At the end of the day, the first module awaits pumpers and cement trucks. They should be here tomorrow (weather and the Lord providing). We need the rain though, so its win win no matter which way things go.

Ralph is a never quit kind of guy. Not noticeable here, we have been getting a bit of a downpour (much needed) which stalled pouring the first module. Instead he turns his attention to pre-fabbing electrical boxes for the next module.

Meet the newest member of our household, Rufus. He wandered up to the house a month and a half ago and endeared himself to us. He has made himself a helpful fellow earning his keep. Here he is checking the gravel to ensure that all is level and correct. I don't know what I'd do without him.

The top on, electrical and other outlet boxes installed, the outer wall form is constructed.

With the roof on, work begis on mounting the skylight box. Of note here is the height of the box. When the house is finished, dirt will be backfilled to the top of that box.

And here is the secret, a hydraulic jack. Looks like something used in a garage to lift cars. I'm sure it is very similar if not actually the same thing.

We were sitting at the breakfast table when they put the roof up and we still didn't see how they did it. This happened really quickly. Intrigued, I had to go see how they lifted this thing so quickly.

Christa took this shot of the activities as seen from the road.

With the roof in place, the crew turn their attention to rigging electrical boxes and other outlets which have to be built into the concrete form.

Once the inner wall was basically up, they bring in the roof form on a trailer and roll it to the center of the room. I'll be interested to see how they get this construct off the ground (so to speak).

I had to bow out for a couple days with a bout of stomach flu (or some other hideous thing), so I missed getting a shot of the end of the 2nd week. Suffice to say the previous photo was the end of the 2nd week (Mar 24). Here, we see the inner wall forms being constructed, this is the right side.

This is the effect afterwards. Flat and level. Note the ramps built so the dump trucks could unload the gravel.

Following the hardening process for the footers, 3/4 inch gravel is brought in to fill the footers and cover the roughed in plumbing, electrical and AC lines.

Ever present, Ralph keeps a close eye on the progress.

Conrad working the pump nozzle with Jose and Ruben (behind) continue to work the form bed.

I took this shot from the nearby dirt hill formed during levelingg of the foundation. The Smoot construction crew really work fast. Within a few minutes they had worked this far around the forms. Cement trucks were arriving about every 15 minutes with a new load.

Here Jose and Ruben work the concrete under the ventilation shafts providing a secure bed before bringing another layer to cover to the top of the form.

From the left, Ruben, Jose, Conrad (working the boom nozzle), and James are working the concrete into the forms. Ralph calls this a "Hard Party." Doesn't look like a party I'd like to get invited to often. The guys really got with the program, not wasting any time.

Conrad and crew check on the cement mix to ensure quality of slump. Additionally, they are preparing to load a plastisizer into the mix to sprrd up curing time. The operator from Pumpco is working the boom, positioning for release.

Cement from Ingram ReadiMix is readying to load concrete into the pumper. Quite a show (and a lot of noise as well).

A new week and a new phase. The concrete pumper from Pumpco in San Antonio has arrived signaling readiness to pour the footers.

Shot at the end of the first week, footer forms are complete, and the main electric and plumbing lines are in place. Beginning of next week will have the footers poured and wall forms will start going up. We should see pumpers and cement trucks on site by Tuesday.

This is a pan shot of the build. A good sized project.

Ralph and son, Conrad, discuss the progress of the build.

Pics from last week. Here Conrad and two of his crew (sorry, I haven't learned these young men's names yet) are working on embedding plumbing and electric lines into the ground. These are hard working young men putting our home together.

Gary and Jason of Bexar Electric take a moment to have a photo taken while installing the "grid." They both put in a full day here, but in fairness, Jason has been here a couple days really getting some grunt work in at these posts. Terrific guys and they do terrific work.

At the same time, Bexar Electric gets busy installing our 325 amp service. QQuite a project as this is a huge service for the house. I'm calling it the grid.

And there he goes...

Ralph jumps on the trencher and off he goes. Ralph of RC Smoot Construction, Inc., is the builder for our earth shelter home. A real cheerleader, he keeps us on track in a situation where I am really out of my element.

Mar 15. Today was a busy day. Prior to starting the process, Ralph (cowboy hat), myself (behind) and Jason go over the plans before starting to trench in septic, water, and electric lines. A last look to make sure we're all on the same page. Looks good -BREAK.

Ready to go. Just need the meters and the temp power box and we're ready to begin construction. I think the go date is 14 Mar.

Getting ready to hook up the wires.

On Monday, the 7th of March, the electric company showed up and started running wire and putting up poles. They showed up promptly at just before 8 in the morning. (Ahem, I was still working on the first cup of coffee).

The finished RV pad. Works great.

My RV pad is almost ready. The final step will be to add about 25 tons of crushed and washed limestone. This part of the project took about 4 days to complete. An extra day was needed because the gravel company shut down early on the 3rd day for some unforseen reason. No big, I thought it all went pretty swiftly.

Sitings to verify grade werejust one of the points of good workmanship accomplished by Scheel Construction.

Compactors, loaders, graders, 20ton dumpers: we had it all going on here. These guys did a first class job.

Brian Scheel operating this loader cleaning up the driveway debris. Good work.

Seen here the old driveway is being repaired and widened to support the traffic by future cement trucks and eventually, the rigs of my friends. Chista had never seen much up close construction work and would sit in the front seat of the rig enjoying the workmanship of these guys and there heavy equipment.

Here, Scheel Const. begins to prep my RV pad. I'm almost as excited about getting this done as I am about the house. After the house is complete my friends from the road will have a nice way station to stop in for visits.

During the last week of February, Scheel Construction kicks into gear to level and compact the foundation floor. The week prior, Nova Consulting of San Antonio showed up with drilling equipment and took core samples to verify soil compression and plasticity index to determine if anything needs to be done to the soil so that it can support a home that could weigh in at over 600 tons. I should receive that report next week. I will then have to consult with Smoot Construction to determine if the soil needs to be modified.

A week or so after the clearing process, Scheel Construction, Inc. out of Seguin moves in to prepare the foundation, improve driveways and build an RV pad for my rig during the construction process.

This is the little mountain of debris left after clearing the site.

The land is starting to take shape as Pat finishes up the clearing job. A good hard working guy, Pat did a great job at a reasonable price.

Another shot of Pat comng out of the brush. I hate having to clear this brush as I am pretty fond of the stuff because of it's wildness, but its only about half an acre. Later I will allow this to regrow around the house.

Late Feb, construction begins with clearing the land. My mom has deeded the her land to build the house on and is located south of Seguin, TX in the county of Guadalupe. Here "pat" Paiz of Perro Blanco uses a D5 dozer to clear the mesquit/cactus shrub that predominates the land.

This is an elevational created by the builder's , Ralph (RC Smoot Construction, Inc., Bastrop, TX) son, Conrad. Pretty good job Conrad. Overlay notes were made by the Architect (Ed Urbaek Designs of San Antonio) adding some dramatic accents. I am waiting for the architects final painted picture of the elevational. The home will be roughly 3900 sqft including a suite for my mom and a large 2 car garage (all underground except for this face of the structure).

OK, so I guess I'm going to modify my travel blog to include the building of our new earth shelter home. An unusual (but not rare or unique) home where the house is fully made of poured concrete and then covered with earth. This provides thermal mass heating/cooling reducing energy costs greatly. A low maintenance structure, the home is resistant to severe damage from weather including tornado and hurricane. Pictured here is the architects vision of the home exterior.

2/26/06. Sunday we received a visit from our good friends Roger and Jeanne, fellow RVers. A pleasant day with great company, what more can you ask for. Here, they are pictured with their new Jeep Commander. I think Roger said there was only 179 miles on it at this time. While they were here, I showed them where our new home was to be built. They were very interested and made the suggestion that I should post the progress of the home on this blog so everyone could see the progress. Since their visit others have also indicated a desire to see the progress of our unusual earth shelter home.