Building the Retirement Place

[dave1949]

That's a nice, roomy barn. Glad to hear the weather is going better for you.

 

[Knight9]

Great looking barn!

 

[Deere Dude]

Menards is huge in the midwest but crazy small compared to lowes/hd. Last i checked there were 290 stores. Generally they open 15 new stores a year (focusing a lot on the west now) but I think in the next couple years they're aiming for 30+ new stores a year. I *think* rapid city, south dakota is a new distribution center but id have to double check the map at work.

In midwest TN I my wife heard an advertisement for Menards. Being from Wisconsin and growing up with Menards I checked it out. They did not have a Menards there and the nearest one was 4 hours away. I called the customer service department and asked what gives; advertisements but no store. He said they won't build any more stores toward Nashville until this current administration changes. I didn't question him farther because I understood what he was saying.

This week I drove up to Wisconsin and hammered Menards pretty hard.

 

[Mathis bound]

Are you doing anything special to the slab of the house ?

 

[bobm6996]

Mathis bound - We will be installing a raised floor with crawl space that is approximately 30 to 36 inches high. I am getting ready to use crushed stone and treated 2 by material to create a wall to keep out the critters. It will be about 12 inches below grade except where the garage concrete floor will be (right end in picture). I plan to dig out between posts and place crushed stone to allow for good drainage, although the area the house is built on is higher than the rest of the property so not too worried about water. We are going to use 2x8 studding between the posts 16 inch on center and they will go down to the treated material. This will allow me to insulate the crawl space wall to keep the area pretty warm.
The crawl space will be covered with pea gravel and once the floor is complete I will go back and cover the ground with heavy plastic that will come up on the side walls of the crawl and also up on the cement block piers holding the floor beams. Also, planning to install lighting, possibly a device to control the humidity level and this will be a closed crawl, no vents.
Will be using crushed stone to raise the floor height under the concrete garage floor to reduce the amount of steps or ramp required to get into the house. Looks like garage floor will be about 30 inches down from the house floor level. Garage is big, 32x48 with a high ceiling. The house ceilings will be 8' 6".

 

[scoutcub]

Looks great Bob, good progress!

 

[bobm6996]

We had a good week and a lot was accomplished. The crawl space, raised floor, garage floor was poured and we started studding in the exterior walls. Here a few pics to view.


































Hope to continue working to get the ext walls up and get started buttoning the house up. Need to get the gable roof on the back of house so we can get shingles on. Back to work this week and the Amish crew is done other than coming back to saw cut the floor to help prevent stress cracks. So, now I have to step it up.

 

[EddieWalker]

Your house is very unique and I'm enjoying seeing your pictures. Doe you have 8 feet from floor to ceiling in the living area?

I noticed that you do not have any flashing around your dormers yet. Flashing is where most of the leaks happen in houses, or I should say a lack of flashing or improperly installed flashing. Be sure they use metal flashing and that it goes up the walls of your dormers 4 to six inches.

 

[bobm6996]

Eddie - ceiling height is 8' 6". I wanted 9 ft but the crawl was going to be too short on one end. I am very clostrophobic so wanted plenty of room to move. It is unique and is getting a lot of attention. The inspector is following it pretty close because he feels this going to be a very strong built home. He loves the flexibility that it offers. It is probably bigger than we need but we have talked about all the things we would want if ever built again and this will have most of it. This is also a very good way to get a lot of house (5200 sq ft) for the cost of less than half that size.

The dormers will be flashed when we shingle. I am building a gabled patio off the back of house and adding a couple skylights, as soon as that is done we will roof it.

I respect your knowledge and advice so please keep following and provide your input it will be greatly appreciated.

 

[tractorshopper]

I have also never seen a house constructed like this. I see you have traditional piers in the center area, but what will go around the exterior? Will there be a block foundation built up under between the poles, then like a brick or stone veneer?