Slinging Rocks

A few days ago, there were some rocks being slung around as drain tile was installed.  As you may have picked up on by now, one of the biggest obstacles in this project is water.  It's one thing to try to keep an earth sheltered house dry, but add the fact that we are surrounded by ponds and natural springs in the earth, and that adds up to a lot of drainage work!

Drain tile is really hole-y pipe.  It is being installed around the perimeter of the house.  First they dug a trench, then lined it with thick plastic.  The next step is a layer of landscaping fabric, then the pipe is laid in.  Next comes the rock slinging, as rock is poured to fill the trench.

  That's where Bedrock Slingers, LLC comes in...

 

Learning that these guys have really big toys!

With their slinger truck, which is remote controlled.  This guy is trying to get his truck in between the two large cottonwood trees, to get the arm close enough to the trench to drop the rock. Really weird seeing this huge truck being driven around...with no one in it!

Finally gets the truck in place to get the arm close enough to the trench to sling the rock in.

Close up of drain tile on top of landscaping fabric

 and plastic.

After the rock fills the trench, they fold the plastic and 

fabric back over the trench.

One last thing, I've been meaning to introduce 

you to our neighbors, the cows.

A Mighty Fort(ress)?

The walls of the foundation are complete!  It was interesting to watch the crew set the forms and pour the concrete for the foundation walls.  While the forms were setting, our daughter said it looks like a fort.  We do want our home to be built on solid ground, like a mighty fortress (Psalm 46)!  Here are some pictures:

It looks like a fort.

These guys are so brave, climbing around on walls that are 24 feet tall and only 6 inches wide.

A close up view of their feet on the walls.

A closer view of the forms being readied to fill with concrete (that wall did get straightened out).

Trucks lined up waiting for their turn, it took 7 trucks of concrete to fill the forms.

The concrete coming out of the pumper truck and into the forms.

A view of the southwest corner of the house, the forms are filled with concrete and will dry overnight.

A view of the southwest corner after the forms are removed, leaving the foundation walls.

The forms are reloaded and waiting to go to their next project.

A view of the house taken from the west.

A Solid Foundation

The last couple of weeks have been spent getting a sump pump installed and working to keep the area dry so the trucks could get in to drill the piers.  Today thirty-six 28'-deep piers were drilled and filled with concrete—the beginning of a solid foundation!

Arm of  Concrete Pumper Truck

2 Drilling Trucks

Drill Operator

Guiding the arm into the hole to fill with concrete (the guy in the orange hat is using a remote control)

Close-up of hole with concrete and re-bar installed.

Steve fits right in with his NREL safety garb, and is loving being able to be so up close and involved!

We have a mountain of dirt...and a big hole!

Excavation has begun.

Moving dirt

So now we have a mountain of dirt...

 

dirt along the south edge of the property for the time being

And a big hole...

 future basement

This view to the west not only shows our neighbor's house, but how our house is being cut into the hill.

Finally getting started!

Last week the excavator was hired to do the initial site work to get the lot ready for construction.  They dug a drainage trench at the top of the hill and down the side to get all of the water from above to drain down below the house.

Notice the man in the trench at the bottom left, gives perspective on the depth of the trench.

They also removed some of the Russian Olives, which are a nuisance, and the city requires their removal.

It was a beautiful day to see our mountain views, too!

Oh what a year!

We hoped to start construction this time last year, but here's what's been happening since then:

 Winter View of Lot

• We had an energy analysis done by Ambient Energy,  to ensure that the envelope of the home will be as energy efficient as indicated by the design. 
• We interviewed several builders to be sure that the design would fit our budget, and chose Richard Ludwig, Environmental Homes of Colorado LLC.
• We decided that the awesome first design that Toby created would be considerably over our budget and worked with him to redesign the home.  After several tries, we finally got a design that fit our needs and our budget.
• We spent several months getting neighbor approval (we are building on one of 5 lots that are governed by an Architectural Control Committee comprised of the owners of those lots).
• We spent a couple of months getting city permits.

MEET OUR ARCHITECT

We would like for you to "meet" Toby Branch, AIA, LEED, AP. He owns Branch Architecture Studio, L.L.C. He is a registered Architect in the State of Colorado with a Bachelors of Architecture from the University of Arizona and is a LEED accredited professional. His architectural experience ranges from single family residential and multi-family to community builds. Here is his contact information:

BRANCH ARCHITECTURE STUDIO, LLC
Toby Branch AIA, LEED AP.
2324 Bellaire Street
Denver CO, 80207
OFFICE: 303-621-5952
tobymbranch@comcast.net

We hired Toby last spring to help us to determine if the land we were interested in would work for the design we had in mind. We have been very pleased with this decision and look forward to completing the process of our new home with Toby. He is now in the process of completing drawings of the house that we will be presenting to the City for approval and to our architectural control committee.