June Is Almost Over

I'm now posting short updates on Twitter. (http://twitter.com/les_stockton) If you care to keep that close of track of my daily activities, you can get on. It's free.

I didn't get as much completed in June as I had originally set out. Things got in the way. A job, for one thing. Other things too. It's just the nature of things. Progress is made though and I'm happy. When I get the chance, I'll establish goals for July, which will probably be to complete the goals I set for June. It's do-able.

We'll have visitors soon.

Recently, a local television news anchor (who I track via Twitter) expressed interest in our earth home construction project. She wants to come out and see the place and ask questions, and possibly do a news story. I'm hoping that she wont mind that the place is not closed in yet, and that we don't have dirt on the roof yet, and that it's a work in progress, but with some considereable progress to-date. I'm also hoping that we can provide some good information on earth homes since the general public will be viewing the story. I'd hope that this would share an alternative on how to save energy, and since we live in a tornado prone area, that it might also be an alternative that people around where we live might be interested in.

Being interviewed for a story like this is quite an honor, but I'm careful not to make it a vanity thing. I want the information to get out. I have to temper my enthusiasm with being realistic, realizing that I can't get too technical when the questions are asked, although I'm not really sure what questions will be asked. So I'm hoping I can anticipate the questions, and have answers that will be reasonably understandable by the average joe that will be watching on television.

One thing that is a bit of a pain, is that Rachel wants the place cleaned up before they do the story. That means I wont get much actual electrical work done this weekend, because I'll be mowing, trimming, cleaning up and organizing not only the construction site, but also around the current living quarters (inside and out). Since our son is completely absent when it comes to doing any work around the place, this leaves it all to us (and the majority of the work outdoors to me, in the 90+ degree heat). And I've got to get all of this done this weekend, because the visit will be on Thursday (as currently scheduled). So I have to get all of this done.

The good news is that I am healthy, and all of this work will get done. The place will look good. Rachel wont be ashamed when it's seen on television. I just hope the story turns out good and that the place photographs well for the average public, and that we can impart good useful information.

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.

Goals for the Month

I wanted to mention that progress is still slow. That's the nature of things. It's the time of the year when we get a lot of storms, so I've been limited on when I could work on the house. In addition, there are times when you need to live life. We're not only building a house. We're building a marriage. Our anniversary was in May, and we took a little bit of time off to spend with each other. If we don't build our marriage, there's no sense in building the house.

Now, about June, I have some goals. They're aggressive and I doubt that I'll achieve them, but if you don't set goals, you'll meet none of them.

• Utilities to the house. Trench work. I hope to rent a mini-trackhoe or backhoe for a week.
• An electrical line from the new pole to the house, and into the garage where the main breaker box will be located.
• A propane line from the tank (near the location where the electrical pole is) over to the house. We'd like 2 lines. One goes out back where the porch will be (for a propane grill, and possibly a backup generator for the house)
  Another line will go up over the roof to the vent above the hvac room, where the propane line can enter the house. (Propane lines (by code) do not go under slabs).
• Extend the water line from the house to the shed where our well pump control and pressure tank are located.
• We might want an additional electrical line from the new house to the shed (for a supply to the well pump. Currently, this is from the current house, but we might want this switched so that power comes from the new house since this is where we hope to eventually have some solar power).
• I'm seriously considering (since when I do the trenches, I might as well do another) a network line (and intercom line) between houses. This will allow me to set up IP cams out in the new house. This is optional though.
• I would like to refine the drainage system at the north of the house so that area doesn't get swamped anymore.
• I want to get the sewer line from the house to the water treatment system (fancy septic system).
• I'd like to get the electrical work (below slab done in the garage so that we can poor the slab in there.

We had hopes of hiring an electrician to get the electrical work done. We asked for bids from two electricians, who agreed to do the work (or at least provide bids). Both took floor plans, but I never heard back from either. They evidently are doing so well that they don't need our business. So, I'll do the work myself. It's slower, but I'll get it done. It'll be to code, and we'll save money.

Underground America Day

May 14th was Underground America Day but it came and went without me realizing it. Besides Underground America Day, it was also National Dance Like A Chicken Day and Root Canal Appreciation Day.

Our Water System Had To Be Repaired

We have water again (sort of). I got a well service to come out to work on the problem. I dug up half the trench to find the leak, but it turned out to be in three different locations along the pipe. We ended up having to dig almost the entire trench in order to find the last location where the water line had been pulled loose. It was loose at the pvc connections.

This ordeal costed me $120 to get it fixed, and now I have all this dirt to have to back fill into the trench. I'm leaving the trench open for a while because at least I know where that line is now, and before we run the propane, water and electric lines to the house, I want to make sure we can avoid damaging them again.

The day was a bad day, but at least now we have a new electrical pole and I can now dig a trench for those utility lines to the new house.

The well needs to be shocked now. The system was open and so it's not sanitized. Rachel and I will shock the well with bleach and wait a day and then flush the system. So, we'll be without usable water until after the system is shocked and then flushed.

One Step Forward / One Step Backward

It feels like every time we make a little bit of progress, something happens and we step backwards and there's no progress at all. It was like that today, and as of right now, it is a step backwards, not forwards.

First of all, we needed a power pole added for the new house. I marked a place for it to go so that it would be conveniently located, yet clear the water pipe from the well head to the shed where the pressure tank and other water-related stuff is. Well, the auger that the power company used was huge and powerful, but it wasn't powerful enough to not be moved by the rocks we have in our ground. It moved too far to the south and got into our water line. It broke the water line, but somehow didn't seem to hurt the power to the well. So we had to shut the circuit off because the well was just pumping water like crazy and it went all over the inside of the shed and out on the ground.

Now we have the new pole for electricity to the new house, but we don't have water. Now I have to fix that.

So I had to start digging a trench from where the damaged pipe is, over to to where it enters the shed. I had a tough time even finding someone that could come out and work on it, and finally got a guy that is located 40 miles west of Tulsa, and so he's going to have to drive this long distance (at an additional charge) to get out to our location and fix this mess.

And when this is all fixed, we'll have to shock the well again because now the water system has been compromised. So we'll be without drinking water for a couple of days until we can get that cleaned up.

The Cap Blew Off Again

The cap blew off again and we still haven't gotten any callbacks or follow up from Burnett, Inc. I was supposed to call the salesman today but I was busy with other things and he wasn't in the office when I called. I'll have to escalate things.

Even with the rocks I had weighing that section of cap down, the wind gusts were enough to blow the cap off. I put it back on, but weighed it down with additional rocks.

I believe that the cap is an issue because it was a rushed job. I thought it was odd that they could do the entire thing in about an hour and a half, and one guy was doing it while the other guy was picking up their tools and getting ready to leave. I was amazed when they finished and left.

I was hoping that they would've been out last week and replaced the cap and done it correctly, but they didn't. I'm disappointed that I paid. Every time we do this we pay before the job is done and we always end up regretting it.

Shouldn't have paid balance on the siding

I now regret paying 90% of the balance on the siding job until it was properly finished. The salesman showed up that day and pressured us and so we agreed to pay 90%. That was a mistake. The work still hasn't been done and this weekend, we had strong winds that blew the cap off. These winds weren't the 70mph winds we sometimes get. These were merely 30mph gusts and the cap should've been able to hand that.

Click here to see.

I'm a bit frustrated. The company, Burnett Inc, has called us a couple of times, indicating that they want the balance paid, as if the work has already been done. It hasn't. They acted as if it had been.

I even received a call last Thursday from one of the guys that had done the installation, and he asked if he could show up after 17:00 to finish the job. So it appeared that they do intend to finish the job, but the thing is, he was wanting to do it after 17:00, as if to say that it's a lower priority than their day jobs. And the guy never showed up, so it's definitely not a priority for them.

I don't like to have these confrontations, but I'm going to have to call the people at Burnett on Monday and remind them that we're waiting for them to finish the job. I also plan to tell them that we're never going to pay a balance again until the work is complete. This was a mistake to do it this time. We were trying to be nice. We were trying to do the right thing, and unfortunately, they have not done the same.

No Callbacks, No Progress, Frustrated

I'm a bit frustrated this last few days. We were told by the siding salesman that we'd be contacted with regards to the issues we raised the past weekend. We expected this call on Monday. We expected it on Tuesday. It didn't happen yesterday. I'm frustrated. It seems to me that their lack of followup is a sign that they do not intend to make things right. I'm glad we didn't pay them the last little bit.

I'm frustrated that we haven't gotten a callback from the concrete contractor that I spoke with late last week. He was supposed to call and come out on Tuesday. That never happened.

I'm frustrated that the first electrical contractor we gave a plan to hasn't called us. He was supposed to get back with us this week, but never called. He wouldn't even come to our site, and we had to take the plan to him. And of course, we don't see how he can get a clear picture of what we need when he wouldn't come on site to look things over.

I did get a second electrician out to look over the site and I gave him a copy of the electrical plan so he'd be able to make notes on it while walking through the site. He said he'd get back to us, so I'm hopeful that maybe he will in a week or so.

I have determined that we'll need to get another storage container rented and brought out to the site. We had one a year ago, but finished using it in August or so and saved money by not renting it any longer. We need it for a while now, to clear out the house and let whichever electrician room to do his work in the section of the master suite where some of our building materials are currently stored. We'll need to put them in the storage container.

I don't know of a good spot to put that container, but I suspect it'll be between the house and the road, and I can live with that, although it means covering up the spot that I was hoping we could put some of the excess concrete when getting the slab poured.

I haven't done as much in this last few days as I had hoped. I haven't been feeling as well, and now that I might feel better, the weather is going to turn bad for a couple of days.

I'm frustrated.

It has almost been a year since we broke ground, and we still don't even have the sub poured. We don't have the electrical work in the slab done. I'm frustrated. My hopes are that the frustration will force me to make things happen. It's motivation, I guess.

On a lighter note, if there is one, I've also been frustrated with this hosting site. I've been trying to upload pictures for a few days, and they aren't there yet. I'm going to have to put in a technical support issue report and hope that it'll be resolved soon.