Chit Chat in VOLTVILLE Thread #2 :)

[rave]

Genuine progress on my son's home site! Dunno if I ever posted a photo of the concrete forms that the kid's are using. There are 33 of these that fit down into three trenches:



Well, they were all installed and squared. Today, were back-filled. The kids had bound each in plastic to protect them from rain damage. The tops will be opened before concrete will be poured in.

My son's fiance is holding one tube steady with a shovel while dirt is dumped all around it in the trench.







After everything was back-filled, the guy in the Bobcat changed the elevations around the tubes because the land itself isn't level.

Tonight the kids went down to the site after dark - and they are STILL down there. They needed to use a laser leveler to mark a fill line on each of the tubes. After the concrete is poured in to the proper level tomorrow, a piece of heavy-duty hardware will be floated on top. The base of the house will anchor to that.

 

[tmcase]

Genuine progress on my son's home site! Dunno if I ever posted a photo of the concrete forms that the kid's are using. There are 33 of these that fit down into three trenches:



Well, they were all installed and squared. Today, were back-filled. The kids had bound each in plastic to protect them from rain damage. The tops will be opened before concrete will be poured in.

My son's fiance is holding one tube steady with a shovel while dirt is dumped all around it in the trench.







After everything was back-filled, the guy in the Bobcat changed the elevations around the tubes because the land itself isn't level.

Tonight the kids went down to the site after dark - and they are STILL down there. They needed to use a laser leveler to mark a fill line on each of the tubes. After the concrete is poured in to the proper level tomorrow, a piece of heavy-duty hardware will be floated on top. The base of the house will anchor to that.

It's good to see they are finally making some progress after all the rain you've had.

 

[SandySu]

Interesting pictures, Rave. I never saw that kind of foundation, but then again, I haven't seen much when it comes to building a house.

 

[SandySu]

Good night with another photo from Watkins Glen. This is one of the many interesting shapes formed by the swirling water. I love all the curves in the rock there as much as I love the waterfalls.

 

[3mg Meniere]

I am just waiting for Cindy to show up. She will give us a comprehensive discussion of this architectural concept. You just wait and see!!!

 

[cindycated]

Whoa, did I just get jabbed at?

I wasn't planning to, but I will if you want me to. Basically, those "tubes" are forms for footings (like Jello molds). They get buried a few feet down, concrete gets poured into them, then the cardboard tubes are removed. The house will sit on top of the footings, like stilts. I think. Crawl space, right rave?

Over here in San Jose (flood zone), one guy did a combo foundation (slab on grade AND footings, more like pilings) but he made the footings really tall so he'd have a lower level. Then when it floods, the walls on that level would retract, letting the water pass on through, instead of slamming into the house. Cool, but ick, imagine the cleanup after that.

 

[awsum140]

I'm impressed by your son's fiancé holding a long handle shovel at, basically, arms length, while she is keeping that form plumb. Great arm and upper body strength, especially for a female!

 

[Renolizzie]

Genuine progress on my son's home site! Dunno if I ever posted a photo of the concrete forms that the kid's are using. There are 33 of these that fit down into three trenches:



Well, they were all installed and squared. Today, were back-filled. The kids had bound each in plastic to protect them from rain damage. The tops will be opened before concrete will be poured in.

My son's fiance is holding one tube steady with a shovel while dirt is dumped all around it in the trench.







After everything was back-filled, the guy in the Bobcat changed the elevations around the tubes because the land itself isn't level.

Tonight the kids went down to the site after dark - and they are STILL down there. They needed to use a laser leveler to mark a fill line on each of the tubes. After the concrete is poured in to the proper level tomorrow, a piece of heavy-duty hardware will be floated on top. The base of the house will anchor to that.

That is so cool!

Whoa, did I just get jabbed at?

I wasn't planning to, but I will if you want me to. Basically, those "tubes" are forms for footings (like Jello molds). They get buried a few feet down, concrete gets poured into them, then the cardboard tubes are removed. The house will sit on top of the footings, like stilts. I think. Crawl space, right rave?

Over here in San Jose (flood zone), one guy did a combo foundation (slab on grade AND footings, more like pilings) but he made the footings really tall so he'd have a lower level. Then when it floods, the walls on that level would retract, letting the water pass on through, instead of slamming into the house. Cool, but ick, imagine the cleanup after that.

Very interesting, Cindycated.

I wanted to use those tubes to make footings for a shade cover. Of course, they would be that tall. I'm talking a couple of feet.

 

[Renolizzie]

The refrigerator is holding at 42 degrees. I might have gone a little bit bigger on the fridge than I thought Still, the tag claims it only costs about $50 a year to run that thing and I have plenty of room for my garden produce.

I now have 8 days off in a row. My plan is to get plenty done but we are hoping to go fishing on Saturday and of course there is the big Fourth of July Rib Cookoff. The neighbor has a BBQ every year and the winner gets to have their name engraved on the cheese grater and they get to keep the trophy in their home for the year.

Hubby won last year. I told the neighbor I dust it at least once a month

 

[Renolizzie]

Who is gearing up for the big storm that is now a hurricane?

Awsum, you already got some extra gasoline for this, didn't you? Is this storm going to affect Florida, Wuss, or Indiana, RAven?

 

[SandySu]

Who is gearing up for the big storm that is now a hurricane?

Awsum, you already got some extra gasoline for this, didn't you? Is this storm going to affect Florida, Wuss, or Indiana, RAven?

I think it'll miss us. We're too far west, and it seems to be sticking to the east coast. We're supposed to have a nice weekend with temperatures a bit cooler. We've had a series of thunderstorms every evening about dusk, but it's July, so that's typical weather. Last night, it rained really hard for about 5 minutes, then cleared.

 

[3mg Meniere]

Whoa, did I just get jabbed at?

I wasn't planning to, but I will if you want me to. Basically, those "tubes" are forms for footings (like Jello molds). They get buried a few feet down, concrete gets poured into them, then the cardboard tubes are removed. The house will sit on top of the footings, like stilts. I think. Crawl space, right rave?

Over here in San Jose (flood zone), one guy did a combo foundation (slab on grade AND footings, more like pilings) but he made the footings really tall so he'd have a lower level. Then when it floods, the walls on that level would retract, letting the water pass on through, instead of slamming into the house. Cool, but ick, imagine the cleanup after that.

Thanks. Sorry if I came off as being rude, Cindy. How would the walls retract? Slide upwards outside and parallel to the living level walls? That method looks really cool for a flood zone, and much more stable than building the house on steel or wood stilts. (I was raised close to the Mississippi, you know).

 

[rave]

Good night with another photo from Watkins Glen. This is one of the many interesting shapes formed by the swirling water. I love all the curves in the rock there as much as I love the waterfalls.

WOW! Just ... WOW!! Ma Nature never fails to amaze me. Great composition and photography too.

Whoa, did I just get jabbed at?

I wasn't planning to, but I will if you want me to. Basically, those "tubes" are forms for footings (like Jello molds). They get buried a few feet down, concrete gets poured into them, then the cardboard tubes are removed. The house will sit on top of the footings, like stilts. I think. Crawl space, right rave?

Over here in San Jose (flood zone), one guy did a combo foundation (slab on grade AND footings, more like pilings) but he made the footings really tall so he'd have a lower level. Then when it floods, the walls on that level would retract, letting the water pass on through, instead of slamming into the house. Cool, but ick, imagine the cleanup after that.

You're right - They are more like pilings. Only the unburied portion of the cardboard will be removed after being filled with concrete. Yep - the house attaches to anchors that are embedded in the concrete and sits on top allowing a crawlspace.

The black plastic base fills with concrete as well to form a base for each piling. And, there are four rebar rods that connect firmly within that base. The kids had to cut, form anchor rings, and weld all of that rod for 33 of these things. They are not your normal young adults.

I'm impressed by your son's fiancé holding a long handle shovel at, basically, arms length, while she is keeping that form plumb. Great arm and upper body strength, especially for a female!

She's tough! 'Course, she has the same exact job as my son. She's a utilities locator. That means that she has to hold a heavy toning mechanism out in front of her all day long and hike for miles no matter what the weather. These kids are NOT hot house flowers like so many of their generation.

The refrigerator is holding at 42 degrees. I might have gone a little bit bigger on the fridge than I thought Still, the tag claims it only costs about $50 a year to run that thing and I have plenty of room for my garden produce.

I now have 8 days off in a row. My plan is to get plenty done but we are hoping to go fishing on Saturday and of course there is the big Fourth of July Rib Cookoff. The neighbor has a BBQ every year and the winner gets to have their name engraved on the cheese grater and they get to keep the trophy in their home for the year.

Hubby won last year. I told the neighbor I dust it at least once a month

I'm so glad that you're happy with your new fridge. Loved the engraved cheese grater!!

Who is gearing up for the big storm that is now a hurricane?

Awsum, you already got some extra gasoline for this, didn't you? Is this storm going to affect Florida, Wuss, or Indiana, RAven?

Not me. I don't think ...

 

[awsum140]

I'm as "geared up" as I'm gonna get for the impending storm. I've got about a weeks worth of gas for the generator and we always have lots of food available. Both cars will also be fueled up, just in case. We're far enough from and elevated high enough that if the Rancocas Creek floods we don't have to worry. About ten years ago a dam broke, upstream from here, on the Rancocas which lead to two more dams failing. That was a real flood, but even then, our street wasn't flooded and we're only two blocks from the creek.

We had some pretty strong thunderstorms last night. The first round started at about 8:30PM and lasted until almost 1:00 this morning. It died down that got rolling again around 2:30. That only lasted about an hour. I found all the times on the video from overnight, the rain triggers the motion sensing on the security camera software. A lot of lightning as well.

It looks like, at least from the weather guessers on TV, that it will stay offshore far enough that it isn't that big a threat. We are supposed to get some heavy rain starting tonight but it's supposed to end, again from the guessers on TV, by noon tomorrow. Mrs. Awsum is off, of course, and we plan on watching "Lone Survivor" tomorrow so the rain is OK with us in that respect. At least I don't have to water the lawn or garden for a few days.

 

[Evie Luv]

Good mid-morning Voltpeeps.

Rave you must be so proud your son grew up to be a good man and found a good fiance and they will have a good start in their adult life.

Lizzie I don't know how you finally decided on a fridge, there are so many out there now days to choose from.

 

[JerryRM]

Good morning, Voltpeeps. Hiya Princess

I'm keeping an eye on the hurricane, I'm not prepared yet, but that will only take an hour or two, if it's going to hit us. Right now, it's just watch and wait and hope it goes out to sea.

 

[rave]

I'm as "geared up" as I'm gonna get for the impending storm. I've got about a weeks worth of gas for the generator and we always have lots of food available. Both cars will also be fueled up, just in case. We're far enough from and elevated high enough that if the Rancocas Creek floods we don't have to worry. About ten years ago a dam broke, upstream from here, on the Rancocas which lead to two more dams failing. That was a real flood, but even then, our street wasn't flooded and we're only two blocks from the creek.

We had some pretty strong thunderstorms last night. The first round started at about 8:30PM and lasted until almost 1:00 this morning. It died down that got rolling again around 2:30. That only lasted about an hour. I found all the times on the video from overnight, the rain triggers the motion sensing on the security camera software. A lot of lightning as well.

It looks like, at least from the weather guessers on TV, that it will stay offshore far enough that it isn't that big a threat. We are supposed to get some heavy rain starting tonight but it's supposed to end, again from the guessers on TV, by noon tomorrow. Mrs. Awsum is off, of course, and we plan on watching "Lone Survivor" tomorrow so the rain is OK with us in that respect. At least I don't have to water the lawn or garden for a few days.

Sounds like you're well-prepared for it. Hope that it doesn't have too much impact on your area. I also worry about Jerry, Wuzz and Uncle if he's in the northeast right now. Dunno.

Good mid-morning Voltpeeps.

Rave you must be so proud your son grew up to be a good man and found a good fiance and they will have a good start in their adult life.

Lizzie I don't know how you finally decided on a fridge, there are so many out there now days to choose from.

I'm awfully proud of him. He turned out pretty well. I'm really glad that we didn't baby him one bit when he was growing up and just let him be "a boy".

 

[Evie Luv]

Good morning, Voltpeeps. Hiya Princess

I'm keeping an eye on the hurricane, I'm not prepared yet, but that will only take an hour or two, if it's going to hit us. Right now, it's just watch and wait and hope it goes out to sea.

You better be prepared Papa. Here is a song to motivate you.

 

[JerryRM]

I'll be prepared, Evie. I have seen a number of tropical storms and hurricanes. My first one was Hurricane Carol, in 1954, I was only 5 years old, but I remember seeing shingles flying off our neighbors roof and metal trash cans sailing down the street. My mother was terrified, having survived the Hurricane of 1938. She kept pulling me away from the windows, but I would sneak back, when she wasn't looking. LOL

 

[rave]

Cement truck is here!!



Gotta go watch.