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SamWalton
Platinum Member
We got eight tips with our BRUTE. Some are extra long and add to it's 65Lbs.
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Terra-Dome Earth Shelter Build
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We got eight tips with our BRUTE. Some are extra long and add to it's 65Lbs.
mjncad
Super Member
Extra long is an understatement on some of those bits. What I noticed when I rented one of these things is that the longer the bit, the higher the center of gravity, the harder it was to manipulate the thing, especially yanking it out of the hole.
patrick_g
Elite Member
So far the most interesting task I have used a demo hammer, little electric jack hammer as REAL JACKHAMMERS are up around 100 lbs or more, on was increasing the size of a crawl space entry hole. A previous house had an addition added on so you went through the crawl space access, crawled along under the floor staying low to avoid the many too long nails that penetrated the sub floor underlayment but missed the floor joists to get to the original wall and its crawl space entry hole which was so small that I had to super-exhale to be able to scrape through.
Eventually tiring of the scrape I borrowed a friend's Makita electric demo hammer (approximately the size of yours, and while prone I braced my feet against a wall and shoved the chisel at the bottom of the access hole knocking enough off to make it easy to get by. I think it is a much better arrangement by far when gravity is aligned with the axis of the tool and pulling downward toward the chisel tip.
...and as if the weather hasn't been enough fun for your project lately it seems that winter has made a U-turn and is circling back to make another bomb run at us. I'm about 30 miles south of I-40 and we are forecast for two snow deliveries, the first is 2-3 inches of accumulation and the second about an inch. Already the fields are saturated and the ponds are overflowing so the moisture will not help. I was thinking of selling out of the Angus ranching and getting into cranberry bogs if this keeps up!
I bet you will sure be a happy camper when you get to fire up your in-slab hydronics. I like to run around inside the house barefoot and warm floors are such a luxury. I have hydronics in the walls and floor of the master shower. I run the walls and floor up to about 86F in anticipation of taking a shower and it is so luxurious as to border on decadence.
Pat
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SamWalton
Platinum Member
I failed to post some pictures of the Track Hoe in our home during the plumbing install. I have some HD video to share but this site don't support these files.
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Lots of action at your house Sam, good to see.
We're having leak problems at our TD house project in Maine. Water comes in around the holes in the roof. We don't have actual puddles, it is more like seepage (but enough to get the plaster wet). I should add that we had 4" of driving rain in three days (today it turned to about 12" of snow)--this is called a Noreaster where the storm sits on us. I will get my pictures out of the camera and post later.
I don't know what to say about how to fix it, since I haven't fixed ours yet (our soil is still frozen). Take a close look at your joints, maybe flash them twice.
Steve
We're having leak problems at our TD house project in Maine. Water comes in around the holes in the roof. We don't have actual puddles, it is more like seepage (but enough to get the plaster wet). I should add that we had 4" of driving rain in three days (today it turned to about 12" of snow)--this is called a Noreaster where the storm sits on us. I will get my pictures out of the camera and post later.
I don't know what to say about how to fix it, since I haven't fixed ours yet (our soil is still frozen). Take a close look at your joints, maybe flash them twice.
Steve
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SamWalton
Platinum Member
We finished priming the pressure treated window openings. We are about thirty feet short of completing the lower septic drainage ditch. After we install the perforated four inch pipe and cover with stone. We will lay a filter cloth over the stone and cover with dirt. Then we will begin the second ditch. We got our third conduit installed through the west footing wall into our utility room. This last conduit is for the heat pump and the two side by side are for a future well and solar panel connections. We have more to do but we are making progress.
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Some pics of the water leaks in our Terra Dome house in Maine.
The blue walls are in a bathroom--you can see the leak on the ceiling, following the framing. The next shot is above this ceiling, showing the curve of the concrete dome and the ~8" hole with a black tube inside it penetrating the roof. Water is coming in around the edges of the tube.
Same kind of deal in the master bath, pic of ceiling showing moisture and the access panel, then a closeup of the access panel and the roof penetration above. All of the roof penetrations look like they are leaking. My contractor supposedly followed TD's directions for flashing, we'll find out more when we dig things up.
The last two pics are other leaks. One bedroom has water in the corner; this is the corner of the module. The module butts up against the living room module, no leak in there. Last is the leak around the greenhouse windows. Only the one window was leaking, the other two were fine. Hopefully this one should be straightforward to fix once we find the problem.
That's where we're at leak-wise.
Steve
The blue walls are in a bathroom--you can see the leak on the ceiling, following the framing. The next shot is above this ceiling, showing the curve of the concrete dome and the ~8" hole with a black tube inside it penetrating the roof. Water is coming in around the edges of the tube.
Same kind of deal in the master bath, pic of ceiling showing moisture and the access panel, then a closeup of the access panel and the roof penetration above. All of the roof penetrations look like they are leaking. My contractor supposedly followed TD's directions for flashing, we'll find out more when we dig things up.
The last two pics are other leaks. One bedroom has water in the corner; this is the corner of the module. The module butts up against the living room module, no leak in there. Last is the leak around the greenhouse windows. Only the one window was leaking, the other two were fine. Hopefully this one should be straightforward to fix once we find the problem.
That's where we're at leak-wise.
Steve
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dave1949
Super Star Member
Sorry to hear you are having issues Steve. That has to be one of the biggest challenges for that construction method. Hopefully this Spring you will be able to scope it out and find a solution to sealing the penetrations. Giant hose clamps around gaskets or something?
The greenhouse window should be straight forward at least. Mostly likely just needs some caulk in the right places.
Dave.
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SamWalton
Platinum Member
Steve, your leak problem is something I am dealing with as well and the waterproofing company has been little help. I am looking for solutions and will let you know what I find.
I made some measurements to finalize the drawing and routing of the rural water conduit and the Hydronic stove conduit. They will both occupy the same trench much of the way from the garage to the utility room. We also made some progress on the first septic ditch. We have been jack hammering rock what seems like forever.
I have a question? What should one do if your cameras identify trespassers? We don't know who they are yet but I think we should be careful not to make matters worse.
I made some measurements to finalize the drawing and routing of the rural water conduit and the Hydronic stove conduit. They will both occupy the same trench much of the way from the garage to the utility room. We also made some progress on the first septic ditch. We have been jack hammering rock what seems like forever.
I have a question? What should one do if your cameras identify trespassers? We don't know who they are yet but I think we should be careful not to make matters worse.
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mjncad
Super Member
That sucks about the leaks Steve. Water is amazing stuff when it comes to finding a way into a structure. It turns out the clown who built our house is notorious for building houses with water leaks. I flat out told him one time that he should advertise his houses as coming with indoor swimming pools. Let us know how you do in finding and plugging the leaks.
Are your trespassers nosy Looky Lou's, or are they vandalizing and stealing stuff? If the latter, I wouldn't hesitate to take a copy of the video to the cops. If the former, I'd ask the cops and/or your insurance agent for their opinion. If either are worth a crap, they should be able to give you some advice.
