annnnndddddd........

Still no progress. Supposed to to the crush fill this week, but it looks like rain Wed and Thur.

Nothing

Yes, nothing. No progress since the last post. Rain, more rain, busy contractors with tight deadlines, even more rain - all combining to bring the addition construction to a halt.

We're supposed to have 3 days of dry weather - a delightful change of weather - so perhaps the ground will have a chance to dry up. We've had standing water in the yard for the better part of 2 months. So much mud.

Finally, a start!

After 3 weeks of waiting for rains to stop, groundwater to recede and the sun to come out, we have a block foundation. Of course, it started to rain in the middle of the block work, but the crew persevered and we are now ready to begin phase 3 of the foundation.

We will be backfilling with gravel to the top of the cinderblocks. Then we'll pour a 5 inch slab of concrete on top of that. We'll have pex in it for radiant heat and the slab will be the floor of the addition. It'll be a great thermal mass. In the winter, the sun will heat it up and it will also absorb heat from the woodstove, releasing it overnight, as well as having the option of being heated radiantly when its really cold or if we are away. In the summer, the sun will be blocked by pergolas/ivy and the concrete floor will stay cooler, helping to lower the room temp.

foundation

The foundation was poured on the 15th. Went well. Inspection was quick and easy and the truck was able to back right up to the spot.

Work has stopped for the moment, tho. We had 5 inches of rain from midnight Sat. thru Tuesday. As a result, the foundation is underwater. We have a sump pump draining it, but it keeps refilling as water seeps in from the sides. The ground is drying quickly as the water table is already starting to recede since its April. So hopefully, the water issue will be gone shortly.

Digging the foundation

We've removed the deck, pulled the nails and stacked all the lumber neatly to be reused later.


The trench for the foundation was dug today.

Permits

We are go on all the necessary permits. Oddly enough, the one that took the longest was from the Health Dept. Because we have a septic system, they needed to send someone out to look over the proposed site. We had to stake out where the addition is going and where the septic field currently resides. The Health Dept. comes out and makes sure you are not building on or too close to your septic field.

The house

When we bought this house 3 years ago - all 980 square feet of it, we knew it would need an addition.

Some specs -

Built in 1982
980 square feet
2 stories
Footprint is roughly 32x24
1 bathroom
2/3 bedrooms. 2 bedrooms have doors, 1 is the loft area.
One closet under the stairs.
One door, the front.
South facing with big windows for excellent passive solar.

Not a lot of space for a family of 5. But enough. It does make it easy to heat and cool. And its easy to talk to someone who is upstairs.

So, after 3 years, we are finally getting around to putting on an addition.