2007.10.28

We got a little bit of work done this weekend, but one of Rachel's brothers was in town and so we were preoccupied with having a visitor. And we were out of town last weekend. So it's time to get back to work.

Rachel and I did finish the second application of Ecoline-T on all the form straps. I mixed up some hydraulic cement and filled some of the voids where the concrete didn't settle in the forms as it should have. I also started using the hydraulic cement at the base of the parapet walls, to create runoff there. This will carry any water away from the parapets so that it can drain off the roof, rather than to pool up at the flat area at the base of the parapets.

We'd already put the Ecoline-T on all of the straps, including at the base of the parapets. So getting hydraulic cement there to get water away from those areas, is additional protection. Then, when all the hydraulic cement is applied, we plan on putting Ecoline-T on top of that, and then the Paraseal membrane will cover all that too.

We are taking extra care to do overkill on waterproofing.

I wish we were progressing faster

I wish we were progressing faster, but we can't. We both have full-time jobs and there's a lot more work than people realize. I've had a lot of people tell me they think we should be moving faster, and still others wanting to build that think they can move faster. I would urge anyone planning to build, to please heed warnings by people who've done a lot of this kind of work.

Rob Roy has repeatedly written in his books and articles that building a house is very stressful. It's stressful on an individual. It's stressful on a marriage. And it's a lot more work than people think it is. Please don't take this warning lightly.

Rachel and I are going at a pace that is comfortable for us. We've built one house already and we know what we're up against. We're not moving as fast as we wished we were, but we are not rushing the job either. Some of these tasks that we're doing right now are critical tasks and we want them done right. These aren't tasks that we can leave for someone else to do. We can't trust that people we hire will be as diligent as we would be. For them, it's pay by the hour. For us, it's our home. We want it done right.

I've read recently of someone that hired some of this work done, and although he gave specific instructions on what needed to be done, he found out that the workers didn't do as he required. Since the job was covered up with dirt, I guess they figured he'd never find out that they didn't do as he asked.Well, because they didn't work according to his instructions, the waterproofing failed and he had to dig all of it up and re-do the job (which ended up being much more work than if the job had just been done right in the first place).

Needless to say, we prefer to do these critical tasks ourselves, trusting our own vested interest in having the job done right, as opposed to trusting someone that's just getting a paycheck out of it. A year later, the guy with the paycheck isn't going to come out and help fix the problem for free. So we're doing the job ourselves.

Once we're beyond the stuff below the slab, and the waterproofing and backfilling, we definitely plan to hiring help to finish the house. Those remaining tasks wont be nearly as critical.

In summary, because we're working on these critical tasks ourselves, progress is slow. Cold weather is fast approaching and we don't have the house closed in. This is frustrating. However, paying for labor and not getting the job done right, is equally frustrating.

Please don't rush the job if you ever build your own home. Please don't assume that the job of getting the house closed in is just a matter of weeks. Although I think it's possible, I fear that anyone attempting this is likely to be faced with big disappointments. The rushed job will likely become apparent later. Take the time to do the job right and have the assurance that you wont be digging things back up to make repairs later.

Stretching our dollars

Part of being able to build a house, especially when trying to be as debt-free as possible, is either making a lot of money or else being able to stretch the dollars that you have. Rachel is stretching our dollars and she has surprised me with the extent of her success.

Without even a lot of experience at it, on her first attempt, we saved over 60% on a visit to the grocery store. On a second trip to the store, just to buy a few things, I didn't pay attention to what her savings would be, and just pulled my credit card out to pay when we reached the cashier. The cashier looked at me funny, and then ran the charge. The charge was for something like $2.75. We had around $30 of stuff that we were buying, and I didn't realize how much savings we had. And this wasn't even counting some of the rebates on items we purchased.

We've had times where we bought items that in the end, we were getting paid about a dollar to walk out of the store with the item. This is really a good thing. It's stretching our dollars on things that we were going to buy anyway, leaving these dollars to purchase other things that we need.

We usually watch our budget and are careful not to get crazy eating out very often. We don't want to get in the mode of wasting money the way we did a few years ago. We do work hard and need to treat ourselves from time to time, so when we go out to eat, we order one of the huge meals, and then split it between the two of us. It ends up being more than enough food, and we are buying one meal instead of two. So we treat ourselves, but we are limiting our spending.
The big savings on eating out though, is in drinking water instead of tea or soda. It's amazing how you don't realize that they are charging close to 2 bucks on a drink, when you're just as well off having water for free.

So we're budgeting ourselves, but not killing ourselves in the process. We feel that this savings is helping us to have a little extra money for the tools and/or materials we need in building the house.

2007.10.14 - Waterproofing Began

I did a little bit of work on covering up the northeast french drain this weekend. It's still pretty rocky and so I'm having to carry out rocks and try to get the dirt back in the trench. I had to leave the area open where the broken waterline crosses the trench. The water line goes to the garden and I need to repair that line before covering the remainder of the trench.

We began applying the waterproofing to the house. We started with the Ecoline-T, which is the thicker material. We applied it on all of the form straps in the areas that will be covered up with dirt later. If there's a leak, it'll most likely get through where the form straps are exposed, since these metal straps go from one side of the concrete to the other. They're the straps that were used to hold the forms together before the pour. Once the concrete was poured and the forms were removed, the straps were embedded in the concrete, and the ends of the straps were broken off flush with the surface of the concrete. However, water can get through there with hydraulic pressure, and so we will be applying a couple of coats of the Ecoline-T, and later coat the entire house with the lighter weight Ecoline product (which if I remember right, is Ecoline-R), with a bentonite membrane at the most critical places.

I also made a simple test of applying the Ecoline-T alone the seam between two of the modules. I know it's not enough, but I was curious of how well it'll work with just one application in the seams. Ultimately, there'll be two applications, then the bentonite membrane, and then the membrane will be stuck on with more Ecoline-T.

With all the work we got done this weekend, we also managed to shock the well. It was time again. We charged the lines with the bleached water and left it all for 24 hours before flushing all the lines. The water smells much better now and we have the assurance that our water is cleaner and better tasting than the water in Tulsa (or even bottled water).

We need to do some work in the garage. I think I put too much gravel in the garage, because we now want the floor lower than the rest of the floors in the house, so we need to lower the slab. So now I need to level out the gravel, and possibly get some of it back out so that we'll get a four inch slab, still have room to insulate below the slab, and get our utilities buried in the gravel. There's still a lot of work to do.

We worked on the northeast drainage trench

Rachel and I got out and worked early, before it got hot. We worked on the drainage trench northeast of the house. We got all the pipe in and then I covered it with a layer of gravel, and then some top soil. The pipe has a "sock" over it, which will keep dirt out of the pipe, but small holes in the pipe will allow water into (as well as out of) the pipe. This allows good drainage away from the house. Now the east side of the house is well drained. The other french drains that we need done, will be easier, I think.

Rachel climbed the ladder and started grinding down some of the exposed sharp edges of the form straps that are sticking out from the concrete. We want these as flush with the surface of the concrete as we can get, so that they'll be easier to waterproof. We pay special attention to the straps, because if there's a leak in the walls (after we backfill), the straps is where it will happen.

Rachel couldn't take climbing up and down the ladder for very long, so she kind helped me with the trench, and we got it all done. There's a little bit of dirt work left to do, and I still need to fix the water line that I accidently broke. That water line goes to the garden and it needs to be fixed. I broke it with the backhoe when I first dug the trench. (As I recall, that was a horrible day, as I damaged that water line, as well as damaged the garden shed; which still isn't fixed).
We'll get more work done this weekend.