# Tool Talk >  The house next door...or how to NOT build a house

## jdurand

This is an ongoing construction project.

In theory they are building a McMansion next to our house. The first thing was they had to cut down our giant redwood tree because the roots would be in the way of their basement. It turns out that is the least of their problems...

The plan called for 28 drilled and cast piles around the perimeter to prevent the sides of the pit from slumping. Only thing is, they never did a soil test or asked anyone around here if this was feasible...this is an old creek bed and there are a LOT of rocks in the ground. They never got the first hole below about 6 feet.

Plan B, just start digging and see what happens.



200 truck loads of dirt later they have a hole 14 feet deep on the street side and about 20 feet on the hill side. We're also starting to notice the hole is only a couple of feet from our fence, the roots from our former redwood tree are the only thing holding the UNDERCUT wall up.



Continues next message...

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baja (Oct 24, 2019),

EnginePaul (Oct 24, 2019),

Jon (Nov 5, 2019),

Midwestern640 (Sep 8, 2019),

rlm98253 (Oct 26, 2019),

Scotsman Hosie (Oct 7, 2019),

shopandmath (Sep 12, 2019)

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## jdurand

Remember they were supposed to have drilled and cast piles to hold the hill back? Well, since they removed the dirt the piles were to be drilled through, why not just put them where they would have gone...sort of. Plumb is not something they understand.



At this point the inspector came by, had a cow, fit, and several other bouts of attacks and put a STOP order on the job.

A few days later an engineering firm truck showed up, the contractor showed him around, lots of pointing and measuring. They need to add in some sort of wall that makes the engineer happy.

Columns peeled, more digging.



They then cut off one column and left it where it fell behind the others. They cast two more columns and then drilled, and added rebar between columns.



more...

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baja (Oct 24, 2019),

rlm98253 (Oct 26, 2019),

Scotsman Hosie (Oct 7, 2019),

shopandmath (Sep 12, 2019)

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## jdurand

Ok, not happy with that, they shaved off part of one of the columns



Then cast the wall




Then filled in the column they had cut the piece out of and scraped one panel of the wall with the excavator until...I don't know, they liked the looks.

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baja (Oct 24, 2019),

EnginePaul (Oct 24, 2019),

rlm98253 (Oct 26, 2019),

Scotsman Hosie (Oct 7, 2019),

shopandmath (Sep 12, 2019)

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## jdurand

Oh, we're not near done with this!

In the last message you may notice they already have plumbing in, I couldn't believe they didn't drive over one of the pipes. Oh, these are also around 10 feet below the sewer main so I hope they have backup batteries planned for the pump.

Next they put down forms, gravel, and vapor barrier. Note that there's no hint of a foundation, apparently they're just doing a slab.





We're not done yet!

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baja (Oct 24, 2019),

EnginePaul (Oct 24, 2019),

rlm98253 (Oct 26, 2019),

shopandmath (Sep 12, 2019)

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## jdurand

Yesterday they spent all day sawing and jack hammering the wall. By the way, our chicken coop is directly above that green ladder against the other side of the fence. My office is slightly to the left of that.

Note that the column that they had cut, then patched, has now been jack hammered more than the cut was.



The story continues Monday, they appear to have taken the weekend off for a change. No fumes coming into the office or jack hammering outside my door.

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rlm98253 (Oct 26, 2019),

shopandmath (Sep 12, 2019)

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## jdurand

I should probably add that all the houses in this neighborhood run $1-2 million dollars and this contractor supposedly builds McMansions all the time. 

We're building a new house and our contractor understands things like foundations. Here's pictures of the foundation for our new house for comparison (it's also sitting on piles for extra strength).

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baja (Oct 24, 2019),

rlm98253 (Oct 26, 2019),

shopandmath (Sep 12, 2019)

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## jdurand

Today they're carving more on the wall and laying rebar.

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baja (Oct 24, 2019),

rlm98253 (Oct 26, 2019),

shopandmath (Sep 12, 2019)

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## jdurand

they appear done carving on the wall

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rlm98253 (Oct 26, 2019),

shopandmath (Sep 12, 2019)

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## jdurand

They seem to be putting in the rebar for the foundation, but is the floor really going to be that thick or will they pour a thin floor and then build more forms to make the foundation on top of the floor? Several contractors I know wait for each day's pictures to try to figure out what these guys are doing.

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Inner (Oct 24, 2019),

rlm98253 (Oct 26, 2019),

shopandmath (Sep 12, 2019)

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## Frank S

If I had to make a guess I'd say they are going to pour a unitized floor foundation and basement walls.
I would hope they pour the floor then set the forms for the wall/ foundation wait a few days for some curing to take effect then pour the walls.
I've seen contractors try to make a pour of the walls and floor all at once but that hardly ever turns out well.

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YOUCARS (Oct 28, 2019)

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## jdurand

They have these 4 pits, one on each side of the building. The rectangular area slopes down and then there's the pit in the moddle. Odd piles?

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## Frank S

Is that rebar grid pattern on the floor about 8" square or is it 12" square?
the pattern on the vertical pattern looks to be about 6 x6 if so that would make the foundation about 10" thick and from the looks of them about 3 ft high 
I'm noticing taller verticals at the corners as well
as for the holes the one shown looks to be about a foot in diameter. Does it go down about 3 feet or more and slightly bell out at the bottom or could you tell? 
I've seen anchor piles like those on slab pours where the building's foundation is poured above the basement floor, but if you were to ask me I would say they are cost cutting by not pouring a beam below the floor

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## Toolmaker51

14' deep! They intend a daylight basement and lower level? 
jdurands 9 [and counting] posts are solid evidence, all contractors are not created equally. It also proves the lot owner is spending all he can to save a complete fail. Likely too, he'll incur tremendous liability to adjoining properties when his is not allowed to complete. 
If my neighbor, guess who'd be at the permit office examining [and photographing] their project,

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## jdurand

> Is that rebar grid pattern on the floor about 8" square or is it 12" square?
> the pattern on the vertical pattern looks to be about 6 x6 if so that would make the foundation about 10" thick and from the looks of them about 3 ft high 
> I'm noticing taller verticals at the corners as well
> as for the holes the one shown looks to be about a foot in diameter. Does it go down about 3 feet or more and slightly bell out at the bottom or could you tell? 
> I've seen anchor piles like those on slab pours where the building's foundation is poured above the basement floor, but if you were to ask me I would say they are cost cutting by not pouring a beam below the floor



Seems to be 12". I can't see how deep those holes go, but they're more like 2 feet in diameter.

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## Toolmaker51

Mysterious construction to say the least. I laughed out loud, reading 'they appear finished carving the wall'.
Maybe goal is creating a visual element for the interior. Reminds me of Balbec in Lebanon.
Or preserving a demonstration; what not to do, for the next civilization.

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## jdurand

> Mysterious construction to say the least. I laughed out loud, reading 'they appear finished carving the wall'.
> Maybe goal is creating a visual element for the interior. Reminds me of Balbec in Lebanon.
> Or preserving a demonstration; what not to do, for the next civilization.



I like that they put down the gravel, all nice, clean and level BEFORE they started cut'n, hammer'n, and generally bashing at the wall.

Seems they consistently stick to the plan. HAHAHahahahaha.


By the way, for contrast here's the progress on OUR new house.


We DO have one issue with our house the contractor is working on, the structural engineer wants the kitchen window moved away from the corner of the house. The problem is the kitchen is somewhat long and narrow as kitchens often are. Moving the window puts it over a counter or makes the window a lot smaller. The contractor said it should be sorted out by Monday and until then that particular wall is paused below window sill height.

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Crusty (Sep 7, 2019),

that_other_guy (Nov 20, 2019)

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## Crusty

I like that nice brickwork.

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## jdurand

> I like that nice brickwork.



The contractor gets a bonus when he's done, assuming we sell this house without problems. I guess if we fall into The Pit then the people next door bought it for retail.  :Smile: 

Please Universe, no falling into the pit until we have a house to move to.  :Smile: 

Here's what the bricks looked like in the showroom, but the contractor changed brands to get a better quality.

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## jdurand

Here's today's Pit photos. They're adding another layer of rebar over the first so it's going to be a VERY thick floor!

Also cutting rebar out from over those side pits, so I guess they will be sumps for the rain/seepage pumps. There's also a pit in the front for the sewage pump.

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## jdurand

Today they draped the wall and are advancing the rear in that dierction

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## shopandmath

I need more up dates 
you got me interested cant leave me hanging :-(

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## jdurand

Rebar is a slow process, especially since they're putting in a double layer of it for the REALLY deep floor.

So, now the rebar is running up the wall, so it looks like they're going to cast a wall against the wall...which I'm sure makes sense to somebody.

There's more rebar in that floor than when they built a medical building nearby!

Without further ado...

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## jdurand

Not too much change today, they're just finishing up the second layer of rebar. I see they left a big sump at the front of the house, no way I can see into it but that is where the sewer pipes go so it looks like they're allowing for a power/pump failure without flooding the basement with sewage.

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## DIYSwede

*Uh-oh! THAT ain't gonna be no McMansion -* 
it's only one of those secret subterranean NWO interrogation/ surveillance bunkers _you don't really hear about_, sprawling over the US.
Just check this pic of what's REALLY going on:



That sump ain't for no sewage either, *it is for all the telecom fibers*, many of them really coarse ones, y'a know!
Guess the name on the letterbox is "Bilderberg" also? 
You've seen any Freemasons around yet? They're really needed for straightening out THIS building site... :Lol: 

Seriously: -Thanks for posting this unintended tragicomical chain of events! Good luck, jdurand!

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## shopandmath

I was thinking the same thing

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## jdurand

Meanwhile in Russia...

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## jdurand

Today's Pitiful picture from a different angle. You can see the sewage sump over by the white bucket. Fo size, that's a 5 gallon bucket.



and a different angle

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## jdurand

Today they moved and added plumbing and worked on more steel.

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## Toolmaker51

> Today they moved and added plumbing and worked on more steel.



Missed a spot! And two tie wires.

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## Frank S

If the pour to the floor is going to be as thick as it looks in the pictures then they shouldn't have to worry about being attacked from below.
Given the amount of steel and guessed thickness I'd say what they are doing is attempting to construct an earthquake floater the ground would be able to heave and roll under the house and about all would happen would be some pictures get knocked off the walls and dishes broken plus probably the underground plumbing would need repairing Black sch 80 PVC drain & waste and polyurethane water might even survive some of that.

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## jdurand

Today they left the gate standing open when they all went home, so a few different views.

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## jdurand

> If the pour to the floor is going to be as thick as it looks in the pictures then they shouldn't have to worry about being attacked from below.
> Given the amount of steel and guessed thickness I'd say what they are doing is attempting to construct an earthquake floater the ground would be able to heave and roll under the house and about all would happen would be some pictures get knocked off the walls and dishes broken plus probably the underground plumbing would need repairing Black sch 80 PVC drain & waste and polyurethane water might even survive some of that.



In 1989 we had our little 7.1 shaker here, a crack formed across streets, curbs and sidewalks that made it easy to follow. The path would have taken that crack through what is now the front part of their basement, then across our yard and into the street, breaking the sewer line, then on out of our area to continue across our main street two blocks away. I didn't follow it further since at the time we were busy comforting neighbors and keeping the business running.

Only evidence now is the newer sections of curb and sidewalk where they recast it.

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## jdurand

Today's Pit

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## Toolmaker51

> Today they left the gate standing open when they all went home, so a few different views.



I understand now what is going on. Homeowners feel re-bar is cheaper than concrete, structural engineers and good sense. 
or
They own a re-bar, dobie and tie-wire sales office. This project demonstrates volume, convincing the supplier to raise their distributorship.

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## jdurand

Today's images of the Masters of Advance Planning.

Today they ran PVC drain pipes under the rebar to connect the rain sumps to the main sewer sump. I didn't know you could pump rainwater into the sewer, but in any case I wish I'd watched how they got that pipe under the rebar.

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## jdurand

Well, the guys showed up before the I & chickens were awake today to start pumping concrete. I notice there's a cement truck blocking our driveway and our garbage cans (it's garbage pickup day).

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## jdurand

7 hours of pouring later

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## Toolmaker51

Ohh good. The goofy wall with sonotube posts still visible.
But 7 hours pumping mud thrown Earths rotational axis for a tizzy?

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## jdurand

We had to go out so didn't count cement trucks, but when we had to get out of the driveway the head contractor said each truck is about 10 minutes.

So, 7 hours * 6 trucks per hour = 42 trucks (of course, the answer to everything!). Figure 10 yards per truck that's 420 yards. And they haven't even started the basement walls yet!

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## jdurand

Today's pit. That's a mighty tall wall!

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## jdurand

They weren't kidding about a 14' basement!

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## Toolmaker51

14' basement. 2+ foot slab. 
All is forgiven; provided 
1] the 14' is headroom allowance for a 1.5 ton overhung bridge crane.
2] it's travel connects three major machine tools also located in basement 24" x 80 engine lathe, 4'' horizontal boring mill and a 5' x 11'' radial drill.
3] remedy access issue, no forklift ramp!
when jdurand sends pics of floor joists going in without iron in the basement, we'll know a owner off his rocker.

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that_other_guy (Nov 21, 2019)

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## Frank S

I am thinking the wall may be 14 feet but the actual ceiling height will be much less due in part to the ground floor mechanicals and utilities

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## jdurand

Today's picture, MORE rebar.

Also I see they'r fitting the forms to their precisely cast columns/wall

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## jdurand

Today's update

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## Frank S

O hope once they get around to setting the inside forms they support them better than the ones on the outside.

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## jdurand

> O hope once they get around to setting the inside forms they support them better than the ones on the outside.



oh why, it's more entertaining if they don't

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## jdurand

Second layer of wall rebar going in. MORE STEEL!

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## shopandmath

My uncle put in 10 or 12 foot basement 
The problem with that is it’s a death trap
During a fire I could not reach a window to get out

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## jdurand

Here our building code says you have to be able to escape a basement in "one step" to daylight. I see they've got space for a window well on all 4 sides of the basement so those will probably have glass doors and ladders.

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## jdurand

Over the weekend and today they're just adding more rebar. Looks like an iron mine.

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## Frank S

> Over the weekend and today they're just adding more rebar. Looks like an iron mine.



It takes a while to make all of those ties. Once they finish with the rebar than comes the fun part of running conduit and probably plumbing as well.

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## jdurand

Today there was a VERY LOUD sawing sound, it turns out they were cutting slots in the forms with a reciprocating saw.


And here's what the slots were for. A neighbor and I figured out it's to tie a garage floor to the building.

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## jdurand

This is starting to get where my naighbor wants a drone to get better views. Anyone got a camera drone they don't need? Only needs to fly long enough to snap a picture or two before recharge.

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## Frank S

> This is starting to get where my naighbor wants a drone to get better views. Anyone got a camera drone they don't need? Only needs to fly long enough to snap a picture or two before recharge.



In lieu of a drone get a tall ladder mount a camera tripod on top with a lanyard controlled gimbal to change positions then just snap away auto zoom might not be qa bad idea either LOL

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## jdurand

I used to have a nice tall redwood tree right alongside the fence that would be perfect for a camera, but they cut it down.  :Frown:  Originally expected US to pay for the cutting down.

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## jdurand

Not too much changed today, they've added a ramp and are putting sill plate bolts around the forms. Also continuing to add more rebar and ties.

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## jdurand

No work today in the pit, but along with the sill plate bolts they've put in a few pairs of LARGE bolts. One pair can be seen sitting on the table below and you can see a couple pair installed on the far wall. Big beams go here? Maybe the mount for that overhead crane to move around the pallets of gold bullion?

They've also closed off the door in the forms, added a ramp and a ladder to get in/out.

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## Scotsman Hosie

> they appear done carving on the wall
> 
> Attachment 31016
> Attachment 31017



If that's their idea of how to build a retainer wall, you have to suspect there's some serious DunningKruger going on  at the engineering level.

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## Frank S

> If that's their idea of how to build a retainer wall, you have to suspect there's some serious DunningKruger going on  at the engineering level.



One of the reasons why I questioned the bracing on the wall forms I know OSB is supposedly stronger than plywood but At 14 ft in height to me at least there appears to be a lacking in bracing. We'll just have to wait to see how many through ties they put to hold the inside form to the outside form

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## Toolmaker51

Normally, I think it's uncommon building a dungeon to be so openly displayed.

I just re-solved their construction theory, formerly to show the material supplier how they can sell concrete and iron, to new reason.
They saw jdurand's threateningly mischievous avatar. . .

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## jdurand

Here's today's picture, inside forms are going up. I see from their placement that the first floor will be cement, unless there's some other reason to leave rebar above the wall height.

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## Frank S

> Here's today's picture, inside forms are going up. I see from their placement that the first floor will be cement, unless there's some other reason to leave rebar above the wall height.



If it were me building it as soon as all of the inside forms were in place then use something like waffle dome forms supported by beams and support jacks pouring the basement wall and the ground floor in the same pour 
https://www.concreteconstruction.net...n-room-floor_o
But they are going to need to install a lot of these to hold those flimsy looking OSB wood forms in place

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## jdurand

Ok, they took a left turn on the forms. They're putting a narrow section on top, so I guess the idea is to make a shelf to put the floor beams on. Not sure how easy it will be to fill the forms through the small opening but that's not my problem.

Also, some new, different anchor bolts in the second picture.

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## Frank S

They can pump the concrete in through a 4" opening easy enough but it takes longer to vibrate all the air pockets out. 
At this point setting steel forms for a beam ledge leaves the design as a toss up. are they going to set gluelams or steel beams the ledge height suggest it could be almost anything even bar joists or precast.
That pattern of different anchor bolts suggests a location for a column if they install those in 6 or more locations that would be consistent with the need for hero columns meaning possibly more than 2 stories

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## jdurand

Forms are slowly going in. There is ONE beam hanger that I can see, I assume another on this side. So, one cross beam?

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## jdurand

Today is bracing.

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## Frank S

> Today is bracing.



Aww dang they heard me

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## jdurand

More supports, wonder how many houses worth of wood this is?

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## Frank S

> More supports, wonder how many houses worth of wood this is?



Yes and just think 90% of the wood used in those forms will be hauled off as scrap to a land fill or hopefully to places that sell used lumber

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## jdurand

Cement pumper here, guys scurrying around finishing the forms.

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## jdurand

Pouring above, adding bracing below. No cement vibrator in sight.

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## jdurand

They all packed up and went home, but it looks like they forgot to finish one section.

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## Frank S

You mentioned you didn't see a single vibrator For a pour that high they must have used super plasticizers and maintained a very low air entrainment factor with small to medium aggregate not more then 1" the plasticizers would allow for a high workability with a high slump without the need to have a very wet mixture.
You also mentioned they were still adding more bracing could they also have been slapping the forms to settle the concrete. I doubt if I will ever understand why here in the states contractors use that OSB panel instead of Phenolic film plywood for their forms. I guess it boils down to cost and availability here in the USA. 
We tend to think of it as an exotic form of plywood while in many countries it is considered the norm to be used as forming materials. One thing is for sure the 18mm phenolic plywood will yield a glass smooth finish to the pour.

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## DIYSwede

> One thing is for sure the 18mm phenolic plywood will yield a glass smooth finish to the pour.



Amen to that, Frank. Not only will the surface finish be smooth, but also when cutting these sheets, 
the edges and its splints are sharp like razor wire, and won't easily bend or break away,
and these mothers will cut right thru your glove and into your hand like a surgeon's scalpel if you're not attentive.

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## jdurand

This morning they topped off the part of the form that wasn't finished last night. I can't believe they left it partly filled overnight, that's got to make a poor seam.

They've spend the day stripping and cutting up the rest of the forms to haul off. I'll see about getting a photo when they knock off for the day.

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## jdurand

Topped off the part they forgot.



Some patching needed



You see, they were going to use vibrators but when they called Good Vibrations and asked for a 14 foot vibrator the sales person passed out.  :Smile:

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## Frank S

That's a poor quality pour the jack hammers should already be hammering away. But they will probably just spray it with shotcrete or gunite like you would do a pool and tell the homeowner that is how it should be done.

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## jdurand

A lot of the forms are still up but I see they're carving on the bit they did uncover.

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## Frank S

something sure doesn't look as if it went exactly as planned but maybe they are having to carve due to a change after the forms had been put in place or maybe what ever needs placed there it is easier to carve out the relief. But for what ever reason there still seems to be a lot of voids tat are going to require filling which should not have happened. If you see voids like these in as many places as we can from our limited view angle there are probably even larger more numerous voids we cannot see. This pour needs sounded 100%.
If not then let's hope it is only a 1 or 2 story But I'm not up on residential all that much all I know is any civil engineer I ever worked with would have that entire pour brought down he wouldn't even consider allowing an inspector seeing it to write up a report. What would have been the big deal to rent a few vibrators for a day?

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## jdurand

Ok, the latest from the Pit Crew.

Carving done...maybe



Joint from where they ran out of concrete and finished the next day.



Almost normal looking section



Oops.



The wall made a face

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## Frank S

This thread is getting more painful to read every day

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## DIYSwede

Nicely timed last photo - when the sun shines perfectly in form the side, thus revealing the 3-dimensionality of the wall surface...  :Smile:

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## jdurand

> Nicely timed last photo - when the sun shines perfectly in form the side, thus revealing the 3-dimensionality of the wall surface...



That's a FEATURE, very few people have Waffle Walls. They charge extra for that.  :Smile: 

I heard more power hammering today, so they weren't done carving. They haven't packed up for the day yet so please hold for pictures.

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## jdurand

Today's photos. The first two are a poor man's drone (A-frame ladder (which actually cost about as much as a decent drone)). They were carving a bit more on that same section of wall, they finished hammering partway through the day so I guess that's done.




more voids uncovered today


The view from the west

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## Frank S

I'm going to speculate that the carving was done due to a bulge in the concrete due to the shoddy materials used for the forms.
I don't think I have ever seen that amount of porosity and outright voids in a vertical pour since a visit to Yemen in 2011 to inspect a construction project we were making the steel structure for. It was painfully clear that the Ministry of planning and development had been bought off as every phase had been rubber stamped without and accompanying inspection documentations.
I suspect on this house construction there will be a huge amount of spackle patching before the moisture barrier is sprayed on

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## Ztill

This is unbelievable, what a **** show. Lord protect the ignorant buyer.”

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## jdurand

in comparison, our new house (in the rain)

https://durandinterstellar.com/photo...rogress-1.jpeg

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Rikk (Oct 23, 2019),

that_other_guy (Nov 21, 2019)

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## Frank S

> in comparison, our new house (in the rain)
> 
> https://durandinterstellar.com/photo...rogress-1.jpeg



The construction quality is 10 worlds apart.
Are you doing your own General and hiring subs or do you have a general taking care of everything?
Either way is I were thinking about going into home construction I would hire the person overseeing in a heartbeat

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## jdurand

a general, on the right in this picture
https://durandinterstellar.com/photo...tor-Lawyer.jpg

on the left is our translator (we need a LOT more study before contracts)

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Scotsman Hosie (Oct 23, 2019)

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## DIYSwede

Thanks for sharing your own progress, and good luck!
-Guess your contractor's company isn't called "*Прогресс*" though, perhaps due to that concept's "historical connotations"? :Smile: 

That was, amongst many other things (for example: an "expendable spacecraft" and a brand of East German combines & tractors), 
the name of a Soviet publishing house purveying City guides (entirely w/o maps - not remarkable at all, if you could understand the Soviet system).

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## Rikk

Looking at these photos since you started this thread... Never time to do it correctly in the beginning, but ALWAYS time to fix the shoddy work in the end...
Laughable.

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EnginePaul (Oct 24, 2019),

Scotsman Hosie (Oct 23, 2019)

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## jdurand

> Thanks for sharing your own progress, and good luck!
> -Guess your contractor's company isn't called "*Прогресс*" though, perhaps due to that concept's "historical connotations"?
> 
> That was, amongst many other things (for example: an "expendable spacecraft" and a brand of East German combines & tractors), 
> the name of a Soviet publishing house purveying City guides (entirely w/o maps - not remarkable at all, if you could understand the Soviet system).



We're understanding more and more as we study the history and culture along with the language. To speak Russian you have to think like a Russian, not easy for a westerner but some things come easy now. Not a lot, but some.

I just got in a bunch of new pictures, you can find the whole progress of our house here:
https://durandinterstellar.com/photos/Our_New_Home/
Oldest items at the top.

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Rikk (Oct 24, 2019),

Scotsman Hosie (Oct 23, 2019)

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## jdurand

Jack The Hammer just returned to The Pit. Sounds like they're right below my office door, our chickens will not be pleased (their coop is next to my door).

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Scotsman Hosie (Oct 23, 2019)

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## jdurand

Turns out it was hammer drills, they've started putting in wooden walls and putting R-1 insulation (moisture barrier???) on the exterior. Haven't seen any indication they intend to fill in the voids.

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## VinnieL

Wow all this reminds me of a few episodes of The Three Stooges doing construction....Sorry I know it isn't funny having this right next door to your house. Obviously there are multitudes of building code violations happening. You don't want it to be finished and collapse and be stuck with that next door...I feel for you!

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EnginePaul (Oct 24, 2019)

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## Frank S

has there even been an inspector come by?
I cant believe they are putting that thin insulation on the exterior walls without filling those voids and spraying a layer of bitumen or some other sealant on the concrete first. Even in the dry deserts of the middle east they applied a 3 or 4 tier level of water barrier.
Back when I was doing some minor contracting in Ca. I had to pass several tests before I was issued a contractor's license, and in LA county you couldn't deviate from a construction plan without facing heavy fines and the inspectors never cut you any slack.

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## NeiljohnUK

Oh dear thats not going to end well. When my employer decided to build across the street the drilled reinforced pile contractor had to bore so the piles were zig-zag and touching to enable proper retention strength for a ~25 foot deep side wall, each pile was ~18" diameter. Over engineered or properly assessed and planned, rather that than under engineered and liable to collapse...

----------

Scotsman Hosie (Oct 27, 2019)

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## EnginePaul

At least the inspector did his job; I've seen stuff that makes me worry. I certainly hope you aren't in earthquake country considering you live next to that.

This story makes me miss the Three Stooges movies.

----------


## jdurand

In the 1989 7.1 'quake a ground crack ran right through what will be the front of their house. Our house suffered damage but not a lot. Of course we're one story, no basement, and built to earthquake standards. Old standards, but still worked.

----------

that_other_guy (Nov 21, 2019)

----------


## jdurand

For today's pictures, an update on that R-1 insulation, some peeling concrete, and a view from the West.

----------


## jdurand

Not too much today, they peeled more forms, doesn't look horrible. Added more of the R-1 insulation and got a delivery of dirt + a compactor so I'm guessing tomorrow or Monday they will fill in the dirt under what will be the garage floor and then set up forms to pour it.

----------


## Toolmaker51

> Not too much today, they peeled more forms, doesn't look horrible. Added more of the R-1 insulation and got a delivery of dirt + a compactor so I'm guessing tomorrow or Monday they will fill in the dirt under what will be the garage floor and then set up forms to pour it.



? How do they excavate enough cubic yards for a deep garage sized foundation and require backfill trucked in?

----------

Scotsman Hosie (Oct 27, 2019)

----------


## jdurand

They didn't save any. Hauled it all off, so need to order more.

----------

Scotsman Hosie (Oct 27, 2019)

----------


## Frank S

> ? How do they excavate enough cubic yards for a deep garage sized foundation and require backfill trucked in?



Easy they had all of the spoils from the excavation hauled off then buy it back and have it hauled in. This way the brother in law gets a piece of the pie plus the mother-in-law's sisters brother's son gets work as well and the future home owner gets stuck with the bill.

----------

Scotsman Hosie (Oct 27, 2019)

----------


## Frank S

It would be interesting to know if they add any soil stabilizers to their fill dirt, and to see the compaction report

----------


## jdurand

They're out tamping now. I presume there will be a compaction report done with the same diligence the inspections have been done.

----------


## dcwbp

This looks like most of the houses I see getting built here in Palm Beach Florida on the ocean. Shoddy work is everywhere. They always think they are saving so much money til they get my bill for fixing the other contractors "expedited and cheap" so called craftsmanship. Gotta love the titewads. They almost always pay in the end.

----------


## IntheGroove

That retaining wall should have been sheet piling...

----------


## jdurand

> That retaining wall should have been sheet piling...



wait until you look at the rest of the photos.

----------


## Elizabeth Greene

So footings aren't really a thing there?

----------


## jdurand

I thought they were, but not for that house. They build to a different drummer.

----------


## greyhoundollie

I would say that the owners have probably already spent 3 to 4 times what their original planed expenditures were for the foundation, and haven't yet realized that they are not done spending money on their foundation. Having not yet reached ground surface level yet, being still just a whole in the ground, soon is the winter rain season. Good luck to them with the rest of this season. 

Mr Durand I am assuming you have an attorney? At some point these folks will run out of money, and the banks will walk away. I would hope you have worked on your repayment for damages already received and damages to come to your property. Don't wait too long and find there is only a hole in the ground to bring a suit against.

----------

Toolmaker51 (Oct 28, 2019)

----------


## Scotsman Hosie

> That retaining wall should have been sheet piling...



Sheet piling up? I think that's the euphemism *jdurand* has been looking for.  :Big Grin:

----------


## jdurand

They're working late today, put down some dirt, pound, dirt, pound, ...

I notice they DID patch over the external larger holes. Guess the inside ones will be taken care of by the wall finishing that also has to cover all that waffle pattern. Maybe they'll mount plasterboard out from the wall and hope nobody ever looks behind it.

----------


## Toolmaker51

> They're working late today, put down some dirt, pound, dirt, pound, ...
> 
> I notice they DID patch over the external larger holes. Guess the inside ones will be taken care of by the wall finishing that also has to cover all that waffle pattern. Maybe they'll mount plasterboard out from the wall and hope nobody ever looks behind it.



Yes. They can hide it physically. 
But (with maniacal laugh) it'll reside forever in this supreme digital record; we can refrain blackmail for a small fee. . .

----------


## Frank S

What I am thinking is the homeowner is going to need the digital record some day. Maybe not soon but in a few years

----------


## PDXsparky

Eagerly awaiting further photos. This house "construction" is like watching a slow motion train wreck. I just can't look away.

----------


## Frank S

> Eagerly awaiting further photos. This house "construction" is like watching a slow motion train wreck. I just can't look away.



I hear you, Although I've never contracted to build a house I've been involved in the civil engineering aspect of several industrial and high rise buildings mostly to insure the civil engineers took into account the machinery or steel structural members we were going to have to install later.
But this thing does have all the trappings of a train wreck in progress. 
there is adequate steel in the construction I'll give them that.
I'm pretty sure I know why they did not vibrate the concrete in to make sure all the voids were filled was due to the selection of forming materials. 
Steel form panels could have been rented and bolted together for less cost than the lumber in the forms they constructed then they could have vibrated the concrete in properly with a superior finish and no need to slice away a bulge from an almost failed form. 
An even bigger concern is the total lack of any moisture barrier anywhere in the basement wall or floor construction, But hey, maybe they used concrete that is completely moisture prof. I can't say since I'm not there.
My mistake I just looked all the way back to the 1st page and did see they laid down a barrier under the floor portion.
And maybe that R1 foam being taped together is enough to protect the sides I've just never seen it done that way without spraying a layer of barrier on prior to application of foam insulation

----------


## jdurand

They've started putting in the wood bits, they're also still backfilling around the outside.

----------


## Toolmaker51

> They've started putting in the wood bits, they're also still backfilling around the outside.
> 
> Attachment 31799



Wonder, were there difficulties switching from building forms to stud walls? Old habits you know. . .

----------


## jdurand

Floor joists going in.

----------


## PDXsparky

Interesting that the joists and the glue lam behind it are at different elevations.

That gouge dug out on that concrete in the background looks terrible.

----------


## jdurand

The pounding from the packer makes it hard to think in the office. At the moment it sounds like a large helicopter hovering right outside my door. My wife said the potted plants are vibrating.

I'm hoping they're not calling worms (reference to a book many will know).

----------


## jdurand

Ok, today's pictures. Still a long way to go with the backfill and they're mainly working under that garage floor. They still have to fill around the rest of the basement. I also see they drive carefully.

----------


## jdurand

I just received a call from the city Code Compliance Officer, someone sent them an anonymous message with a link to this thread. They're sending out an inspector.

----------


## IntheGroove

It wasn't me...

----------


## jdurand

> It wasn't me...



He asked me to mention that in the future they should include the street address. Of course I haven't posted the address, which would make it somewhat harder.  :Smile:

----------


## PDXsparky

> I just received a call from the city Code Compliance Officer, someone sent them an anonymous message with a link to this thread. They're sending out an inspector.



I'd like to hear the conversation between the inspector and the builder.

----------


## Toolmaker51

Nor was it I.
Or Chuck Berry; maybe before but not since 1965 [Warning to Marv K, don't hit the link, but Ranald can.]



Not an energetic George Thorogood either, who met a German girl in England, goin' to school in France, Said we danced the Mississippi at an Alpha Cappa dance. . .

Well,that kicked off my morning.

----------


## jdurand

The pounding from compacting the dirt in The Pit is getting louder, they must be closer to the surface. Remember it sounded like a helicopter hovering? Now it's landing right outside my door. My mouse is bouncing in my hand.

----------

Jon (Nov 7, 2019),

Scotsman Hosie (Nov 7, 2019),

that_other_guy (Nov 21, 2019),

Toolmaker51 (Nov 8, 2019)

----------


## Jon

Wasn't me either! I will note that this thread has received an unusually high amount of views. You've essentially provided a high-value and well-documented free construction analysis service to the unfortunate home buyers.

----------


## jdurand

Today's dirt delivery. They also fixed the fence and cleaned up the piles of junk!

----------


## IntheGroove

So, what did you get delivered today? Dirt...

----------


## Frank S

now that the fence is repaired you might need that drone

----------


## jdurand

Someone want to tell my wife that I NEED to buy a drone?  :Smile: 

A couple of more pictures...

----------


## Frank S

> Someone want to tell my wife that I NEED to buy a drone? 
> 
> A couple of more pictures...



You are keeping such a good progress record the perspective home owner want to may buy one for you

----------


## 2002Hummer

Very interesting thread. Shows how not to build a house. I hope this does not affect the price of your house when you decide to sell. Hello Wife Hubby needs a drone to keep up this thread until the neighbours house is built. It must be able to carry a good camera.

----------

that_other_guy (Nov 21, 2019)

----------


## jdurand

Well, Zillow does show our house has gone down about $100,000 in the last 6 months or so, but all the houses have gone down a little in this area. Still, not too big a deal as long as it doesn't go down a lot before we sell next year. We can't sell until we know the move-in date for the new house and that, of course, depends on winter weather. Last year was VERY wet so our new house wound up with piles under it. The ground wasn't actually soft, but the water table was too close to the surface with all that rain.

I was just discussing our inside staircase with the builders, "no, we do NOT want pretty wedge shaped stairs, we want straight steps, a landing, and more straight steps up to the second floor." I drew up a quick 3D sketch for them, sure handy having a good CAD system. They now appear to understand and even confirmed my stair count (21-22 total steps to get up to the 2nd floor, 3.24 meters rise). They also understand that the top steps should >just< clear a dividing wall on the first floor. They're not used to home owners who can actual caluclate stuff.  :Smile: 

Only hassle, there's an 11 hour time difference between here and there, so when I'm going to bed they're up and asking questions.

----------

Toolmaker51 (Nov 8, 2019)

----------


## jdurand

Today's Pit Picture. Not sure why the bobcat is down where they've been pounding dirt. Anyway, looks like they've reached the top of the vapor barrier, now for the 4 foot thick garage floor.  :Smile:  Actually, looking at the vertical area that rebar covers, it does look pretty deep.

----------


## jdurand

> now that the fence is repaired you might need that drone



If anyone wants to donate towards a cheap drone for continued coverage, let me know and I'll post a link.  :Smile: 

We take USD, AUD, and RUB.  :Smile:   :Smile:

----------

that_other_guy (Nov 21, 2019)

----------


## IntheGroove

I no longer have any use for this quadcopter. I disassembled it to replace a motor (8 spares)but never reassembled it. It has 4 batteries. charger, extra propellers, camera, 2 4gb micro cards, instruction book and remote. You can have it for free but you will have to install the new motor and reassemble the whole thing...

----------

jdurand (Nov 9, 2019),

that_other_guy (Nov 21, 2019)

----------


## Toolmaker51

Take it jdurand and christen it Unit 1 of the HMT. net Air Force.

----------


## jdurand

> I no longer have any use for this quadcopter. I disassembled it to replace a motor (8 spares)but never reassembled it. It has 4 batteries. charger, extra propellers, camera, 2 4gb micro cards, instruction book and remote. You can have it for free but you will have to install the new motor and reassemble the whole thing...



Ok, I'll see how to do a pm on this forum to work out the details.

Thanks for starting the air farce!

----------


## IntheGroove

Besides soldering the motor leads, the only tool you will need is a very small phillips screwdriver, included...

----------


## jdurand

> Besides soldering the motor leads, the only tool you will need is a very small phillips screwdriver, included...



Not a problem, we assemble electronics all the time. Can even do small surface mount.

...

Prepaid mailing label sent, will drone on about the repair/assembly of the drone when it arrives.

My wife was picturing one of the workers running the ram with a drone hovering behind him looking over his shoulder.  :Smile: 

Actually, I'll be legal and keep it on my side of the fence, only with a high enough view to see what's happening. I told a neighbor and he's already waiting for pictures.  :Smile:

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Toolmaker51 (Nov 10, 2019)

----------


## Toolmaker51

Better jdurand + drone, than Clancy Wiggums and jet pack! [Justice has a new name.....Up!]


How's that for a little early morning levity?

----------

that_other_guy (Nov 21, 2019)

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## jdurand

Todays picture, theyve mostly been backfilling. Better pictres when I have the drone flying.

----------


## IntheGroove

Salute to all Veterans. Postal service will be operating tomorrow...

----------

Rikk (Nov 12, 2019),

Toolmaker51 (Nov 11, 2019)

----------


## Toolmaker51

There are many veterans here at HMT.net. 
I'm proud to be one of that group.

USN & USNR; just under 26 years.

I celebrate; by avoiding anything called a 'Veterans Day Special'.

----------

Rikk (Nov 12, 2019)

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## Frank S

> There are many veterans here at HMT.net. 
> I'm proud to be one of that group.
> 
> I celebrate; by avoiding anything called a 'Veterans Day Special'.



I second that comment

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Toolmaker51 (Nov 11, 2019)

----------


## jdurand

I never quite made it to service, only one in my family that didn't. Well, after WW II it was determined my father's group wasn't actually military.

Closest I came was a congressional nomination to the Air Force Academy.

----------


## jdurand

Floor going in at The Pit.



The drone should be here Thursday, I'll put it together Thursday night and try for preliminary pictures on Friday. The first picture flight will probably be up/down on my side of the fence so no chance of losing it. Once I get familiar with the controls I can fly around the construction.

Thanks to 
@IntheGroove
 for the drone!

----------


## jdurand

some days our mail carrier doesn't show up. today was such a day, so no drone.  :Frown:

----------


## IntheGroove

The tracking says by 8:00 PM. There is still hope...

----------


## IntheGroove

USPS, not the best delivery outfit in the country...

----------


## jdurand

The Postal Orifice says the drone will be delivered between 1:30 and 4:30 today. Oddly specific time for them, the most I normally get is "Out for Delivery". Sometimes I even get "Delivered" when the mail carrier hasn't even been here. May not show up for a day or so after "delivery", sometimes never.

On UPS packages I almost always receive a "Delivered" message in enough time to slowly get up and walk outside in time to see the truck coming down the street.

----------


## jdurand

Drone arrived, thanks again!

There was a loose screw in the box that fell on the floor but a strong magnet got it. Can't have any more loose screws around here, it would get crowded.

----------


## IntheGroove

Put it together. Fly that thing!!!

----------


## jdurand

Practicing flying, doesn't hover as stably as I would have expected. Probably seen too many expensive ones.

Good news, I can control it decently well but not quite up to pictures yet, maybe tomorrow after the quit or Sunday since they don't work on Sundays.

Also good news, the chickens didn't panic. Stood back and watched, but didn't run away. A squirrel, however, was VERY displeased.

So, instead of drone pictures, here's two from a ladder in the yard.

----------


## IntheGroove

My dog Lily, a Maltese, thought it was a flying vacuum cleaner and she hated it and just wanted to attack it...

----------


## IntheGroove

And I do offer a money back guarantee...

----------


## Toolmaker51

Meanwhile, in the infamous ThreadHack Department;
I receive mail in 2 locations. Being employed and being 65 miles between them, was a problem monitoring important inbound mail traffic. Well, there is a remedy.
On their site USPS offers at no charge 'Informed Delivery', that shows digital record of mail and package scheduled arrivals. No charge for the service, just register address and email. Two things I normally avoid when solicitors are involved.
And I have zero issues with USPS, certainly thanks to my kind demeanor. Or carriers really enjoy the even kindlier dog.

----------


## jdurand

> And I do offer a money back guarantee...



It's on the operating table, one motor and the LED on that arm are intermittent. Makes it sometimes fly erratically and/or not even get off the ground. Since it's the LED AND the motor it sounds like a bad common power connection. I noticed those are both hooked to the same solder pad. I'll jumper it over to another pad which should hopefully fix the issue.

The guys are currently pounding dirt and tossing boards around so I can't photograph until later anyway.


As for the Informed Delivery with the Postal Orifice, it tells me things like "your package was delivered" when there was no mail at all delivered. For a while we were getting messages of "couldn't deliver mail due to dangerous animal". Our mail delivery is OUTSIDE our gate and our dangerous animals are chickens. Seems the postmaster didn't buy that excuse either so that carrier disappeared. The current carrier loves the chickens, is monitoring our house build, and is very reliable...except on days off/sick leave. THEN our mail delivery goes to crap again.

The latest fun I'm having is I sent off two identical boxes of holiday ornaments to the same town in Russia. These have bar-coded meter labels printed on our thermal printer (100 x 150mm, water proof) with electronically filed customs. One got to San Francisco a day before the other, but then sat there a week not moving. The other box got to San Francisco a day later, immediately departed and a week after shipment was delivered in Russia.

That first box THEN said it arrived at San Francisco 4 more times, dead air, then "Cleared Customs in Moscow" followed by tracking to the town and delivered.

----------


## IntheGroove

It was working fine up until I crashed it. That was two years ago...

----------

that_other_guy (Nov 21, 2019)

----------


## jdurand

> It was working fine up until I crashed it. That was two years ago...



Sounds like most of us with some machine tool, car, whatever. My car has the grill and one headlight reflector held together with epoxy and wire, you have to look close to see it. Also the bent metal was fixed with a ratchet winch (come-along) and a handy oak tree. Almost as good as new.  :Smile: 

Found the problem, it had TWO bad motors. The one you had removed and one other. The intermittent was because part of the brush assembly broke so there was a piece of metal floating around in there randomly shorting things out. Complements to the circuit designer that the driver FET didn't go up in smoke.

Hopefully now it will hover without suddenly acting like a dog that just saw a shiny object..."HEY, come back here! HEEL!!!"

----------


## IntheGroove

Good thing I bought all those extra motors...

----------


## jdurand

Hey, it works now!

----------


## PDXsparky

Photo or it didn't happen.  :Thumbs Up:

----------


## jdurand

> Photo or it didn't happen.



Bit of a breeze up there right now so I can't keep it above the fence for long. But...

----------

PDXsparky (Nov 16, 2019)

----------


## jdurand



----------

that_other_guy (Nov 21, 2019)

----------


## IntheGroove

I am impressed with your piloting skills...

----------

jdurand (Nov 16, 2019)

----------


## PDXsparky

That thing they are building takes up the whole lot. I guess they don't want a yard. I'm sure they made it as big as the setbacks would allow.

----------

jdurand (Nov 16, 2019)

----------


## Frank S

It sure didn't take log for you to become accustomed to flying that drone

----------

jdurand (Nov 16, 2019)

----------


## IntheGroove

The pile of dirt on the subfloor is a nice touch...

----------


## jdurand

they've mentioned wanting to plant a lot of fruit trees when the house is done. roof?

----------


## jdurand

> It sure didn't take log for you to become accustomed to flying that drone



I did practice in the house last night and a bit over the picnic table, but those were hops. The videos are the first long flights.

I guess a few decades on operating machine tools and building surface mount electronics pays off.

----------

Ztill (Nov 16, 2019)

----------


## jdurand

Does that stairwell look small to you? Seems like it should be more rectangular. I'll try for better pictures tomorrow if it's not windy.

----------


## IntheGroove

Spiral staircase to the basement perhaps?

----------


## jdurand

I went to take more pictures yesterday. Had a nice long flight and then found I'd forgotten to install the SD card.  :Brick Wall: 

So, fresh battery and decided to try the "headless" mode as it's supposed to be easier. Well... the rotation was slightly out of trim so the drone was slowly turning. Kewl, automatic pan of the camera. Only...it's reference to "head" was also rotating so now the controls didn't work relative to the physical head or what I had originally set as the head. I sort of had it under control but a small breeze came up so time to land...and it wound up flying over my head fairly fast headed towards the other fence so I cut power. Landed upside down in the kiwi arbor. No damage but the rough landing apparently glitched power because the SD card was corrupted. I couldn't even post a video of the less than stellar landing.

I had to climb on the roof with a long electrician's pole to retrieve it.

No more headless mode!

----------


## jdurand

Video time! Still getting used to flying and I occasionally get a power loss. ???

----------


## Frank S

2x4 walls, so I take it this is going to be a single story dwelling then.

----------


## jdurand

No idea, but their windows more or less look at our roof line, so it's already the tallest building in the neighborhood.

I still wonder where they're planting all the trees they want.

----------


## IntheGroove

Yea! You're getting the hang of it. Better than I ever did.
So was there a house on that property before or is this some new view ruining project?

----------


## Toolmaker51

Oh, it was stellar alright. . .Your tiny little pilot saw them.
Probably still is.
It's important, socially speaking, to not quip about headless operation.

----------


## Toolmaker51

> 2x4 walls, so I take it this is going to be a single story dwelling then.



If not counting the ICBM launch bunker below.

----------


## Frank S

> If not counting the ICBM launch bunker below.



I was disappointed in seeing those gluelams had it been me the floor would have been precast set in place not some elongated chunks of fireplace material.

----------


## jdurand

> I was disappointed in seeing those gluelams had it been me the floor would have been precast set in place not some elongated chunks of fireplace material.



Here's the upper floor of our new house, just went in this week. The precast plates (as they call them) are 7 meters long.


And regarding The Pit, it was too windy to fly. I got just above the fence and the wind blew the drone back...almost gave my wife a haircut. So...here's some land based pictures

----------

Frank S (Nov 19, 2019)

----------


## Frank S

You are having a house built. this other thing that is the subject of the thread will be a just another stack of kindling for the next brush fire.
For only the second time in my adult life I am currently living in what I call a nailed together stack of dried kindling. it may have 1850 sq ft and 7 rooms + 2 bathrooms and an enclosed sun porch. but I also completely replaces the wiring to above anyone's code and installed a dozen smoke/ monoxide And gas leak detectors and there are fire extinguishers through out I doubt if I will ever be completely comfortable living in something made out of materials which should be reserved for furniture or cord wood.. Some wood used in the construction of a house is fine but the primary material to construct one should not have grown in a forest. If this thing ever gets blown away or burns I will use the settlement money to build one half the size out of rock concrete and steel 100 yards deeper into the property. but it has been here now for 50 years.

----------


## jdurand

We did just have an issue with our house (had to be something), my wife and I did the design and from day one we've had straight stairs with a flat landing then straight to the second floor. When they've given sketches of changes to our plans we've always been careful to cross out anything that looked like Winder stairs and write in FLAT LANDING. Well, now that they've put the lower walls in they said there's no room for a flat landing, especially as they won't make stairs as steep as I had drawn (7" rise, 11" run). Sounds like a Winder conspiracy to me. The engineer will only approve low slope stairs (5.9" rise, 11.81" run) with a winder for us elderly people (who's elderly? We can both hike miles). Well, we agreed to the Winder ONLY if it's the safe type with no sharp end. 6" minimum run on the narrow end with 10" minimum a foot in from the narrow end. Also want them to increase the rise at least a bit.

I just hope I don't trip over those "safe" stairs, with the nose on the tread they're going to be 12-1/2" deep...that's a lot of step to take two at a time when I run up stairs.

----------


## Frank S

Yeah I hate the low rise wide step stairs to me they seem more dangerous than the only slightly steeper 7" rise. That whole short height riser code only came into existence because the person sitting on the panel when the codes were made up was only 5 ft 2in. just barely out of school so they still remembered being 4 years old and having to climb what used to be the standard height. with their little short legs. 
As for the 12" treads that's fine as long as there is a 1 to 1 1/2" nesting from the next tread above leaving 10 1/2 to 1 inches 
As I was growing up I often visited one of my uncles their stairs to the made over attic were 9x9 continuous for a 12 ft total height, and only 36" wide in later years once he nad my aunt got into their 80's they installed a grab rail on both sides. My aunt still climbed those stairs until she was well into her 90's 
My shop will have 7x11 1" overlap with a 180 turn back landing but the only code I build to is Frank's

----------


## jdurand

I like when they asked if we had any idea what climbing steep stairs like I was suggesting was like. Um, yes, been climbing 7-11 my whole life.

Interesting they think 7" rise stairs are steep and yet anything less than a 10 foot ceiling is too short. Makes for some LONG staircases.

----------


## IntheGroove

Something like this...
https://yarn.co/yarn-clip/0664ac02-1...JB0EElX2B.copy

----------


## Frank S

10 ft ceilings means at least 11 feet from floor level to floor level and could be much more 
yeah it would make for a long stair obscenely long with a straight landing half way up with less than 6" risers and 12 inch treads. still long even with an inch of tuck under for the treads. 
9in x9in stairs are steep but if my Aunt could still climb them into her 80s before needing a hand rail it couldn't have been too bad.

----------


## jdurand

They made the Pit House taller!

----------


## jdurand

At least we have happy PIT workers.

Audio from today, they normally sing along.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SHj...ew?usp=sharing

----------


## IntheGroove

Sounds like a couple of worksites around here...

----------


## Frank S

yep they can't drive a nail without their sounds polluting the air. 
I walked into my shop one day when I had a dozen employees only to hear 10 different radios blaring at full volume. 
My wife knew what was getting ready to happen and went and pulled the handle on the main breaker shutting the whole shop down. 
OK guys it is like this you can all have your noise to listen to while you work as long as I don't hear it in the office or in the machine shop area, but when persons driving by on the road 100 yards away hear it in their vehicles with their windows up its too loud. Now if you think you can listen to your noise at a reasonably low volume enabling you to be aware of sounds around you like the forklift or the overhead crane moving OK. if not you have 2 choices collect your pay or leave your boom boxes at home. Either way suits me, any one of you can be replaced in under an hour. Not a single one of you can hear the books playing in my wireless headphones while I'm machining but I can hear any of you when you call out to me or someone else. Six decided to collect their pay at the end of the day and there were 9 applicants show up the next morning. When the unemployment was near 10% and it was known that we paid double the minimum wage as a starting salary there was never any shortage of applicants.

----------


## jdurand

They're still going up!

----------


## IntheGroove

So damn close. I'm getting upset for you. I would not enjoy neighbours that close...

----------


## jdurand

We'll be out of here as soon as our new house is finished. Sooner if a bunch of cash falls from the sky.

----------


## Frank S

In your estimation do you consider the house being built as eventually raising or lowering the value of the house you are currently living in?
If you think it will go down it might be time to try and make a quick sale

----------


## jdurand

The owners said it would make our place worth a lot more. Since the empty hole lowered the values, we can only hope the price goes up.

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Toolmaker51 (Nov 23, 2019)

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## jdurand

They're still working and it's getting dark, so I just took a snap.

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## Toolmaker51

> The owners said it would make our place worth a lot more. Since the empty hole lowered the values, we can only hope the price goes up.



"The owners said. . ."; well, that is certainly reassuring. Can they predict weather, Lotto numbers, inflation rates or cost of living too? Rarely will over built custom work [usually not in keeping with local architecture] create an increase.

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## Frank S

> "The owners said. . ."; well, that is certainly reassuring. Can they predict weather, Lotto numbers, inflation rates or cost of living too? Rarely will over built custom work [usually not in keeping with local architecture] create an increase.



Unless the area is already strictly custom built homes then by filling a vacant lot which was in all likely hood had been poorly kept then a new addition might in time help property values in a minor way. 
But other than removing a detractor of a vacant lot I wouldn't expect a significant increase. What it will cause though if tighter scrutiny by a perspective buyer for even the most minor of repairs to be done before they or a loan institution inspector will sign off on any home being sold in the area.

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Toolmaker51 (Nov 23, 2019)

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## jdurand

Ran into a neighbor, she said they can hear the music and singing in their house across the street with all the doors and windows closed. She thinks an empty lot would look better than what this is turning into.

Here's today's video + some stills.

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## jdurand

No drone video today, just slides. I added music to bounce it up a bit.

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## jdurand

I was on the roof cleaning off all the bits of our tree they cut down to make the house. So, these are manual drone pictures...me humming while snapping pictures with my cell phone. I normally don't carry it but haven't been discussing doors with our Russian people so took it with me.

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## IntheGroove

I am wondering why there is no seismic hardware in the construction of that house.

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## jdurand

Hadn't thought of that, maybe every wall is skinned with wood to brace it?

I found out why they didn't skin the walls before putting in place, while cleaning outside they were putting in a small wall section over a passage. They lined up a bunch of guys and with much grunting and retrying, they got it into place where two guys on a scaffold pushed bolts through to hold it. It appears they never advanced to the builders class where tools and ropes were introduced. With just a couple of ropes my wife and I with one or two of them could have put that in place with no grunting.

The rain started, POURING so hard my freshly cleaned gutters overflowed with the downspout blowing out a firehose worth of water. Supposed to continue for a week to 10 days... hope they didn't leave tools in The Pit. How does glue-lam do when soaking wet?

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## Frank S

> How does glue-lam do when soaking wet?



A lot depends on the quality of the OSB used in the web

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## jdurand

> A lot depends on the quality of the OSB used in the web



The Pit Crew is working today, I see they put up a big tarp (barn door, horse...).

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## jdurand

The Pit during a break in the rain

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## Frank S

I know too well what it is like to have to scramble to cover a project in hopes of reducing the damage

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## jdurand

It's not like this rain was a surprise. Wonder if they did anything for the basement?

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## Frank S

> It's not like this rain was a surprise. Wonder if they did anything for the basement?



Some don't bother with listening to weather reports until it is falling on their heads.

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## jdurand

Today's feature is wet wood and a mystery steel beam. Any idea what that lone beam is for?

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## IntheGroove

Engine hoist...

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## Frank S

> Engine hoist...



Doubtful, more likely support for some cantilevered overhang

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## jdurand

A fairly dry day so lots of pounding and dropping sounds all day, got a little video and two photos but the drone was being bounced.

I did edit out the drone getting hung up on a wire in our yard, sounded like a fly stuck to a spider web trying to get away. But one blade guard was nicely hooked over the wire.

Anyway, damp wood and mud, the joys of construction in winter.

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## jdurand

No rain today, they took the tarp off and worked some more on the roof. Not much wind so I was able to keep the drone up longer. I see they're doing a recessed roof, hope they're allowing a drain pipe for that.

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## IntheGroove

You're getting pretty good with that drone...

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## Frank S

I wonder if that is going to be a roof top sun deck when they are finished

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## jdurand

With these guys, who knows. If they're not done by the time we move a neighbor pledges to take the drone and keep us up to date.

It didn't make it on the camera, but a B1RD aircraft went zooming past the drone right near the beginning. Managed to not run into the drone, that would have hurt.

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## PDXsparky

Wow, I expected a 2 story house. And that roof is strange looking. Of course it will leak even with a drain installe

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## Frank S

You've really got to watch those bird aircrafts they wont bother with a flight plan in most cases. Also some may even be related to the feline class of animals because they can be quite curious as well.
May ber time to think about weaponizing the platform with Bird away. A sound emitting piezo that sounds like a cat.
The thrum and buzz of the propellers may sound like insects to birds

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## jdurand

A short trip way up for a better view of the roof. I see there's a funky flat roof over the entry

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## jdurand

Our Russian contractor said "it will surely leak"

We were walking back from the store and one of the guys sitting on the roof yelled "hi neighbors". We got to talking some and said we're moving next summer. Apparently the ones that knew hadn't spread the word since he asked where to. We said Russia and he almost fell off the roof. We described the area to him and he wanted to know how hard it was to move there.

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## Frank S

Those recessed roofs usually will either eventually leak or turn into wadding pools.
In Kuwait every house has a flat roof with a high parapet around them they are used as we would our back yards here in the USA. Some having rather large trees planted in extremely large pots. in 2004 one day it rained nearly twice the normal yearly rainfall in a few hours, this was after a summer of stronger than usual dust storms lots of blocked drains. Some houses had water standing as much a half a meter deep on their roofs. That's a lot of weight even for a reinforced concrete roof

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## IntheGroove

My house can handle huge loads without collapsing or leaking...

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## Frank S

> My house can handle huge loads without collapsing or leaking...



Fairly low pitched roof for a snow load area such as Tahoe. 4 feet of wet fresh pack snow would be like having 6 inches of water on your roof or about 31lbs per sq. ft figure a 1200 sq foot roof you are talking about an additional 37,200 lbs on the structure of the house, and that is what some builders don't think about they build the roof to take a 100 lbf load but have only 2x4 stud walls and very little wind bracing

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## IntheGroove

That is over 6 feet of snow. The walls are solid cedar, 6.5 inches thick...

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## Frank S

> That is over 6 feet of snow. The walls are solid cedar, 6.5 inches thick...



That will work. Hard to beat a solid wall made out of most anything

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## jdurand

Here's today's pictures. Raining a bit so I won't drone on.

In the first one you can see the house from a bit over a block away, this is quite a ways uphill. You can't see our house but this one pops up.

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## IntheGroove

I still think it's really nice that there will be a engine hoist at the entryway...

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## jdurand

My wife asked who's going to clean all those windows that open onto the flat roof? There's quite a few of them and they're extension ladder distance from the inside floor and there doesn't appear to be a hatch to get onto either of the roof...not to mention the extension ladder to reach said hatch.

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## IntheGroove

Those windows will never be cleaned...

----------


## jdurand

At our new house they're working on the stair forms. They were expecting to use a standard sharp wedge winder, we said no. We compromised at the newer recommended truncated wedge but that means they needed to redo the forms.

Here's the fierce winter there
Attachment 32458

The snow is already melted and they're working away to keep on schedule.

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## jdurand

Tomorrow should be clear and sunny so I will try to get some good drone shots during the day (they don't work on Sundays). If the weather is calm I'll fly off the patio roof which gives me much more room for maneuvering and might get some close shots of their handiwork.

Today was nice but I wound up working on an exercise machine we have. A steel plate fractured around a motor mount so I contacted the manufacturer yesterday. Since it was only 5 months old they gave a full refund and said keep it.

So, today I wire brushed off the paint and prepared to weld a brace on to restore functionality. What, you thought I was going to salvage the motor? I though of that but don't need the motor plus we like the exercise machine and want it fixed.

Anyway, pulled out the flux core welder and...&^%#$@! The wire feed assembly doesn't feed the wire. On inspection a plastic bit broke. On a web search they only sell the entire assembly (of course) for $90. So, I gathered tools, parts, duct tape, glue, and chewed some gum. It should hold for a while, I'll fix the machine tomorrow and then give the welder to someone as a gift. We'll buy a new one after we move Aliexpress is really handy.

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## IntheGroove

I dislike flux core. Will not use it...

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## jdurand

> I dislike flux core. Will not use it...



It has it's place. Works better in wind than gas shield (MIG, TIG). For occasional use you don't need to keep a tank of gas around.

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## Frank S

While I'm not overly fond of the gasless flux core wire, but just like jdurand said it has its uses the thing you have to remember about it is it welds like a combination of 6011& 6013 once you learn to rock your stinger directing arc while keeping the electrode in the puddle it will yield decently strong welds.
for most of my welding I use flux core but not the gasless type I used a duel shield cored wire with CO2 mostly because much of my welding is on heavier mterials requiring deeper penetration and larger beads. 
But I have 1 machine set up with solid wire with 75/25 shielding gas and 1 set up with the gasless wire There are times when the gasless makes more sense than stick welding

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## jdurand

Today's pit video. Some turbulence made the flight interesting, please fasten your seat belts.

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## jdurand

I hate to say it, but I hear a jack hammer next door. They must be redecorating the basement.

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## jdurand

I just checked, not The Pit but in front of the house across the street from them.

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## jdurand

Today there was lots of hammering and singing. I see they added wood around the engine hoist. For as big a beam as that is, it surely isn't well supported.

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## Toolmaker51

Ahhhhh yes; flat roofs and parapets. Bane of owning commercially intended construction.
And why old roof was fully cut off, trussed in 4:1 pitch, and 50 year composition shingles.

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## jdurand

Today's pictures of the engine hoisty thing. They added a "hardy panel" next to it. Still no idea what they're doing.

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## jdurand

duplicate. Please ignore or delete.

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## jdurand

Today their construction work smells really good.

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## Toolmaker51

> Today their construction work smells really good.



I guess someone will say it; it's about time!

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## jdurand

A dirt truck showed up and now they're pounding again. Sounds/feels like a helicopter landing outside the office door. Pans rattling in the kitchen.

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## jdurand

Just a quick update on where the Pit is at. They were pounding more dirt today. So much pounding!

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## Toolmaker51

> Just a quick update on where the Pit is at. They were pounding more dirt today. So much pounding!



No, not first backfill of earth previously removed. Unaware dirt has migratory tendencies. This keeps up, house is a bunker with soil earthworks. 
But that's a lovely still life, inside the cyclone fence.

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## jdurand

> No, not first backfill of earth previously removed. Unaware dirt has migratory tendencies. This keeps up, house is a bunker with soil earthworks. 
> But that's a lovely still life, inside the cyclone fence.



The owners were there over the weekend, maybe the dirt saw them and ran away.

Still pounding.

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## jdurand

Yesterday in The Pit they were jack hammering something and this morning they took away the Bobcat. Then everybody left.

So, no work today but they left the lid open on their trash bin so I snapped a shot.

Looks like the front door is over next to the engine lift steel.

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## Frank S

Haven't been many updates lately was thinking you may have gone to Russia to check on your own house

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## jdurand

They've been working under the blue tarps, so not much to see. Pounding in more dirt, mariachi music, hammering, more pounding, jack hammer... nothing much visible happening.

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## jdurand

On our new house, we found out we have to stay in California until July 3rd so we get a huge tax exemption on selling this old house. Two neighbors and the contractor of The Pit have all expressed interest in it. We'd favor the neighbors as the contractor said he'd just tear this down for another pit.

At the new house they said we have a cat, the guys have been feeding one since they started. Maybe it will wander off when they finish and before we get there.

New house pictures here:
https://durandinterstellar.com/photos/Our_New_Home/

And for anyone interested, here's a drive through town from my dash camera in July 2018. I had one person ask how I could stand to drive there, there are PITS on the sides of the road without guard rails. I said, "don't drive into the pit"

https://durandinterstellar.com/photo...ugh%20Town.mp4

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## Frank S

> On our new house, we found out we have to stay in California until July 3rd so we get a huge tax exemption on selling this old house. Two neighbors and the contractor of The Pit have all expressed interest in it. We'd favor the neighbors as the contractor said he'd just tear this down for another pit.
> 
> At the new house they said we have a cat, the guys have been feeding one since they started. Maybe it will wander off when they finish and before we get there.
> 
> New house pictures here:
> https://durandinterstellar.com/photos/Our_New_Home/
> 
> And for anyone interested, here's a drive through town from my dash camera in July 2018. I had one person ask how I could stand to drive there, there are PITS on the sides of the road without guard rails. I said, "don't drive into the pit"
> 
> https://durandinterstellar.com/photo...ugh%20Town.mp4



Just what that neighborhood needs , another pit.
I've driven on many streets that had open drainage along both sides and you are correct you don't drive in the pits or trenches But know a lot of places there the ditches are right at the edge of the pavement on extremely narrow streets it gets a little dicey at times when meeting oncoming traffic whos drivers are afraid to drive in their onw lane. But I'm a stand my ground guy they either move to their side of the road or pay higher insurance premiums

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## jdurand

I guess having lived in Florida while learning to drive helped a lot. How to drive on sand or mud and still stay out of the ditch.

When we were driving around looking at properties right after a big rainstorm our sponsor's husband complimented me on my driving. Some of the property was at the end of dirt/mud roads and a good part of my driving (2 wheel drive rental car) was facing somewhere other than the direction we were moving but I stayed on the road.  :Smile: 

I would have felt much better with our 4x4 and we'll buy one there, but rentals only come in city cars.

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## jdurand

No work in a week on The Pit. Almost can't stand the quiet, like waiting for the thumping!

On our new house, we were just reviewing the latest progress video and as it panned past the front balcony we spotted a wall beginning at the front of the balcony.

ALL STOP!

me: what are those bricks on the front balcony?

them: it's the wall.

me: what wall?

them: the waist high balcony wall.

me: there is no wall, my wife builds wrought iron stuff, you know we're putting in railings.

them: it's right here on the...pause...NOT on the plans.

today's assignment: remove the bricks, patch any holes. At least the mortar is fresh, I would think they can pull them up easy enough and reuse them elsewhere.

I sent a reminder that we're doing ALL railings, hand rails, etc.

I also mentioned they don't need to narrate the progress videos, just walk around getting everything and we'll ask if there's something we don't understand.

I posted a few screen grabs from the video in the usual place...
https://durandinterstellar.com/photos/Our_New_Home/
newest at the bottom

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## Frank S

You know that brickies get paid by the brick don't you just like asphalt and road building they get paid by the cubic meter this is why a road that could be only 3 miles long winds up being 7 there is no other logical reason why a flat level road needs to be more than twice as long as the distance in a straight line between two points,

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## IntheGroove

I took the tour to your new place. Raining and no one wears a coat/jacket. Must be warm. The beginning of the trip reminded me of Carson City Nevada...

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## jdurand

It doesn't get all that cold there, it's currently 0C there with a range of -2 to +1 today. A few cm of snow in the winter that melts a day or two later.

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## jdurand

Several guys at The Pit today digging up some of the dirt they ponded down to run sewer lines from the various rain drains. Each basement window well looks like it gets a sewer line. No idea where these are all going, they're still digging with a small jack hammer with a wide blade, picks, and shovels.

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## jdurand

Well, small progress being made in The Pit, but we rarely see anyone around.

There's a couple of sewer (roof drain?) pipes that join under the garage floor there. Cleaning should be fun, but roof drains never clog...right?

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## 2002Hummer

> Well, small progress being made in The Pit, but we rarely see anyone around.
> 
> There's a couple of sewer (roof drain?) pipes that join under the garage floor there. Cleaning should be fun, but roof drains never clog...right?



Right,maybe if you live in the Sahara dessert

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## jdurand

A contractor looked at that house and said the engine hoist is actually for a cantilevered awning. Normally the beam would go further into the house but this one stops where it's attached to the smaller (looks like 3 or 4" square) tube that goes down to the foundation. He said that sheet metal "strong wall" panel is there to keep it straight.

I'm betting that roof will be a bit bouncy if you walk out on it. Looks good with that big steel beam but that long skinny tube looks bendy.

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## jdurand

Still not much going on in The Pit house. A couple of plumbers occasionally come by for a few hours. Some sort of inspector was there the other day. The contractor himself and one or two guys were there for a few hours. The tarps are ripping free of the roof. Overall it's ALMOST abandoned. No idea what the delay is.

As for our new house, aside from pauses for heavy rain and one day they got almost record snow (100mm), they're moving right along. A week or two and we should have a roof.

Front of the main part


Back of the main part


Front of shop

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## jdurand

Activity in The Pit!!!

It's ALIVE!!!

I guess I missed when they poured the foundation for the garage, I see they can't pour that without issues.

Shouldn't they pour the floor before putting up all the walls? Seems easier. Also, might want to run some reinforcing in the garage floor.

A big window facing our driveway? Is that so we can look at their big, fancy SUVs?

Pictures:

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## jdurand

A bit more progress on The Pit

That garage looks awfully sturdy for a 1 story hollow shell. Since it has a flat roof with a parapet like the main building, maybe that's to hold up all the water when the drain clogs?

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## Frank S

I wonder if the owners have thrown enough money in the pit that they are beginning to rethink their decisions

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## jdurand

> I wonder if the owners have thrown enough money in the pit that they are beginning to rethink their decisions



The contractor and workers are cheery. The contractor still wants to buy our place to tear down and build. We haven't seen the owners recently, but when they come by it's often for a short walk-through.

Our new house is working through a glitch, seems nobody told the roofer that the workshop has a skylight. Oops. They're having a meeting today to adjust the framing as required, at least the roof isn't skinned yet. Also to make sure the two skylights are in the plans for the roof over the 2 story section.

To head off potential problems I gave them a drawing of how we want the work area in front of the workshop roofed (after the house is done). I figured I should get that in before someone builds something in the way of the work area cover. It's going to be nice having a 3 x 5 meter flat work area with a high current welding outlet and regular power. At our California house it's hard to find level ground, the driveway is very sloped and can be used but not well.

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## Frank S

> The contractor and workers are cheery. The contractor still wants to buy our place to tear down and build. We haven't seen the owners recently, but when they come by it's often for a short walk-through.
> 
> Our new house is working through a glitch, seems nobody told the roofer that the workshop has a skylight. Oops. They're having a meeting today to adjust the framing as required, at least the roof isn't skinned yet. Also to make sure the two skylights are in the plans for the roof over the 2 story section.
> 
> To head off potential problems I gave them a drawing of how we want the work area in front of the workshop roofed (after the house is done). I figured I should get that in before someone builds something in the way of the work area cover. It's going to be nice having a 3 x 5 meter flat work area with a high current welding outlet and regular power. At our California house it's hard to find level ground, the driveway is very sloped and can be used but not well.



Having a covered level work area can be extremely useful being able to install a roll down canvas or vinyl wind tarp on a couple sides such as those sun setter awning enclosures when needed is even more so

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## jdurand

> Having a covered level work area can be extremely useful being able to install a roll down canvas or vinyl wind tarp on a couple sides such as those sun setter awning enclosures when needed is even more so



Two sides are the main house and front of the shop. The third side is the covered driveway, you can back up to the shop porch and the railing will swing open to make a loading dock. The 4th is open but can have a tarp. You can see the work area in this photo



Anyway, PIT photos.

Skinned the garage


and put in a rather rustic driveway

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## IntheGroove

How much beer was needed to keep that place square...

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## jdurand

> How much beer was needed to keep that place square...



My contractor informs me they were restricted to 10 barrels.

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## jdurand

In The Pit we can now see what that engine hoist piece of steel is for. As it's only connected with 4 bolts at the house side, it doesn't strike me as all that strong. But, not my roof.

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## IntheGroove

Since there is no snow load to worry about it should be fine...

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## jdurand

In the pit they're starting to install windows. Also putting down underlayment on the roof, looks pretty thin. The wind is already peeling some up.

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## jdurand

Our new house finally has a point.  :Smile:

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## PDXsparky

I like your new house much more than the pit house.

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## Frank S

What type of cladding is the norm for houses in this area? It is clear to see that brick will not be the outer covering as there are no provisions for a brick or stone ledge on the foundation. 
I suppose they could use the faux brick or stone and simply glue it to the OSB wall board. or use Hardy planking. Vinyl or steel siding always looks cheap new or old. t1-11 makes a house look like a barn. And then again there are all sorts of vacuum-formed panel sheeting with faux designs, which from a distance can fool many into believing the designs are the real thing but rarely do they hold up to close up scrutiny. 
Maybe they will carpet it in green astroturf in hopes that it will blend into the local flora and not be noticed as a house LOL.

I like how your house is progressing even though you may feel it is slow in coming, at least yours's is a real structure

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## jdurand

In our California neighborhood stucco has been the norm, no idea what they're going to do.

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## Frank S

> In our California neighborhood stucco has been the norm, no idea what they're going to do.



I know where there is a house here in Tx that the guy took lathing screen and stapled it to the exterior then pulled and shaped it to look like random rock formations then sprayed it with shot-crete and hand painted each stone shape to look like natural rocks. You had to get real close to even tell the wall was not made of natural stone.

----------


## PDXsparky

> I know where there is a house here in Tx that the guy took lathing screen and stapled it to the exterior then pulled and shaped it to look like random rock formations then sprayed it with shot-crete and hand painted each stone shape to look like natural rocks. You had to get real close to even tell the wall was not made of natural stone.



Just like they do at Disney

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## jdurand

All day today they were tarring the flat part of the roof and just on the section of sloped roof I can see from our yard they've added 3 skylights and 6 sewer vents.

They worked until 7pm, don't know if the flat sections are done yet. The tar pot is sitting in front of the house.


Here's the workshop on our new house. The roof timbers will be all treated with fire and bug proofing paint before everything is sealed up. Seems Russians in this area are really really against flammable houses.

----------

Scotsman Hosie (Mar 14, 2020)

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## Frank S

> All day today they were tarring the flat part of the roof and just on the section of sloped roof I can see from our yard they've added 3 skylights and 6 sewer vents.
> 
> They worked until 7pm, don't know if the flat sections are done yet. The tar pot is sitting in front of the house.
> 
> 
> Here's the workshop on our new house. The roof timbers will be all treated with fire and bug proofing paint before everything is sealed up. Seems Russians in this area are really really against flammable houses.



My kind of folks

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## IntheGroove

Just like most places that are against flammable schools...

----------


## jdurand

Around here you can have wooden shake roofs and none of the lumber in the attic is treated.

Notice in my House Next Door thread there's not a bit of treated wood there.

We also have a LOT of termites, carpenter bees, and carpenter ants.

----------


## jdurand

In the Pit they've been tarring that roof for 4 days! I've seen roofs on large commercial buildings finished quicker.

What on earth could they need all that tar for?

If I get a spare moment and calm weather I'll send up Mr Drone to have a look.

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## jdurand

On our new roof, looks like we'll have a basketball court clear attic, I don't see truss members inside the attic space. The edges are sitting on the top of the wall which was poured solid. There's one layer of bricks inside that for weather seal and I guess it keeps it from leaning end to end.

----------


## IntheGroove

Looks pretty sturdy...

----------


## jdurand

That attic is about 12 meters x 7 meters inside the walls. My wife suggested building a small heated room there for exercise gear...part of the workout is climbing up the attic stairs.

Seems opening the attic stairs in winter wouldn't be the best idea unless we built the room OVER the attic stairs and added a door to the unheated part. 

Wait, hmmm...., we could do that!

----------


## jdurand

The guys are at lunch so I took a picture as best as I could. I'll see about sending up the drone when they leave.

----------


## jdurand

Pictures from The Tar Pit (renamed by a neighbor). Looks like 4 days of tarring isn't enough, they left the tar pot and pump ready for tomorrow.

Shouldn't the flashing go up to the top of the parapit, if not wrap over? First leak there?

Lot of glass in this house!

----------


## Frank S

I've seen a roof done like this before after the first layer of tar is applied they came in and installed a full wrap flashing then a second layer of tar then a vulcanized layer of rubbery fabric of about 1/4" thick and gravel on top of that

----------


## jdurand

We had a heavy rain last night. The contractors got there first thing this morning before I could send up the drone. They had a shop vacuum running for quite a while, I assume sucking up water and now they're back to adding more tar. This is about a week of tarring.

So this is now officially the Tar Pit.

----------


## jdurand

A roofer asked for pictures of the tar they're using and if they have mops or brooms. No mops or brooms seen.

He said a self-leveled roof is good for 3-4 years before it leaks, a bit longer with a seal top. He hasn't done one like this in over 20 years since there's much better ways to cover a roof.

----------


## Frank S

Back sometime around 1982 I was helping a guy build a floating boat house He and I both owned dock building companies only I mostly drove steel pilings for the boat storage and docks that I built Rod had installed a steel roof on the boat house then his customer decided that he wanted a party deck above it instead of the sloped steel roof. So we ripped the roof and rafters off replaced them with 24 foot long 2 by 12s on 12 inch centers over the 2 slip dock the longest unsupported span the rafters had was 8 feet over the slips with 4 foot walkways on both sides and down the middle then we screwed down 3/4" treated plywood for the sub decking of the roof/ party deck mopped adhesive over this then installed a second layer of 1/2" treated plywood transverse to the sub level we rolled as layer of polyester resin then put the first layer of woven fiberglass on that more resin a second and a 3rd layer of fiberglass each layer being laid transverse to the previous we finished off with a 1/9 to 3/16" thick layer of gel coat then covered that with outdoor stadium quality turf carpet I seriously doubt that that roof has developed a leak to this day unless someone had driven nails in it

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## jdurand

There's a guy on the roof in The Tar Pit with a leaf blower. It looks like he may be pushing water towards the drain. Sounds like another day of tar fumes coming.

So, how many weeks does it take to do a little roof like that? Should I be worried that they have 500 pounds of tar still on the pallet next to the tar kettle?

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## jdurand

Regarding The Tar Pit,*assuming they actually have a roof drain (but no visible emergency scupper), where is that water going? *They have those sump pits *around the basement but the house doesn't have power for pumps yet. *Also, where would they be pumping it? *There's no outlet into the street and I doubt you're allowed to pump into the sanitary sewer, that would overload it.

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## jdurand

For those following our house as opposed to The Tar Pit, I have an unlisted YouTube video of the most recent walk-through. The red stuff is fire and bug proofing for the roof lumber.

I caught the beginnings of an error with the fence in the video and they'll fix that when they get back to work...one week stay at home orders.

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## IntheGroove

I must say i have never seen the Door and a half before. I like it...

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## jdurand

The Tar Pit next door is sitting idle. Some stops by now and then, walks in, walks out, leaves.

The tar kettle has a flat tire.

On to our new house

Our workers got a hall pass so they can go back to work 2 weeks early. Roof materials arriving, will start putting ON roof over the weekend and should be sending more pictures soon.

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Toolmaker51 (Apr 19, 2020)

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## Toolmaker51

We've followed this awhile. It started looking questionable on Day 1. Various crews put materials in place; some get modified, removed or shoddily ignored. We can question the owner, designer and contractor for who has worst comprehension of construction.
In other words, it was born funny looking and same trait endures. Only bigger. Not better... Sitting on untold cubic yards of concrete only makes it worse.

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## jdurand

The Tar Pit has activity, I smell tar so I'm guessing we're in for another round of tar smoke. I thought I didn't like tar smoke until the day they turned the kettle up to 11 and filled the neighborhood with a choking cloud of scorched tar smoke. I sure hope that was a one-time, I couldn't go outside without coughing and my eyes burned from it.

Last I looked they only had 200 pounds of tar left out of the original pallet load, maybe they'll stop when they run out? Of course the last thing they did was put down the base roll material after two weeks of daily applications of pure tar. That's got to be a really thick roof by now!

In contrast, here's our new roof.

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## Frank S

> The Tar Pit has activity, I smell tar so I'm guessing we're in for another round of tar smoke. I thought I didn't like tar smoke until the day they turned the kettle up to 11 and filled the neighborhood with a choking cloud of scorched tar smoke. I sure hope that was a one-time, I couldn't go outside without coughing and my eyes burned from it.
> 
> Last I looked they only had 200 pounds of tar left out of the original pallet load, maybe they'll stop when they run out? Of course the last thing they did was put down the base roll material after two weeks of daily applications of pure tar. That's got to be a really thick roof by now!
> 
> In contrast, here's our new roof.



Are those resin and fiber bonded cement roof tiles?

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## jdurand

> Are those resin and fiber bonded cement roof tiles?



Powder coated steel. They said Santa, his reindeer, Father Frost, Vladimir and myself could all dance on it without a problem.

Vladimir and myself are "generous" people.

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## Frank S

> Powder coated steel. They said Santa, his reindeer, Father Frost, Vladimir and myself could all dance on it without a problem.
> 
> Vladimir and myself are "generous" people.



Even better than the fiber cement ones good choice

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## jdurand

Tar Pit News:
Yesterday they took down the delivery pipe for the tar kettle. Today is the second day without tar smoke!

They've been doing banging and sawing inside the house, we noticed the sheeting on the house is starting to warp and flake from exposure. I guess it's not outdoor rated glue. I wonder how much damage there was inside, during the rain before they finished the roof there was water pouring off the edges of the subfloor. I have no idea how deep the water got in the basement or if they've had pumps running. With all the window wells this house better have backup power for the pumps or during a big storm they may have an indoor pool.


Our Russia House:
A big rain storm went through. Since all the windows are in but no ceilings it was easy to do a walk-through, no leaks. Success!

But, the fill dirt hasn't been brought in yet so we had a moat around the house. They said they almost needed a boat to get from the street to the front door. Two things will fix this, all the downspouts will get pipes put in to take the water to the city storm drain. This is "optional" but the city doesn't like you NOT doing it as it puts more water on the street.

Also, our land will be filled to bring it up to street level just like our neighbors have begun doing. The cement fence foundation was built at the height of the fill.

In other news, they are VERY strict on hooking up gas appliances. The house heating system is in process but we had to settle on a kitchen stove. So, we're going with a RICCI (from Italy). Now our builder is trying to find someone that's open that they can get it from. The stove has to be in the house, unpacked, and inspected by a licensed gas plumber with the serial number recorded before the specialist will connect it. Only then does the gas actually get turned on. The home owner and building contractor are not allowed to make repairs or connections on any gas appliance.

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## Toolmaker51

Yeow! Good thing the utilities are more trusting hereabouts. 
Found a gas leak late at night by odor; almost certain was hit by gardener's mower. But had sufficient tools & supplies to section it out, thread the stub, replace the upper length, dope the connections and close with a union. Did have SoCal gas sniff the premises for any other issues. Cheap insurance with raised floor construction.
I'm tending my rental house in CA. Next tenant cares for a challenged young girl, so there were inconveniently arranged [suitable and common for other instances] appliances in the washroom. Aside from re-positioning water supply and drainage, exhaust for dyer and grounded electrics for both in 1941 construction. The gas line fell way short reaching dryer with shortest compact flex line. Once again, a pipe union saved the day with ~7' nestled in a corner, very easy to reach shut-off, and my gas wand detects zero escape of natural gas. No bill for service, less than $70.00 in parts + couple hundred for tools already on hand.
My little house; the one that receives "Oooh, I _like_ this house" from every single person who enters. Even the painters and floor refinisher...
So I won't let just any body take occupancy. Since 1999, the next will only be 3rd to do so. First was 16 years, until their situation required more room.

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## Toolmaker51

> Tar Pit News:
> Yesterday they took down the delivery pipe for the tar kettle. Today is the second day without tar smoke!
> 
> They've been doing banging and sawing inside the house, we noticed the sheeting on the house is starting to warp and flake from exposure. I guess it's not outdoor rated glue. I wonder how much damage there was inside, during the rain before they finished the roof there was water pouring off the edges of the subfloor. I have no idea how deep the water got in the basement or if they've had pumps running. With all the window wells this house better have backup power for the pumps or during a big storm they may have an indoor pool.



Quick, dump a bucket of frogs in there. Nice music for you, and thoughtful housewarming gift for the owners; all in one!

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## jdurand

So, they're going to stucco The Tar Pit House.





In other news
The core of the fireplace in our new house is done. Still needs the outer layer of fancy rocks. The magic bits inside the outer layer will remain hidden per the master builder. As you can see that's embedded quite a ways into the wall.

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## IntheGroove

My house was built by a stone mason in the early 60s. The inside of the fireplace and up the flue is a work of art...

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## jdurand

> My house was built by a stone mason in the early 60s. The inside of the fireplace and up the flue is a work of art...



This guy is known as a master. With our builder, it's hard to get less. She doesn't really do "good enough", best bricks, best workers, ...

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## IntheGroove

All I know is the guy's name is Hans and he is from Austria...

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## jdurand

I talked to the contractor for The Tar Pit, they're having trouble getting things. Stuff that was ordered and a deposit paid is now "somewhere between Spain and here, may not have been shipped yet". He said this year is definitely the best for us to sell, but for him looking ahead next year the moratorium on foreclosures will end and he's not sure he will be able to sell anything then.

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Toolmaker51 (May 19, 2020)

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## jdurand

Oh yes, our fireplace during first test.



and our front wall in progress

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## Frank S

> I talked to the contractor for The Tar Pit, they're having trouble getting things. Stuff that was ordered and a deposit paid is now "somewhere between Spain and here, may not have been shipped yet". He said this year is definitely the best for us to sell, but for him looking ahead next year the moratorium on foreclosures will end and he's not sure he will be able to sell anything then.



I think as things start to open up there are going to be a lot of people who have been renting apartments in high rise building will be looking for single family dwellings for a short window it is going to be a sellers market and all you might have to do is once a house in put on the market get a bidders war started between 2 or 3 interested buyers. So if there are any repairs you know that should be done and some that you think might need to be done now would be the time to get them done as soon as you can get the contractors lined up the quicker and the better shape the house is put in the better your chances of having it bid up to as much as 30 or possibly 40% over appraised

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jdurand (May 21, 2020),

Toolmaker51 (May 19, 2020)

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## jdurand

About 07:00 I let the chickens out and suddenly heard water running from The Tar Pit. I looked over and a worker had just drilled a hole in the rain gutter to let the water out. I looked down the length of the house, sure enough there are no downspouts (roof drain) anywhere. Who installs rain gutters with no drain holes?

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## Frank S

> About 07:00 I let the chickens out and suddenly heard water running from The Tar Pit. I looked over and a worker had just drilled a hole in the rain gutter to let the water out. I looked down the length of the house, sure enough there are no downspouts (roof drain) anywhere. Who installs rain gutters with no drain holes?



Hard to find good help these days

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jdurand (May 21, 2020)

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## PDXsparky

> Hard to find good help these days



Even medium help can be hard to find.

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Frank S (May 23, 2020),

jdurand (May 24, 2020)

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## Toolmaker51

> About 07:00 I let the chickens out and suddenly heard water running from The Tar Pit. I looked over and a worker had just drilled a hole in the rain gutter to let the water out. I looked down the length of the house, sure enough there are no downspouts (roof drain) anywhere. Who installs rain gutters with no drain holes?



Very simple. This age of specialization divides contractors into ever smaller classifications "Oh, you also wanted downspouts?".
Or crew supervisor claims, "In this multi-step process, we gutter first. Our scientific quality test verifies no leaks". 
He also might work 'our exclusive technology' into the phrase.

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## jdurand

They've been slowly working on The Tar Pit, my wife pointed out today they're installing downlights under the eve, the type mounted above a ceiling. I commented I'll bet they're LED and that soffit area is going to get awfully hot in summer. I'd mount the lights below the soffit where they'd be cooler.

In other news...

Big milestone on our new house, we passed the major inspection and got our "technical passport". In about a week we'll get a certificate of occupancy. In Russia they issue this when the house passes minimum requirements for habitation...which we just did. MANY people move in at this point and finish their house later. We won't be there for a while yet, still have to finish cleaning here and sell this place, but it's getting closer.

Another result of this is the house outline just appeared on the public land map, like a plat book. The street address is now officially recognized.

One other detail is this gives us a valid legal reason to enter the country, even during closed border times. We are legally very close to "Returning Russians".

Pictures as always on our server with some new cross-links tying the different places we talk about the move together.

https://durandinterstellar.com/photos/Our_New_Home/

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## IntheGroove

I will miss you as a resident of California, and I hope you can take your quadcopter with you, but you will always be with us as a grand member of Homemadetools...

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## jdurand

I plan to take it with us, how else will I inspect our roof. It's WAY up there.

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## jdurand

Quick update on the new house...

We received the official stamped "certificate of ownership" which means:

1. We own the house free and clear in addition to the land;
2. It can now be occupied at any time;
3. By order of the governor of our region, anyone who has documentation that he owns a residence in the region is allowed in at the border provided you self-isolate at your residence in the region.

So, pass go, collect $200.

Cook stove arrived. Combination microwave/convection/grill oven on order. Refrigerator goes on order in the next day or so.

Now "all" we have to do is finish cleaning up here and sell the house. The movers have to pack everything because they take an inventory for customs. By the time the ship gets there everything should already be cleared.

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Toolmaker51 (Jun 2, 2020)

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## IntheGroove

What voltage and frequency are used there?

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## jdurand

> What voltage and frequency are used there?



50Hz. single phase

Most things will run on 220V, the sauna and the milling machine run on 380V

The 220V does limit my welding some, I asked for a high current outlet like I have in the USA and he chuckled. Our land is zoned for "small country home", the mayor had to intervene just to get us a decent amount of power as it is. 

So, I can pull up to 20A at 220V for the welder. Not the end of the world, I use mostly MIG and don't weld battleships.

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## Frank S

OOPs I was about to post a Frankin work around, by telling you how you could get a 40 amp circuit but thought better of it for now.Let the newness settle and the ministry of power will eventually have other victims to harass.

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## jdurand

something like this?

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## PDXsparky

> something like this?



Wow, they even used the correct colored wire. They must be professionals.

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## IntheGroove

It's not AC. It's not DC. It's AD...

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## Frank S

> something like this?



I have a slightly safer idea in mind although it can mess with the GFIC/RCD breakers if not connected correctly

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## jdurand

The Tar Pit house:

Today they've had vans parked out front from Best Buy and Geek Squad. We heard them discussing the speakers that go up in the soffetts along with all the lights they have up there. I sure hope all that stuff can take the heat.

I hope whoever buys our house doesn't mind the UFO glow and music that will be coming from The Tar Pit. In any case, we should be gone long before they're done.

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## jdurand

The house Next Door is now getting a metal roof. Just flat metal with no patterns. I haven't gotten a picture but it's also not that exciting.  :Smile: 

That's on the sloped part, remember the flat part is tar.

On our new house the walls are being hard plastered (stucco) over the wires. When set a second layer will be put on and smoothed, to be ready for paint.

The plumbing will be run along the floor and then a few inches of concrete will be poured, leveled, and ready for final dressing. We're planning epoxy for the workshop, tile for the kitchen and other wet areas, and some sort of wood laminate for the other rooms.

Building materials are getting hard to find, many supply companies closed either for now or permanently. This isn't good when orders have been placed and partially pre-paid. There's a LOT of people trying to get the stuff they paid for and/or find alternative suppliers. I joked that our fence may wind up being used shipping pallets, the contractor said that might not be too far off...

We have a backup buyer for our house here, so if our friends can't buy it we can still sell it. For considerably less than we would have sold for 6 months ago, but such is life.

We don't have a definite move date yet, the Russian border is supposed to open in August for Americans. We have all the papers we need so that once we set foot in the country the rest of the path is clear. Our sponsor and lawyer are working overtime to make sure we don't have any more problems than necessary. We now have backup sponsors beyond the minimum needed, just in case of need.

We posted a Summer Solstice update and sent the link out to our friends and relatives. It's here for anyone interested
https://durandinterstellar.com/photo...020_Letter.pdf

We had a small adventure with the guy wiring the network and gate income, he ad-libbed a bit. We caught it and can work with what he installed. The plumber and heating guy will now be watched constantly to make sure they clear all 'good ideas" with us before actually implementing them. We're not at all opposed to suggestions, just don't go off-script without permission. There may be a good reason I wanted that funny thing in a specific location.

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## jdurand

Updates:

The part of the house above ground next to here is looking like overall it's not bad (other than that flat roof). My wife and I think the builder got in over his head with the deep basement, probably never did one before and the rocky ground here certainly didn't help.

Anyway, we've talked to him some lately, he's been interested in us selling this house. Originally he just wanted to buy the land here, flatten the house and build a quick house for sale.

Then he started thinking this is a really nice neighborhood, we even had a block party in the middle of the STAY AT HOME AND PANIC period.

He's also been looking at our yard and house from the roof of the one next door.

So in talking with us we showed him around a bit and he said this would be a nice place for HIM to live. THAT's a change. But, we had friends already buying the house.

Until yesterday. The friends told us due to the virus panic there's been a major job upset and there's no way they could afford it now. Riches to rags as it were...

I told the builder and he came over today, looked around inside. We mentioned having trouble donating stuff, the centers are often closed. He said no problem, he now supports a couple of non-profit groups. Any construction related materials he doesn't need go to a reuse-resell group that will try to use every spare bit to build low cost housing for people. Any household items he doesn't need will go to a non-profit that takes those items. He would definitely keep all the fruit trees (a lot), fish pond, and the chicken run.

Also, he knows we are uncertain when we can actually get into Russia due to the border closure. He said no problem, he doesn't need to be in here before January so we could stay as long as 31 December. We have to leave the USA before then anyway for tax reasons, we HAVE to sell the house and be gone between 3 July and 31 December, so even if we're renting a room from out sponsor's daughter in Sweden we'll be out of here.

Given all that, he made an offer and we agreed. He'll bring the family by shortly to see their new home.

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## DIYSwede

> ...We have to leave the USA before than anyway for tax reasons, we HAVE to sell the house and be gone between 3 July and 31 December, 
> so *even if we're renting a room from Nadia's daughter in Sweden* we'll be out of here.



Lucky breaks on your sell in these days!
Feel free to giva me a hoot if your times get really rough, and you find yourselves in a temporary Swedish exile _(-Heaven forbid!)_.  :Smile: 
All the savage natives over here can be pretty harsh on any re-settlers, so a local scout/ sniper might come in handy...

ATB
Johan

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## Toolmaker51

Opportunity is when it happens; whether you plan for it or not. The time in-between tells you it's time to jump or not.

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## jdurand

Our sponsor said if we do have to use Plan C, she has friends in Barcelona who will take care of us. Speak fluent English, Spanish, and Russian. 

Well, that's warmer than spending the winter in Sweden!  :Smile: 

But, hopefully the border really is open in August so we can get to our house.

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## Frank S

> Our sponsor said if we do have to use Plan C, she has friends in Barcelona who will take care of us. Speak fluent English, Spanish, and Russian. 
> 
> Well, that's warmer than spending the winter in Sweden! 
> 
> But, hopefully the border really is open in August so we can get to our house.



Better beaches near Barcelona as well

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## jdurand

Just an update as they're wrapping up The Pit house. They're taping the windows ready to paint, the owners move in next month.

Here's their wall finish:



And since that house is costing $$$$$$$$$ compared to our new house, here our interior wall finish, inside and out... No character at all! All the inside walls and ceilings were done this way.



Outside finish, still some salt on the bricks they haven't cleaned off yet.

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