Day 15 - We Poured 81 Yard of Concrete - Foundation Done

6 AM - still dark - Sam Pickenpaugh - General Manager of Vulcan Materials - made sure his concrete delivery was perfect. They say it is a big deal when he comes along.

Sunset came around 8 PM. The slab was done. No one got to carve their name in it. the workmen already removed the forms. I will pressure wash the 2 x 12 from boards this weekend and they will be used to frame the house. They are brand new spruce and we re-cycle them. Note the camper van in the background. That is another story.

Friday was a busy day. We were at the construction site well before 7 AM. It was still a little dark and the crescent moon was bright and directly overhead. Robert Norton's concrete crew was all ready to go in their mud boots with their trowels and shovels. They would do the hard work of moving this mud around to makes sure every cranny was filled.

The weather was perfect - not a cloud in the sky. The sun was still far east - not even in the tops of the pine trees. We were supposed to have rain during the night but not a drop fell. It was predicted that we have a 5 hour window to do the deed.

Day 14 - We Are Ready To Pour The Foundation Tomorrow at 7 AM

It took us 14 days to tear down the old house - remove the trees - grade the lot - and lay out the foundation. All the pipes - conduits - steel rebar - and forms are in place. The city signed off at 2PM today - and we ordered the concrete.

Gary says he expects to be closed in - in 2 or 3 weeks. 

The inspectors are doing core sampling to make sure the sand fill is compacted enough.

They take the above core samples and do something with them

City Inspector Steve Tabor is posing with Gary Shiver - our builder. Gary is smiling for two reason. First - the foundation prep passed with flying colors - nothing to change. Second - I just gave Gary a check.

Day 13 - Preparing the Foundation

Here is how Gary smiles on pay day.

There were up to 14 people working on the site today at one time. We had the concrete prep men - the electric prep men - the stump grinder man - the termite sprayer man - and the Howdy Potty man.

I was shocked when Gary the builder said that he expects the house to be closed in within 2 to 3 weeks.  They will pour the foundation and floor on Friday if the weather holds. 

Today Lulu was almost complaining it was going too fast - she was being rushed to make decisions. It is a whole lot different than when you get a builder that is trying to juggle several jobs. Here today and gone tomorrow. 

Day 12 - Plumbing Day - You Know You Are in the New South When Your Plumber's Name is Bubba and He Arrives in a Corvette

Do not forget to click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Robert "Bubba" West Junior is the plumber of record on our new home.

Nixon had his group of "plumbers" and here are mine. Rich - Jamie Elkins - Bubba West - Gary Shiver - and Steven.

This is the master bath with a separate tub and shower. It is a long way from taking my baths in a metal tub in the kitchen in front of the coal stove back in Appalachia back in the 50s. Lulu and I picked out the doors - windows - and bath tub today. 

This plumbing is for the laundry which is connected directly to a walk-in closet and the master suite. That deep ditch going away from you will be the back wall of the house. The blue shirt guy is standing on a 10 x 60 foot back porch. We still need to run the steel rebar in the slab.

You know you are in the New South when your plumber named Bubba arrives in his Corvette convertible.

BMF stand for Big Mutha - you finish it. Notice that he graduated from Bubba University.

This is facing south. The foundation is almost ready for pouring. There are three natural gas outlets to install for the fireplace - the stove - and the water heater. There will be gas outside for a fire pit and a grill. Later today - Gary is installing the anchor bolts to tie down the walls and the hurricane straps. The house should be able to stand 150 MPH winds - its the new law. 

The water is temporarily hooked up ready for inspection tomorrow.

This is Robert Norton of Norton Concrete. He is preparing the foundation and he will pour the concrete. Gary Shiver is the builder and nothing gets done on the site without his supervision. He arrives every day before 7 AM.

Gary is showing Ted Oliver of Oliver Electric where he wants the service panel to be. Ted will put conduit in the foundation so that no wires or boxes will be hanging on the side of the house. They figured a way to put the electric meter far away from the house. Wires will go under the foundation in conduit to the garage - the pool - and the workshop. It is easier to put them in now rather than hang them on the side of the house later.

You can tell I love Monday morning - it is a fresh start after 4 days away at the wedding of my kids - Liz and Keith. Today's weather was excellent for work. 

Mainly we got done two things. First the power company came out and took down an old electricity pole from the middle of the lot. Then - They installed a new pole and a pedestal for an underground power tap. 

Day 10 - Friday - Installing Forms For the Foundation

Gary reported that things picked up on Friday. The saw mill came for the last load of logs. Because of the torrential rain the day before - the log truck bogged down in the mud. Luckily we could pull it out with the bulldozer still on site.

Gary and Joe Shiver spent the day laying out the foundation. It is basically just a big 60 feet by 60 feet square. The roof will be 64 x 64 - hanging over the foundation on all sides by 2 feet. the indoor part of the house will be 40 x 60 - with two long 10 x 60 porches on the front and back. Steel will be placed in the slab to support the walls of the house. The heat/AC system will be in the attic - but will be supported by steel in the foundation. We have to be sure to pour a concrete ledge to support the brick around the perimeter covering the foundation.

Gary is using all brand new 2 x 12 planks to build the foundation forms. We will then wash them off and use them as headers to build the walls. It reminds me of Henry Ford. When he was ordering engines - he even specified the building of the shipping crates. He then tore apart the shipping crates and used them as Model T floor boards.

Since we are building the house to Americans With Disability Act specifications - we are trying to make the floor perfectly flat - having 36 inch wide doors - with no threshold bumps. The concrete foundation will be shaped to make drive-in showers with no doors. All of these "bumps" must be planned into the foundation now. The porch floors will slant on a 1% grade away from the house to prevent puddle on the porch - or worse - water running into the flat floor house.

Also - the two-sided fireplace between the living room and dining room must have a floor air intake vent to feed the fire with fresh air from outside. It will not draw the air from the rooms. That air vent must be place in the foundation.

All water - sewer - and gas lines will be buried in the foundation. Even a few floor level electrical outlets will be poured into the concrete. The finished floor will be 3/4 inches of hardwood on top of 3/4 inch plywood.

All of the above must be built into the the forms before you can pour the floor. So Gary and Joe have a lot on their mind when working.

Gary already pitched a tent for me. I will be back on the site on Sunday night - and do not plan to leave town until the house is done. Lucky Gary :-)

Day 9 - Thursday Rained Out

I am up in Pennsylvania at my son's wedding - but I keep in touch with Gary. To my surprise when we left home at 7 AM we drove by the building site - Gary was there - at 7 AM - in the fog.

He later told me it poured in town and it postponed all work. Luckily we installed the silt fence the night before to keep the mud off the street.

This will happen in Tallahassee.

Day 8 - Laying Out the Foundation

It is fun watching others work - especially if they are using big machines. 

Today was a busy day at the work site. First - the bull dozer was moving dirt around to make a flat spot for the house. We wanted to keep the porch floors lower than 2 feet - so they do not require a hand rail. 

Next - we laid out the corners of the foundation. We established a plane with cross strings.  It is simply a big 60 x 60 square. The front porch will be about 20 inches off the ground - the back porch will be about 10 inches above the ground. 

Day 7 - Grading the Building Lot

The old pine logs will be picked up tomorrow by the saw mill.

This picture shows the lot looking west from Seminole Drive.

Day 7 - Today a bulldozer worked all day grading the lot. The lot is 210 feet wide and 250 feet deep. It has the area of a football field - about 1.4 acres. It is taking longer than we expected for site preparation.   Several things held us up especially lots of rain. 

The house will be toward the back of the lot and toward the south side. Since the lot drops about 10 feet from back to front - we wanted to make that drop very gradual and also create level spots for the house - the new garage - the gardens - and the pool. 

One of the things I like is that my builder - Gary Shiver - is at the site every day. As soon as the site prep is done - we will lay out the foundation. There will be no delay. Grading the lot - I would give it an A.

This picture is look southwest - directly at the house site.

The bulldozer is creating a very gentle grade while trying to keep a large flat spot for the house. We want the porches low enough so that no hand rails are required. 

The new driveway will split those trees. The bulldozer is sitting right about where the front door will be. 

Day 6 - The Last Tree To Go

A policeman dropped by to watch the big tree along the road go down. He never saw a loader drop one like that. The officer said he just had 6 trees removed from his yard - he said it took forever - made lots of noise - and he still has stumps. He liked our way better.

We have almost completed site preparation. Today we took down the last tree that we are going to remove. It was a pine tree about 100 feet tall and about 20 inches around. It was right next to the street so we had to be careful.

Rain Slowed Us Down Today - But They Still Trudged On

The root ball comes out easily when still attached to the tree. On a wet day the sandy soil is even softer.  After the root ball is out - they did out the stray roots. The loader shakes off the root ball and puts it in the dumpster. Everything goes to the landfill - where we pay by the pound to get rid of it - thus we want to keep the soil home. 

DAY 5 SEMINOLE DRIVE - It rained quite a bit today but work trudged on. The brick house is completely gone. All of the concrete is gone from the sidewalks and some of the driveway. We kept a section of the old driveway to service the garden.

Day 4 - The Brick House Is History - Today Is Pine Tree Day

Oops there goes another pine tree plant.

It just started to rain - we are expecting 5 to 10  inches of rain in the next 4 days. It will slow our project down. We need one more day to finish the trees and grade the land.

We also got the good news that our building permit is approved by the city and hanging in our permit box on the site. The city approved everything without a change. They also agree to give us an underground electrical service free of charge.

We are pulling out the root balls along with the trees - just like a thunder storm does when it blows them over onto your house. They really make a big thud when they hit.

Third Day of Demolition

Eve of Destruction at 1816 Seminole Drive

The house is completely down and in a pile. I can't believe how many truckloads it is taking to haul it away. I am glad we are working on a fixed price - I can enjoy all the action and see that I am getting my moneysworth.

We have 2 trucks - if we had more everything would be gone.

After the house is gone - there are some big sections of pavement to remove. Next we are removing some pine trees - finally the lot will be graded so that the house has a large level area. A major job is removing the root balls of some of the present trees and roots from trees taken out before. A large propane tank was removed from the ground - also an old septic tank that was not used in about 40 years.

More Pictures of Monday's Demolaction

We had a very nice demolition day. It may have been the hottest day of the year - but a clear blue sky - no wind - and low relative humidity made it a nice day to watch work. Lulu had a busy day on campus - so she took her Vespa. She can park right by her door with that - secretly I think she was afraid of what came next.

At 10 AM the loader arrived on a flat bed. One man drove the truck - one man operated the loader. The slowest part was waiting for the truck to return for another load. 

I am writing this at 9 AM Tuesday - already they took another load to debris away. I am guessing we will have a clear lot by the end of the day. 

Goldilocks had to go to work at 9 AM

One man and one machine

At 10 AM - it was all peaceful at 1816 Seminole Drive

Then it started taking big bites

Monday Morning - and The Walls Came Tumbling Down

At 11 AM all was quiet on Seminole Drive

By 2 PM - 75% of the house was gone. 

I love Monday mornings - and today was no exception. At 11 AM - things were quiet at 1816 Seminole Drive. Then one man and one loader arrived. By noon the brick house was almost history.

The loader was using the south side of the house like a coal bin. He kept piling the debris from the rest of the house into the two south bedrooms. A big truck arrived at 1 PM and they started loading the debris in the truck. Debris was separated into clean fill and dirty fill. The clean fill was mostly brick and concrete. The dirty fill was mostly wood - windows - and shingles.

Seminole View - A Florida Plantation Style Home

 1818 Seminole Drive

We designed our home to be very simple - but stately and open. The lot at 1816 Seminole Drive is sunny and wide open with several nice sight lines from Seminole Drive. After we designed our home - we noticed that it had several of the features of the Catherine Murat Plantation which is featured at the Tallahassee Museum. We decided to incorporate several of those features into our home.

The home is a 60 x 60 feet square including the porches. The interior floor plan is 40 x 60 feet. Upstairs there will be a 1200 square foot attic with plywood floor and overhead Icynene insulation - the liquid foam stuff. It could be later finished into 2 bedrooms and another bathroom. 

We wanted to make sure the it was light and airy inside. We did this by providing 10 foot high ceilings and plenty of 6 feet high windows. Each corner bedroom will have 4 large windows - 2 on each outside wall. The windows on the east and west sides will be protected from direct sunlight by long porches. All windows will featured interior plantation shutters for window treatment. The rooms can be bright and sunny - or completely dark. 

The house will emulate Bellevue - the Catherine Murat Plantation

The will be a green energy saving home. When I say green - I mean it will save money. It will have 6 inch studs in the walls and the spaces will be filled with liquid in place Icynene insulation. the roof and the side will be covered with 3/4 inch plywood. Ship lapped Hardiboard will cover the outside. The roof will be covered in fiberglass asphalt shingles.

Both sides are the same - front and back are the same

The challenge has been made to complete it in 100 days. That would make a goal of November 10th to finish the main house. There will be a separate garage.

The floor plan is 2400 square feet - 3 bedrooms - 2 bathrooms - 1 great room - 1 bonus room upstairs

We hope you follow along on this page.

August 1st - Let the Games Begin

1816 Seminole Drive - Tallahassee

About 3 years ago - we bought this brick rancher on Seminole Drive. It is just 5 doors down the street from their present home at 1607 Seminole. Ray Prim lived there alone for about 40 years. When he died - the Everhart's bought the property from his estate for $150,000.

The property is a perfect rectangle - 210 feet wide and 250 feet deep. A football field is 48,000 square feet - this lot is 52,500 square feet. It is a metes and bounds lot meaning it is a blank sheet of paper. There are no restrictions other than staying 10 feet off the line with any structure.

After thinking about it 3 years - they drew a plan - hired an builder - and now are ready to go.

Gary Shiver has been building homes in Tallahassee for 35 years. He comes highly recommended. He only builds 3 or 4 homes a year - never advertises - and spends every day on the site. Once he starts a project - he sticks with it. He never has to advertise his services - word of mouth does it all.

The Brick House Has Got To Go

The decision to knock down the brick house was a long and difficult one. At first - they were going to leave the house there and build next to it. But the brick house is smack in the middle of the property - and dominates it. Then the plan was too move the brick rancher to one side - but that cost $40,000. Then they were considering selling it but it would not go down the street without cutting it up. Finally - one Hail Mary was to move it to a vacant lot across the street but the lot owner turned down $40,000. With deep regret - next week it is going down.

The city has already disconnected the water - sewer - electricity and gas. The re-cycler man was by yesterday to take the old heat and air conditioner unit away. The city has inspected the place and issued a demolition permit.

AC/Heat

The re-cycler removed the old heat and AC system.