Ground Breaking..finally

[Txcowrancher]

We finally started on the first part of the main house after finishing the cabin this summer. Here are a couple pics of the cabin 12x16.



For the main house, Im not sure why but I changed from pier & beam to crawl space using a continuous concrete footing which will have 4 dry stacked concrete blocks making the crawl space. We bought the 1 1/2 story plans and changed  to a 20x40 length. I am thinking of possibly going drystacked all the way instead of using the plans, not sure at this point, will see how the crawl space part goes. here are a couple pics of the footing work almost ready for pouring, still need a little more work to get ready.



I am doing some second guessing on not using pier/beam but its a little late now, sure was fun using the mini excavator though...and at least it gives me the option of building with the blocks if I want to later. the footings range from 12 to 24 inches deep due to grade we dont have a very deep frost level here in Texas.  so was I nuts or what???

I did the electrical work on the cabin myself, here is a pic of the completed panel on the back of the cabin, I used a 320 amp meter in the center and a 125 amp main panel for the cabin on the right side and a 200 amp transfer switch on the left side which will power the main house when finished, it will allow me to power the house with grid power and also I can use solar/generator as an alternative. the electric company ran me underground service for about 225 feet for free, cant beat that with a stick... I will run underground to the main house which is about 75 feet from the cabin at my expense.



Tom

[glenn kangiser]

Good start Tom.  Looking forward to seeing which way you go.  Since this is an educational forum we of course want to see what you do and why you do it whether you use the plans or not.

We have ground breaking here in California too, but generally it is caused by a shifting fault.

[Whitlock]

Tom like you I don't like putting houses on stilts.Never fells permanet to me. It will be fun to watch your progress

[Redoverfarm]

Tom sounds like you are off and running.  If you get the house built as nice as the cabin you will have no problems.  Crawlspace IMO is the better choice.  More expense but a wise move.  Keep us posted as it sort of makes our day.