The Foundation

"Beams" Through the Fill Dirt

Once the rain finally stopped and the ground dried up a bit, the Martinez Brothers were finally able to get back to work on building the foundation for the new addition.

Plumbing Rough In

The plumber had to do his "rough in" work as well. He installed the sewer lines from the sinks, the shower and the toilet and tied them into the main line. Once the rough in is complete, the City has to inspect and approve the rough in before the work can continue.

The concrete company installs the steel rebar throughout the slab area and in the beams (the deep trenches where the concrete will be poured). Once again, when everything is ready for concrete, the City has to inspect the foundation and the rebar and sign off before the concrete can be ordered.

The black plastic keeps the ground from pulling water out of the wet concrete too fast while it is curing. It also prevents water from seeping up through the cured concrete from the ground in the future.

The entire slab, beams, stem wall and porch are poured at once in what is called a "monolithic pour". This provides added strength to the foundation.

Concrete Truck and Concrete Pump

Since you can't drive a concrete truck into the back yard, you have to use a "concrete pump". The pump has a hopper into which the wet concrete can be poured and a long pipe through which the concrete is pumped to where you need it.

Concrete Being Pumped to the Foundation

After all the concrete is pumped into the forms and worked down into all the beams, the finishing work begins.

Smoothing Everything Out

They make several passes over the concrete ensuring everything is smooth and level.

Finishing Touches

After a long day, they pop off all the rest of the forms and finish it up. In a couple of days the concrete will be cured enough for the carpenters to start their framing work.

Foundation is Done

Onward and upward.

Making Hay While the Sun Isn't Shining

The "Old" Shed (Before Repainting)

During the few days of sunshine in between the on again and off again rain, I began working on painting the shed.

Working on the Shed

My helper (Nutmeg) took frequent breaks, as you see in the picture above. We are painting the shed the same grey color as the house.

Painting the Shed Roof

...and the roof the same black color as the house trim.

 One of the other things the shed needed was the door to be rebuilt. It was falling apart. Luckily I could remove the door and do a lot of that work under the car port and inside the house while it was raining.

Re-skinning and Painting the Shed Door

I painted the shed door the blue color that Zita picked for the exterior doors to the main house.

The Repainted and Refurbished Shed

I installed a deadbolt lock and new handles on the door. Then I rehung the refurbished door on the shed. Now, I can actually move a lot of my tools and materials into the shed, since I can lock it.

It came out looking pretty good.

Ready, Set, Go! ...then Stop.

The Martinez Brothers Leveling the Site

We finally got our building permit approved by the City of Denton on February 5th. Yay!

The Martinez Brothers (concrete contractor that is building the foundation) got started leveling the site and bringing in fill dirt on Monday, February 12th.

Fill Dirt

 Of course, as luck would have it, not long after the Martinez Brothers brought in the fill dirt, it started to rain. In fact, we had A LOT of rain. It rained for about 10 days on and off and we got something like 12 inches of rain.

Turns out that getting rain right at this point of time in the construction is a mixed blessing. Although it brought everything to a halt until the rain stopped, all that rain helped to compact the fill dirt, which is good for ensuring that you don't have problems with your foundation later on.

So, although it was frustrating to have to go into wait mode again, right after we finally got started, I guess we'll try to look on the bright side.