Now the real fun begins!

The first week of construction is now in the books.   Les picked up the permit at San Juan County on Wednesday and hit the ground running.

First, he staked out the foundation and footing locations for the excavator.

Since the house is being built with a slab on grade floor, all of the plumbing drains need to be precisely located prior to excavating.  In a typical home with a crawlspace, you don’t have to worry about plumbing locations other than where the water line will enter and the waste line will exit.  With a concrete floor, you have to be spot on or else you’ll be tearing out concrete later (not an option on this project since we’ll also be embedding hydronic radiant heat tubing in the concrete).  The hydronic heat will be supplied by a geothermal pond loop system.  The line from the pond to the mechanical room  went in next.  The guys at Geonomic Developments are taking care of the geothermal for us.  This is our first project using this system and we’re really excited.  The efficiency (and therefore cost savings) is incredible.

The pond at sunset

Next up, the forms go in.  Les imported our foundation guy Carson from our home base in Clark County, WA.  He utilized a couple of his hardworking sons and got the forms set quickly.  The inspector signed off on Tuesday and the concrete pour was scheduled for Wednesday.

All in all, a very productive first week!