The new house is FINALLY started......

[76S&S]

Looking good, it's amazing how fast the shell goes up, then it seems to take forever to finish out.

[JohnE]

Originally Posted by jkski

I would have bet that poured would be cheaper but after having it bid both ways I would have lost that bet. Still hard to believe given the labor and skill level involved with setting block (not that it does not take skill to set the forms and correctly pour them) but I guess in the end that is offset by the increase in material cost as you have more concrete.

Concrete here is about $85/ yd. and forming and pouring is about $17/ foot for walls plus footing. What is your cost on block?

[Shooter McKevin]

I meant to ask about your plan with the skidsteer. It sucks that your tracks broke. Are you getting them back on? I've used them before and really liked them. The over tire tracks aren't perfect, but for your situation I'd definitely be using them. Do you like them?

Were they able to put your old tires back on? I was hoping so, because I found that the tracks chew up the side walls of the tires quite a bit so it would suck to chew up a pair of new tires. One mistake I made was when I couldn't figure out why the machine wasn't quite grading properly. I thought I'd bent the bucket. It was actually from a low tire but I couldn't tell right away because the tracks cover them. Check the tire pressure! The low tire got chewed a little extra by the track and wore / broke the rubber nubs on the tracks quite a bit too.

[Shooter McKevin]

Originally Posted by jkski

Perspective is what it is all about, I am finding. In the grande scheme of things, no matter what may go wrong I am still far better off than many people in the world and lucky to be so! At the end of each day I can come home to a wife and a smiling 1.5 year old boy that knows nothing of the days trials/tribulations and furthermore does not care, which is just great.

I'll toast to that!!

[jkski]

Originally Posted by JohnE

Concrete here is about $85/ yd. and forming and pouring is about $17/ foot for walls plus footing. What is your cost on block?

Not sure of my exact block cost as we had to add some to make the garage work so once I have it all re-figured with the addition on the pumping truck for the footers I will shoot you a figure.

[jkski]

Originally Posted by Shooter McKevin

I meant to ask about your plan with the skidsteer. It sucks that your tracks broke. Are you getting them back on? I've used them before and really liked them. The over tire tracks aren't perfect, but for your situation I'd definitely be using them. Do you like them?

Were they able to put your old tires back on? I was hoping so, because I found that the tracks chew up the side walls of the tires quite a bit so it would suck to chew up a pair of new tires. One mistake I made was when I couldn't figure out why the machine wasn't quite grading properly. I thought I'd bent the bucket. It was actually from a low tire but I couldn't tell right away because the tracks cover them. Check the tire pressure! The low tire got chewed a little extra by the track and wore / broke the rubber nubs on the tracks quite a bit too.

Got the tires back today and they were able to patch/plug the hole they found in each tire, clean the bead and reseat them so all is good. The tires are back on the machine and I am ready to roll.
The tracks do indeed chew-up the tire treads but I love them. I think I need to run them a bit tighter as I had them adjusted to the 3" slack minimum and acording to Grouser you should be between 1" and 3", so a little adjustment may help with the fact that my tires were spinning inside the tracks. The ground I am working with is a wet, slick clay, so once the tires get caked inside the tracks, they tend to slip a bit. I do have to get some new bushings and bolts for the track now since I busted one of them and it looks like Grouser is the only place to get the parts needed.

[jkski]

The weather started off cold this morning but improved to be mid 40's and sun, so the block guys were back at it but down 2 guys, one of which was the other mason, so with only 1 guy setting the block progress was a bit slower today but still good. As of the time I left the site, pretty much the entire back wall was up and the sides were taking shape nicely. The garage and walkout area will be next but the walkout is mostly framed construction so not nearly as much block to lay up.
Grilled up some Brats for the guys and had lunch with them, they are great guys.

Today follies:
Picked the skidder tires up from the repair shop, got them to the site, unloaded and figured out they had mounted one the wrong direction. With directional tread and offset wheels you have to have 2 rights and 2 lefts matching......so it was back to the shop with one wheel so they could flip it, then back to the site to put it on! It just wouldn't be a complete day without at least one thing to laugh about, and that is just what I did, laugh because I should have checked them before leaving the shop the first time around!

[jkski]

Question regarding backfilling:
So I am planning to do my own backfilling and my original plan was to have the slinger truck shoot in the back wall to about 3 feet from the top. In talking to the mason he said with the waterproofing product that is going on I will have a 25 year warranty and actually advised me to save the money and not shoot as much gravel or to put down gravel against the wall with dirt pushing against it. Problem is, my overdig is roughly 2 feet so how do I manage to put dirt and gravel in without the two co-mingling. Also, should I plan on putting in some type of fliter cloth?

[JohnE]

I can't imagine doing a block foundation. Around here, they set up and pour footing one day and typically (unless you are getting shafted like me) form and pour the 2nd day and strip the forms on day 3.

To backfill properly you should use the gravel and compact it.

What did you install for a perimeter drain?

[zsqure]

Don't compact against a freshly laid block wall unless you shore up the inside like crazy (or wait two weeks). If you use gravel, it is highly compacted as it goes in. Sand is the cheapest and most forgiving. the water will flow through it and compact slowly. Backfilled my own home and used sand, dirt/clay is no fun and doesn't flow and will take forever to naturally compact. You don't want a cracked wall. start on the corners and work toward the middle. Trickle it in with your skidsteer, some builders claim the first floor setting on the block will hold it better when backfilling vs. open foundation. Have you ran water and sewer already? Or, at least stubbed it out so you don't have to tunnel under the foundation?