Land Prep/House Build

[fowllife]

Good luck with the build. It's a lot of fun to watch your house come together. I built mine about 5 years ago, about 10 months start to finish and I did almost everything myself will working 45 hrs a week at my regular job. It was crazy hours but worth it.

I built a 2150 s.f. 1 1/2 story on 17 ac, it was a lot cheaper per s.f. then a ranch would have been. You would be amazed at how much your design affects your s.f. cost.

Just a suggestion, but look at all the little options, you wont regret it. Some of the little thing are so nice to have and may not cost you much more, like heated tile floors, ceiling fan/lights switched separately, dimmer switches, higher R insulation, ect.......and if your going all electric at least entertain geothermal heating. IMO the extra $4k was absolutly worth it.

 

[wmonroe]

Thanks for all the kind words everyone. We chose a two story mainly because my wife liked the floor plan. We live in a ranch style house now and like it but a little change never hurts.

I would have like to do a lot of the building myself but with the amount of time i travel it is just not an option (have already put in over 400 hrs of overtime this year).

We have been looking at things for about a year now such as exactly where we want outlets, how many light switches, extra flood lights outside, and on and on. Everytime i sit down and go over the plans i come up with more stuff to add.

One of the things we did do since we are on top of a hill with lots of wind was go with 2x6 walls and R-19 insulation. I figure between the brick, 2x6, and R-19 the house should be sturdy and well insulated.
I'm just starting out with the electic/heat pump for heat because i can't decide which direction i want to go for final heat source, and this way once i do decide i will have the electric as a back up for the future.

Pictures are uploading now, will post them soon.

 

[wmonroe]

The masons yesterday laid the first 7 courses of block, only 6 more to go.

 

[wmonroe]

This picture is taken from a spot where I will be taking pictures throughout the process so at the end i can do a time elapse slideshow watching the house go up.

My driveway held up fine throughout tri-axels of stone, the tractor trailer that deliverd the excavator to dig the foundation, and cement trucks for the footers. However when the truck came to deliver the concrete block the driveway was messed up big time. It had rained everyday for at least the previous 5 days and his truck sunk in a lot. Here are a couple pics of the semi repaired drive but now i need to figure out what to do next.

 

[fowllife]

Lookin good. Geotextile mesh will do wonders to tighten up any loose spots in your drive. Just scrape a couple inches down, lay the mesh, and replace the stone. Or dig down and add some more 1's & 2's (or whatever they call them in PA, 1 1/2"-3" dia stone)

Electric heat pumps have come a long way in the past few year, they can be quite effecient. Not a bad choice to start out with. I do still recommend looking into geothermal though with a ground loop. With 2x6's and brick you should have a nice tight house thats easy to heat/cool.

Your options are pretty much endless as for what you can do. It's great that your thinking about all of that stuff now instead of making changes after stuff is already in, that will kill your budget in a hurry.....

 

[wmonroe]

Actually there is fabric then about 4" of shale (now realize that was a mistake), then a layer of 4" stone, and topped with 2A modified (fines up to 1 1/2"). The drive was very tight and solid till the truck with the cement block showed up, but i think the issue is all the rain we've had lately and the fact that the drive hasn't really seen much traffic yet. Hoping with maybe another load of 2A modified it will tighten back up.

 

[dstig1]

Warning: Unsolicited advice coming!

Before you pour that basement slab, put radiant tubing down. It will cost a couple hundred extra bucks, but it is one of those things you just CAN'T do later on, and will regret if you don't. Even if you never hook it up, it hasn't cost you much, but I bet you will hook it up at some point, and you won't believe how you got by without it.

 

[fowllife]

Actually there is fabric then about 4" of shale (now realize that was a mistake), then a layer of 4" stone, and topped with 2A modified (fines up to 1 1/2"). The drive was very tight and solid till the truck with the cement block showed up, but i think the issue is all the rain we've had lately and the fact that the drive hasn't really seen much traffic yet. Hoping with maybe another load of 2A modified it will tighten back up.

Geo grid is different then fabric. We have had great luck tightening up soft spots with grid. What you plan to do should work, but if it doesn't you may want ot look into the grid.

FWIW, I wouldn't worry about radon unless you are going to have bedrooms in your basement. Your inner footer tile will do a great deal already to eliminate that problem.

Good luck

 

[wmonroe]

Do you have a link to information about the geo grid? No plans for a bedroom in the basement, just a mud room, man cave, bathroom, furnace/utility room.
As long as the rain holds off they will finish the block today, Monday waterproof, and start framing middle of next week.

 

[fowllife]

Do you have a link to information about the geo grid? No plans for a bedroom in the basement, just a mud room, man cave, bathroom, furnace/utility room.
As long as the rain holds off they will finish the block today, Monday waterproof, and start framing middle of next week.

I have not used this exact product, but here is a link to the type of product I am refering to - BaseGrid Geogrids for Base Stabilization - US Fabrics

If you find that you do need some your best bet may be to call some local site contractors and see if anyone has a small piece laying around. Suprisingly it works wonders.