many states have implemented programs that affect home buying and awareness in the real estate community, however radon testing and mitigation systems are not generally mandatory unless specified by the local jurisdiction.
According to the EPA's "A Citizen's Guide to Radon", the method to reduce radon "primarily used is a vent pipe system and fan, which pulls radon from beneath the house and vents it to the outside", which is also called sub-slab depressurization, active soil depressurization, or soil suction. Generally indoor radon can be mitigated by sub-slab depressurization and exhausting such radon-laden air to the outdoors, away from windows and other building openings. "EPA generally recommends methods which prevent the entry of radon. Soil suction, for example, prevents radon from entering your home by drawing the radon from below the home and venting it through a pipe, or pipes, to the air above the home where it is quickly diluted" and "EPA does not recommend the use of sealing alone to reduce radon because, by itself, sealing has not been shown to lower radon levels significantly or consistently".

Day 65

Looks can be deceiving. It was so snowy this morning that we took our 4 wheel drive to Church. However, as we stopped by 3 1/2 hours later- it was all gone. Crazy, Montana!

Lighting- Check!

I've been on the search for matchy light fixtures. Here's what I found. I'm way excited! I've bought most of them already. The stores are holding them for me for a month so I don't have to find a place to store them.

Main Lighting in bedrooms and hallways

This the one I bought
I may have to change the glass
so it's not tea-stained and the finial is rounder
but I like the style

Fan in Living Room & Master

Fan in upstairs bedroom

Lights in bathrooms
The Powder Room will have a 3 light version

Bath fans

Day 64: Window Wells Installed

Brett went out and took pictures today. It had snowed quite a bit this morning but most of it was gone when he went out there.

 They installed the window wells and a power box and backfilled the east side of our home.

Here's a view of the power box and the basement.

Day 63: Foundation Complete!

It snowed again this morning but I don't even feel like growling. The difference is that- these days it's gone by the end of the day so I'm not as stressed about it.
Someone was out with their little digger doing something on the side of the house today. I stopped by with Shay (the other Shay) before we went to a movie so I didn't get out and look up close at what they were doing.

They did take off the forms from the garage. Tada! Foundation complete!

Day 62: Window Wells Delivered

You wouldn't guess that we woke up to snow today. It actually mostly melted away before I got out for my picture.

They delivered our window wells today.

Just to make myself feel better about our building experience, this is the 3rd time that the Well Truck has visited our across-the-street neighbor. They must be having a difficult time drilling their well or getting water pressure. Such a bummer!

Day 61: Garage Foundation and Backfill

They poured the Garage Foundation walls today. It is shorter on the front side where we will drive in.

It looks like they started to backfill around the foundation. Maybe they need to put in window wells before they finish?