Our Foundation Walls are Super(ior)

So we'd been pretty set on this foundation wall system since first stumbling across it on the interwebs.  Thankfully Giraffe was also eager to give it a shot.

The basic concept behind Superior Walls is that they are pre-cast concrete panels, made in a factory to our provided home plan specifications. Then they truck the panels out and use a crane to set them on a specially prepared stone footer.  The entire foundation installs in one easy day of work, and the benefits include:

• Uses up to 70% less concrete than pouring a standard foundation wall, with zero job-site waste
• High strength, high pressure concrete exterior requires no further waterproofing
• 2.5" of built-in insulation gives an R-value around 12.5
• Pre-framed with metal studs on the inside.  Ready for finishing!
• 6" wall cavities are ready for that much more insulation, so about another R22 or so, giving a total wall R-value of around R-35.  Pretty excellent for an underground foundation wall!

On the day of the wall installation, I couldn't just sit at work and miss all the action, so I shot out during lunch.

Layout and Excavation begins!

Whoo-hoo!  Giraffe personnel are on-site and work has officially begun in September 2014!  The first step was to do the layout and see exactly where the house would sit.

Home site final prep, pre-construction

Well, the time has finally come.  We're going to start building a house here soon!  But the site needs to be ready.  We need clearance around the sides of the home, minimal obstructing tree branches, and access via a solid construction-grade road.

Last view looking north before work would begin.

After Ross added perimeter silt-fencing on the south (downhill) sides of the site, and brought the construction road into the site.

Financing a Construction Loan - The Idiocy of Modern Banking

I don't want to spend a lot of time on this post, because it's something I'd rather forget.  But it was quite a saga.  In light of all the complaining I'm about to do below, I will give a shout out to Greenstone Farm Credit Services.  In fact, if you want to buy some vacant land in Michigan without paying all cash, they are pretty much your only option.  To get a loan from them, you have to buy shares in the company and become a member, after which you get paid back annual dividends.  You get a reliable loan agent who treats you like a person, with a local office.  Refreshing!

But it took us over 2 months to get our construction loan approved, when it could/should have only taken a few weeks at most.  Why?  I'll explain - the process is something like this:

Building the driveway

Perhaps the single most valuable reason to have purchased the tractor is for road construction.  Being a small-ish machine, it requires a lot of passes to fully work and shape the dirt, but it sure beats paying thousands to some shady landscaper for possibly shoddy work.

First, you have to clear the corridor, including all the stumps.  It helps to have friends - big thanks again to Tim, Ron, Gabe and Jeff!

The driveway will go through here.

Our architect Steven drafted a real nice site plan that I could show township and county officials.

It's a pretty long way back to the home site!  Driveway is probably about 1000 feet long, in total.  Oy.

Refining Plan SD3 - Making it ours

Every meeting with Giraffe got progressively more fun as the design really came together.  Steven nailed all our requested changes and Martin kept telling us we were still on budget.  So far, so good!

We had a couple important changes to make to our selected plan:

• How about a few more sq ft.  Some areas/rooms seem a little tight.
• Swap the laundry and bathroom, adjust master closet setup
• Where would a loft go, and where would the stairs be?  The answer seemed to be that the loft would be over the bedrooms, and Katy had the brilliant idea that the stairs could go between both 1st floor bedrooms.  Huzzah!

Rendered in all 3 dimensions!  Now we're doin' stuff.

Finding Our Floor Plan - Schematic Design Review

So, as you may recall from earlier posts, Katy and I had developed a fairly long and strict list of requirements for our home plan.

Energy-Efficiency Requirements:

• Earth Sheltered layout - Set into hill w/ minimal windows on north side
• Passive Solar Design - Capture as much solar heat gain as practically possible
• Super Insulated Building Envelope - I guess all concepts would follow this strategy anyway
• Slab-On-Grade Construction - Floor plans must be compatible with having no basement
• Masonry Woodstove - To be centrally located in home for maximum heating impact

Functional Requirements:

• Single Story Living - Keep most activities on main floor and accessible
• 2 bedrooms on main floor
• 2 bathrooms on main floor (one in master suite)
• Laundry on first floor
• Open Concept Living Area - Kitchen, Dining and Living all in one great room
• Ideally the plan would have an open loft in view of the great room (kids play area)
• Layout compatible with an attached screen porch and greenhouse - Without blocking all our views
• Aging-in-place - Provisions for future wheelchair access, means wide doorways and no steps on main floor
• Over, but as close to, 1200 square feet as possible - Also with 26 ft minimum sides (local ordinance)

Eh, those lists aren't Sooo long, right?  Piece-a-cake.  Good thing we have such an ace architect on our team!  Working with Giraffe Design Build, is Steven Varnum of Caddis Design.

Introducing Giraffe Design Build!

Time to introduce our selected builder, Giraffe Design Build!  Based out of Chelsea, Michigan, they have a wealth of experience in whole-house remodels and new construction.

Fall 2013

So, not a lot of progress on the home build during 2013.  We are ok with that.  Katy was mega-preggers, Zachary was born, and the house stuff just seemed so complicated.

We never lost faith that we'd be building soon, though.  To that end, we started making some arrangements.

Meanwhile, the home site turned green and luscious again.

Noodle arrival!

Our double stuffed lasagna has finally finished baking on August 23rd, 2013.  We decide to name him Zachary Owen.

Spring 2013

I love springtime.  When the plants first push up, colors return, and egad, the SMELLS!

Also, Morel mushrooms.  Yum!

Was a much smaller crop that year.

Winter adventures on the land

Winter of 2012/2013 was not particularly severe or snowy.  But there was still enough to enjoy once in a while.

Zach and I went cross-country skiing back deep into the woods.

There's a noodle on the way!

Just in time for Christmas, we learned that Katy was pregnant and a mini-Gladwin was in formation. Hooray!  We affectionately called it our noodle.  He/She started as an adorable little acini-de-pepe, and soon grew into a developing macaroni.  By mid-winter we had a full fledged tortellini on our hands.  Katy was understandably somewhat trepidacious about the eventual double-stuffed lasagna she would be carrying around.

Early house concepts

Well, this would have been pretty cool.  Also, about double our budget.  :)

Say Hello to Ol' Crusty

This truck came to us unintentionally.  Sometimes the universe just sends you stuff, and there it is.

Yep.  She was crusty alright.

Selecting and clearing the home site

If you read my previous post, then you know we want to build a partially earth-sheltered home.  This changes the site selection process quite a bit (provided you don't intend to completely bulldoze and re-shape the land completely).  What we must find then, is a gentle south-facing hillside to set the house into.  It's almost ridiculous how perfect a spot our parcel of land would provide us.

The Vision

So it's the summer of 2012.  We've owned our parcel of land for several months now, and it seems clear we won't start building this year.  But we can still start dreaming and planning!

The idea I kept gravitating towards was that our heat should be free.  Basically, to make the house as efficient as possible, with minimal external energy input.  However, our budget is..... small.  So what basic and affordable home design strategies can we employ?

More on the tractor

This tractor deserves a dedicated post, because it is awesome.  No, really.  It's incredible.

Besides the fact that we got a smoking good deal on it, it's just a phenomenal beast.

(It's a 2001 Cub Cadet 7305, 30HP 4WD Diesel w/ front loader, by the way.  Made by Mitsubishi and  basically identical to the Mahindra 3015).

Hacking our way in.

One feature of this property that was both a drawback and a benefit, was that it was completely overgrown.  And not with all old-growth, well-sorted forest, either (though there is plenty of that, thankfully).  Much of this land is thick, invasive brush under a young forest trying to get established.  So we knew right from the start that having some heavy machinery would be required.

Enter, the tractor:

Now what?

Ok, so we own 19 acres of vacant land.  Now what?

Well, of course we want to build a house, as soon as we reasonably can.  Should be easy enough, right? (no, not really)

We certainly don't need a full 19 acres of land.  Our very good friends, let's just call them the Redoy family, went in on the initial purchase with us.  Should be easy to plan, survey and split off their parcel, and sell it to them, right?  (not quite... might take a couple years... doh)

Is there anything we can build or do on the land right away? (nope, not so much)

Only approved use of parcels zoned R3 is single family residential, with no accessory structures before a primary dwelling having approved certificat of occupancy, only one single family residential dwelling per parcel, of a minimum 1200 sq ft ground floor area, no more than 50% of building surface shall be vinyl or aluminum siding, must obtain and display valid building permit, before which you need 6 other permits, with approved inspections, and all allowable exemptions approved in writing, blah blah BLAH OMGZ shit.

Ok then.  Let's forget about all that for a bit and just enjoy the beautiful abundance of nature, eh?

This is the neighbors house.  Our for sale sign was still up.

Family gathers for an exploratory hike into the parcel

And we're off!  Machetes and loppers in hand