Plumbing (Continued)

The plumbers finished the rough-in work. Block Outs were built for places (such as the showers or tubs, where we will have to make fine adjustments for proper location of the drains later. So the block outs will leave a void space in the slab when it's poured, so that the final placement of the drains can be made when it's time to install the showers or tubs.

For pictures, click here.

I paid 50%, plus an additional $600 for the renting of the boring equipment (the giant hole saw). I figure that if we'd ended up not boring a hole through the footing, and went with the sump pump, that by the time it was installed and an electrician hooked it up, the cost would've been pretty close to that same price. I think this is a better solution as we wont need electricity for draining from that garage bathroom.

I wanted to note (and I have a photo of it) that when the original concrete work was done, the concrete guy dumped excess concrete next to the house. They often dump waste concrete wherever they can, and they rarely ask where they will dump it. And for some reason, no matter where they choose to dump it, it'll likely be in an inconvenient spot. It's better if you can be on site to choose. In my case, they dumped concrete right in the path of where I need the sewer line to go. So I'll have to remove that giant globe of concrete. I'm not happy about it, but it has to be done.

Plumbing (Continued)

The plumbers were back today. The hole chewed and chiseled out of the footing was a disappointment. The hole saw never quite did the job and so it was taken back and they continued the job with a drill and a chisel. And then after all that trouble, it didn't look like we could get the slope we needed for the proper flow and we were in danger of needing the sump pump after all.

Well, Mike (the boss) returned with the giant hole saw. He said that he was about to return it when the Hilti guy arrived and had a new "bit" (I don't think of it as a bit. It's a hole saw to me).
Anyway, this saw was different. Not only were the teeth meatier, but they were pronounced from the outer surface of the saw (the cylinder) and so as they cut into the concrete, they leave enough clearance on the sides of the hole not to cause so much friction. This time, they were able to completely saw through the hole and clean it up, in less than half an hour.

Click here to see pictures.

They got a lot of work done today, but will have to return to finish tomorrow morning. There's still some final work to do and they have to pack up their things too, so they quit a little early today knowing they probably have an hour or two left tomorrow.

One thing I wanted to mention is that I like how these guys tie everything done nicely at the base of their stakes, to make sure that when the floor is poured, that the lines remain exactly where they are to be (inside a wall).

I particularly like the pex product. It's much easier to work with than pvc or copper. It's a continuous product, so there's not a lot of glueing, and when fittings do need to be done, they are very tight and secure. There isn't a high rate of failure in these fittings. It's a good system and I like how fast they are at using the material.

When they're finished, one thing they are going to do is plug every line and then test for leaks with air pressure. I have confidence that when they leave, the job will be 100% complete and reliable.

Plumbing

The plumbers arrived this morning and I worked with them all day. It was past 19:00 when they finally left. I was beat. They made fast work, plumbing everything except for the kitchen and for the garage bathroom. We would've gotten that done, but it was taking so long to cut a hole through the footing for the sewer line.

The original sewer line hole that Terra-Dome provided us was in the wrong location from where I had specified, and it was way too low to allow for proper flow from the toilet. So rather than dig through the rock for a sump pump, we chose to bore a hole through the footing to provide for the proper drainage without the need of a sump pump.

Even with the giant hole saw machine that they rented, they were only able to cut about halfway through the footing and then there was just too much friction on the sides to allow it to cut further. We drilled through several times from both sides with drill bits, and hope to finish tomorrow morning.

One change order (already) is that Rachel wants a sink out on the patio, so we need to get hot and cold water back there, and plus she wants hot and cold water for a hot tub (some day). I mentioned it to the lead plumber late in the day and suggested that if we could just branch off the hot and cold in the garage, that there's a place in the footing that I provided to allow them out to the patio. He didn't seem to think this would be a problem.

Click here for pictures.

I was a bit embarassed that we had so much trouble with the garage sewer drain issues. It seems like everything we do isn't just off the shelf. We seem to be "out of the box" and it always seems to take extra time or extra money or both.

Working With Sand

After all this discussion with the plumber, he finally told me yesterday that he needs sand, not gravel, as a base to work in. I kinda figured that before, but Jay Scafe (Terra-Dome) told me they always use gravel below their slabs. I think that's for their convenience, not for the convenience of the home owner. It makes sense that copper or pex are more vulnerable to gravel than with sand.

So I had 4 loads of sand delivered today and raced to get it into the house and approximately to the height of the footings, in preparation for the plumber, who arrives to work tomorrow. On top of that, I was also racing the weather today, as there was a chance of rain and it looked like it could rain at any time. I took no time for breaks. We really can't work with wet sand, and so it was important to get it inside before any rain.

I beat the rain and I beat the clock, but now I'm beat. I am sore.

After Rachel got off work, she helped me smooth out the surface of the sand and pack it down in areas. I did most of the packing with the tractor, but there were areas that I couldn't get with the tractor. We used a hoe and a rake, and went over the entire surface, getting it pretty well.
The four loads of sand allowed me to get the basic areas where plumbing will be. I omitted an area in the master suite because I have stuff stored there that I need to keep out of the weather (paraseal is one item that I'm protecting until ready to use).There's also about half of the great room that I didn't cover (yet). I figure I need another couple of loads to finish out the house, with the exception of the garage. Only the southeast corner of the garage is being plumbed, so that's the only area that I scraped out gravel and put sand in. Hopefully, any pex in there that might be in gravel, will be protected with insulation (which we ought to have with the hot water pex anyway).

One item to note is that the plumber (Mike) suggested that instead of the sump pump in the garage (to account for the grade problem with the sewer line), that instead, for approximately the same price (and less labor on my part), we might get a contractor to bore a 4 inch hole in a more convenient place for the sewer line. I like that idea and Rachel did too when we discussed it this evening.

Anyway, the plumber and his crew arrive tomorrow. He said it would be between 8:00 and 9:00, and he says that it'll take 2 days for the sub-slab work. I'll pay half and then 35% when he comes back to do the top-out work (that wont be until we have framing in). and then 15% upon completion.

I took a few photos (click here) of the work I did today. It's not the most glamorous photographs I've taken, but I figured I wanted to document that I put in a 10 hour job today with only enough break time to use the restroom. I huffed to get it all done in case there is rain.

Working with an agenda

I've made a new effort to get moving on the house. Every day, I call and try to talk to various people to get things done. After almost two weeks, I've finally got the siding people (almost) ready to work on the parapets. The thing is, it was almost a week or more of phone tag before finally pressing the issue. I had to tell the assist (yesterday) that I was getting tired and that maybe it would be better for me to double my chances for success by calling a second siding company and seeing which company could get out to do the work first. I received a callback within an hour.

I'm going over to the siding company tomorrow morning to get the contract started, but the sad news is that I was told it could be 10 weeks before they can start. This isn't what I was originally told. However, this is their busiest time of the year; but it's their busiest sales time. This is a sure-thing installation and I've been waiting long enough. I expect to not have to wait that 10 weeks. I better not have to wait even half that time.

I finally got a bid from the plumber. I'd waited over a month with no response from that guy, so I pressed the issue with him and got a $12,800 bid from him yesterday. I've mulled it over with Rachel and intend to go over it with him in person later today (I haven't verified that with him yet, but it's my intension). It seems like a lot of money, but it's for the sub-slab work, plus topping off after the slab is poured. I'm hoping that we can get him on this work real soon.
I think I'll be moving more gravel inside the house to get the sub-slab area to the right depth. With the plumber's help, we've pretty much determined that the sub-slab depth needs to be pretty close to where Terra-Dome recommends, which is the 4 inch slab sitting ontop of the footings. I was hoping to be below that a little bit so that we'd have more head room above the slab. In the end, it's no big deal. It's only 4 inches.

I hope to arrange for more gravel to be delivered, as well as getting a delivery of the cheapest fill dirt (it's a bit rocky). This is great for starting a new berm, which is what we need on the north side of the master suite.

This is what I'm hoping to get going. Once the plumber is doing his thing, I'll probably start my own sub-slab work. I just didn't want to interfere with the plumbing (since it has a set flow that must be maintained)(wiring and central vac do not). I will be running the central vac piping, plus conduit for phones, computer network, stereo, security sensors, etc. There are also the fresh air lines that I want available for the wood stoves and the water heater. (The house is very tight, so we need these fresh air intake lines).

Once I have all that, I'll determine if I want to do the electrical lines or if I'll call in an electrician. Considering that the last time we paid an electrician, he didn't do what we wrote out for him to do, I figure I'll probably run these conduits too. At least then I'll know that I'll get the lines where I want them to be and I wont be paying $50 (or is it $70, I can't remember) an hour to get it done.

Worked a Little

I worked a little bit this weekend. Basically, it was great weather, but I got in about an hour yesterday and an hour today. It was spent doing waterproofing behind the master suite. We have to do that before we can insulate, and we have to insulate before we can berm back there.

I plan on calling tomorrow and getting the plumber back out to get his work done, and to hopefully get an electrician out to see what we'll need. Ralph Smoot recommends getting all that stuff done and the slabs in before doing any backfilling. I asked Jay Scafe about it and he didn't feel this was necessary and they haven't had it as an issue in any of their homes. Ralph might be just taking a precaution, as it make sense that there are greater lateral forces after berming, than if we get the slab in first so that the walls can't move. However, because Jay doesn't see this as an issue, I'm not sure it matters, but I am taking it under advisement.

Anyway, I need to get the utilities into the sub-floor so that we can get the slabs poured. Getting that work started doesn't mean I have to stop with the work I'm doing on the outside. It sure would be nice to have the house buried before the hottest part of the summer. The house will be cooler if we can do this, although the first summer might not be the test. After all, the thermal mass will soak up the heat we're starting to get now (as well as up until the house is buried), and so by the time all that is done, the house might not be all that cool inside (for the first summer). I'm hoping it will be though.

I would've gotten more done this weekend, except that apart from one hour yesterday, I didn't get any help. (Same old song). Rachel came out and helped me yesterday, because our son thinks he's too good for manual labor. Tough love is coming to him really soon.

Rachel was sick today, and couldn't help me, but she still came out to check a few things.
We have a lawn mower that we need to get to the shop asap, and so we loaded that onto a trailer so that I'll hopefully be able to take it in early this week. We already are starting to have weeds growing in the pasture and so we'll be needing to mow in a week or two. It would be nice to have the small riding mower available, as well as the tractor.

I need to see if I can find a handyman or someone like that to move one of our fences over a bit because as we're berming at the southeast corner of the house, it has become clear that the berm is going to engulf the area where the fence now runs, and so the fence needs to be moved south a few feet. It isn't really that big of a deal, but I'd like to get it done by someone else so that I can concentrate on other duties. It sure would be nice to have multiple projects going at once. That's expensive, but at this point, I just feel overwhelmed and can't do it all. So I'm going to hire someone to get some of these things done.

Fighting a Vendor

After months, the port-a-john folks sent me a bill for another months rent of their port-a-john unit. I was infuriated and so first thing this morning, I called to speak to them about it. No one answered so I left an irrate message on their answering machine.

I basically told them that they've got their nerve to send me a bill for another month's rent, and that if any money is still outstanding, they're the ones that should be paying me a refund.
I said that they only came out and serviced the unit one time during my entire rental, and I had to complain twice (or maybe three times) to get them to come out. As far as I'm concerned, I paid for a service that I didn't get.

I told them this and that they should be prepared not to get paid for this extra month's rental, and that if they really have a question about it, to call me. I left them my work phone number.
Needless to say, I didn't receive any calls from them, and I was in the office most of the day.
Hopefully, they'll just write this thing off, but if they pursue it, I'm going to pursue a counter action and get written statements from the workers about how the unit wasn't serviced. There's no way I'm going to allow this company to rip me off.

This should be a warning to anyone building a house, that little things like this need to be documented, because what seems logical at the time, isn't so logical months later. I had no reason to believe months ago that I could possibly be billed for anything more, so to get that bill a couple of days ago was such a surprise.