Building Update #10 - Foundation Prep Progressing

Monday Jake spray foamed the holes in the insulation where the pipes came through and then sealed the pipes to the plastic to make an airtight barrier.

Tuesday morning Jake and Dad finished all the concrete rebar and reinforcing mesh placement.

Tuesday afternoon I joined Jake and Dad to get the garage foundation insulation started.

After setting up the strings again to make the building square, we finished the edge pieces. 

Finishing up the first of two layers of insulation. By the time the sun went down we had started on the second layer. 

Building Update #9 - Family Work Weekend Day 2

The weather was gorgeous today and we made a lot of progress.  Couldn't have done it without the support from my parents!  

Finishing up the second layer of foam (5" thick total).

Finishing up the third layer of foam (8" total).

After cutting two strips of 10-mil plastic wrap we laid it on the insulation.

The plastic was heavy and stiff and it took us a few tries to come up with a good system for cutting and placing the holes for the plumbing, electric, water, etc. 

As the light was running out and the raindrops were starting we finished the plastic and put rocks down to keep it in place overnight. 

Building Update #8 - Family Work Weekend Day 1

We are racing the clock to get our foundations poured before it gets too cold, so this weekend is an all hands on deck evolution.  Dad is helping out on the site and Mom is bringing lunch and providing dinner after.  Baxter is not doing much of anything!  Friday the foundation drains and crushed stone were laid on the house foundation and were almost completed for the garage.  Saturday Jake, Dad, and I spent the day starting to put together our custom foundation insulation which will also serve as our concrete form.  

Garage site mostly prepped.  The big board (installed by Jake) is where our electrical service will come in.

Rebar and reinforcing mesh for our foundations.

House site prepped for foundation.

Measuring more than twice to make sure the foundation will be square. 

First layer of foam started.  Measuring and cutting holes for the pipes slows down the process.

First layer of foam complete.

Specially cut sides installed.

Close up of a corner.  Luckily rocks are readily available to help hold things down.

Building Update #7

The sub-slab plumbing is done.  Jake did the code-required hydro-static leak test and found one leaking fitting, which he replaced.  The second and third checks were good.  The city Plumbing Inspector is scheduled to show up today.  If we pass, we can fill in the trenches and start prepping for our foundation pour.  

After two days of digging rocks by hand, we got smarter.

Finished sub-slab house plumbing. 

Finished sub-slab garage plumbing.

Technical Post #2 - Passive House Plumbing - Design

Plumbing our house, with no basement or crawlspace, has required careful advance planning and design.  A significant portion of our drain, waste, and vent piping will actually be buried under our foundation slab, which means we have to plumb it before we know where the walls will be.  In order to do that, we had to design the plumbing system for the entire house, because once the foundation is poured, we can't change anything underneath it.  With assistance from an engineer and a plumbing designer at my office, I did the plumbing design with significant input from Jake who 3-D modeled the entire house (and plumbing piping) in Sketch-Up.  

Jake's 3-D model, showing the underground plumbing.

House plumbing riser diagram (not to scale).

Jake used the location of the electrical conduit as a reference point, and then used pegs and strings to layout where the walls will be in order to locate critical piping like the toilet drain, or vent piping that needs to run in interior walls. 

Strings indicating exterior and interior walls, or for alignment in a room.

Once Jake has finished the sub-slab plumbing, and the Code Enforcement Officer has inspected and approved the installation, we will fill it back in and then cover the entire site with crushed stone in preparation for the foundation insulation.  

Building Update #6 - Pick-Ax Plumbing

Yesterday Jake started the process of putting in the sub-slab plumbing.  He measured to within a half inch where all of our drain/sewer lines would be running.  When he was done we started digging - and found out that the pick-ax would be required.  After several hours of wrist-jarring shoveling we finally got it dug out.  Jake wins the prize for rolling the largest rock out of the trench - Gibralter - that easily weighed over a hundred pounds.  My largest rock was probably only about half that!  

Our newly rolled driveway and site makes getting up to the house with a car much easier.

Putting stakes with strings in the ground to serve as reference points to mark pipe runs.

The plumbing plan.

Measuring and then painting the drain lines to be dug out.  The pipes sticking up are, from left to right, telephone and data, electric, and water.

All laid out and ready to dig.

This was a lot harder than we thought it would be.

Gibralter.