WOW! Yesterday turned out to be a super busy day! When I got up to the project site yesterday morning there was over six men up there. Earthworks was moving dirt with an excavator, bulldozer, and hauling in fill with 2 dump trucks; the concrete men were reinforcing their forms and insulating the vertical perimeter; and the plumber was laying his radiant heat tubing.
I’ll try to show a few pictures and discuss each.
The concrete guys were hammering metal stake after metal stake into the ground and then fixing diagonal bracing to support the forms. Guess I had never really realized how much force concrete pushes on the forms. It should be obvious from the photos below that we won’t have to worry about the forms blowing out.
Look at All the Diagonal Cross Bracing. Notice the Radiant Heat Tubing has Already Been Laid for the Porch
Another View. Notice The Bulldozer Working on the Leach Field Area.
If You Take a Step Back You Can See All the Work That’s Going on!
The spot for the leach field was dug/leveled off with the bulldozer and then several loads of some special dirt/gravel was spread out and then scored by the excavator. I guess the scoring of the dirt helps the leach field aerate.
Excavator at Work Scoring the Gravel
Several inches of inch and a half stone was then spread over the gravel and the tubes of the leach field placed into the stone.
Bulldozer Leveling out the Inch and a Half Stone
View of the Leach Field and Septic Tank
The stone in the leach field is then covered with hay before the gravel is pushed on top to separate the stone from the gravel. Who would’ve ever thought that there was so much thought/science that went into a poop system!
Septic Tank Covered, Hay Blanketing the Stone, with Gravel Ready to Be Spread on Top
The progress on the radiant heat is equally impressive. From this overview picture you can see the many lines that originate in the utility room heading off in every direction. In total there will be 6 zones of heat:
- family room, my bedroom, my bathroom
- kitchen, living, dining room
- parents, spare bedroom, bathroom, hallway
- sun room
- garage
- hot water loop for a fan coil unit in the family room to deal with immediate demand whenever I get cold
Overview Photo Later in the Day
I really think there is such elegance and beauty in the simplicity of hydronic radiant heat.
Look at the Tubes Running Back and Forth Parallel to Each Other
A Closer View Showing the Morning Dew
They were about 50% done the radiant heat last night, and as long as the weather cooperates will be completed today ready for the concrete contractor to pour on the next decent day. Right now that’s looking an awful lot like this coming Thursday. Cross your fingers that the forecast continues to call for a beautiful, sunny day this Thursday!
Ackkkkkkk! As I’m finishing this post it’s starting to pour outside!
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Hope the weather is holding out, and you have a floor tomorrow!
The weather seemed to hold all pretty good today, but the concrete guy liked the looks of Saturday better… so Saturday it is! Let's hope mother nature plays nice until then!