Moving forward again...

Material added for raising the house pad another foot. When all is said and done, finished top of slab will be 2 feet above existing grade on high (grade) side of the house, and 3 feet above on the lower (grade) side of the house.

Hurry up and wait...

Despite Ruby's nonchalance, things have been whirling away beneath the surface. Materials bid on and contractors lined up. A couple of foundation details revised. The radiant floor package and electric boiler ordered.

Current construction schedule calls for the house pad to be raised another foot around the middle of April and for the monolithic slab to be poured right at the end of the month, or very early in may. (This depends on how quickly the plumber can get in and rough in the plumbing, how quickly all the rebar can be tied together and raised up, and how quickly we (meaning Christie and I) can lay out and tie all the radiant floor PEX tubing. ) Framing will begin in may. Straw bales may not be available until the grain harvest in September, so a LOT of framing can (I hope) be completed - including the roof and some interior walls - while we are waiting for those bales.

How it all works, part 3: Wall section

Wall section showing the hybrid bale / framed clerestory wall. The house is post and beam structure. The large cross beams pick up the roof load at the blocking located at the inside face of the bale. In our case, we'll locate the blocking to give the plaster finish a tidy place to end. Still undecided, we're thinking the interior framed wall finish could be board and baton w/ a light pigmented stain. Exterior the framed wall will be a cedar lap siding w/ a clear stain. The foundation detail has changed as we are now going w/ a monolithic slab, vs. a separate footing as shown to the left.