Stripping the Foundation

Once the foundation is poured it has to be stripped. Ray is the kind of guy that will not expect me to go to the jobsite and build the house. He will gladly accept help when it is offered, but he will not demand that I go. If I made any noises about not wanting to go, he would quietly accept it and not make a fuss. That makes it easy to want to help!

I knew that there would be jobs that I was capable of. These jobs would help us move forward with the housebuilding, while Ray was working on his paying jobs. So, of course, there was no question that I would have to be willing. Now, if you remember, after the first house I said I would *never* do this again! And I truly meant it!

(At the end of the foundation pour, I told Ray, I quit. I have quit three times now, but this is really the last time!) laugh

It was exhausting, and really, in that house what did I do? I helped lift some heavy walls, and I did the complete electrical drilling of holes and running of wires and hammering of electrical nails. I then painted the entire house. Well, that house was 2100 sq ft that I had to wire, but only 1300 sq ft that I had to paint. And I thought that was hard! The foundation was 800 sq ft.

Then along came the next house, and I helped with the footings and a tiny bit on the foundation, tarred the foundation and laid the drainrock. Then I helped labour for framing and did some insulating. At that point, I was only planning to do the painting, but it was not to be. We were under a time crunch and I had no choice but to jump in and help Ray with the mudding of the drywall. What a messy job that was.

Lunch Break With My Little Helper

By the time I was done I was mudding and sanding everywhere. This was followed by painting the entire house. This time it was 2800 sq ft that I had to paint.

This shows a link to a page where we had a very busy day on the job.

We finished days before Christmas, but those days were 20 hr days! I would work from about 6:00 am - 9:00 pm, and Ray would work from 9:00 am - 3:00 am. We worked like mad to get done, but got in just in time.

When that job was done, I was seriously done! I had worked much more than the first job!

Now, this job, I can already see the pattern. I am doing things I have never done before and the work has only just begun! I began this job thinking my girls wouldn't do much, because they are girls and delicate.... Silly me!

I realize now that they need to learn to do as much as I can do (in time), because one day they will be wives and it would be a wonderful thing if they were able to help their husbands build their family homes! So let the training of the girls begin! (smile)

Cassidy arrived at the job in the early morning and worked on stripping the garage.


When I arrived at 2:30 pm, I could see a monster job ahead of me. Where to start? Cassidy told me the first thing I had to do was to remove the cleats that were nailed all over the forms. I began doing this job after I delegated jobs to the children.


Austin would carry the 2x4s and 2x6s to an area and pile them neatly.

Cooper would pick up all the denailed cleats and deposit them over the wall. Plus, he removed all the ties from the bars once they had fallen off the walls.



Raine, Savannah, and Briton would carry the cleats away from the foundation and create a pile on the meadow. We began to work and everyone worked nicely in unison.


I had a goal (as I usually do!) and told my kids I wanted to get the inside stripped before their dad arrived. I knew it would be around 6:00 pm, so we didn't have a lot of time.

After I had removed all the scrap wood cleats that were nailed all over the forms, I took the nails out and left them for Cooper to pick up. This took over an hour. I sat down to rest in the shade. It was another very hot day! As I sat there I asked Cassidy what was next. He said I had to remove the bars. I figured I would be sliding the bars back out of the holes in the ties that I had slid them into in the first place. No.

He informed me that I would take my hammer and whack at the end of the tie and break it. As I sat there, I am thinking, Ya, right! I am going to break those metal ties?

When was the last time you had to smack a metal bar and break it off of a concrete wall? Then Cassidy jumps down and shows me how it is done. Whack, whack, whack. Done.

I scoff, Superwoman! That's what I have to be! No problem. Just add that to my job training. Justine - Breaker of Metal Bars (laugh!) Crazy! There are 24 ties in each board. Each tie took about 4 hits to break. There are about 80 boards. Do the math! That is about 9000 swings of the hammer! For someone that uses a wooden spoon to mix cookies. Do you think my arms will hold up?

Then I begin to hit the ties like Cassidy instructed me and I saw how he figured it would be no problem: there is a spot in each bar where it is intended to snap if you whack it hard enough. Well, for me that means about four strikes with the hammer, since my muscles and swing are pretty pathetic. Once again, I was working up a sweat.

Speaking of sweat. My mother once said to me: Horses sweat, men perspire, and ladies glow. Well, people, I can honestly tell you: I sweat! That is something I am not accustomed to. I used to be a glower. No more.


Little guys kept up their hard work and by 6:00 pm I had removed all the bars on the lower four feet around the interior of the foundation; I had dropped all the forms from the four foot walls;


Austin had moved all the loose lumber; and the younger ones had cleared all the small scraps of wood to the meadow. It was looking good. We stopped to have a blueberry snack break, a drink of water, and then back to work.

Shortly after that, one of the children said that they heard their dad arrive. Now, I will begin to try to illustrate for you what the next scene felt like.

Remember, we have busted our butts. I have been swinging this hammer like a crazy woman for three hours, and have successfully removed 1/2 of the ties from the rods on the inside of the foundation. My arm is falling off. The muscle in my shoulder is knotted in a very complicated knot.

And then suddenly, it was like the descent of eagles. Or perhaps, from one of those dinosaur movies. We were down inside the foundation and the walls were 8 feet high at most parts. Out of nowhere, three large male bodies descended upon us. It was like they swooped down, literally on top of the walls for a couple of them, picked up hammers and began SWACK, SWACK, SWACK, and the metal bar fell down. One hard hit per tie and it broke. Others jumped down into the foundation and without a word just began whacking ties .


I stood there with the children watching the lack of effort from the mens crew. No effort. Our effort? Hard work. These guys came in like superhumans and bang, bang, bang, the walls fell down!


We left shortly after that to go home and make dinner. We left the Super Humans there to continue the job. Three hours later, they arrived home and upon inquisition informed me that ALL the walls were down. Not just the second half of the interior, but the complete exterior of the foundation was also done. Wow!

But Ray tells me that it would normally take 1 1/2 days to strip that foundation, and it only took him and the big boys 3 hours to do what they did, because of what our crew did before them, plus because we will finish the job today, while they are back at the other job where they are getting paid. So we may be slower, but at least it is a job that we can do.

Day 2 Stripping the Foundation

Wall Are Nearly Bare Now

This time at the job I had to take all the nails out of the forms that were knocked down the day before by the guys. The children cleaned up all the cleats, and bar that was outside the job. And then at the end of the work we all sat down and enjoyed some fresh blueberries! Nice and refreshing.

Eating Blueberries Out of Their Hats

The next job I have to do is to plug the holes with some tar goop and then paint black weatherproofing all over the foundation to make sure it is waterproof. While I am doing that the children will be raking out the pit run (gravel dirt) all over the driveway.

We will be ready for inspection on Tuesday, so I have only until then to get the foundation prepped and ready for drainrock on Wednesday! We will then backfill the foundation on Wednesday, and after that the framing can begin.

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Book Burning?

No, I am not into book burning, but I couldn't say no when the children decided they wanted to burn their completed schoolbooks this year.

It turned into a marshmallow roast and celebration of school being done for the year.
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Pouring the Foundation

OH. MY. GOODNESS!! I feel like a pioneer woman!!! Seriously. I have a new respect for men that build houses.

First, let me preface this by stating that I did not do much more than report that we poured the footings. I did not get into the 'feelings' of the day. Well, I am about to do that. It was hot, very hot! There was not a cloud in the sky. Normally, I am a person that does pretty much no physical labour. lol I walk up and down stairs. I cook, minorly clean, teach school, carry my purse to the car, move laundry from A to B, and train and delegate jobs to my young workers at home. If I walk upstairs, while chatting on the phone I get winded. Pathetic, I know. But that is how it is. You get the picture. I am not a physically fit person.

So you can imagine the workout it was on the day I helped pour the footings. And seriously, all I was doing was bending over and smoothing concrete in footing forms. Not too bad. Or maybe it shouldn't have been too bad.

Up and down, up and down. Bend and smooth, bend and smooth. Sun beating down. Hot, hot, hot. And then it was done. Two hours later. Thank goodness.

Yesterday, when Ray left for work, I asked him if he needed my help on the foundation. He didn't really answer, but looked like it wasn't really necessary. So I told him I would be there by the time the pour happened. I planned to pull up my lawn chair and watch the action. Not. I should be so lucky! I know foundations. I have poured three of them now.

I arrived, as usual, late, right behind the pumper truck. As I was running out the door I suddenly remembered that I was supposed to pick up some post saddles for Ray at the lumber store. Ooops. That would push me back, so I was nearly late.

I arrived at the land and thankfully we have two driveways. It is quite funny. Imagine this so you can see our house/driveway. Our official driveway and then the old driveway which runs down the meadow is like a backward P. You drive up the back of the P and then take a left and go straight down to the house. (remember the P is pointing towards the left). Or you can drive up the back of the P and and keep on going past the official driveway and you will wind through the meadow and end up at the other side of the house. This particular driveway is actually an old logging road through the meadow and eventually it will become part of the meadow again.

So I was able to take the road through the meadow and get there and watch the pumper set up. I got my trusty video camera and still camera and headed out, prepared to take pictures for posterity sake. It didn't take long for Ray to put me to work! Goodness, within moments I was called, so I handed the cameras to Austin, my camera man, gave him quick instructions and got to work.

What I saw right away was Ray calling orders to everyone. There were those last minute things that had to be done. It is really hard to judge exactly what time you will be done preparing for a foundation and when you will be ready for the concrete. And once it arrives, you had better be ready. So when there are those last minute things it seems a bit frantic.

Now, since this is a very large foundation and according to Colt, the only one of it's kind that Ray has done since he has worked with his dad, it put more pressure on. I am not saying *Ray* felt the pressure, but it was a new foundation for the boys to pour.

When we lived in the Big City Ray did many a foundation like this, but where we live people usually choose simpler plans. Plus, the two houses that we designed before we bought this plan, were your basic box foundation, with a few adjustments. This one has a carousel (breakfast nook) and areas that jut in and out along the foundation. So the nice thing is that Ray loves to build a custom home and he doesn't often get those opportunities where we live.

Strengthening Corners

The first thing he needed was ties added to the corners to strengthen them. The foundation was poured at the hottest time of day: 3:00 pm! It was also an extremely hot day of about 30* with only a few tiny clouds in the sky. Nothing to write home about.

As soon as I had done this I headed over to watch the guys begin the pour. I figured if the pour was happening, and we had Ray, plus the three big boys, and a day labourer to help, then I was not needed.



They began pouring the wall and were heading down the second half of the first wall, when all of a sudden things got a little crazy.

Blank Construction and Sons (Need I say more?!)

One of the interior form walls was pushing out and concrete was pouring through a corner. It was a weak spot because it was one without the hinges. I can't even begin to put to words what happened. Everyone jumped in and did their part. Ray was standing on top of the wall filling it with concrete when this happened, so he was telling people what to do and they were getting it done.

The boys wedged 2x4s up against the wall, and someone else began pushing the concrete out of the cavity so that we could push the wall back in and then press the 2x4 wedges harder against it, and then nail them into place. This was so that we would be able to brace the wall for the refill after the wall was repaired. The decision was made to go around the wall once and fill the lower four feet and then return to do the top.

This makes it sound like it was so calm and orderly. Well, because of Ray's calm spirit, it was orderly, but it was not without stress! Seriously, from what I could see we had a wall 3/4 full of concrete and it was pushing out 3"! I could just see the entire foundation coming down. Now, of course, that wasn't going to happen, but how was I to be sure! lol. I know that the boys and I were praying. And as it turned out, everyone on the job that day was a Christian, so I am sure there were more than just our prayers ascending to heaven!

The Wall After the Crisis Was Stopped

Before this was all going on it was sweltering hot, and Dane tells me there were no clouds all day. I know when I arrived moments before the pour started there were just a few tiny clouds up there. But when this situation happened I was praying and thanking God because clouds began to appear to block the sun and a refreshing cool breeze was whispering through the foundation. It truly sustained us through the continuation of the pour during this intensely hot day.

The Sun Is Hidden Behind That Cloud

I said to Colt, "Thank the Lord for the clouds!" And Dane told me that they were because that was the first cloud cover they had had all day. Such a blessing!

Love This Picture!
Look at those glorious clouds!

I took a breather and sat down to have a drink of water. My face was beat red, so says Austin. Well, no kidding. That was one freaky moment dealing with that wall, and a lot of mad rushing around!

The guys continued around the wall and all was well. Funny thing is, Ray hadn't got his dander up at all. Knowing him, he had the whole thing under control. laugh

Then I took a wander over to see how they were doing on the other side.

And then Ray says, "How's the wall doing?"

Huh?

Oh! The corner! We are heading to the opposite corner. Another possible trouble spot.

I check it out and what do I see? Concrete pouring out a new gap.

Pouring Out the Corner

I begin waving my hand in the air to let the concrete operator know to turn off his remote control concrete straw (laugh). I am sure there is another official word for it, but it escapes me right now. Thankfully, he did shut it down, and this is what we saw. It was the same as we had seen on the other side, except this time we had less concrete in the wall, so it wasn't as bad.

Ray decided to go work from another direction while the boys and I repaired the wall.


Our boys, I tell you, decided to use Cassidy's pouch as a brace! Then the next thing I see is one of the legs of a pair of jeans nailed to the wall! I told them I would be sure to let people know that was the "Sons" side of the construction company that did that! lol I know Cassidy wasn't too impressed, but I did tell him we would replace his pouch if necessary!



But it worked.


The pour out of the hole stopped, and we were able to strengthen the corner with ties, and then the pour was continued and the wall held nicely. There were no more incidents like that!

Cassidy Vibrating the Air Out of the Concrete

Putting in Wood Blocks to Stop Overflow at the Drop Wall

I figured my day was over. The foundation was coming to an end; it had been three hours of intense hard labour. I deserved to stop. I wandered around the construction site to see what Ray was up to.

These are the posts for the deck. On one side of the carousel will be a door from the breakfast room into a screen porch. From the other side of the carousel will be a door onto an open deck. They will connect in the middle, but there will be a screen door between them. This view will overlook our slight hill down and then look out to the ranch land beyond and the lake beyond that.

Colt Pouring the Foundation for the Wood Boiler

As I passed Colt, I see Ray and he says, "You can go to my truck and get some rubber boot. You can wade in the cement and level it."

I am *certain* he is joking, so I say, "Haha. Funny. I'm done." Pause, when he smiles. "You *are* joking, right? You don't seriously want me to put on rubber boots and do that?"

I am thinking that that is getting beyond my job description of: Come to the job site and watch, which led into quick fix ups, to errand girl, to complete jobs of my own, to save the day!

Nice husband that I have he smiles kindly, and understands, and calls to Colt, and says, "Colt, there are some rubber boots in my truck..." grin

But then.... He says, "Can you jump in here and pick up that wood?" That means crawling up a 2x4 across a moat, and then jumping down 4 feet into the foundation. Okay, energy needs to found again.

I said there for a moment. Seriously, I had let my energy go. I thought I was done. So the concrete truck operator says, "I'll do it."

I can't let that happen! That would not be right, so I climb up the 2x4 like a monkey, jump in the foundation and then begin picking up scraps of wood. You see, the concrete guy is going to dump the remains of his bucket in the foundation, and it needs to be clear to do that.

I begin picking up wood and tools and moving them out of the way of the 'straw', which is hanging down beside me, when all of a SUDDEN..

Ray Thrusts the Straw at Me

And this thing starts vibrating and concrete starts pounding through it and out at my feet. Wow! That got my energy back! laugh

Meanwhile, the little people had been playing in the shade under the trees. Finally, at some point they all took a rest from that hot, hot, day.

I have been asked how I find time for this blogging. Well, honestly, the blog is my children's life journal, and this week I am fortunate in that they are at daycamp in the mornings, so I have a wee holiday. The afternoons we head to the land. So in the morning, after I drop them off for three hours, I get to come home to a quiet house and do my work and then upload my pictures and write the blog.

Today, (the day after the foundation was poured), Cassidy and I will be stripping it. That will be a big job!
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Building the Forms for the Foundation

This house is the biggest one my husband has done in the area we live in, and I was not estimating the time to build it correctly. I was thinking of houses smaller than this one, so the building of the footings and forms took longer than the boys and I figured.

It has taken a number of days this week, plus a few evenings after working at other jobs, to get the forms built for the foundation.

Cooper was a wonderful helper putting all the ties into the slots.


Austin and I slipped the bar through the ties, and trust me, it wasn't easy! Some of those bars have been bent over time and it was no simple task. My muscles in my arms are getting a work out holding them up. They might look light, but try dropping one on your foot... (iron bars)


Cassidy helped Ray with the transit to level out the top of the foundation.


Then Colt, Dane, and Cassidy all built the walls of the forms.


The actual order of things is this:

First, they put up the forms, then Cooper came through and put in the ties, and then Austin and I put the bars through the ties. After this, the older three would build the inner form walls. They had to slip the forms onto the metal ties that was sticking through from the other side. It was not easy! You should have seen how dirty everyone was at the end of each day. Those forms are covered with diesel oil! Laundry...

Meanwhile, the younger three were all out on the driveway clearing up the sticks. Trust me, there will be LOTS of landscaping to do!! Next job: spreading the gravel on the driveway.

Wonderful Little Workers

They all know that they are invaluable parts of building this house. Each and everyone can contribute to the process, and in the end we will have a beautiful home to enjoy, and for our big boys to bring their families home to when they get married!

Lunch Break!

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Stripping the Footings

It is wonderful that in this, I am sure, our final home-building project, we have three big guys to help us this time. Last time, we only had a 13 and 15 year old. This time the boys are 19, 17, and 13. Now, things have changed and Colt will not be around for the four months that I thought, but at least he will be here til the end of August, and that will really help us get a headstart.

After the footings were poured they needed to be stripped. This was a job that we could leave Cassidy to do, while Ray was working on another job.


When I came to pick him up we decided to hide the kids' motorbikes, in case anyone decided to make an uninvited trip onto our land. So here is a filthy Cassidy, looking like a circus bear, riding a too-small motorbike!


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Preparing the Land, Driveway, and Footings

The work has begun on the land. This is third house I have built. The first house was bad enough, and I said I would never build another house. That was in 1999. Well, that didn't turn out to be the last because it was best for our family to move closer to town. And there is/was no way my husband could buy a ready-made house. He knows too much about construction to be willing to take a house that has issues. And as far as he is concerned: every house has issues. That's what you think when you are used to new construction. Besides, honestly, if you have the know-how building a house is the cheaper way to go! That is if you do the majority of the work yourself, and of course, we always do!

That first house had Ray building most of it himself with a wee bit of help from Colt and Dane, and then of course, I had my work cut out for me. The next house was easier with Colt and Dane doing the lion's share with Ray, but I still had to help on foundation, tar the basement, frame, insulate, mud the drywall, and then paint the entire house.

This time, I will be even more involved, but we will also have Colt 19, Dane 17, Cassidy 13, Austin 11, helping us. So that will help. But this house is also the biggest one we have built, so it will need all of us on board to get it done!

The first thing to do was prepare the driveway.

The Driveway 'Before'

View from the back of the house all the way up to the top of the first part of the driveway. Once you get to the top you take a right and drive along the pond front.

The Completed Driveway

From the Other End Looking Down From the Pond End

The Turn-Around By the House

After this was done we had to excavate the foundation and then build the footings.

The Foundation

The plan we have chosen is a wonderful one with a large main floor. We have also decided to put in a full basement, since the cost of concrete in the basement going from 4 foot to 8 foot walls is not much. Our goal is to finish the basement in stages, but at least we will have a wonderful large space for a media room, playroom, guest room, big boy's bedroom, games room, and storage room.

Cooper Helped Put Rocks By the Footings

We popped over one day to see how things were going.

Running to See What Daddy Has Accomplished

The children are asking what is what in the room. Savannah is stepping into the guest room, and the boys are leaping into the boys' room.

A few days later, it was time for the footings to be poured. This day we all had to work. There was no sitting out of the job, not this time! I headed to the land at 3:30PM, as Ray had asked me to do. As I drove along the road I could see the concrete truck directly in front of me. I was almost late!
As we drove into the driveway the power line guys were still working on installing the nine poles to our house. From our driveway entrance to our house is 1/2 a mile, so it takes a lot of poles.

Little Ones Watching the Action

Smoothing the Footings

After a hard few hours work it was time for dinner. I did not see myself heading home to put dinner on the table, so I headed to town and bought dinner.

What It Takes to Feed My Family

Skinny kids and look how much they *all* eat!! Even my Ethiopian daughters eat like the rest of the clan!

End of a Hard Day's Work

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