Saturday, May 30, 2015

What Leaning Oak is supposed to look like...

I have been asked by some viewers of the site for actual graphics instead of the background image.  I should have thought of this earlier.  The graphics below represent what the house is to look like using our selections for paint, brick, stone, roof, etc.  The landscaping and pool are not part of the plan.  We intend to do landscaping, and it might be similar, but there is no official plan at this point.

First, the front of the house:
In real life, there will be trees very close to the driveway which cuts in front of the house in this rendering.

Now, the rear of the house:
The woods will come very close to the edge of the casita (far right) so there will be much less lawn than shown here.
Thanks for coming along...

Friday, May 29, 2015

Slogging through the rain, but the forms are in...

Forms.  Not to be confused with "framing".  In this part of Texas, we build on "slab" foundations, as our water table is quite high and basements are not possible.  By "slab" I mean that the concrete (after installing rebar and utilities) is poured directly onto the ground and filling up its "form".  This is why building the pad is so critical because it must be level for the foundation.  Before the utilities and rebar are put in place, a formal survey must be taken of the forms to ensure the placement of the house and associated buildings do not violate any right-of-way rules for the property.

In the following pictures, I show different aspects of our pad and forms.  The entire pad will not be covered in cement, only the portions where there will be a structure.  The completion of the forms is a prelude to getting utilities (plumbing and electrical conduit) installed, as well as the rebar, which will give the foundations both flexibility and strength.  Within 24 to 48 hours of the concrete being poured, framing (putting up the 'sticks' for the walls and roof) can begin.

From the road, one can see the breadth of 
the forms -- over 140 feet
A picture shot across the front porch, conservatory, 
kitchen, lanai, to the casita

A shot from the outside of the master bedroom to the casita
(note the graded slope of the pad toward the woods)
This is shot from the Great Room 
at the center point of our 
14-foot picture window



Thursday, May 7, 2015

Finally, ready to move to "construction"

After six months passing since we signed the construction load, four months after our construction company turned first dirt, enduring a wet spring and a less-than-motivated "dirt man" (the guy who prepares the site for building whose work is essential for a solid house foundation), we are finally ready to set the forms of the house foundations.  Yes, I wrote "foundations", plural.  There is the main house, the multi-purpose two-car garage, and the combo four-car garage and apartment, a.k.a. "the casita".  Everything is one-story, so our pad is quite large, nearly a half-acre in size.  No worries, we have 4 1/2 other acres to enjoy.

The pictures below give you some idea of what a pad looks like and the size of our pad.


 

We have already worked with the construction manager regarding how the house should be placed on the property.  As with the house design itself, everything flows from getting the centerline correct.  The centerline line to which I am referring is the centerline of the main house, which is the line from the front door to the large 14-foot picture window in the rear of the house.  The house's centerline will be aligned with the centerpoint of the front property line, and the house we be parallel to the property line.  When we lay the forms, we will confirm all the key house position measurements (corners, centerline, etc.), because once the forms are set and the foundation formed, the house is placed forever.

Hopefully, I will soon post pictures of the forms being set.  As in, within DAYS, not weeks.

See you then.