What I've Been Working On

I thought I'd tell what I've been working on, but before doing so, I want to say that I'm very annoyed with Terra-Dome right now. I called to get some dimensions (not clearly identified on our drawings, although they should be) and Jacki said she'd send them, but she never did. I also called Jay and left a message, because I had what I felt at the time was a very serious issue that I needed to resolve and I needed his expertise. I never got a call back, even a week later. I know he had family in from out of town, so I allowed him that week, but over a week has passed. His answering machine seemed to work fine when I was leaving him messages before, so I think he just didn't want to bother with me now. This is poor customer service, and I want to make note of that.

Now, as to what I've been working on, I went through the master suite, guest suite and the great room, marking where interior walls will be located. I did this with utility flags that utility companies normally use for marking utilities in the ground. I marked both sides of the interior walls. This was quite intensive (since I was missing some of the dimensions I needed and Jacki never got back to me with them). I took measurements, to both sides of the interior walls. I took measurements twice, three times, and even a fourth from a different direction, just to make sure I had the positions correct. I also used my laser level as a pointer in some cases.

Anyway, marking the wall locations will be necessary so that when I want to start putting in the electrical conduit, I'll be able to locate it all of the circuits in the wall locations where they will be. Then when the concrete is finally poured, the conduit will be in the location it is supposed to be. These things aren't done by themselves, and they're not automatic, and it all takes time. Doing it by yourself takes a lot of time.

This week, I'm working on the garage, putting in sand, compacting it and then leveling it so that I can have a half to an inch of insulation, and then a 4 to 5 inch slab on top of that. And I don't want this floor to be higher than the floors in the rest of the house, and since they will be 4 inches above the footings, it is important to make sure that I start out at the right level in the garage. I also have the plumbing that is already in the floor, to make sure that I adjust levels as necessary so that the drain in the bathroom and garage floor still work.

Anyway, leveling the floor is not easy by yourself. I managed to get a couple of photos of myself doing this week, and I'll eventually get around to posting them. I used a laser level that I have for sighting across the room, and then a pole that I've marked at 5 inches and 6 inches. These are so that I can have an inch of insulation and at least a 4 inch slab, but probably a 5 inch slab on top of that.

I move around in the room every foot or so, and let the laser hit the pole, and then check to see if I'm within the 5 and 6 inch marks. If not, then I scrape out sand in that area until the level is correct. Then I move on. It's a lot of work because of doing two functions, but only one person doing the work. Plus, I have to calibrate the laser level each time. It's really just a laser sight, and if I had it to do over, I'd buy a self-leveling laser rotary level, which would make things a lot easier. Mine does not self level, so every time I move it, I have to re-calibrate it (and I sometimes think I don't get it accurate enough, and so I have to recalibrate).

Anyway, once I get the floor leveled, I will make the bathroom wall locations in the garage, and then I'll be able to start running conduit. Once all that is done, I can put in the insulation and then get a slab contractor to put in the mesh, rebar and a concrete floor. I've got to keep moving.

We didn't get much done this last weekend, because we went to an estate auction near Miami, Oklahoma. This was because of the death of a family friend, and their surviving family members needing to eliminate a few things and get some money in the process. We ended up going there for support, but came home with a rake tool to pull behind the mower (or our tractor). We also got a band saw, which I'm not sure if it works, but we also got a router table (without the router, but I have one).

Lately, things have come up on the weekends, so I'm not getting as much work done as I'd like, but I'm trying to make up for it during the week (and then we've had bad weather). So I just get the work done when I can.