Building a stick frame house in the woods in 90 days

[J F]

Wood floors...yes, they should be "acclicmated" for 3-5 days. "Acclimated" is definitely a relative term...all three or seven ways you look at it.

I think Mom's floors will be as good as they can be, "as installed".

 

[J F]

From what I've seen, "finish-wise", this house will be very fine.

Including the "fug ups". They'll get taken care of. The house will be beautiful.

 

[mjncad]

Good point Ron. The well is 215ft deep, the pump sits 18ft above the bottom, and the water column is 195ft high when the pump is not running. Assuming 5" diameter column, that's about 180 gallons of reserve. I suppose I could try to measure how fast, if at all, the water column drops when one of the sprinklers is running, and based on that, how long I can safely run them. With 8 of them now going for 15 minutes each, 3 times a day, that's 6 hours of watering per day right now.

Pete: I have a 3/4" water meter similar to this one on our non-potable irrigation system as I don't feel like opening up a spider infested meter pit out in the yard if I have concerns about water consumption. I have the meter in the basement just before the strainer that filters the ditch water. Adding one of these may be a good idea if you're concerned about water usage and well recharge rates.

Elster C-700 Water Meters - FarmTek

Living room is just about done

I like tile; but are you planning on doing anything to dampen the sound? All those hard surfaces are just going to transmit sound (noise) all over the place. Our TV is approximately 8' - 10' away from where we sit, and the kitchen is further away; yet I have to turn up the volume when my wife is yakking on the phone in the kitchen. Granted you Mom is going to be living by herself, and it may not be an issue with her.

Framing (wood) is ALWAYS out of square, just a measure of how much/when much. Anyone who chimes in different will be laughed at accordingly.

Yep, I call framing lumber "Pretzel wood."

 

[pclausen]

Thanks Jay! Yes, I think we are getting caught up in the details a little too much, the issues will be be addressed before "closing".

mjncad, yes, there will be area rugs in a lot of areas over the tile. Mom got some really nice ones!

Day 115

Great progress with the landscaping around the house until the thundershower hit, but that was perfect for the grass, so I'm definitely not complaining!

They are almost done with the terraces on the side of the house

And the steps on the other side are almost done as well.

HVAC system is about done.

He could not charge it because the tile guys were busy in the hallway where the thermostat goes

Breaker panel is just about done. They ran out of 20A breakers (in the open space in the middle), and 15A breakers (at the very bottom)

They would have completed the blue tile...

but... drumroll... ran out of 6x6 tiles here as well.

There is WAY too much 12x12 blue tile left. I guess the guy that calculated how much 12x12 and how much 6x6 tiles it would take did not do so good at math in school...

I picked up the Cummins/Onan generator at the UPS freight terminal today

Hmm, how do I get the 550 lbs generator to the pad without messing up the yard, especially since we just had a heavy downpour?

Put down some 2x12 boards for the front wheel, and some 6x6 to skid it to the pad of course

Dropped onto the 6x6s

Skidded to the pad

Turned around and centered

This thing is really nice. Double insulated

Whole front piece comes off really easy for great access to everything. The hood/lid is actually also the exhaust exit. The muffler outlet shoots straight up. This thing should be real quiet when running as advertised.

 

[FairfaxStu]

Peter:

To quote Uncle Fester, "You do good work, just not much of it". Kidding, it is obvious to all how much work you have done plus maintaining a day job to pay the bills. Keep up the great work my friend, the end is near.
-Stu

 

[srs]

Peter, where the electric line enters the house next to the outside A/C unit is there any slack in the left cable? I like to see a "drip loop" if possible so that any rain water that runs down from the Siemens disconnect box won't go directly into the house. A small loop allows any water to run down and then drip away from the house.

Also will there be any type of handrail for your mom on the outside steps? The steps look nice by the way! Stanley

 

[955Lincoln]

Not a big deal IMO but the inspector may catch it on the final. Since your first disconnect is the ATS outside your main panel is now a sub-panel and the neutral/ground bonding jumper should be removed, as they should have bonded them in the ATS. I like how they kept the grounds and neutrals seperate for easy future switch overs or in your case, maybe present.

 

[aczlan]

Great progress with the landscaping around the house until the thundershower hit, but that was perfect for the grass, so I'm definitely not complaining!
They are almost done with the terraces on the side of the house

Looks great

Breaker panel is just about done. They ran out of 20A breakers (in the open space in the middle), and 15A breakers (at the very bottom)

I agree with 955Lincon on the neutral jumper, but otherwise that panel looks great.

Aaron Z

 

[mkane09]

Wow...I can't believe that's a generator! Looks like a large.....laundry basket with lid. :laughing: How often do you think you'll need the generator? I have some friends building a house right now and they are putting in a generator also. Really like the steps and terraces. Maybe the tile guy thought you'd need extra tile to replace the wood floors......no? Lookin' good, your Mom is almost home.

mkane09

 

[pclausen]

Thanks Stu!

Good point about the drip loop. Will check to see if there is slack to droop the line a little.

Good catch on the neutral bonding bar needing to be removed. They did indeed bond them in the ATS already.

Mkane, over the last 2-3 years, we have averaged about 10 days! (not hours!) of outages per year, so yes, generators are a must for a lot of folks.