Installing our Garage Slab: Catch-up Post 2

       Besides getting started on our rough-ins, another big milestone has been getting our garage slab poured J

        We had some extra prepwork involved – adding some ABS pipes to drain the excess backwash water used to help filter out the arsenic in our well to make the water drinkable:

You can see the two ABS pipes sticking up, which will allow us to run hoses into them to drain out our excess filtration water (and condensation from our hot water heater).  We'll probably end up having to drain some 75 gallons every other day or so, and we aren't supposed to drain it into either our septic system or our drywell for the gutters. 

The ABS pipes poking out in the garage will eventually carry our unwanted backwash water underneath the slab outside to three buried infiltrators (essentially, domed plastic forms that provide a large empty space underground, where the water can be stored until it’s able to drain into the soil below):

Part of one domed black-plastic infiltrator is still visible – the space under the dome is empty air space, which will allow draining water to sit until it can slowly percolate into the soil below. We also added a white overflow pipe and cap at the end of the infiltrators, so if they ever overfill, the excess water would drain into our yard, rather than our garage ;)

        Once we had our ABS drain system ready, and the soil and extra 4” layer of gravel fill compacted, we were ready to pour! 

        We ended up having some complicated slopes, to allow for a large level area for our huge water tank to rest in the back corner, while the rest of the garage would slope away from the house towards the garage door at about 1/8” per foot. We also ended up with a surprise feature – no step from the garage floor into the house floor. Instead, one of our clever concrete installers recommended having a sloped ramp. We had always planned on having only a single small step, by flashing the back garage wall:

The metal flashing along the bottom strip of the back garage wall that will protect our inside wood-framing from any potential moisture in the garage slab.

But this way, we have no step at all!

You can see how the garage floor slopes up in the back corner, rising towards the doorway. 

Pouring the slab: a complicated, multi-step process J:

Step 1: Compact the sub-grade soil, and then the next 4”-layer of crushed rock “fill”.

Step 2: It’s a good idea to tie in some rebar for added strength.

Step 3: Concrete truck arrives, and pours the right type of concrete (there are lots of different types of concrete mixes: interior garage slabs usually don’t have air installed – for a smoother finished surface), and workers roughly spread it out.

Step 4: First rough finishing.

Step 5: Pushing the big gravels down, and bringing the fines up to the surface.

Step 6: Second rough finishing.

Step 7: Rough expansion joints added (to encourage cracking – which is always inevitable in large concrete slabs – to occur in straight, fairly unnoticeable lines within these joints).

Step 8: Third rough finishing.

Step 9: Final finishing, complete with knee pads that slide around on the concrete kind of like ice skates ;)

        There’s always the chance that there will be some extra concrete left over (as it’s always better to over-order, rather than under-order). We planned ahead (thanks to the suggestion of our concrete installers), and used the extra to form a small outside pad, which we’ll eventually use to rest our 120-gallon propane tank on (which will allow us to run a small generator during power outages).

Filling the wheelbarrow with the extra mud: J:

One wheelbarrow load J

The finished pad...

... complete with plastic canopy to protect the slab from rain pockmarks or staining J

Next up: our waterproof decking J

Trusses

November has been a transformational month for our house.  I suppose the same could be said for some of the previous months – going from vacant land to a nice house-sized clearing in May, or from a hole in the ground to a foundation in June, or from cement footings to first-floor walls in September.  Still, a house with no roof is like Santa Clause with no beard:  it just doesn’t work.  Hence the transformational November month.  Let the pictures unfold.

First, the humble beginnings:  the little side-roof over the garage.

I should note that, contrary to the picture above, most of the main roof of our house is built with trusses.  Trusses are factory-assembled sections of roof – still 100% custom, but built in a large warehouse, on solid ground, where it’s much simpler and easier to do.  They are then delivered on a truck and raised onto the roof, where the framers move them into place and attach them to each other.  Because they are built under ideal conditions, rather than standing on wobbly ladders, trusses are quicker and cheaper.  In addition, and somewhat counter-intuitively, they use less wood:  they are engineered for the specific load of the roof (calculated individually for each house), and as such can use just the minimal amount of lumber, rather than relying on overestimating “rules of thumb”.  In short, trusses are awesome.

Despite all this, trusses have two disadvantages.  First, they need to be precisely calculated, which is no small feat with our house, given its many 45-degree angles, different ceiling heights and roof pitches, and the minor discrepancies between plans and reality (particularly on said 45-degree angles).  Secondly, while vaulted (non-flat) ceilings are possible using scissor trusses, the interior pitch of the ceilings is always going to be less steep than the outside roof pitch (i.e., you can’t have rooms that make full use of how tall the roof is).

Katrina had spent many an hour with the truss designer (learning about trusses and feasibility), and then countless more hours studying our plans, measuring on-site dimensions, dusting off her geometry skills, and trying to mesh her vision with what is actually feasible in the truss world.  As with many of the other design-intensive trades, Katrina has become an amateur expert… at least in the types of trusses used for our house.

For our two turret rooms, though, the octagonal (but not quite perfectly-octagonal) shape of those rooms made calculations a risky proposition – and at any rate, we wanted the interior ceilings to be as steep as possible.  So those were framed by hand (also known as “stick-framed”).

Fun fact: stick-framed turrets like the ones on our house are apparently known as “witch’s hat turrets” in the framing trade.  Why?  First:  When finished, they look like a witch’s hat.  And, second, they’re a witch-with-a-“b” to make. 

Be it as it may, the turrets are absolutely beautiful.  They are also special snowflakes.  Literally.

Finally, the trusses arrive.  Let’s look at it in real-time:

But what do you do with all these truss packages?  We turn to our timelapse camera, to see the trusses go up like a match house.

Views from the inside:

(Note the different truss types:  the first is a scissor truss for a “cathedral ceiling”, whereas the second image is a flat-ceiling-ed storage trusses with attic space in the center)

From the outside.  This might be my favorite picture.

... But wait, there’s more!  A house with just trusses is still just an exo-skeleton of a house.  Let’s put some flesh on the bones:

I ended up climbing around on the roof (and trusses), when trying to determine the exact locations and angles for our skylights.  Sitting there on the roof, I felt like a chimney-sweep from Marry Poppins:  “On the rooftop at Griffin… coo, what a sight!”

And finally, one more video for your entertainment pleasure.  The framers almost look like optimistic groundhogs:  they keep popping in and out the skylights, hoping spring is on its way.

Tune in next time!

- Michael

Floors, Walls, and Beams: two months in review

Framing has begun.  In fact, we’ve been so thoroughly neck-deep in framing, that Katrina still hasn’t found the time to write about it!  Between making final decisions on wall placements, ordering lumber, and planning ahead for what’s to come, it’s been a busy two months.

Still, we can’t keep our readers in suspense forever.  Below are some pictures from our framing phase, with quick commentary from me.  Once things slow down a bit, Katrina may be able to provide a more thorough recounting of events.

First, from over two months ago:  While waiting for our construction loan to process (e.g., waiting to have money to be able to pay workers), my dad, who had built his own house in Alaska, had kindly agreed to get us started.

First-story floor joists

The supports beneath

Another angle

I came out to help on the weekends.  Here, the Zlatkovskys doing what Zlatkovskys do best:

We each had our own approach for how to straighten an obstinate wall:

(Rest assured -- this was only for the photo!)

Some time later...

With the first floor walls done (and at this point, having closed on the loan and now employing a 4-man construction crew), the next step was the second floor.  Because of our open-floor-plan design, this involved having two really long, really heavy steel beams (and a good number of wood ones, too).  In the picture below, the steel I-beams is wrapped with wood to allow us to later attach floor joists to it.

The workers used two hand-crank lifts to lift the beams.  It was quite a momentous occasion, so we all (including my brother) came out to see:

With the steel beams in place, they could attach other smaller beams to it.  “Smaller” is a relative term.

And then the floor joists

On top of the joists came the plywood.  This made for a nice flat surface to lay out the second floor walls on.

Raising walls is always the most rewarding part of framing (even if you’re not the one who’d built ‘em!).  The crew was kind enough to let Katrina and I participate.

After the floor, which required a lot of preparation and work all to gain one foot of vertical building-height, the second floor walls went up incredibly fast.  In literally a few days, we suddenly had all of our walls up!

(By the way, the hole in the middle of the floor is not an accidental oversight:  it's part of the plan!  As one of our neighbors put it, "I see you solved the Christmas Tree problem!")

Right now, the framers are working on finishing sheeting (laying plywood) on the newly-raised walls.  With the plywood on -- and even as we wait for the roof trusses to get manufactured -- it’s starting to look like a proper house!

Katrina’s favorite part is our front turret (shown above from the ouside, and below from inside).  The turret is where our staircase will be.

Looking up from the bottom of the stairwell

And down from the top of the second-story walls (granted, an unrealistic position for a human occupant... but possible now until we have a roof).  Doesn’t this remind you of a medieval European castle?

In closing:  proud home-owners

And, let us not forget the other crown jewel of our property: