Building a new house and shop (5 Viewers)

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Me Three 😉
 
Thanks guys; I started work on it again, thinking I could maybe make some real progress this year, and as soon as I did, I lost the consulting retainer that was my only current source of income. So, we're back in survival mode (living off of savings) until I can get my business built back up again. That's going to be tough, with $20 crude oil. Looking at other options while still beating the bushes for more consulting work. So, it feels like the old one-step forward and two back sort of thing.

While I still had some income, I did finish off the various vent stacks and pass-throughs in the "roof" of the house. All this time, they were just straight (vertical) PVC pipes that were cast into the concrete domes and stuck up well above the level of the buried roof. Since the roof and back of the house have been buried, I finally cut them off about 18" from the ground and cemented 180-degree returns on the tops. It was more than $500 of PVC just for the returns - there are eight 6" vent stacks, one 8" vent stack, and one 4" pass-through for various antenna coax cables. There is also a 15" ADS corrugated pipe vent stack for the kitchen range vent hood. I'll take a photo of some and post it later.

I also set up my home gym inside the house. Somewhat of a necessity since I'm dropping my trainer and gym membership due to finances. It's not in the room it's going to be in when the house is done, but at least it's up and usable. It's just a squat/bench rack and free weights, but it will do.
 
Ahhhh..... sorry to hear! Unfortunately, misery loves company - wife’s job is no more; almost half our income 🥱
We’ve definitely had to ‘circle the wagons’ and get rid of a lot or extras.... the first one being our gym membership!
 
Sorry to hear. My better half is laid off due to lack of work with the COVID-19 situation. I'm still working, but hard to say for how long.
 
wow....do you have any current photos? as a structural engineer, I am amazed at this undertaking in concrete. Nice job!
 
wow....do you have any current photos? as a structural engineer, I am amazed at this undertaking in concrete. Nice job!

Thanks!

It hasn't changed much since the last photos I posted, but I could take more I suppose. It's been raining here a lot lately, so it might be better to wait for a sunny day. Anything in particular you'd like to see?
 
Do you have a sketch of the floor plan? I was intrigued by one of the last photos from the garage all the way thru the bedroom. Did you have a radon system Installed beneath the slab?are the concrete walls going to be skim coated for the finish? Any insulation in the ceiling other than the dirt above?
 
Do you have a sketch of the floor plan?

Some interior details and the northern (right side in the plan) retaining wall have changed since this, but the room plans have not.

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I was intrigued by one of the last photos from the garage all the way thru the bedroom.

All of the domes were poured/made with a construction opening between them, to facilitate moving the trailer with the nine fiberglass dome forms and the hydraulic and screw jacks needed to hold up the forms and the weight of the concrete & rebar until the concrete sets. The openings between the two garage domes will remain open, as will the opening between the kitchen/dining and the living/family room, but the remaining openings will be closed up with interior walls. A long hallway will connect the southernmost (left in the plan sketch) three domes.


Did you have a radon system Installed beneath the slab?

Radon gas is not a problem here; our county has the lowest potential rating by the EPA. Nevertheless, it was tested as part of the geotechnical engineering study I had done on the site with soil borings (mainly to measure the load-bearing capacity).

are the concrete walls going to be skim coated for the finish?

Yes; with a mixture of STO and cement.


Any insulation in the ceiling other than the dirt above?

There is a layer of 1" expanded polystyrene foam sheets between layers of the soil cover, as a thermal break. Other than that, just the soil and plant cover.

Good questions; thanks for asking.
 
With our house purchase in Montana I found out about radon gas. I bought a reader and tested the house in North Dallas and found the numbers are higher there than our place in Montana. Was a bit of a surprise...
 
Still in awe at this. Need to see it in person one of these days! What are your plans for AC/Heat?
 
With our house purchase in Montana I found out about radon gas. I bought a reader and tested the house in North Dallas and found the numbers are higher there than our place in Montana. Was a bit of a surprise...

That is surprising, as Radon is a by-product of the radioactive decay of Uranium and Thorium, and Uranium and Thorium-bearing rocks are not common in north Texas. About the only occurrence you will usually find here is in glacial till deposits, and those for the most part have been eroded off and washed down rivers to the Gulf Coast.
 
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That is surprising, as Radon is a by-product of the radioactive decay of Uranium and Thorium, and Uranium and Thorium-bearing rocks are not common in north Texas. About the only occurrence you will usually find is glacial till deposits, and those for the most part have been eroded off and washed down rivers to the Gulf Coast.

Even weirder that I'm on slab in Texas and not in Montana.
 
Still in awe at this. Need to see it in person one of these days!

No problem; PM me for my cell phone, and let me know next time you (and your family) are out this way. We are almost always here.


What are your plans for AC/Heat?

There is duct work in the footers, and we will put in a small electric HVAC unit, probably only 1-1/2 tons. Once the house reaches equilibrium with the soil temperature (70 deg F year-round), we shouldn't ever have to move the temperature more than a few degrees. We also have plans to put a few mini-split units in strategic places like the master bedroom and the kitchen, so that those areas could be spot-cooled.
 
No problem; PM me for my cell phone, and let me know next time you (and your family) are out this way. We are almost always here.




There is duct work in the footers, and we will put in a small electric HVAC unit, probably only 1-1/2 tons. Once the house reaches equilibrium with the soil temperature (70 deg F year-round), we shouldn't ever have to move the temperature more than a few degrees. We also have plans to put a few mini-split units in strategic places like the master bedroom and the kitchen, so that those areas could be spot-cooled.

That’s awesome. Keeps the bills down for sure. Great thinking! BTW, what do you do for a profession?
 
That is surprising, as Radon is a by-product of the radioactive decay of Uranium and Thorium, and Uranium and Thorium-bearing rocks are not common in north Texas. About the only occurrence you will usually find is glacial till deposits, and those for the most part have been eroded off and washed down rivers to the Gulf Coast.
The things I learn on Mud are remarkable.
 
That’s awesome. Keeps the bills down for sure. Great thinking! BTW, what do you do for a profession?

I am a geologist, working primarily in the oil business but I have also done some ground water and surface mapping work.
 
... I did finish off the various vent stacks and pass-throughs in the "roof" of the house. All this time, they were just straight (vertical) PVC pipes that were cast into the concrete domes and stuck up well above the level of the buried roof. Since the roof and back of the house have been buried, I finally cut them off about 18" from the ground and cemented 180-degree returns on the tops. It was more than $500 of PVC just for the returns - there are eight 6" vent stacks, one 8" vent stack, and one 4" pass-through for various antenna coax cables. There is also a 15" ADS corrugated pipe vent stack for the kitchen range vent hood. I'll take a photo of some and post it later.

As promised, here are some photos of the finished vent stacks. I was quite pleased with how they turned out. I actually took a largish fossil from the hillside behind the house to Home Depot and had them color match the paint. It's hard to tell from this close to the stacks, but when you're a ways away, like driving down the road to the house, the vent stacks just blend into the hillside and you can't even see them unless you know they're there and what to look for. I also hope that will help camouflage the house from the air, in google earth and etc.

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Well, I did something today I said I'd never do; mow the top of the house.

I planted a mix of native grasses from seed a year and a half ago. The grasses have done pretty well, but the weeds were coming in heavy and strong, and some of them are tall and have long tap roots that I don't want penetrating any of my plastic sheet or expanded foam layers. Last year and this spring, I spent a lot of time up there weeding by hand and with a gas trimmer, but it was a losing battle so today I just mowed the whole thing, and hope that by doing that every now and then it will keep the more obnoxious weeds knocked back and let the grasses fill in. Maybe the mulch from mowing will keep some weed seeds from sprouting or at least taking root. I can't mow the hill behind the house; too steep, so I'm always going to get seeds from up there I'm afraid.

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