Building a stick frame house in the woods in 90 days

[pacerron]

Peter,
How many inches wide is the concrete stamped patio sticking out from the wood deck?

I would like to put the stairs under the deck on that side but it would be a lot of re-framing and a head clearance hole about 9 feet toward the back.
It would have to have rail or half wall for safety and would be a big rain pit, so I think outside the deck is the more reasonable answer.
Deep stair treads and short risers if possible. Perhaps a landing in the middle if it is too steep for one straight shot.
Could be wood stairs down part way transforming to in ground 6 x 6 with stone fill.
There will be a lot of land movement for a while so it might be better to wait.

Is there room to put a narrow stone drive down along the edge of the hill to the right of the house by the temporary plastic retaining wall so she could drive down back to the basement level, with a little dozer or your reshaping with the Deere?
I'm not sure steps down from the deck would be any safer, or as safe, as her using the basement steps in the garage to get to the lower level?

Ron

 

[dave1949]

What else would be nice instead of regular outdoor stairs to the basement level is to terrace that slope off the patio. A couple wide short steps, a terrace, repeat. Makes a nice setting for landscape work and plantings. It would be nice to look over from the deck too.

 

[GolfAddict]

What else would be nice instead of regular outdoor stairs to the basement level is to terrace that slope off the patio. A couple wide short steps, a terrace, repeat. Makes a nice setting for landscape work and plantings. It would be nice to look over from the deck too.

Ohhh, that would be neat! :thumbsup:

 

[pacerron]

What else would be nice instead of regular outdoor stairs to the basement level is to terrace that slope off the patio. A couple wide short steps, a terrace, repeat. Makes a nice setting for landscape work and plantings. It would be nice to look over from the deck too.

That's a great idea if they used stone for the vertical walls, possibly like the ones that are made from colored concrete and laid dry. I think you can go 4-6 courses high with just a gravel foundation and not need to tie the stone back into the hill. They slope back a little on each stack as there is a lip over the stone below in the back. I sure would not want to mow it the way it is now. It looks almost as steep as the back of my pond dam. I don't recall it being that way in the beginning?
Ron

 

[pacerron]

Terraced Hillside. How to do the steps?
Ron

 

[pclausen]

Wow Ron. That looks great! I know the proportions are off, but I get the idea. Keep in mind that one of the main goals is to keep things low maintenance.

Let me provide today's update pics, including some steps/landscaping details from mom's current house that she would like to adopt to this new house, and we'll go from there.

Day 100

They spread out the impressive 3 ft deep gravel out towards the entrance. Crusher run will be added to form a base for the top layer. View from the front property line towards the house

View from the garage out the driveway

View the the driveway pillars out towards the road

The first water spigot was placed at the corner of the parking area. It is fully operational.

They got started on the railing today

They also completed the chimney vent, although I must say I don't like how it extends several feet above the chimney itself. Will need to talk to the builder about that. If code requires it, the chimney itself should have been made that tall...

View of the railing from the deck

Railing from below. It will of course the painted that same grey trim color as the rest of the exterior trim

Another few shots of the "trouble" corner of the house where steps/terrace levels needs to be built

Ron, it is a very narrow distance between the deck and patio, not enough width for steps down to the lower level

I took some shots at mom's house this morning, showing how they did it there. She would like something very similar at the new house

The width of the steps where the slope is steepest is 18". They are 5' wide to the outside of the 6x6 posts.

This is how they did it under the deck. The new place is too steep I think for something like this

On the other side of mom's current house, she has terraced levels like this. She would like to do the same thing at the new house, except instead of the terraced levels being 10' deep (from house wall to grass), we are going to make them 8'

Moving inside, the rock around the fireplace got done

Detail of where the rock meets the ceiling

And floor. It is raised 3/4" to allow the tile to slide under

Profile shot

Master bath tile started. Note how they took out the drywall and put up cement board instead to hang the tile on

The Ditra is here for all the tile flooring

Rock will begin on the exterior walls tomorrow

I took a couple of loads of logs to the mill today. This one was the largest to date. I tipped the scales going in at over 30,000 lbs for the first time. The net was over 16,000 lbs!

Here they are picking it off the trailer

 

[pclausen]

Btw, the 1800 lbs added in the rear tires really makes a difference. I'll have to re-learn the limits all over again now.

I only had to engage 4 wheel drive a few times when loading multiple logs onto the trailer today, and that was only because I sensed a slight bit of slippage on the wet ground. But even more impressive, I picked up large stumps, probably close to 2000 lbs each, and I was able to drive down a steep incline with them and drop on a burn pile with a much greater sense of stability than before.

 

[idaho2]

Ron,

I like the terracing also. Is it posible to show drive way instead of the grass to include the terracing. Planning a walkout scenario but with a lower level drive way for summer usage.

Thanks

idaho2

 

[s219]

So Pete, what are the deck rail pickets made of -- are those powder coated aluminum pickets?

 

[srs]

Pete, a few questions sir!

1) How are the railings attached to the posts?

2) Are the posts bolted or lagged into the deck? Hopefully bolted!

3) Will a top "hand rail" be attached to the railing? If so I would suggest some type of synthetic material so your mom won't get any splinters when she walks along the deck with her hand on the railing. Could you use some of the decking flooring material?

*** Suggestion: Put a few large stakes in the ground around the hydrant covered in bright orange tape or something so nobody accidentally hits it with their vehicle.

*** Regarding the terraced steps that your mom now presently has I personally think they become a tripping hazard when the fill material settles. So if you do a similar set up be extra careful with the stones or whatever material keep checking that it doesn't settle too much.

Thanks, Stanley