Day 3!!

The large boom that is preparing to pour our concrete.

Another angle of the boom. This is over where our garage will be.

Day 2 of work on the Property

 

Setting up the forms for the concrete footers and garage slab.

Finally An Update!!

After many, many months of waiting.. we finally have movement on our property. Permits were issued, drawings have been stamped, and the box is up on our property. Yesterday (11/3) our cement folks were out there marking for footers and digging for the crawl space under the house.

 

At 7:45 AM I drove past and work was already in progress. I will take a picture today to show how much they have completed. I do not want to put a schedule up, in case of any glitches.

Waiting, Waiting, Waiting...

Okay so many promises were made and not a one of them were kept!! Our cement guys and block guys were all ready to come and start and then the County put a big stop to us!!

Now the health department has determined, after we have already submitted our drawings 4 or more times, that our house now needs to be brought up at least 2 feet.

What does that mean??
Basically back to the drawing board. Our drawings need to be re-done, permits need to be resubmitted, and we are sitting here waiting... again...

Will update with good news soon!

And the lots have been cleared!!

Things are starting to happen, I can hear the neighbors gabbing!! Our lots that, as of yesterday, were filled with trees are not totally empty and ready for the slab to go down... how exciting!!

Capri Lot

Alhambra Lot

Alhambra Lot

Capri Lot

Capri Lot

Judd & Associates Land Clearing, Excavating, Trucking, and Demolition did a fantastic job clearing our lots. They came to look at everything on Friday and were there bright and early this morning! They are fast and efficient.  Both Jim and Joe Messina were there taking care of business. If anyone needs any trees taken out I highly recommend them 239-370-5070

Decisons are happening!!

Todd met with our ICF guys today and finally made a final decision for our builders...

drum roll please...........

We are going with ....

Check our their website here

We are super excited to have this company build our home and cannot wait to see how the process goes. Their ICF blocks are made from 100% recycled materials.
From their website:

Benefits of Insulated Concrete Forms

ICFs are, quite simply, a superior construction method. They provide:

• Significant energy savings
• Superior acoustical insulation (low noise infiltration)
• Reduces or eliminates mold proliferation
• Compatible with any seismic or hurricane/storm standard.
• Superior fire protection

Savings of 50 – 80% can be achieved when ICFs are used as part of a system with other energy efficient components like windows and high performance insulation like spray foam insulation and these savings continue for the life of the building. They are one of the lowest maintenance materials available, and are strong enough to withstand some of the heaviest storms. ICFs also provide superior fire protection with an over four hour fire rating. Its no wonder many insurance companies offer significant discounts to the owners of homes built with ICF blocks.

ICF Facts

Energy efficiency

One of the many benefits of insulated concrete form construction is superior insulation performance and the resulting conservation of energy.

Green Product

ICFs have been certified as “green” products by almost all U.S. organizations attempting to regulate environmentally friendly design.

A stronger home

PATH partners are finding that poured concrete homes resist wind loads better than concrete block homes, with the additional benefits that poured concrete homes are faster to construct, require less onerous inspections, and provide a more easily installed, uninterrupted, thermal barrier of insulation.

Sound Barrier

Insulated Concrete Forms provide exceptional sound attenuation. ICF structures achieve documented levels of Sound Transmission Classifications (STC) 50 (inaudible) or higher. Wood frame structures typically rate an average of STC 25, meaning that voices can be heard outside the structure.

Consolidation of trades:

One ICF installation crew provides the services of masons, framing carpenters, and insulators combined. This 3-in-1 construction process simplifies project management and can reduce costly down time.

Benefits of Insulated Concrete Forms

ICFs are, quite simply, a superior construction method. They provide:

• Significant energy savings
• Superior acoustical insulation (low noise infiltration)
• Reduces or eliminates mold proliferation
• Compatible with any seismic or hurricane/storm standard.
• Superior fire protection

Savings of 50 – 80% can be achieved when ICFs are used as part of a system with other energy efficient components like windows and high performance insulation like spray foam insulation and these savings continue for the life of the building. They are one of the lowest maintenance materials available, and are strong enough to withstand some of the heaviest storms. ICFs also provide superior fire protection with an over four hour fire rating. Its no wonder many insurance companies offer significant discounts to the owners of homes built with ICF blocks.

So after weeks of waiting...

Again we were waiting for another set of drawings. After a long anticipated time we finally received everything we need to submit everything to the county.

What was holding us up???
* Our septic drawing  (this is not ours, but gives you an idea)

    due to our neighbors having wells in their yards (these are common for sprinkler systems) we had to flip
     flop our house around. So we were waiting on those drawings to be approved.
* Our truss drawings needed to be completed (this is not ours but it gives you the idea)

* and everything else in between!!

 So an update as of today...
*Final drawings are being submitted to county...

So as paperwork is submitted today (7/7/2011) our ICF system is due to arrive on August 1st, 2011!!

         **Update-- due to unforeseen circumstances our paperwork was finally submitted in whole on 7/13/2011***

Rock Solid (our concrete guys) will pour our foundation sometime in the next 2 weeks!!

Todd has assured me that now everything is in the blog updates should come fast and furious with updates. As everything goes up, he will be on site taking all the pictures. So no more Google searches for related images we will actually have images from the work site!!