Cutting the Stone

Today the concrete got cut. The cuts attempt to control any cracking, well, they try to create a kind of pathway for any potential cracks. I decided to be specific about where I wanted the cuts. I used a 4' grid when designing the addition, so I had the slab cut into 4' squares, or tiles:-) The cuts will be filled with some type of epoxy. The finished floor will be this raw concrete "tile" floor.

The Big Pour

Thursday was an exciting day. The foundation got poured. We had all 5 of the DSS Construction crew here by 630am getting ready for the first concrete truck coming at 745am. The weather was perfect for concrete. It stayed overcast and cool, and we even had a bit of rain. The concrete got smoothed and anchor bolts were set in place. By the end of the day, the forms were removed and the rigid insulation board was placed around the perimeter of the slab. Allison and I spent much of the evening taking apart the old porch roof that was sitting in our yard. We got a lot done, but there is a long way to go.

Today's Theme...Rebar

It was all about rebar today. It was bent, placed, wired together, and raised off the ground. This was just a morning job. The Building Inspector came at noon...we passed. Now we are set to pour the foundation on Thursday morning at 8am.

New Addition Floor Plan

Here is the floor plan for the main level of the addition. The stairs go up to one large room. The new bathroom is within the existing house. Dashed lines show existing walls that will be removed.

New Front Yard

Here is a current photo of the front of the house.

Here is my sketch for the new front. We will have a new gabled roof at the entry. The front yard will be low maintenance with plenty of concrete for the entry walk and various retaining walls.

Forming the Foundation

Monday saw some more action on our project. First, they poured a slurry (sand, water, and a little cement) into the deeper part of the floor. That hardened very quickly. The rest of the day was all about setting the forms for the footings and slabs. We will have a two level monolithic slab foundation. We will step down two risers to our bedroom. This will lower the floor closer to the new courtyard level as well as increasing the bedroom ceiling height.

I still need to post some drawings, but here are some new photos.

Demolition Day

We finally got started today. Our addition project has been "on the boards" for a long time, and today marks the start of the drawing on paper becoming reality. It is a bit scary to see parts of the house getting torn off...there is no turning back now....we are committed! It is very exciting for me since this will be my first design that is not purely for someone else to enjoy. The designer in me is never content, so already I am making some changes to the design I submitted for a building permit a few weeks ago. Things come up that are unexpected which force you to redesign. I will try to post some floor plans so everyone can see what we are doing.

Here is what we are doing. We are completely re-landscaping our front yard, adding a new roof at the front door, adding a 2-story space to the rear of the house that will be master bedroom and walk-in closet on the ground floor and multi-use room upstairs (16'x28'). Once the addition gets done, we will convert our current powder room and den into the master bathroom.

I plan to do/help out as much as I can. I did spend all day cutting off the porch and shoveling sand...hard work.

I hope I can keep this blog up to date so we can share the progress with everyone. I also hope I remember to take pictures on a regular basis.

Wish us luck!


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