Filling in with concrete

I think we have started to progress upward finally! They poured the concrete for the footers today (I guess it was just filling in part of the hole that they dug, but that counts as upward progress, right?) Andy and I took a long lunch break today so that we could watch. They finished putting in all of the re-bar and the forms to control the concrete and had cleared off some of the mud/dirt/rock that was in the driveway area. The truck was there with the third batch of concrete for the day (took 4 truck fulls in total!). It was interesting to watch the transfer from the truck to the pumper to the hoses. The guys were moving quickly to make it all happen. Steve was out there supervising and moving a shovel around to make everything right. We took some videos to show you how it all happens.

The plumber put in some PVC sleeves for the sewer and water lines to be able to cross through the footers.

The re-bar taking shape on Thursday.

The neighbors have a similar rock flower bed that will blend in well with our planned rock gardens on the front. For now we have a pile of rocks an a bunch of dirt!

The muddy mess after the day of rain/sleet/snow. But it's Flagstaff so it all dries out quickly.

Sunny Friday with some snow on the peaks!

The back crawlspace area.

The massive footer for the stairs.

The bolts on each side of the two car garage that will be used to fasten the steel columns to the footers.

Costa was out at the end of the day and ready to jump into the concrete pits. I thought doggy footprints would be cute in the footers, but she would have been a mess to clean up! I guess wet concrete is something difficult for dogs to understand...


Words of wisdom for those of you crazy enough to ever consider building a house:
#1 - Hire an ARCHITECT to do your plans. In the end it's not that much more expensive. One person designing the floor plan, doing the structural analysis/engineering, having a cost effective design in mind, and making it all come together is best. It is worth it. In hindsight, many headaches, hours of time, and dollars could have been saved by going the architect route.