Foundation Complete - Day 35

This morning, it was like Christmas to come around the corner and see a big crane.

I still had frost on my windshield, and these guys were out there in below freezing temps.

At lunch time I came back out to bring the guys snacks and take more pictures.

They were almost done.

I stayed and chatted with Stanley while he worked. He and I have become buds.

As the concrete was being poured, the crew used a piece of wood to level it and spread it out.

Then Stanley would come back with the "swiffer" type tool to smooth out air bubbles and such.

As they poured concrete, they inserted the vertical rebar around the perimeter.

I didn't get to see them use the swirly things that polish the cement.

What's neat is Mom could see the crane from her house. She text me a picture.

Mom's house is in the same neighborhood, just on the opposite side.

It's so neat to realize that this stage of the process is complete!

We have a foundation!

I went back by tonight to see the finished product. You can see where the electric plugs just peep out of the concrete.

By tonight, the concrete was hard, but I wouldn't dare walk on it.

And as I left, the moon was on the rise.

What a wonderful day!

Foundation Inspection Passed

We had to wait for Monday to roll around before we could get our inspection. We needed this inspection before we could pour concrete onto the raised block and gravel to finish our foundation.

On Monday, the guys rolled out the plastic to cover the gravel. This is a moisture barrier.

And those bond beams I mentioned before... they had rebar laid into them.

I thought this was how it would be done, but wasn't 100% sure.

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It's neat to see it all right now.

All that's missing is 4 inches of concrete poured on top.

And since we passed inspection, we're getting that concrete TODAY!

I can't wait for Little JCrew and Mr. Brigglesworth to see the trucks and pump. They loved it the last time when we poured the footers.

We are almost done with the foundation!

Plumbing Inspection Pre-Slab PASSED!

The plumbing inspector should have come Monday, but he didn’t.

But the plumber did come out and he installed our dryer vents.

Another load of gravel came and so did lumber.

The inspector finally came out on Tuesday and told the plumber the vent in the master bath was two feet too far from where it needed to be. Our plumber then added another vent and called the inspector to come back out.

Tuesday wasn’t a total waste. We worked on getting that gravel load moved inside the house.

We also got orange tic marks added to the blocks.

As of Thursday AM, I had yet to figure out their meaning. But when I went by Thursday evening, I saw that they were indicators for rebar.

Some were in while the others were at least placed in the spot.

On Wednesday, the inspector came back out and we got our approval! Thank goodness!

Now we can finish covering up the pipes with the gravel and the electrician can come run conduit to the kitchen island and two spots in the living room. We plan to have two floor plugs in the living room for flexibility of future furniture arrangements. I like having end tables with lamps on them, but not having a power cord to trip over.

After our electrician runs his conduit, we will need two more inspections (electrical and pre-slab). I really hope the inspector comes out on Friday! If he does, then we can prep the slab with visqueen and have the concrete poured on Saturday! It’s my wishful thinking.Most likely an inspection won't be done until Monday and we will pour concrete on Tuesday.

Progress is good!

Back Porch

Plumbing Rough-In

Once some gravel was down, the plumber got to work. He started in my mom's bathroom and moved to the master bath.

In-Law Suite

Master Bath Started

The next day it rained and no work was done. But, Saturday was sunny and the plumber came back out and finished 99% of the job.

It's exciting to see the pipes sticking up out of the foundation.

Where there is a bath tub, the pipe has styrofoam around it.

This gives the plumber "wiggle room" for pipe placement.

Once the foundation is poured and framing goes up, the styrofoam will be removed.

The powder bath has its plumbing in.

Powder Bath

And the master bath is starting to take form.

Master Shower

I got a little confused seeing a pipe near the front door, but its measurements show it will be in the wall and it is the exit pipe for the second floor.

Our sewer line is in the front yard.

So the main exit goes out near the front door.

The main entrance for water will come in near the laundry room, on the side of the house were the water meter is.

The laundry room has piping for the washer and dryer and a sink.

Laundry Room

And the island will house our sink, so pipes are going there.

One thing I paid attention to in the design of the house, were pipes located on an exterior wall. I can have bathrooms on an exterior wall, but I tried to avoid piping on that wall. Mainly, I wanted to avoid freezing pipes, but we also had ICF. At the time, I thought pipes in an ICF wall needed to be avoided. I now know that if a pipe needed to be run, it would be okay. The pipe would run through the stryofoam part of the wall and be drywalled over.

It's fun to see it coming together. The plumbers used twine to mark dimensions, and I got to see how big the master bedroom would be.

It's the same size as our old room, so although it looks small, we know it will be plenty big.

The plumber says he is getting an inspection on Monday, and then it will be the electrician's turn for a rough-in before the slab is poured.