Finally our custom home build! !!

[JKC03]

After a year or so sorting out the floor plan, land surveys, permits, dirt work and alot of other things we finally started setting forms.
We had a whole lot of dirt work that needed to be done and a 450 ft. road/driveway to be built. We decided after have a soil sample done that we would use our dirt by digging a pond instead of hauling in who knows how many truck loads of dirt.

I know it's not a garage build, but when the house is done there will be a garage build .
Thanks here are some pics of progress

 

[JKC03]

More pics
Got two good rains that filled the pond up

 

[stikman56]

Congratulations, and keep posting pictures as you go. Exciting, for sure.
We are still working on a loan to build on ours. We've got the land ready. Messes in these pictures are no longer there.

 

[JKC03]

Setting forms, next day it poured all day gotta wait until Monday now.

 

[stikman56]

So, looks like a slab foundation, then?

 

[JKC03]

Yes it will be a slab foundation

 

[James-W]

I am surprised that you don't have a basement. Around here a basement is practically mandatory. Well, not really mandatory, but almost every home has a basement.

 

[36truck]

That's going to be a cool build. Looking good so far. Nice work on making a pond & use the dirt you have.

 

[JKC03]

I am in south texas no one That i know or have ever been to has had a basement. Don't know exactly why but they don't build basements around here at all. I heard before the soil is to sandy.

 

[MushCreek]

I'm about 80% done with building our house in SC. I'm doing almost all of the work by myself, so it's a slow process. I've got three years in it, but that includes the 28 X 48 barn I built first. We're about 1400 square feet, but on a full walk-out basement, so there is potential for a lot more space. Construction is ICF, so the basement is already insulated.

Enjoy the process. and take pictures every step of the way!

 

[MacTexas]

Just to make sure I am not misunderstanding what you are doing, you still have to put beams and rebar in the slab before you pour?

 

[JKC03]

Yes you are correct, they still have to do the plumbing, rebar, and beams hopefully we will be pouring by the end of the week.

 

[JKC03]

Well the plumbers finally made it out. I was hoping they would've been here on monday, but at least it's moving along now.

 

[Cummins01]

Looks like a great start! Man, we just don't have that much "flat land" around here.
As a plumber, I'm always interested in seeing how things are done in other parts of the country. I'm assuming the riser coming up off the P-trap with the black box around it is maybe for a shower drain? in pic #3

 

[JKC03]

Yes that's the shower drain on the left and a bathtub drain to the right of it on pic #3.

 

[JKC03]

More pics:
Getting the ground ready for concrete. Still have to finish up and put down plastic and then rebar. Hopefully will be pouring Friday or Saturday.

 

[JKC03]

I have a time lapse camera set up to capture the entire home build. Here's a clip of plumbing install from last week.

Time lapse video: plumbing installation:

 

[cdd1]

I have a time lapse camera set up to capture the entire home build. Here's a clip of plumbing install from last week.

Time lapse video: plumbing installation:

What are the specs (fps and frequency) of your time lapse set up?

 

[JKC03]

It takes a pic every 60 seconds, it is at 20 frames per second playback. Still playing with it trying to see which I like best.

 

[ADSR]

that was cool!

 

[Bib Overalls]

Did they hand dig the forms for the beams? Hard to imagine a machine doing the work without caving in the sides when it starts digging the cross trenches.

 

[JKC03]

Machine did majority of the work, they were digging too.
Still not done, haven't done any of the garage area yet.

 

[jsherid1]

Welcome fellow Texan--good luck with your build! We just moved into our new house outside Dallas in July after a 9 month build process, drop me a PM if you want to bounce anything off someone.

 

[wasfast]

I am in south texas no one That i know or have ever been to has had a basement. Don't know exactly why but they don't build basements around here at all. I heard before the soil is to sandy.

The main driver for depth of footings is frost line. Many places that have cold winters require a 4-5' deep footing to prevent frost heaving. Since you're already that deep, making a basement doesn't add much cost and provides lots of additional space.

I grew up in Oregon. Most homes on level ground have crawl spaces with 18-24" foundations.

In dry climates like California and Texas, the monoslab foundations are common since they don't have the freezing concerns of the NE.

 

[JKC03]

Welcome fellow Texan--good luck with your build! We just moved into our new house outside Dallas in July after a 9 month build process, drop me a PM if you want to bounce anything off someone.

Congrats,
This process has been almost a year already between planning, surveys, waiting on county, ect. ect. ect...Weather has been the biggest factor since about Christmas time. With all the waiting we have really got to go over all our plans for the property so many times and even changing many of them for the better. But we are getting super excited that the slab is about to be done. Then all the fun starts as the framing starts. I love watching the process of homes/ shops being built. I will literally be out here everyday until it is complete.

 

[JKC03]

The main driver for depth of footings is frost line. Many places that have cold winters require a 4-5' deep footing to prevent frost heaving. Since you're already that deep, making a basement doesn't add much cost and provides lots of additional space.

I grew up in Oregon. Most homes on level ground have crawl spaces with 18-24" foundations.

In dry climates like California and Texas, the monoslab foundations are common since they don't have the freezing concerns of the NE.

Thanks, that clears it up alot, makes alot of sense between foundations in different regions.

 

[cdd1]

It takes a pic every 60 seconds, it is at 20 frames per second playback. Still playing with it trying to see which I like best.

Thanks. I tried one that was a pic every hour at 30 fps. Think I'm going to go down to every 10 minutes at 30 fps, but I do like the pace of your 20 fps video. I might have to try a 20 fps test run at 10 minutes to see if I like it.

In my case, I'm going to keep the camera in the same location for the entire build process, so I'm trying to get this all figured out before construction starts...

 

[JKC03]

Thanks. I tried one that was a pic every hour at 30 fps. Think I'm going to go down to every 10 minutes at 30 fps, but I do like the pace of your 20 fps video. I might have to try a 20 fps test run at 10 minutes to see if I like it.

In my case, I'm going to keep the camera in the same location for the entire build process, so I'm trying to get this all figured out before construction starts...

I have it mounted on a pole , it will stay in the same spot for the entire build, once the house is enclosed I will probably change the interval to every 10 min or so. i took it down after the plumbing was done on a rainy day to view the footage. it's back up again. I just have to figure out how to edit them all together to make one video once it's done. It turns on at 6 am and turns off at 7pm. So everyday is a separate video.

 

[cdd1]

I have it mounted on a pole , it will stay in the same spot for the entire build, once the house is enclosed I will probably change the interval to every 10 min or so. i took it down after the plumbing was done on a rainy day to view the footage. it's back up again. I just have to figure out how to edit them all together to make one video once it's done. It turns on at 6 am and turns off at 7pm. So everyday is a separate video.

cool. What camera are you using?

 

[JKC03]

Brinno BCC100 Construction time lapse camera, they have a couple different ones , after reading I felt this one would be the best for me.
Thanks

 

[Cummins01]

very cool video! As Wasfast said, here in Oregon most homes (at least in the Portland area) are built with footings and foundation stem walls around the perimeter and then post and beam construction for the interior floor structure. So when we plumb them, we hang everything off of the posts and beams in the crawl space. In commercial structures we do it very much as your house was done, dig a ditch, toss the pipe in.

Again, very cool thanks for the time lapse!

 

[JimL]

Plumbers move quick!

 

[JKC03]

They are moving along, getting cables ready for tomorrow.

Also started the water well today.

Couple pics

 

[JKC03]

Just about ready to pour, just have to finish framing out where the porches are gonna be. Most important thing.... the garage........ itis in the first pic, gonna be around 25.5x25.5. Have all the steel cables and rebar and plastic down now. To me it makes it look so much bigger.. getting close....[emoji16]

 

[JKC03]

Poured this morning!!

 

[Bib Overalls]

That is a lot of concrete. Do they tension the cables before or after the concrete has cured? I'm not familiar with that method of reinforcing a slab. I do know that it is a common practice in Texas.

 

[72Anthony]

The cables are tensioned after the pour, the concrete needs to cure.

The soil conditions in South Texas (Houston and surrounding areas) contains a lot of clay and is referred to as an "expansive" soil. That is, it will swell and contract with changes in moisture. That is why the slabs in this area are relatively stout compared to other parts of the country.

The only places where you find basements are in high rise buildings where space is at a premium. The expansive nature of the soils requires strong basement walls to resist the lateral loads.

Good luck with the build!

 

[JKC03]

We finally got our lumber delivery friday. They tried on Monday but the ***** driving the forklift got stuck. They couldn't get him out for like 4 hrs.
Instead of driving on my new dirt driveway that was just a little wet, he decided to drive off the road with the first load and instantly sinks up to the frame. Needless to say no lumber was delivered that day, and I was pretty pissed......

 

[JKC03]

I haven't updated in awhile, things are moving along very well now, entire house is framed and roof was finished with decking today!! Man it finally looks like the home we've been waiting for!!

 

[JKC03]

More pics: