The PA Tacos' Biggest Buildup Ever!

[JanMarie13]

   Hey Noah!!!   

We're still planning out your bedroom.....I think it'll be downstairs though.  hehehe

Well the inspector finally came around yesterday, and of course it's all good to go!  We finished grading the stones last night and framed up the little pads where the basement posts will be, and we're pouring the basement floor on Friday! 

I took the day of work so I can write things in the concrete.     I'm sure we'll have lots of new pics after Friday! 

[unclejpl4x4]

I took the day of work so I can write things in the concrete

like what ?   

[JanMarie13]

like what ?   

Well I dunno like maybe a heart with our initials and the date in it??  hehehehe 


HEY!  We got our first delivery of materials yesterday!!      Floor joists and subflooring.  A little sooner than we need it, yes....but we were supposed to have that stinking basement floor poured BY last week.   Anywho....it's all covered really well in plastic now and it's ready when we are!

[JanMarie13]

P.S.  These are the iLevel Trus Joists, part of their Silent Floor system. 

http://www.ilevel.com/floors/f_TJI_joists.aspx

I do realize they look like particle board, but they are supposed to be the latest and greatest....in fact I recently toured several pretty hard core log homes that used these.  My contractor said they come with a 50-year warranty.  Does anyone know anything about these things?

[abnormaltoy]

P.S.  These are the iLevel Trus Joists, part of their Silent Floor system. 

http://www.ilevel.com/floors/f_TJI_joists.aspx

I do realize they look like particle board, but they are supposed to be the latest and greatest....in fact I recently toured several pretty hard core log homes that used these.  My contractor said they come with a 50-year warranty.  Does anyone know anything about these things?

Those are tits. OSB (oriented strand board) is just fine, as opposed to "particle" board (MDF). It's been used to sheath houses for decades. OSB grew out of post WWII Europe and the need to rebuild with so much of the forest gone.

[JanMarie13]

   WE HAVE WALLS!!!   

[spoiler][/spoiler]

[Big Pap Dog]

SWWEEEEEETTT!!!!!!!

[Lady Di]

Wow this is coming along great!

[JanMarie13]

Five walls and a center beam! 

[spoiler][/spoiler]

[spoiler][/spoiler]

[abnormaltoy]

Nice basement...uh, first floor!

[JanMarie13]

Nice basement...uh, first floor!

   thanks! 

[unclejpl4x4]

jan has walls

[Lady Di]

[JanMarie13]

Basement/first level complete! 

[spoiler][/spoiler]

[Rocksurfer]

looking good!

[unclejpl4x4]

i had a jan  you should of made your house in "THE SIMS"  and testedit

[THK Matt]

i had a jan  you should of made your house in "THE SIMS"  and testedit

LMAO!

how does that qualify as a BASEMENT?! just wondering.... i thought a basement wqas "underground"

[79coyotefrg]

LMAO!

how does that qualify as a BASEMENT?! just wondering.... i thought a basement wqas "underground"

or at least concrete

[abnormaltoy]

Y'uns got to go back and re-read the earlier posts.

They are adapting an off the shelf design.








Every time I see your home, I am just blown away by the views...including Vlad's castle!

[THK Matt]

Y'uns got to go back and re-read the earlier posts.

They are adapting an off the shelf design.








Every time I see your home, I am just blown away by the views...including Vlad's castle!

oh that wierd ibeam crap? lol i still dont see how it can LEGALLY be called a basement is what im saying.
like lets say in tornado or hurricane country... how would that stand up like a normal concrete-inground basement.... get my question better? lol

[Lady Di]

Every time I see your home, I am just blown away by the views...including Vlad's castle!

the best part is going to be when she starts taking the fall pictures. The view is going to be so amazing. I am so jealous, that is so gorgeous.

[JanMarie13]

Mmmm'kay so we now have floor joists!  Today they are laying the sheeting, and they said by the time I get home from work I should be able to walk around on my second floor!!!

[spoiler][/spoiler]

Regarding the "basement" questions....if you want to get technical it's essentially a 2-story house on a foundation.  "Slab on grade" I believe they call it.  But it's a split-foyer home.  I grew up in one and the basement of it was only a few feet in the ground.  We didn't want ours to be in the ground at all, but I want to use it the same as we did the house I grew up in.  The first level has a concrete floor and will house the utilities such as water heater, geothermal unit, etc. that are typically in the basement.  So....I'm going to use it as a basement, so I'm gonna call it one. 

The reason typical basements are block walls is because they are usually in the ground.  Since mine is completely out of the ground, it is perfectly acceptable for it to be stick-built the way it is.  We don't have tornadoes, hurricanes, or earthquakes to worry about here in PA.  Most of our building codes have to do with the frost line in the ground, and we're more than up to code on everything, never fear! 

[JanMarie13]

oh that wierd ibeam crap? lol i still dont see how it can LEGALLY be called a basement is what im saying.
like lets say in tornado or hurricane country... how would that stand up like a normal concrete-inground basement.... get my question better? lol

Mister Ho...I'm sure in hurricane country they do have more specific building codes that deal with that stuff.  However.....even if you have a basement fully under ground, you still have to bolt the walls to that and build with lumber the rest of the way up, unless you're going to form the entire house out of blocks.  haha.  So even if you have a basement in the ground, what stops the hurricane from ripping the lumber part of the house off the basement?   Usually, nuttin. 

[MiniSimp]

In Cali, that would be considered a "normal" house.
Basements barely exist here.

[Rocksurfer]

Basement, I don't see no basement. 

[Lady Di]

In Cali, that would be considered a "normal" house.
Basements barely exist here.

FL too, and a lot of our houses are all block, especially older ones. Ours is.

But according to dictionary.com (copied below) it looks like as per definition #3 if MPA wants to call what any rational thinking person would call the first level a basement, she apparently can legitimatly call it a basement.

[spoiler]

       [/spoiler]

base·ment [beys-muhnt] -noun

1. a story of a building, partly or wholly underground. 

2. (in classical and Renaissance architecture) the portion of a building beneath the principal story, treated as a single compositional unit. 

3. the lowermost portion of a structure. 

4. the substructure of a columnar or arched construction.

[MiniSimp]

[JanMarie13]

   OMG That's great!!

Hey I think I have definition #2 licked as well since the 2nd story will be our "principal story."   

[JanMarie13]

FL too, and a lot of our houses are all block, especially older ones. Ours is.

Yeah, believe me, I wish we could have afforded to build the entire house out of those ARXX walls, that woulda been    But way hella expensive.  The way we're doing it is perfectly acceptable, and much cheaper. 

[JanMarie13]

Every time I see your home, I am just blown away by the views...including Vlad's castle!

And actually, aside from the fact that I hate cold, dark, musty traditional basements, the views are a lot of the reason we decided to build it like this.  Our primary living space should be a good 12-14 feet in the air.     That'll make for a great view of Vlad in his underroos!!