"Lean To" Foundation

74 degrees with some clouds and no rain.

Today I let in the block foundation for the "lean to" shed that will go against the main building and also finished with the last course of block for the entire foundation.  All of the block appears to be very strait and level as I gave it one more check with a level and tape measure.

String pulled very tight to align the block.

Lean To foundation in Sketchup

"Lean To" foundation.

I also discovered that there was not enough room in height to put in the block around the tree where I previously poured a foundation around the roots.  I decided to pour another foundation right up to the height of the final course of block, which will work well.

New poured foundation with Devon and Lauren's name and year.

Tomorrow I plan to buy three more bags of concrete mix and pour it into some of the remaining voids in the block where I plan to install the remaining anchor bolts for the sill plate.  I have the locations where I would like to install the bolts placed around the block so I should be ready to go.  I will also need to get two more pressure treated 6" boards for the sill around the "lean to" shed foundation.  This will be the final day of foundation work as long as the weather holds.

Pouring the Forms

(Actually Sunday) 68 degrees, cooler with times of spitting rain.  Mosquito count down to almost zero per cubic yard.

The weather forecast at first looked good for Sunday but it turned out to be difficult to work in even though I was protected from some of the rain with the trees above.  The first order of business was to get the stone packed around the large roots of the tree and then to use pieces of wood from one of the pallets to build a foundation form.  Then I poured the concrete into the form and let it set until Lauren came by and decided to write her name and her sister's name with a small stick.

Form completed and filled with concrete.

Cute

I then worked on the back wall and the side of the foundation that faces the brick pad.  This completes the height of the foundation for three of the sides and I was also able to put in two more anchor bolts before finishing today.  I used two bags of mortar and three bags of concrete cement and one additional bag of stone and it turned out to be a productive day despite the drizzle.

Photographer - Lauren with umbrella.

My god, stand up strait.

Good enough.

Mortar was used to fill in the joints and to set the block.

Oh, and the best part of the day was when Lauren surprised me by bringing me a hot tea with cream and sugar when I was really getting cold and tired.  I can't believe that we had temperatures in the 90's recently and now it is in the upper 50's and lower 60's.

Warm tea and the sun was coming out!!!

By the way - I'm using an old book from the 70's that I believe was a Christmas gift to me that describes how to build a house.  That book along with what Mr. Briggs and Mr. Bowen taught me in high school woodworking, drafting and architecture classes and the Internet should provide me with the little knowledge that I need to put this project together.  I found a great source on the FineHomeBuilding website that is a series of videos on YouTube that does a great job explaining how to frame a house - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqM7ekLfSmA. I'm sure I will be calling my father-in-law soon to discuss some of the finer points of framing as the foundation nears completion.

Cold Rain

Fri

67° | 54°

Sat

65° | 61°

Sun

74° | 63°

Mon

74° | 61°

Well, it looks like I'm not going to get much done for the next couple days. I might spend some time working on two old doors that I brought back from Germany when we lived there back in the 90's. I still need to remove some of the old paint, glue some of the trim pieces back on and repair the bottom of the doors, which were badly damaged over the 200 years of use. I have ordered large 4x8x8 pressure treated material that I will dovetail into a frame around these old doors and I need to get the final installed dimensions and prepare for this to go up as the first or second wall once the floor is installed.

More Foundation Work - It Never Ends

88 degrees with lots of sun and much humidity.  Mosquito count = 2.5 per cubic yard of air.

I'm going to spare you any pictures of stacks of cinder block and only tell you that I was able to set the first course of blocks against the back wall and set the re-bar into two voids and I also set two anchor bolts on the west wall of the foundation that will later be used to secure the sill plate to the foundation.

I also moved all of the remaining block (80 in total) from the driveway to the site in neat stacks where I will be using them to complete the foundation.  I also swept the concrete flakes and dumped the wood pallet onto the pile of branches at the curb that are still there from hurricane Irene.  I just took a shower and I'm now listening to REM, Dead Letter Office and started in on a fresh box of wine, so I'm good.

Material Arrives

Even hotter - 88 degrees with almost no chance of raid.

Well, on Friday afternoon I received some of the material from Home Depot.  They were not able to get the concrete block and plywood sheathing on the truck and they sent two of the long 2x6 x 14 foot boards to be used as the sill plate in the wrong material.  It was kiln dried wood and it should have been pressure treated weather resistant material.

 

Dropped down on the grass.  The driver said that his vehicle weighs three tons - I believe him from the look of the grass after driving over it three times.

Pointed Playhouse in kit form.

I had to move all of the material from the street to the brick pad (by hand!)

They did deliver the remaining material on Saturday morning.  The driver did a very nice job setting it neatly in the driveway.  I can't believe how they can make money delivering two separate times with such great service for only $60.

On Sunday and Monday evening I shot the level lines with a laser and began tamping the soil with the added rock to create a level foundation for the concrete block.  As I said before, this is my least favorite part of the project, but it wasn't too bad and I can see relatively rapid progress given the small size of the structure.

Spinning laser.

The laser level setup to give me an accurate right angle.

The perimeter is outlined along with a fairly accurate level line.  I just need to measure down anywhere along the line to get a consistent measurement to the height of a row of block.

I then started to haul the concrete block from the driveway (can't wait to get that all out of there) to the site and began mixing cement and laying the first course of block on the lower elevation of the foundation.  I don't have a way to put down three courses of block around the entire foundation because I ran into large roots from the tall pine tree on the left, which was expected.  I will pack the area around the roots with crushed marble stone to allow the roots to still grow a little without disturbing the foundation (I hope).  The pine tree was a design consideration and I felt that a large tree very close to the Pointed Playhouse would give it character.

You can see one of the four foot re-bar that I put deep into the ground and reinforced with cement in the block to tie the foundation to the earth.  I'm hoping to seek refuge here during the next large hurricane.

The third course was started on Monday evening.  A flash on my iPhone went off to take this image because I was working late.

Note to self - buy more cement...  Chance of rain on Thursday - maybe take a half day off work to get the foundation done before then.

Foundation Plans

Here is the plan for the foundation, which is built upon compacted earth, crushed stone and will be 8x8x16 cinder block and anchor bolts that will be used to tie the pressure treated sill plate.

Foundation with sill plate

Putting in the foundation will be my least favorite part of the project.  I have some of the trench dug but I need to spend about another 4 hours digging and then I can shoot the level lines to prepare the ground and the first course of block.  This needs to be level and square.

Clearing the Overgrowth

75 degrees with clouds and calm winds.  Chance of rain later today.

Ready to be cut with the chainsaw

Here are a few pictures from work back on the 14th of August to clear out some of the large bushes (trees) that hang over the area where the playhouse will go.  I think I need to spray for bugs.
The city came along a few days later and collected all of the cuttings on the street but today there are piles out again on the street from our cleanup after hurricane Irene.

Cleanup after hurricane Irene

Also - a duck decided to hang out with us just after the hurricane blew through our area.  She decided to follow the kids home from the little beach and wanted to take a nap on the porch before disappearing the following morning.  She must have been domesticated because she was too trusty of us.  The girls could not decide upon a name - either "chicken", "Sally" or "Irene".

Goodnight Irene