24 X 40 Loft Build in Labrador West

tmcmurran · July 18, 2013, 10:59:46 AM

Well after some set backs both man made as well as natural, high water table, forest fire etc. We have been able to at least pour the concrete for the knee wall and Fab-Form footing. Was a little sketchy never trying this system before, but no blow outs during the pour and that was the main thing.

Lot when we bought it..

After a little clearing had been done..

Starting to level and bring out fill

And then the forest fire thought that it would set us back another three weeks. Lost a number of cabins in the area and close to 70,000 hectares were torched.

As soon as the all clear was given we made the mad dash back out to the lake to see if we lost anything. As luck would have it we had no burn out to deal with and started on the ICF Blocks for the Fab-Form Monopour system.

Pump truck showed up on July 17th 2013 on time

It was do or die time with the pour. Just the pump operator, me to direct the concrete into the forms from the inside and the other-half on the outside to watch the bag fill and hope we had no issues.

Ran home to get some sleep till the afternoon, and went back to check on things. Looks like everything went as planned which will be the first time during the entire process so far

Next comes back fill and floor....... More to follow.

John Raabe · July 18, 2013, 12:58:06 PM

Nice work. I've been reading about the ICF and Fabform system and it is good to see that you were able to bring it off successfully. It makes a lot of sense and saves much work and wood.

Here was my earlier post and a link to an article on the topic: http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=13106.0

Did you use the Helix reinforcing?

July 18, 2013, 02:09:42 PM

Quote from: John Raabe on July 18, 2013, 12:58:06 PM

Did you use the Helix reinforcing?

No, we just used re-bar since it was a little late to consider the Helix micro system. Lost a few weeks on the pour to begin with and needed to get things started before it snows

John Raabe · July 18, 2013, 04:47:25 PM

Thanks for posting your experience on the other thread (http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=13106). If you want you could edit your post there with a link to this thread.

You have a good start on a great project in a fantastic site. Hope to see more as it progresses.

tmcmurran · July 19, 2013, 09:06:03 AM

Thanks for the words of encouragement. Neither I nor my girlfriend have ever attempted a project of this size, so we had ensured that our homework was done and checked well ahead of time. I am sure we both are going to be in store for many more long days before winter, which seems to settle in around here by mid October till the following May. Right now it is our plan to close everything in before winter, which might turn into a very lofty goal with only two pairs of hands and work on the interior during the winter months. As luck has it we made sure that the land we purchased was road accessible year round, even it that means plowing it myself.

We plan on taking a run out this evening, so I will take a few close up's of the Fab-Form bag filled as well as the support brackets to give people a better idea of how the sewn corners stood up.

July 20, 2013, 05:56:38 PM

I made it out to the build site today since I was waiting on materials to show up. Took a few images of the Fab-Form system now that it is filled with concrete so people can get a better idea of what it is all about.

This is a 16x6 footer

The adjusters

Inner sewn corner with support bracket.

Another image of the bag system.

Yay, more materials to start on the floor...

I was able to get the sill plate down this afternoon before it started to rain. Back again in the morning to close up the crawl space and lay the floor.

hpinson · July 21, 2013, 10:35:00 AM

Thank you for posting this. I have several questions:

You seem to be on a flat pad. Trenches for the footer were not needed and you can backfill?

Were you able to setup the forms working alone?

Did the concrete contractor have any problem working pouring into this?

Were voids an issue - did you use a vibrator to make sure the concrete was settling?

Would the concrete contractor have been willing to work the Helix material?

tmcmurran · July 21, 2013, 07:34:52 PM

Quote from: hpinson on July 21, 2013, 10:35:00 AM
Thank you for posting this. I have several questions:

You seem to be on a flat pad. Trenches for the footer were not needed and you can backfill?

Were you able to setup the forms working alone?

Did the concrete contractor have any problem working pouring into this?

Were voids an issue - did you use a vibrator to make sure the concrete was settling?

Would the concrete contractor have been willing to work the Helix material?

Hi, will answer your questions in order

1. You have the option to dig out your footing area if you wish, we plan on back filling to the bottom of the ICF stands, so it was a quicker solution for us. Others may rather go down but the results will still be the same

2. I did, but I would never do it again. Not due to the fact that it can not be done, but just for shear ease of assembly a second person to share the load would have been great!

3. The contractor consisted of the pump truck operator, myself and wife. He ran the pump and boom, I directed the hose into the forms, and the other half watched the outside of the bag to make sure it was filling evenly. An extra person to watch the wall's would have been nice since we did have an end and side wall that required alignment after the pour was completed.

4. We only had one spot that we needed to ram a stick down into to free up the concrete enough to fill the bag. This might have been due to the doubled up re-bar in the 3 foot section that stuck. Once we rammed it a little it slid down and we were able to continue with the pour with no issues. The use of a vibrator with the bag could have you wind up with more water in the lower portion. You can use one, but need to be very careful. A small mallet and 2x4 banging on the sides as we poured worked very well.

5. I never mentioned the Helix to them since we were behind the 8 ball with our pour due to the fire and would not have been able to order it in time. I could not see a reason why they would not since they could have just poured it into the hopper before the pump to mix it.

If I have overlooked anything, please feel free to ask away. We have people in our area pretty interested in this system now that they have dropped by to see it filled.

tmcmurran · July 21, 2013, 07:48:02 PM

Well we managed to get a little done today between down pours

Why is it when you want to try to close uop something the sky's always open up to ruin your day?

About half of the floor joyce's are up, and the rest are sitting on the sill plate on end so they will not warp over night....

Well back at it again in the morning....

July 21, 2013, 08:51:40 PM

Coming along nicely - rain or shine!

rick91351 · July 21, 2013, 10:13:48 PM

Looking good!! We took a vote tonight - we will trade a little of your rain for our 98 degrees and 8 yes 8 % humidity. Looking for them to lock the forest down here very soon.....

tmcmurran · July 21, 2013, 10:50:45 PM

I guess we can not complain too much about the rain here now after the fires we had. Close to 30 cabins went up in the fires here two weeks ago. We were within a 1/2 mile of having it run right through our area where a number of people not only have weekend places, but year round homes as well.

We are looking at setting up our own pumping and fire protection for the area we are in with a number of others. This last fire started out small, but the winds took it and things got out of hand very quickly. The town we live in even had a mandatory evacuation for three days, but the only two ways out of the area were both closed due to fire as well. Kinda trapped like rats on a sinking ship there for a little. As luck would have it we did happen to get a little rain which helped the 4 tankers get 80% of it under control. It is still burning to the east of us but contained now.

John Raabe · July 21, 2013, 11:24:16 PM

Fire season could be trouble for lots of folks this summer. It is still relatively early and many areas, including normally wet Whidbey island are very dry. We are under a full burn ban on outdoor fires. We did some recent fire clearing as 25 years of trees and underbrush were cut back from the house. There was a devastating fire last through here in 1949. That was long before houses were out here but there are few old black decaying stumps still around to remind us.

tmcmurran · July 22, 2013, 05:44:15 PM

Well unfourtunatley today did not turn out as well as we would have liked. My supplier, "the wife" who happenes to work at the local lumber yard made her first error. She did not get the correct amount of hangers or the correct size to start with. We were able to do a little running around and make up the diference, but between my Doctor appointment, and her phsyio the dream of laying all the flooring disapeared very quickly.

We were able to at least get one row done and move the rest of the plywood up onto the floor area so that I can try to lay it all out by myself in the morning.

July 24, 2013, 08:10:31 AM

I needed to lay the plywood down yesterday for the flooring due to the forecast calling for heavy rains over the next twenty four to thirty six hours. If I would have thought things out better, I would have just installed it properly rather than just laying it out to cover the crawl space to prevent it from becoming a swimming pool. Oh well, live and learn I suppose. But it did offer us the first glimpse of the view of the lake we will soon have from the living room

We will get this fixed up on Friday, and start framing up the exterior walls over the weekend.

rick91351 · July 24, 2013, 09:16:50 AM

WOW great view!

upndown · July 25, 2013, 10:57:05 PM

Boy, there's just something about the view of water thru Pine trees! Beautiful spot. Glad to see it wasn't altered by that fire!! Just went thru that at my place up north, a sudden change of the wind direction and our little area was spared. Unfortunately that cost 19 Hotshots their lives!

Looking forward to your build..Oh just wondering, where are you planning your shop build for that nice looking Cherokee!

tmcmurran · July 26, 2013, 08:17:34 PM

Quote from: upndown on July 25, 2013, 10:57:05 PM
Boy, there's just something about the view of water thru Pine trees! Beautiful spot. Glad to see it wasn't altered by that fire!! Just went thru that at my place up north, a sudden change of the wind direction and our little area was spared. Unfortunately that cost 19 Hotshots their lives!

Looking forward to your build..Oh just wondering, where are you planning your shop build for that nice looking Cherokee!

We were very lucky, many others close by were not. About all we will be doing will be pushing the road down to the lake that I started last fall. Not sure if that will happen before winter though. This way we can still have the trees which also perform double duty as a wind break.

Have not thought of where the shop/garage will be going just yet. Still working on the house

One project at a time, and after the spill I had this afternoon I might need to slow down a little. Took one step too far and wound up going though the flooring into the crawl space breaking a rib or two in the process. Fought though the pain and managed to get all the plywood glued and screwed down though

Will see how I am feeling in the morning. Wanted to get a start on the walls this weekend!!

tmcmurran · July 28, 2013, 06:00:05 PM

We managed to get out to the building site this afternoon to seal up the crawl space and begin framing up the outer walls. We wanted to have a dry area under the floor for two reasons. One to help prevent moisture from coming up into the living area, as well as to give us a little extra dry storage.

The wall's were a little bit of an adventure with my recent broken ribs, but we did manage to construct two eight foot sections and erect them with bracing.

I guess I am back at it again in the morning alone, but at least I know that I can raise a wall section alone if needed

tmcmurran · July 29, 2013, 04:50:03 PM

It was a slow day on the build today, the plans I needed blew away and I did not locate them till I was ready to leave for the day. Did manage to get one eight foot section just before the door up. Rain in the forecast for the next few days, so I will see what I can get done between down-pours

July 30, 2013, 03:12:14 PM

Not too much action today. Broken ribs kept me up most of the night, and trying to move boards around really is not doing me that much good.

Did manage to frame up the doorway and the rest of the front sections as well as lay out the corner for Wednesday.

tmcmurran · August 01, 2013, 07:32:45 PM

I managed to get out this afternoon for a few hours to continue with the rough framing. About 1/4 of the way and with the trusses on thier way I need to move a little faster. Still need to put on the sheeting before they arrive too

If it was not for all the windows I would have had more done today. Feel like telling the other half that if she wants to look outside "here is the drill"

tmcmurran · August 02, 2013, 11:16:09 AM

Had these great expectations of what I was going to get done today, build and setup the rest of the walls. It started off on a good footing till about the fourth nail outta the nail gun.

If you look close enough, you can see where the tip of the nail started to come out down towards my wrist where the red dot is.

But I sucked it up and managed to get two more wall sections done before heading home at noon.

pmichelsen · August 02, 2013, 02:54:05 PM

Nothing like a nail through the palm to slow progress. Looks like you still got a decent amount done despite the setback.

tmcmurran · August 02, 2013, 04:21:06 PM

Quote from: pmichelsen on August 02, 2013, 02:54:05 PM
Nothing like a nail through the palm to slow progress. Looks like you still got a decent amount done despite the setback.

Well I had some pretty high expectations for today, and as luck would have it I thought it would be a good idea to try to nail myself to the wall section I was building right at the start of the day. Seemed to be more painful pulling it back out the 2 1/2 inches then it did going in

Oh well, it started to rain right after I left at noon today so I suppose being able to get a few sections completed today was better than none.

Today's safety talk. Do not point the nail gun towards you and attempt to use your wrong hand while holding things square. It has a tendency to jump and double fire with painful results