Sketches

While we wait for more electrical and plumbing to go in, I thought I'd share some of our early sketches for the house.  They go back to September 2010 when we started talking more seriously about building.  These sketches were created over many, many dinners out, late nights and phone calls. 

I've always loved sneaking a peak at a designer's creative process, so here is a glimpse of ours!

 

  

 

Eventually, these sketches turned into this.

Screened Porch Concrete Pad

Although the kids thought we had a H U G E sandbox next to the new house, it's acutally our future screened porch.  This week, we had the concrete pad poured.  A timber frame type structure will be built on it and filled in with screening.  We hope to use it for meals and hanging out bug free in the summer.

Here's what the concrete contractors started with.  They pulled the sand back from the edges and inserted rigid foam insulation to help prevent the foundation from cracking during freeze-thaw cycles.

 

The forms were installed, the area was filled with crushed stone and compacted.

A metal mesh and rebar was installed to reinforce the concrete slab.

 The forms are shored and we are ready to pour!

Pouring...

Forms remove, concrete surface power-troweled.   

A close up of the surface.  We're not sure if we'll put anything else on top, or just leave it as is.  The exposed foundation will be partially back filled and the remainder will likely have stone.

Trench for Electrical Service & Water Connection

In order to get power and water to the new house, we had to have an eight foot deep trench by three hundred feet long dug from the new house to the existing well and hydro hook-up.  

The photo below shows the water contractor boring a hole through the ICF foundation of the new house.

Next, a hose was laid.  A conduit for the electrical service also went into this trench.  The new hydro pole is the taller one at right of the excavator.  Our well is behind the silo.  What a dirty, dusty mess on our front lawn!

The trench partially backfilled.

Electrical

Over the past few weeks, both the electrical and plumbing systems have been roughed in.  Sounds simple enough but deciding where to put those pipes and wires is dependent on hundreds of other decisions.  In short, I had to choose the bathtubs, vanities, locations of beds.  Pronto.  As I say to myself every day lately:  I hope I didn't screw it up!

 

In order to know where to install the boxes for the pendant lights that will hang over the kitchen island, I needed to visualize the island in place.  Josh kindly mocked it up for me and even hung some wire so I could see exactly how the lights would fall over the island.  What a guy!

 

 Note our dining room table at right in the next photo.  

 

We also have to upgrade our electrical service to 150 amps, which means installing a new hydro pole.

     

Unfortunately, it's bigger than the old one and hideous.  See below.