Building the Basement

Another view.

They're done, and you can see the I-joists
for the main floor in the background.

Installing the interior basement walls.

Our carpenter, Craig Debink, arrives and checks
the wall to ensure that it is the proper height.

Pablo cuts the floor.

Our new floor, with markings for cutting stress-relief joints.

Girls like to watch men working.

Pouring the cement floor requires a third visit
by the pump truck. This is getting expensive!

Below the cement floor we have plumbing and
heating ducts, 2" of foam insulation, a vapor
barrier, and steel mesh for strength.

A dimpled waterproofing membrane is added
to the exterior of the foundation wall.

Tito and Pablo finish the wall tops in preparation
for carpentry work on the main floor.

Time to pour the walls. The fellow on the right
controls his pump truck remotely.

The south side of the stairway will rest on this wall.

"Looks good to me, boss!"

Adam does some custom design work for the stairway.

You can see the ICF brick ledges in the foreground.
They will hold up the cement porch.

Voila!

He cuts the cement and...

Adam prepares the old foundation wall to allow for

the creation of a new opening for the crawl space.

It's beginning to look like a basement.

Inside an ICF wall.

Welcome to our home. Stay for dinner?

No fear. And, yes, that's our shed.

They go together like Legos, but they're bigger.

Tito to Pablo: "Here... Catch!"

Here come the insulated concrete forms (ICFs).

Our new footers.

Time to pour some cement. The pump truck
is owned by Adam's cousin.

Adam uses the laser level (foreground) to
set the height of each footer.

Adam Eerdmans, our foundation contractor
from GR, gets busy with the footings.

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