MC Rider
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
That's bigger than we need, but it's your house. I would not call it overly large. I wish we had a basement.
Building our new retirement place
- Thread starter skyking1
- Start date
OP
OP
skyking1
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
It quickly became something other than need.
The first floor of 1632 has all that we need. Then I was concerned about the view, considering the development next door.
That led to the 2nd floor which in reality is mostly guest space, except we could occupy the main bedroom up there if we wanted to.
The basement is going to be my shop until I build a dedicated one. It is the best deals going in terms of dollars per foot.
A house needs a foundation, no getting around that. We built the ICF basement for around 45K all in, and that provided a foundation.
It penciled out to $31 per SF to build.
The tax value as permitted is $31.50 per SF for all unfinished spaces, including the carport.
Contrast that with $167.31 per SF for the rest of the house. The basement is a bargain.
The carport was also a sweet deal, because they cannot tax it twice and it is a great 24x24 sundeck.
The first floor of 1632 has all that we need. Then I was concerned about the view, considering the development next door.
That led to the 2nd floor which in reality is mostly guest space, except we could occupy the main bedroom up there if we wanted to.
The basement is going to be my shop until I build a dedicated one. It is the best deals going in terms of dollars per foot.
A house needs a foundation, no getting around that. We built the ICF basement for around 45K all in, and that provided a foundation.
It penciled out to $31 per SF to build.
The tax value as permitted is $31.50 per SF for all unfinished spaces, including the carport.
Contrast that with $167.31 per SF for the rest of the house. The basement is a bargain.
The carport was also a sweet deal, because they cannot tax it twice and it is a great 24x24 sundeck.
OP
OP
skyking1
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
we dug in the first of 7 ground loops for the heat pump today.
aja8888
Moderator Emeritus
Looks like there are no rocks in that soil up that way!
OP
OP
skyking1
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
<ahem> look to the left of the trench.
aja8888
Moderator Emeritus
I see, I was only looking at the walls of the trench. No glacial till? Only big boulders?<ahem> look to the left of the trench.
MC Rider
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Much bigger and it might be time for blasting.
OP
OP
skyking1
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
The property has two distinct areas. The lower elevation and escarpment represent the furthest wanderings of the Dungeness river.
it is all gravelly sandy river bottom, ranging to rocks like those bigger ones.
I borrowed a couple of hundred tons of that for structural fill around the house.
The upper bench is deep clay. It is anaerobic lighter colored stuff. Mother nature has been admixing organics into the top layers in varying depths. I stripped that off and saved it as best I could. You can see that darker layer in the sides of the trench above.
When I get done regrading and covering the ground loops, I will schmear a schmear of the good stuff over the nasty clay, and then wait. And wait.
About September I can get out there and till the sods in and fine grade, and seed it with something appropriate.
Until then, that area is no-persons-land.
MC Rider
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I'd be wondering if that clay would be good for ceramics. Pottery and such.
OP
OP
skyking1
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
That is a bit of forced perspective. I have not found a stone that the 120 would not easily grasp and lift. Now my friend's place in eastern Washington had lil' Nug-Nug. I could not clean that one, not with any reasonably sized machine. best we could do is roll it up out of it's nest.
I'm not sure about clay quality. Some layers are close to good enough for craft work. It is not consistently super-slimy.
aja8888
Moderator Emeritus
I grew up in Connecticut and built a house in the 1970's on three wooded acres. You couldn't get a shovel in the ground there. Rocks everywhere and all glacial till. There was such a huge rock under where the house would sit that we decided not to blast it into pieces but leave it there and build over it with no basement.
OP
OP
skyking1
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I've seen crawl spaces like that, with ledge rock right in there. CT was the glacier's playground, as was WA.
We have these massive erratics that got dropped out here and there right on the surface.
We have these massive erratics that got dropped out here and there right on the surface.
aja8888
Moderator Emeritus
In CT the settlers in the 1600's built stone walls with the rocks they pulled from the fields they cultivated for crops. I had two of those walls bordering my property.
Thanks for the house construction thread. The place really looks nice and I love the setting.
Fermion
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
It definitely does not look the same as the dirt on our mountain property in eastern Washington. We have lots of roundish rocks when you get down around 4 feet deep...I actually panned some of the dirt and found a few gold flakes which made me want to dig deeper but alas the excavator is at our house now and a pain to move (too big for my truck to pull on a rented trailer).
kcowan
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
When we upgraded our snowbird condo, we opted for new construction where we could make changes. We replaced the slash pool with a BBQ, sink and bar fridge.
Then we replaced the third bedroom with a storage room, laundry room and a guest bathroom. We also changed all the lights to dimmers and switched wood panel finishing in the main hall with painted drywall and pictures.. We added extra ceiling fans.
Finally we had the balcony expanded to handle dining for eight and lounges chairs. Been there 6 months a year since 2020 and it is great! Indoor parking with guest spots right downtown.
Then we replaced the third bedroom with a storage room, laundry room and a guest bathroom. We also changed all the lights to dimmers and switched wood panel finishing in the main hall with painted drywall and pictures.. We added extra ceiling fans.
Finally we had the balcony expanded to handle dining for eight and lounges chairs. Been there 6 months a year since 2020 and it is great! Indoor parking with guest spots right downtown.
OP
OP
skyking1
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
That big 100 ton pile of clay in the photo above has been a thorn in my Birkenstocks.
Yesterday I laid it all out over two ground loops, and dug out and laid a 3rd one.
I need to spread 6" of organic soil/clay over it next. I strip that top layer off and segregate it from the anaerobic gray/tan clay.
The 300 tons of excavation spoils will create a side yard as seen here, and the back yard to the north. I get to move it a few times as I put in loops.
When I have that good layer of Nutella colored soil laid out, I will rent a rototiller to break up the sod and fine grade and seed it for the fall growing season.
Picture a rock wall starting here @2' tall, tapering to 4' as it goes towards the excavator.
I will put a short privacy fence at the property line on the right, just tall enough to contain a small dog.
Then I can hide it behind some very low shrubberies along the top of the wall. This will completely hide the house on the lot below, but I won't have to look at the privacy fence on that lower 10' wide bench.
That gumbo is water laden sticky stuff. I schmeared it down like cream cheese on a bagel as I backed off the edge of the fill. The machine sinks in about 5" so I have to wipe out my tracks as I go. In 3 months it will be firm and barely yield any track marks. You can walk across it now and not gather any on your shoes, but it would be terribad with a little rain.
We formed pies of it to hold down the PEX pipe as we rolled it out. "Plop" and that tamed the ornery pipe.
Loop #3 is laid out and tested, ready to backfill this morning. I will move 200 tons today, covering that and digging for more loops.
Meanwhile I have a framer working on the cupolas and formwork for retaining walls.
My brothers will both be here today and my nephew, laying out ground loops.
Yesterday I laid it all out over two ground loops, and dug out and laid a 3rd one.
I need to spread 6" of organic soil/clay over it next. I strip that top layer off and segregate it from the anaerobic gray/tan clay.
The 300 tons of excavation spoils will create a side yard as seen here, and the back yard to the north. I get to move it a few times as I put in loops.
When I have that good layer of Nutella colored soil laid out, I will rent a rototiller to break up the sod and fine grade and seed it for the fall growing season.
Picture a rock wall starting here @2' tall, tapering to 4' as it goes towards the excavator.
I will put a short privacy fence at the property line on the right, just tall enough to contain a small dog.
Then I can hide it behind some very low shrubberies along the top of the wall. This will completely hide the house on the lot below, but I won't have to look at the privacy fence on that lower 10' wide bench.
That gumbo is water laden sticky stuff. I schmeared it down like cream cheese on a bagel as I backed off the edge of the fill. The machine sinks in about 5" so I have to wipe out my tracks as I go. In 3 months it will be firm and barely yield any track marks. You can walk across it now and not gather any on your shoes, but it would be terribad with a little rain.
We formed pies of it to hold down the PEX pipe as we rolled it out. "Plop" and that tamed the ornery pipe.
Loop #3 is laid out and tested, ready to backfill this morning. I will move 200 tons today, covering that and digging for more loops.
Meanwhile I have a framer working on the cupolas and formwork for retaining walls.
My brothers will both be here today and my nephew, laying out ground loops.
street
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Things are moving right along. You will be skin and bone with all that labor you are doing. And maybe a little tired, too! Lol
Nice job always fun to see your progress and deal come true.
Nice job always fun to see your progress and deal come true.
OP
OP
skyking1
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
that was loop #3 above. We got 3 more done last week. The digging got really hard, so we will put another up by loop #1 in a couple of days.
I moved that pile of clay several times, getting all the loops in. Then I took an hour or so to finally put some shape on what I expect the final yard to be.
All the stakes mark the corners of loops. I need to build a retaining wall on either end of this last loop to get enough cover. Figure a 3' tall rock wall in the foreground, tapering to nothing to the right. That slope down to existing ground is close to final.
Looking up that slope. The bump on the right is another upper retaining wall to get grade up to the kitchen door. That big long lump of dirt is just being stored until we finish with the loops and can backfill next to the house. This hole will take a lot of dirt!
There is a 4' rock wall all the way around the north side to the east side, making a higher yard. It is no where near flat. Our property has too much grade change for that.
The "flat" yard is on the east side next to the carport.
Looking from the middle of the carport to that bit of shape to the NW. all that dirt stacked on the right fills the hole on the left.
I moved that pile of clay several times, getting all the loops in. Then I took an hour or so to finally put some shape on what I expect the final yard to be.
All the stakes mark the corners of loops. I need to build a retaining wall on either end of this last loop to get enough cover. Figure a 3' tall rock wall in the foreground, tapering to nothing to the right. That slope down to existing ground is close to final.
Looking up that slope. The bump on the right is another upper retaining wall to get grade up to the kitchen door. That big long lump of dirt is just being stored until we finish with the loops and can backfill next to the house. This hole will take a lot of dirt!
There is a 4' rock wall all the way around the north side to the east side, making a higher yard. It is no where near flat. Our property has too much grade change for that.
The "flat" yard is on the east side next to the carport.
Looking from the middle of the carport to that bit of shape to the NW. all that dirt stacked on the right fills the hole on the left.
OP
OP
skyking1
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
From pallet yesterday afternoon
To the roof today
We had installed the clamps and rails earlier this week and were ready to rock and roll with it.
The S5! clamps do not penetrate the roof, they clamp securely to the standing seam.
To the roof today
We had installed the clamps and rails earlier this week and were ready to rock and roll with it.
The S5! clamps do not penetrate the roof, they clamp securely to the standing seam.
OP
OP
skyking1
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Washington state has net metering with every public utility.
They do not buy your power, they store it for you all summer and then you get to use it all winter. The storage resets in March and you start over. If you made excess power you lose it.
The 14.72 Kw of panels is projected to produce ~15,000 Kwh per year.
If you are curious you can put in your locale and installation in the PVwatts website, and it will spit out a projection. It is a federal govt site for solar planning.
PVWatts
In our case I do not think these will be enough for all our usage. Close, but no cigar. After a year of experience can add some ground mounted panels, or not.
My utility has an upper limit of 25Kw of label output for Tier 1 producers like me.
They do not buy your power, they store it for you all summer and then you get to use it all winter. The storage resets in March and you start over. If you made excess power you lose it.
The 14.72 Kw of panels is projected to produce ~15,000 Kwh per year.
If you are curious you can put in your locale and installation in the PVwatts website, and it will spit out a projection. It is a federal govt site for solar planning.
PVWatts
In our case I do not think these will be enough for all our usage. Close, but no cigar. After a year of experience can add some ground mounted panels, or not.
My utility has an upper limit of 25Kw of label output for Tier 1 producers like me.
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