First part of my house building project complete.

[syndy]

We just got back to FL. from NC. after spending six weeks preparing for the pouring of our monolithic house slab. I used my Case 580SE to do the work plus my wife's and my hands and our mission got done. I moved 100's and 100's of yards of rocky clay dirt to make a level area. Used a "RATCHET RAKE" to level and remove rocks, (worked great) and my wife went around picking them up with her tractor and dump cart, storing them for a future wall. I had to dig my footing trenches at 24", my bucket size and then form them down to 13". This is where the hand work came in because of rocks, (not like digging in FL).

My backhoe worked like a dream in every way and I can't imagine doing it with any other equipment. The two of us did everything except the actual pour and it was exhausting. Next spring we will go up and put up walls and a roof and finish it up. I am so happy I bought that backhoe!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0FYgCjTtLU

 

[td25c]

Thats great syndy! Yes a rubber tire backhoe is hard to beat for all around versatility. Looks like the pour went well and sure like the view at the new homesite:thumbsup

 

[syndy]

These photos show how much dirt that 580 moved.

 

[td25c]

Those 580's are amazing machines. In my opinion also one of the most overlooked & forgotten units. Well done syndy. I take it the Wife was the Forman on the job tellin ya what to do & where to go with it. LOL . Thats what my Wife does

 

[Tony H]

How did you work the Ratchet Rake? Float the bucket and back up?
I am a few months away from starting to 'dig' into my retirement home project.. Sounds like we have the same type of soil.

Dig 6" and come across a huge boulder.
I will be building a HTM/passive solar style house . 3 sides in the ground with Windows on South side. My future view from out the south facing windows.

 

[syndy]

Tony H, I have the large Ratchetrake, I think it's called the Forestry model with truck binders and chain. First just to let you know the binders are ok but a little cheap as the housings are made out of aluminum. I bent both handles picking up some dirt with the rake on. (don't think we are supposed to do that). I made a monolithic slab, 2700 sqft in all. I had to dig everything with the hoe then move and level it with the bucket. Unlike here in FL there is no way I could drive into the hill and scoop up dirt unless it was dug out first. Once about level, trying to back drag was impossible as the smallest baseball size rock caused the bucket to bounce up and over it. Once I put the rake on it was a breeze as the rocks popped up and my wife ran around with her tractor collecting them. It got even better when most rocks were out, the rake worked really good. Used the five inch side first and the fine side after. Once that was done the real work started as it had to have the final level done by hand and garden rakes.(Level to 1/2" at that stage) (Final level of forms was 1/8"). We had to put 4" of #67 stone on top, (45 tons) even though the code did not call for it, the inspector did and I'm glad we did that. Again that was all by wheelbarrow, shovel and hand raking as there was no room with the plumbing in even with my wife's small tractor. I spent 6-1/2 weeks straight doing this with not one day off until the day the concrete was poured. We had good weather and the backhoe worked like it was new. Sounds like you are going to do a block three sided basement with a floating slab or what I call "a walk out". Last night I made a slide show which has 27 photos. You can see it here, http://john.bitbun.com/nc%20house%20build.html or you can go to the straight flash ver. here, https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/145412374/~house%20build%20nc.swf

 

[Tony H]

Nice Slide Show.. Beautifu View!!
Sounds like you have the idea of what I'm doing.
The house will be in the hillside, 3 sides under earth.. All french drains around the 3 sides for easy drainage.
The living area will be a single floor but the basement will be underneath.. Yes, walk out of the basement onto ground level. So we will be up on a balcony as we exit the South side of the house. The living area floor/ basement ceiling will be p[oured concrete over corragated steel. More Industrial build construction rather than residential. Concrete walls and floors will be the source for the climate control stability. Even in the Northern climate I am hoping to not need heat. There will be a Wood burning stove and while I'm pouring the floor I will plumb for radiant heat but I hope I wont need to buy a hot water source for the heating.
4" of gravel, is that for quick drainage and Frost heave prevention?
A lot of work.. your soil looks like what I'm up against. I was thinking the same thing...scrape and loosen with the backhoe then scoop with the bucket.
There's much more to come but you cleared a big, labor intense hurdle with getting the slab down
GOOD LUCK

 

[Tony H]

Just to clarify.. you backbladed with the bucket pointing down in Float mode??

I wonder if I can get a similar result with the Tooth bar I put on my tractor

 

[syndy]

I'm not sure if what I did is called "float mode" as my front wheels are off the ground by a few inches when I back drag. The gravel is for frost protection. They claim that if frost exist under the 4" slab it will expand and compress the air between the gravel. It seems to work at our elevation where it can get very cold. I am guessing you are a lot younger than I am, (74 this Dec). When people talk to me about being Green and saving with different types of heat/air, wall insulation, triple pane glass filled with argon I have to laugh at them. I will never break even because I won't live long enough. You have to be young or it is a waste of money to put all that stuff into a house. I have designed and built two homes, this will be my third plus designed office and manufacturing buildings. My wife wanted a concrete block house like we have here in FL. I told her it would cost a lot more in materials and take me ages more time. With the block wall there is no good way to insulate it so you have to add framing inside to be able to fill it. Same with your concrete on steel floor. Unless you put in a lot of Pex heater lines it's going to be cold in the winter. Sounds like your high side of the house may have at least 10 feet of dirt against it. Even with the French drain you will need to coat it well with water proofing, even then it may still weep in time. I see this a lot in NC. Sometimes trying to become self sufficient ends up coasting more. My designs are always the old fashioned way with upgrades like windows and insulation. Our bills for heat and air are and have been what I think reasonable.

 

[glenlunberg]

Well done syndy. You have done a great job. And by the way, those machines are good and look cool.

 

[syndy]

Thanks glenlunberg. Tony H, Sounds like your first basement will be block with a floating floor and then the ceiling, I would guess 4" concrete over corrugated steel. I am wondering why not just normal 2X10 floor joist, you can put heat tubes in that also. Unless you had a proven design or an engineer design it, I would suggest the Pex tubes in the concrete might fail. A normal floor would be 2 to 2-1/2 corrugated steel well supported. However those floors crack more than a normal pour on a slab. You would have 6X6 welded steel in the floor but a crack and offset of an 1/8" could break the Pex tube. I would look at running the Pex in the lower floor, (done all the time) and let the heat radiate up throughout the house. I am also looking at your machine which I know nothing about. It looks small compared to my 580 and I wonder if you have as much dirt to move as I did, will it do the job. Some of the rocks I got into weighed about 1000lbs (Those sit by the entrance to our farm). I had to dig around them like a tree stump, just pulling on them only lifted the front end a bit. Also just to let you know, all three houses I designed took over a year each in the design stage. Don't rush, make sure you get it right the first time. That concrete I just poured cost $10,000 and a mistake in my planning or work could have been a disaster for me. Wife would have killed me,

 

[robin yates uk]

I'm not sure if what I did is called "float mode" as my front wheels are off the ground by a few inches when I back drag. The gravel is for frost protection. They claim that if frost exist under the 4" slab it will expand and compress the air between the gravel. It seems to work at our elevation where it can get very cold. I am guessing you are a lot younger than I am, (74 this Dec). When people talk to me about being Green and saving with different types of heat/air, wall insulation, triple pane glass filled with argon I have to laugh at them. I will never break even because I won't live long enough. You have to be young or it is a waste of money to put all that stuff into a house. I have designed and built two homes, this will be my third plus designed office and manufacturing buildings. My wife wanted a concrete block house like we have here in FL. I told her it would cost a lot more in materials and take me ages more time. With the block wall there is no good way to insulate it so you have to add framing inside to be able to fill it. Same with your concrete on steel floor. Unless you put in a lot of Pex heater lines it's going to be cold in the winter. Sounds like your high side of the house may have at least 10 feet of dirt against it. Even with the French drain you will need to coat it well with water proofing, even then it may still weep in time. I see this a lot in NC. Sometimes trying to become self sufficient ends up coasting more. My designs are always the old fashioned way with upgrades like windows and insulation. Our bills for heat and air are and have been what I think reasonable.

back drag in float mode is when the bucket arm lift lever is pushed further into a detent position which still allows you to steer using the steering wheel instead of the unlatched brakes

 

[robin yates uk]

Just to clarify.. you backbladed with the bucket pointing down in Float mode??

I wonder if I can get a similar result with the Tooth bar I put on my tractor

just push the bucket arms lever into the detent position(means the lever is in an unusual position compared to normal)

 

[Tony H]

OK If your wheels are off the ground then you are not Floating the Bucket. In most tractors if you push the bucket down and pusha bit harder it goes into a detent and then the hydraulics ' float' . meaning the Bucket is only laying on the round by its own weight. It will float up and down and follow the grade of the land a bit. It will pull dirt because of the Buckets weight.
I'm 20 years your junior. I agree, the payback on all this Green stuff is not what they pretend it to be. Solar panels never pay for themselves... by the break even point, they are ready to be replaced. silliness.
No Blocks for me High Forms and solid cement will be the building technique. Dense foam on the outside will insulate. The Mass of the cement walls and floor will regulate the house temperature. Being under the ground on most sides will keep me at an average 50 degrees. The solar gain through the windows in the winter should boost me up at least 10 degrees. One or both wood burning stoves (one in the living area and one in the basement) will more that kick that up for when I get old and want warmer environment. That's already warmer then I keep my current house. yeah, we freeze in the winter, I refuse to pay the Oil man to heat a house that we are basically in only to sleep. Basically.. No fancy 'Green' stuff, just dense Mass of solid walls.
My friend has aboiut $60K in solar panels and gets crazy with solar hot water and wants to run a Geothermal system through his house ...He brags at how he is getting paid from the electric company for the electric he doesn't use BUT he already laid out more money then I will pend in a lifetime for electric...The math doesn't add up.

 

[Tony H]

Like this only aesthetically more pleasing
https://www.thenaturalhome.com/passivesolar.html

 

[syndy]

Hmmmm, very interesting but it all comes down to this, ("house plan review and HTM consultation for $5000*"). To me that would be the first sign to run as fast as I could away. Code in most states/counties require a poured cell every 6 to 8 feet with #4 or 5 rebar running down into the footers. And connected to a tie beam poured all around the top tier. A PE or architect would have to sign off on the plans. Now days they also require air/heat to be in the form of conventional systems. NY state if that is where you are building has an Energy Conservation Construction Code stating the min requirements. I hope you have talked to an engineer about your project. I don't want to burst any bubbles here but when it comes to building I am very conservative. From what you have described it looks to me like your downstairs and ceiling would be an ice box, something hard to get and keep warm. If in a very cold climate the ceiling/floor would freeze your feet off. I would also think the cost of building such a structure would be far greater than a more conventional method. It could take 30 or more years to realize any savings. Keep us posted on how the project is going.

 

[Tony H]

I'm not using those guys... Yeah, $5K consult... no thanks. Just using their site as a reference.
I am not ready for architect yet, I am a mechanical designer by trade (not construction) . I have all my drawings done on CAD that will eventually get dumped into the lap of a real Architect. The steel and rebar and stuff is no problem. My friend, since High School, owns his own construction company. He knows from Steel construction AND he can and will get me all the steel at his cost. Whatever the "I" beams and Rafters get designed, he can have made.. it what he does. The windows will be the most expensive. If I can build this for what I sell my current house for and call it even.. I'm good with that.
Not sure how the basement will be. The reason for the Stove in the basement was for convection heat through the floor. The 'Plan' was to use the basement stove as the main heat ( if needed) with two staircases coming up from the basement on both sides of the house to create a circular air flow ( small fans to push one side and pull the other) and at the same time the floor heated by the stove being below it. We will see how badly the architect shoots this down.
We will see.

 

[syndy]

The staircase idea is good but why waste the space when a rectangle vent that can be opened and closed would work and walked over. In the house I am building I also did the drawing on my CAD program. In the past, building inspectors wanted 4 copies. All got stamped when approved on one copy was returned to me for the box. I had to have a PE or Architect sign off on the drawings. In NC where I am building I didn't need an Architect or PE, just my drawings. So long as I kept within normal construction methods, mostly headers. I have to have the truss drawing in the box for inspections and they are certified. When we pulled the permits I asked the inspector how many copies of drawing she wanted, answer, "We don't want any". They don't care how it's built so long as it is to code. We built a barn last year and didn't even need a permit, web page here. http://john.bitbun.com/sleepy%20Holler%20Farm%20story.html We have 5 acres and 1-1/2 with white pines that are to small for lumber and to big for Christmas trees. (That's what they were planted for). In my design I have a HVAC heat pump, a propane three sided no-vent fireplace and a wood stove. My plan was to use the wood stove to heat with the others as backups. I could cut and burn the pine in the wood stove as the flue can be cleaned easily. However I have sort of abandoned that idea after talking to a bunch of old timers in NC. They say the house will become "coked". (SP). That is where the odor from the fire is throughout the house and you can't get rid of it. I have been in a few houses up there like that and it is not pleasant. However we have a two sided propane no-vent in our house now and when the temps get down to 30, (yes in FL) we still need a window open to let out some of the heat. Best heat source I have ever seen. Sounds like you are still in the planing stages so you have a lot of information to gather yet. More than likely the codes will guide your construction.

 

[Tony H]

The stairs on both sides was , kind of, to meet code. New York is a bit ridiculous on Safety. Yes I believ there is such thing as Too safe.
Coked.. a few friends have been heating their home 100% with wood stoves.. never smelled or heard of Coked. I will surf on that now that you bring it up. thanks
We are still early in the building process. Busy with other things .. Like get a driveway that will be passable for large trucks with Rafters and trusses. Right now I have a path through some trees that get the tractor and a car through. Long story but I need to do some things to a Pond before I can run Swales and Culverts from a stream to feed the pond and dry out the Final driveway area. Just put this up last weekend. The tractor will stay dry this winter but not so much for us.

 

[syndy]

Haha, driveways, tell me about it. For two years we worked in mud, gushy mud. Every time we went up to do something it rained either just before we got there or while we were there. We had the driveway space to the barn only but just mud when it rained. My backhoe would sink in about 16" and make a mess out of everything. It's about 150' to the barn and almost 500' to the house. I bought in 200 tons (approx 120yds) of crush and run). Best thing we did to get rid of mud, see muddy photos leading up to barn.

We also have a pond, I'm making it bigger and it is spring fed, also our water supply. On the other side we have about 400 feet of creek and it is yet to be cleared. I was hoping to get my spring boxes in on the last trip but adding gravel put an extra week into it. I just got all my plumbing fittings from Pex and my two electric panels as well as NM-B wiring from Lowes. Because we are over 20 miles from Lowes up there I try to buy everything in advance and trailer it up. That way I can start working the next day without hunting down materials. When we built on the island I did the same thing plus always had plan b,c and d in case something went wrong. Without that it was a trip by boat to the mainland and then to one of the box stores 20 miles away. I got lucky last May, I broke a main backhoe hose on a Sunday. Got under the bugger and got it out, ran up to an auto store and they were not only open but had all the hose and fittings to fix it. Two hours later we were up and running. Where we are building it is still rather remote and we are slowly learning where to get things when we need them.