Back Fill & Floor Drain

Yesterday the guys back filled the area around the foundation. Mike brought the CAT right up to the garage to dislodge a board from the foundation. The board was placed prior to the concrete being poured to stop the concrete from reaching siding on the garage.

The area on both the inside and outside of the foundation is filled primarily with gravel instead of dirt. Gravel is more compact, which means it will not settle as much as dirt will.

We asked the guys to spread gravel over the strip next to the sidewalk so that Tillie can't eat the dirt. We have a design in mind for the area outside the building.

We are having a drain put in the floor so when the hot tub or pool needs to be drained we can put the sump pump hose right in the floor without going outside. 

The floor drain is in place and the back fill process has been completed. Next, the electrician will place rebar where the hot tub will sit and then the site will be inspected before the concrete floor is poured.

Re-Routing Propane Lines

Today, workers from Platte Heating and Air-Conditioning rerouted the existing propane line. Look toward the top of this picture and you can see a white pipe crossing under the new yellow gas line.  The existing propane line traveled from the house under the sidewalk around the corner of the garage and down the side of the garage/shop to the tank. The new room is being built on top of the existing line, which will not pass inspection so the gas line had to be moved. Additionally, the pool and the room will be heated with gas. 

The new gas line is being routed around the new room.

The T-joint in the line for the BBQ. Eventually this will extend over to the patio where the gas hook up will be placed on the patio roof support beam for easy hook-up to our grill.

You can see tape in the trench next to the gas line. After passing inspection, the tape will be placed above the gas line during the back-fill process to warn people of an existing line if they start digging.

If everything passes inspection the back-fill process will happen on Friday, August 29.

Foundation Insulation & Propane Line

On Thursday, August 21, Ben lined the concrete foundation with foam insulation. Everything you see in this picture will be under the floor level of the room. The area not lined with insulation foam is where the Endless Pool will be installed.  The same insulation will be placed between the pool and the frame when the project gets to that stage.

The size of the actual swimming area is 13' long by 9' wide.  This size will allow two people to exercise in the pool at the same time, or one person could swim against the current while one person exercises.

The size of the new building is 26' by 21'. Notice the orange paint marker at the bottom of this picture. Since the propane line had to be rerouted around the addition, we decided to have a propane line extended over to the patio for direct connection to our BBQ, eliminating the need to fill separate tanks.

 

Foundation Work

On Wednesday afternoon the guys returned to remove the boards from the concrete foundation. Concrete dries quickly when it is hot and sunny.

Pouring the Foundation

Even though the footing needs additional work, the building inspector allowed the concrete foundation to be poured this morning as planned.

When the foundation dries, the frame will be removed followed by back-filling the area around the outside of the building.

Foundation Framing

Today the guys put up the frame for the foundation.

Now that the frame has been built, the foundation can be poured.

Once the foundation has been poured and the concrete dries, the frame will be removed and the area around the frame will be backfilled. Then the propane line will be relocated so it does not lie under the new addition.

Garage Access & Concrete Pour

Click on the images for a larger view - then use the arrows to cycle through the photos. 

Ben took down the inside of the garage wall today.

The wall has been removed. The electrical outlet will be moved as well.

Originally we were told that the concrete company would need to put a boom over the house to get the concrete to the construction site. When we first moved onto the property in 2010, the ground was so wet in the back that every vehicle that went back there would sink. When the truck arrived today, the driver decided to bring the truck around to the backyard, over the gravel, and see what happened. You can see the back right tire was sinking a little, which explains why the truck is at an angle. The guy wearing the orange shirt is putting extenders on the shute so the concrete will reach the trench.

Waiting for the concrete to come down the shute.

Moving the shute along the trench for the concrete footing.

Using hand trowels to smooth out the concrete. The area under the pool needs to be especially smooth to avoid tearing the vinyl lining.

Continuing to smooth out the concrete using wood planks.

The amount of concrete needed for the footing was underestimated so a second truck was called out to the house. The truck backed right over the trench and I was worried that the trench would collapse but everything worked out fine.

Putting some water on the concrete during the final smoothing process.

The concrete has been smoothed out. The posts sticking up our of the concrete at both ends are the water drains.

First Inspections & Floor Drains

The electrical inspector was out yesterday and approved the grounding that allows the concrete footing to be poured. The day before, the building inspector gave his approval for the first stage of construction. Today, Ben and Ron put the drains in place under the pool.

Siding was removed from the back of the garage. The new addition will have double doors, which provide access to the garage so we can stay indoors in the winter.

Form for Concrete Footing

Today the guys laid the framework for the concrete footing.

The footing should be poured tomorrow if everything goes as planned.

The weight of the pool requires the concrete be reinforced with rebar. Rebar can be seen on the ground where the pool will be located.

Excavation Day 2

The guys were back at work this morning to finish digging the trenches for the first concrete pour, which will take place early next week.

The grass area outside the fence is on the east side of the property. The break in the trench on the east side is for the drain system.

It was interesting to learn how they make sure that all trenches are at the same depth. Concrete will be poured three different times during the project. First, the footing is poured, followed by the foundation and finally the concrete floor.

Activity Room Addition

Earlier this year Susan and I decided that we wanted to have an Endless Pool so we could swim and exercise at home. The permit process was delayed many times, in fact we had the unassembled pool sitting in the garage a few months before we actually had permits to build the pool room addition. These are the first pictures of the project beginning with clearing out the garage through the early excavation stage.

This is what the area looked like before the project began. The addition will begin next to the window (behind the bench) on the back garage wall and extend into the existing lawn area, ending 5'6" from the patio post. The size of the addition is 26 feet by 21 feet.

We will have access to the pool from both the garage and the yard so in the winter we can stay indoors to get to the pool. Storage shelves in the garage had to be moved away from the wall where double doors will be installed.

We will enter the pool room through double doors located on this back wall. We will move the hot tub into the new addition.Double doors will provide easy access to the hot tub for maintenance.

The Endless Pool is delivered in many, many pieces.

The sprinkler system had to be relocated before construction could begin.

We tried to save as much of the rock as we could before the excavation process began. Susan moved all of the edging bricks so we could use them at a later date.

Susan moved over 46 loads of rock so it would not be buried when the digging began.

Ben, our contractor, installed a temporary fence to keep the dogs in the yard and out of the mud. YEA!

Ben removed the fencing and gates but had to wait for the excavator to remove the posts.

Using the excavator to remove the the fence posts.

Mike is removing as much of the grass using the excavator as possible.

All the grass has been removed and the guys are waiting for the dump truck to arrive so it can be hauled away.

Loading the grass into the dump truck.

Our pool will in partially in-ground with about two feet below the surface of the floor and three feet above the floor level.

Mike is carefully digging around the gas line. The line must be exposed to attached the gas line to the pool heater.