3R Home and Barn Project

[3RRL]

I had to do some shopping in Chico CA and while there noticed some nice manufactured homes on one of the lots. Got real interested in that technology and, to make a long story short, decided that I could get the same square footage and the same construction features at a lower cost going with the manufactured option. So instead of a 2-year construction project with me as GC, I was in my new house on a permanent concrete foundation in about 7 months after signing the contract.

I ate the cost of the drawings and the fee for an energy analysis on the stick built design, but figure I still am way ahead by avoiding both the inevitable mistakes I would have made during construction and the many headaches I would have faced being my own GC.
flusher,
That's exactly what we did too. It was tough throwing away the all that design, engineering and permit fees we had already paid for. I forgot to mention that it should take a year or less to build this home rather than the 2 years for the other design. There are substantial savings in the construction loan costs for the shorter time frame in addition to the lower comstruction cost. That helped too.

[3RRL]

Next was to move more debris and logs out of the way. We had several big logs ready to cut up and many that were already cut and stacked but had to move them. So again I use the grapple to move all those things.
This is another pretty good sized one.



Here you can see it better in relation to the Kama.



And another example of how handy independent grapples are when holding onto loose logs. Each one clamps down individually to wherever the payload is and nothing drops out.

[3RRL]

A little more about the log home for more information on them.
The logs have notches milled into them where they run electrical and plumbing. They are milled like ship lap or tongue and groove, so to speak, where they rest on each other with insulation that is squeezed between them. Same on the corners. The over head beams will have some ducting and such exposed, like you would see in some rustic environment restaurants for ambiance, other parts will be covered up with trim. To give you a better idea it's best to go to this site which will explain in much better detail than I can. You'll have to search the site a little.

Learn about the benefits of choosing REAL Log Homes

[srossman]

3rrl,

Keep the updates coming. You have the perfect location for a log home. It will look great on your piece of property. I'm looking forward to following the progress.

[3RRL]

Yeah, we are thrilled with the location. It was the deciding factor on which parcel to buy. After hiking up here and seeing this spot, we knew right away this was the place to build. That was 3 years ago.

Now to share a little more progress.
I had to build up the barn pad in layers and compact each one. I ran water over each lift and then drove the Kama over every square inch of dirt and DG. I carried 2,000 lbs in the bucket while compacting with the tractor. That puts the total tractor weight with 4 loaded tires and hydraulic boxblade at 10,000 pounds. The rains we had in April and May also helped with compacting.

Here are a couple photos of when I started to move dirt from the staging area. All the dirt I moved was what I dug and cut out from around the solar shed and the rest from a DG pit. I am not done yet but I have to fill an area average of 3' deep (sloping from 1' to 5') over an area approx 60' x 70' which means first digging then moving some 466 yards of dirt and DG. I spent about 20 hours on the tractor so far doing this alone. Digging that DG is very, very hard on the tractor.



In this photo below you can see the decomposed granite "pit" I was referring to.



These are some shots of the lifts I was putting down.





Next I will start where I left off and get all the dirt where I need it and then compact and soak it some more. After that, I will lay out and grade it level. When that's all done, I'll have to get after the homesite and start clearing that vegetation off and all the surroundings too.

[3RRL]

A couple more photos of the work in progress. I compacted after every 3" to 4" of dirt and decomposed granite (DG) that I put down.
This is where I dragged a lot of the dirt to.



Here's me on the tractor working in the woods. I spend most of the day by myself with Loretta visiting me and she makes lunch for use to eat together. She is working on her stuff at camp. I get up to the homesite before 7:00 am and usually quit at 6:30 pm. We keep in touch with radios and she has the Jeep and ATV.

[3RRL]

I compacted layer after layer driving over every square inch. Then I would grade it again with my custon boxblade and compact the rest.





I especially concentrated on the West side where it will be built up approximately 5 feet. I also drove up and down the ramp and added layers to it as the pad expanded.



I could tell how firm it was compacting when the tractor tire didn't budge the ledge as I drove over it. So now I had it to the point where I could start grading level..

[deerhunterf350]

3RRL,

Do you have a Well on your property?

Where did you get a volume of water for watering and compacting?

Dan

[3RRL]

Yes,
We had the well drilled 2 years ago. I did a thread on the installation but did not bookmark it. Now I can't find it. Anybody know how I can do that? I tried the search by user name (mine) and that did not work? How do I use that feature?
Thanks,
Rob-

[schmism]

reminds me of linkin logs.... anyone else think it looks like a you would wind up with a house built out of telephonepoles?

which "style" did you opt for btw?

keep the updates comming... i love looking at pics....

oh and between you and me man....



your solar pannels are in the shade

oh and your pics from above... they were back in april? may?