31 May. A lot of work was accomplished today. Starting off with Conrad and Sis, Cindy, continuing to spray and skim coat the interior. Here Cindy discusses the difference between skimming over sheetrock and concrete. Dale and gang continue to haul dirt from the new pond up to the house. Ralph is on the roof putting down insulation in between layers of soil to improve the R-value of the home. I assisted Ralph in this as the wind had picked up and made handling the insulation sheets a bit tricky.

Once a good layer of dirt covers the house, insulation is layed to give a little more R-value to the roof. This should provide another 2-3 degrees of temperature moderation in addition to the thermal mass capabilities of the home and soil.

After the insulation sheets are down. A layer of plastic sheet (6 mil I think) is placed on top to hod them in place.

Next is to bury the new material layers with - you got it - more dirt.

Dale and his nephew, Bradley, work on the garage side backfill. The loose soil provides several comedic moments while trying to keep your balance (I can personally attest to that).

The garage side offers a problem in trying to stablize soil going on the sides up to the top. The solution is to build a ramp so that the D7 can drive up and compact the soil. This means a lot of dirt. Afterward, the soil will be cut from the improvised ramp and a retaining wall will be constructed.

Dale puts a load on the roof. The sparkles are dust grains reflecting from the flash on my camera.

Ralph riding high on the rooftop with Dale in the D7 and Dale's Uncle Larry on the scraper. Don't think that roof can handle the weight? The D7 weighs in at 48K lbs.

Working the rift...

30 May. Yep, its Ralph covering the whole roof by hand. Just kidding, he's filling in around various vent pipes by hand so he doesn't have to drive to close with the tractor. The ground is pretty wet after yesterday's little storm, so the dirt is pretty heavy. One nice thing is that the clay that has been placed will conform to the roof easily and then harden providing a nice layer. The local news informs us to be ready for more showers the next couple of days, adding emphasis to getting the roof covered so we don't have to go chasing after materials again. 

29 May. If it looks like there is a tractor on my roof, then your eyesight is is working well for you. Ralph and daughter, Cindy, cover the roof with waterproofing material and dirt, continuing on the burial phase of the house. Later this same day a quick little storm struck with high winds and about a half inch of water, blowing materials and a some of the work they had accomplished here. Also rained on our little Memorial Day picnic, but I'm not complaining. Indeed, we really need the rain and are thankful for what we receive.

Dirt on the Mountain

25 May. Thought I'd put this one up real quick. Christa took it just before we went out for dinner. She was really excited because the first load of dirt made it on the roof. A sign things are moving along. 

May 25. The red material is adds protection for the waterproof coating already applied. Dale pushes dirt up onto the plastic to hold in place.

Ralph busy switching out pieces of equipment on the power line.

Conrad and a new helper (sorry, haven't gotten his name yet) apply the pre-skim coat to take out large imperfections in the walls and ceiling. Final skim coat will go on after framing and sheetrocking.

Dale pushing the dirt higher and higher. Almost level with the roof line as well. Talk about timeliness, county road & bridge folks have been working our road lately. They had a bunch of fill dirt they needed to get rid of and I needed a bunch of fill dirt. Thta's what I like, everybody wins.

Ruben working away on some rough spots in the pre-skim phase. Ruben has a bit of notariety, he was on the front page of the local paper as well. (They stopped by to see what all the hub bub was about and ended up running a front page feature.) Cool.

After the house has had a 45 mil thick coating of waterproofing material applied thoroughly, the next step is to wrap a drainmat material around the house. 2X4's are used to hold the mat in position until fill dirt is pushed up to hold the material in place.

This is a close-up of the drainmat material that will be wrapped around the house to assist in draing water away from the home swiftly.

Missy (Ralph's pooch) points to where the next load of dirt needs to go.

Ralph starts to push soil from where the foundation was excavated and begins the long process of backfilling to cover the house. Hmm, that dirt looks pretty dry.

Knowing we were going to need a lot of dirt to bury the house, we obtained the services of Dale (farms and happens to have a couple big pieces of machinery) to help pull soil from the field and bring it up to the house. I had the US Natural Resources Service come out and help mark off a proper location for this pond. Hey, if you got to pull the dirt, I might as well get a pond in the process - right?

Dale transports a load of fill dirt up to the house where Ralph takes and pushes it closer to the house with a landscape tractor.

This just looks hot and dusty, actually, it's very hot and very dusty. Dale rounds the corner with a load of fill dirt in this vintage 1959 D6/7. Still getting the work done.

Ralph works the fine soil close to the structure, thereby pinning the drain mat close to the house.

Bubba and crew from Cattleman's Gates here in Seguin, prepare I-beams for mounting to the covered entranceway. I am looking forward to seeing this part finished.

The I-beams are placed to hold the coming arched cover. Eventually this will hold a copper-like metal roof over the porch area.

The goal here is to drop the dirt as close to the structure as possible. Dale seems to be on target.

Dale rounds the corner to drop another load of topsoil.

22-23 May. Meanwhile, Conrad begins the process of priming the concrete walls prior to putting a skim coat which will smooth out the imperfections.

Week of 14 May. It is with a sad note that I write of the passing of our little vagabond, Rufus. A few months ago he arrived on our porch and was such a loveable pooch we could not but take him in with us. He was very friendly and always looking to play. He had one bad tendency and that was to run in front of cars without even looking around. Ultimately, this would be his undoing. We miss him already and wished he could've learned one simple rule. Being a country dog he lived free and, at the least, died free. God speed Rufus.

The end result of the waterproofing. A black, bunker looking, concrete home. I have to admit, this is as alien as it gets.

Meanwhile, Ruben handles the lines for Conrad while applying waterproofing material. Yep, I agree. Ruben from Mars.

Another shot of Conrad applying waterproofing material to the shell structure of our house.

Waterproofing the shell begins. First Conrad and Ruben hand brush fill likely holes and gaps. A water test is then performed to see if all leaks are taken care of. Then comes the part of spraying on a thick layer (45 mils) of a fast sealing/drying material. Here, Conrad applies the proofing compound with a high volume sprayer.

The first things framed are the openings for doors and windows.

Sheetrock and framing materials have been delivered and preparations are in the works.

Here is the master shower stall being prepped for tile work.

Inside the structure, framing begins for inner rooms. This is the guest complex. Visible are the guest bath (back corner) and the laundry/utility room.

Week of 14 May. Another week of events and finishes for the house. This week, the big items include waterproofing the shell, prepping shower stalls, roughing in plumbing and a bit of clean-up before we start backfilling (burying) the structure.

The result is a nice smooth floor. Good job guys. A note here, if it looks like there might be a bit of an echo - you betcha.

Finishing touches are added on the way out. Later once the concrete is set, they will go back in and do more smoothing.

Extra care is taken around around fixtures such as this shower stall, and the electric and plumbing lines coming up through the floor.

Here the slab team works the concrete (scree's) to a smooth finish.

The next stage is the pouring and working of the concrete into the rooms.

A sign of progress. Here Ralph stands in a room with electrical pathways visible under reinforcing mesh and plastic sheeting.

Around mid morning, the slab team and concrete trucks are on station ready to get busy.

May 11. Today is the day for pouring the floor. As opposed to conventional residential construction. The slab is poured after the shell has been finsished. Normally, the slab is the first thing poured. I start off withis photo just because it was a beautiful morning, I wish they could all start off like this.

Here is a shot of the almost finished shell. The floor is to be poured today. The past week has seen the roughing in of plumbing and electrical lines. A busy time, we are anxious to see the structure with a floor installed. Several potential customers have stopped by this week wanting to check this place out and determine if it's right for them.