Random progress

The housewrap install began today.  I am using a special drainable housewrap that provides for an air space between the cladding (i.e. siding) and the wrap product for any moisture to channel down to the outside.  Without this air gap it is possible that any leaks further up along the exterior walls will lead to moisture that will simply get trapped behind the siding and cause mold. It's a pretty cool product.  Dupont makes a Tyvek-based product that is dimpled but the protrusions are not rigid like with Tamlynwrap and so it can lead to waviness in the appearance of the siding.

Also, continued HVAC work today.  The new 75-gallon water heater was delivered and installed and some additional ductwork was done for the 1st floor system.

The county came today to repair the section of curb that was dug out during the water line work.  Expect/hope they will return within the next week or so to pave the road.

I made some continued progress with the master bathroom DWV plumbing.  Hope to have that wrapped up in the next few days,  Definitely starting to get the hang of things on that front.

Another view of the housewrap showing the rigid bumps.

there is just barely enough room.  At one point we thought we'd need to jackhammer out a section of the basement floor but it looks like everything should fit in place OK and have the required clearance above the flue elbow for code compliance.

Master bath plumbing: 2" shower drain at the far end, draining into 3" drain from the toilet.  Inline vents for both fixtures.

Window Wells

Not much at the jobsite today.  The concrete company had extra decorative window wells leftover from another project that we are going to use for ours.  They look much nicer than the traditional silver metal ones, and have steps built in but we are getting them at a sizable discount.  The steps are mostly just needed for the egress window, but we are going to try and figure out something clever with plants and/or planters for the kitchen sink one.

The concrete floor and steps that were poured yesterday look to be unaffected by the cold weather last night.

They got one of the window wells into place and partially backfilled.  The other one will go into place when they return to do the final backfill.

Unfortunately, we found out today that the framer cannot do any work for a week and a half, so the concrete company has to wait at least that long before they can return to do the final backfill.

So, for the next 1.5 weeks there won't be much of anything going on at the site.  Oh well...

It's hard to tell, but the window well will sit about 4-6 inches above final finished grade once everything is all said and done.

The top is a plexiglass cover with metal bars and a metal frame.

The bottom of the window well is mostly gravel.  We will add a bit more.

This is the view from the kitchen sink location looking outside.

Basement slab pour day

Today was the last concrete pour day.  They did the basement floor and the exterior basement steps/landings.

Lots of steam coming off the concrete once it was poured and the sun started to come out.  Interesting phenomenon!

The heater was kept running all afternoon once the pour was completed, but due to fire safety concerns the best we can do overnight is to wrap the entire foundation and hope for the best.  The contractor ensures that all will be OK and I've decided to just let this one go and hope for the best.  It's only a slab, after all.

These are shown in reverse chronological order.  The top photo was the last one I took, around 5:15 just before I left.  They had everything tarped over, heater going, and were just working on finishing the surface.  We had the light setup as it was completely dark inside at that point.

Almost perfect placement of the first step light:

 1st layer of housewrap.  Usually only one layer is needed but in this case the contractor wanted to get something in place to protect the OSB that was put up almost 2 weeks ago.  We are planning on using a drainwrap product later on that is way better than the standard home wrap shown.  Note the use of cap nails however.  This is the RIGHT way to install homewrap.  Lots of contractors will install with tack staplers but this is not the correct way.

Daytime photos of pre-pour basement

Just a few new photos, better than yesterday's.  Inspection today for the slab passed.  Everything is now covered by tarps in anticipation of this weekend's precipitation.

The plan next week is to pour on Tuesday or Wednesday, then cover the entire area, and the contractor will bring in heaters to keep the newly-poured areas above freezing overnight.

This is the prep for the footing for the post that will be near the interior stairs.

Where the old basement meets the new basement...new space is fully waterproofed and the gap has been filled with gravel.

Condensed water vapor trapped underneath the vapor barrier...

Basement nearly completed

The slab insulation, vapor barrier, and wire mesh are all in place.  Also, the formwork for the stairs is ready.  Tomorrow is the slab inspection.  With everything cleaned up and the shape of the stairs visible, it is really starting to look like a real basement!

The big story moving forward is going to be the weather.  As of right now we MIGHT get a day next week when it's either not too cold or not raining that will enable us to pour.  Otherwise, we have to wait until after the holiday.

Anyways, here are today's photos, taken with a flash because I arrived at the site after dark.  Ignore the apparent waviness in the photos of the slab- it is just the wire mesh, which is not very rigid.  The foam board is sitting on a flat compacted bed of gravel.

Taken from the top of the stairwell landing, looking down:

Semi-closeup showing the wire mesh, insulation board, vapor barrier, and gravel:

They did a good job cutting the foam board to fit around the pipe openings:

Stairwell formwork/rebar detail

New basement walls

Wall forms removed today.