Concrete

The footers are done and the concrete has been poured!  Yay!

The loan is approved, the appraisal is in way, way more than I expected.  We haven't closed on the loan yet, but expect to within the next day or two. Things are moving right along and it's just so exciting.

The footers need to set for a day, then on Thursday they'll be knocking the forms off and proceeding onto the next phase.  We need toe-ups on the footers.  I'm not sure when we'll be pouring the slab, but I want our names and doggy footprints in the concrete.  We intend to stain and seal the concrete rather than cover it up with flooring.  We need the slab as thermal mass for the passive solar to be effective.  And I figure that we can always lay flooring down in the future if we decide we'd like a change.

 The building code requires us to put in heat -- even though I really don't think we will need it.  But that's the way it is.  We've decided to go with radiant heaters high up on the walls.   We will put in 220 lines for them.  And we will have the wood stove in the great room.  I honestly think that's all we'll need.  But we shall see.

 Chuck was really careful about orienting the house at true south.  The view is still spectacular, and we will have the solar heat gain in the winter.  The vents that I've designed into the house will cool it in the summer.  I just can't wait!

Les gets tomorrow off.  He's feeling the burn of building a house at his age.  But he's my hero.

Les putting bolts into the concrete