our S.E. TX story and a half

[Sassy]

Lisa, I'm impressed    Sorry that the rain undid some of your work, hopefully the ground will be a lot softer when you have to take that extra foot of dirt out 

[CjAl]

if i was to use wood posts instead of concrete piers would creosoted wood last longer then pressure treated? or is that not a good idea? i have access to it.

[CjAl]

painting sucks













we have been ready to start the concrete piers for a few weeks now but we keep getting messed around wity by the water company. we have a box all we need is the meter installed but after two weeks now they saw they cant find our property

[CjAl]

 went to homedepot to buy the simpson brackets for the beams to the concrete piers. holly molly!!! over $21ea for 6". i needed 15, plus 15 j bolts with washers and nuts, box of galvanized nails for the air nailer and i am over $4 00 lighter and didnt even buy any concrete yet. actually i bought ten 6" brackets and five 4" for the center beam.

i was going to go start the pier work today but its 95 degress outside right now. i will probably try to get out there early tomorrow before it gets too hot and try to get a couple footings and piers poured. our water is SUPPOSED to be hooked up. after two months of fighting it better be.

[CjAl]

just got back from the land. no water. . . 

someones going to get hurt

[CjAl]

well i waited untill its 100 degrees outside to start concrete. i got a little more then half way done, 8 of the 15. actually i went out yesterday and set up the canopy and got two piers done so i did 6 today. i had to redig all the holes. half were way off and i had to fill the holes and redig them. the other half i was able to just dig down one side or the other, compact the bottom and pour. the holes are 4' from the string, that makes the shallowest one two and a half feet in the dirt. the bottoms are dug out bell shaped to 16-18" wide.  poured a foot thick footing tyen came up with 8" tubes. three pieces of i think nuber 4 rebar in the tubes and three across the footing. and wow does it take a lot of concrete. i think i am up to 30 80#bags so far.

[CjAl]

oh ya, had a huge fire to tend to all day in that 100 degree heat too

[dablack]

Progress is GOOD!  Concrete never goes as far as you think it will.

Austin

[CjAl]

we are done with concrete. . . . . and i forgot to take a picture.


on to wood next weekend. finally

[dablack]

Looking forward to seeing the wood going together.  Upward and onward.

[CjAl]

would i be stupid to build 2x4 walls? i know almost noyhing is built with 2x4 these days but everything was for a long long time. i want to run 2x2 strips horrizontally on the inside of the studs to break up the thermal bridging of the studs. so there would be the same insulation as a 2x6 stud.

i could do it with 2x6 studs too but on a 20x 32' cabine every inch eats into very precious square footage

[CjAl]

this is the write up to blame for getting me thinking of this
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Conservation/MooneyWall/MooneyWall.htm

[ColchesterCabin]

I'm think that the effort output by strapping the inside of 2x4 walls then the cost of blowing in insulation, would well superceed 2x6 walls and batt insulation. You say every inch matters and I agree as I am building a 16x24 storey and a half but the 2x2 strapping on the inside is going to chew up the same space as the 2x6. If your not wiring it yourself the extra costs for the electrician to block each box should be factored in there as well.

Remember KISS it is very easy when we get gung ho to over complicate things. Remember you are just starting your build as am I there seems to be plenty of time reading others threads to overcomplicate our builds at times The theory is so-so but do it traditional either 2x4 or 2x6 would be my recomendation.

[CjAl]

i can decide down the road to do it or not as long as i decide before i put in electrical boxes. the article says that in a 2x4 wall you fit in an r19 (i read this a few weeks ago so my numbers may be off a bit) but when you factor in the thermal bridging of the studs it drops to like r4 or 6. by doing the 2x2 horizontally on 4' centers it brings you back up near r18. that seems worth it to me. i live in south tx and spend a fortune on air conditioning.

plus i plan to use verticle wood for interior paneling so i will need some horizontal strapping of some sort anyways.

i am really just concerned with wether or not i am giving up much strength if i go to 2x4 instead of 2x6 if they are both on 16" centers. i am an hour and a half away from the gulf of mexico but the ocasional huricane still makes it up that far. rita and ike both messed us up pretty good in recent years

i am doing this ALL myself. the hoa requires plumbing and electric to be done by a licensed contractor but there is people around who will allow me to do the work, check it out and if okay they sign off on it. the rules really arent ever enforced in this community anyways.

[CjAl]

there is a storm brewing in the gulf. it might mess up my plans to get my beams together and start the deck this weekend

[ColchesterCabin]

I had the same processes over the last month without the obvious hurricane thoughts. Our minimum code here is 2X4 and afer looking at everthing last weekend I made the move to 2x6. It does require some more muscle to lift the walls, however, you can find a million cheats to lighten the load from lift devices to smaller sections secured together or whatever have you. But the 2x2 horizontal may reinforce your 2x4 strength I would have to refer to someone with a whole lot more experience then myself. Looking forward to the pictures as you move on upward.

[CjAl]

well i got my first water bill today. $48 for 5-4-12 thru 6-4-12.

my meter was hooked up on 6-5-12

if any of you have the pleasure of dealing with monarch water out of houston you have my deepest sympathy. the lake community sued them last year for price gouging and double billing. we have had a blast this far just getting the water hooked up because we refused to give them our social security numbers.

they tried saying the billing starts when they recieve the contract which was middle of may. that would be fine if they would have installed our meter then like they were supposed to. instead i showed up at the site on the third of june with concreate and found no water.

they werent budging either untill my wife started spouting passages of deceptive business practices act and a few other legal things i dont understand. they chamge their mind fast when they are facing another lawsuit. 25 years in the legal field has its advantages i guess

[ColchesterCabin]

Typical municipal and utility BS. I had a similiar scenario with the county tax office I live in. My residential property tax was $2300 then they dinged me a $384 urban service rate(sidewalks, lights, sewer) and then $284 for garbage pickup... my question to the lady was what the hell was the $2300 for then if I get surcharged everything else... needless to say I lost that battle but she sure knew my feelings by the end of the converstion. The ups and downs of life.

[CjAl]

i would take a municipality any day. they privatized our water.



i ordered the lumber for my beams. that was a quick $700. had to run out and put up an address sign for the delivery guys. couldnt help take a few pics

[CjAl]

this is harder work then it looks. just me and my wife to haul the PT 2x12's and of course since i had them delivered i got a bunch of cupped and warped boards.

[CjAl]

i cant believe i slept untill 9:30 this morning, i am the 5am kinda guy. they had fireworks over the lake last night.so we stayed and watched them. this morning my head feels like i was drinking last night. its raining and i cant find my 18" C clamp that i need to squeeze the cupping out of a few of these 2x12's so i guess i will make the 30mile trek to lowes for some clamps and a few other things. hopefully by then the weather and my head will clear up.

[Sassy]

Beautiful lake - can you see it from you place?  (can't remember)  Do you get a lot of rain there?  Looking forward to updates on your progress!

[CjAl]

we are not lakefront we are on the other side of the road. you can kind of see it across my neighbors property but it would be much better if he would cut all them pesky trees down! 

we average 57" of rain anually, we are thrity miles from louisianna so this is the woods, lakes and swamp area of tx not the dry and brown desert part.

[CjAl]

looks like i wont get my beams done untill next weekend or later. rain yeasterday and today lisa doesnt feel good enough to help me lift the beams. i just have to square up the two i have, screw them into the brackets and build the center beam

[MountainDon]

.....  doesn't feel good enough to help me lift the beams. .

Are you building the beams in place, on the piers where they will sit? Easier that way.....