Foundation

Concrete floors

There was plenty to do, but I picked up my camera and went to the site to watch the Koball’s crew and Croell Redi-Mix pour and finish our garage and cellar floors. It was fun to watch the crew fall into an easy, synchronized rhythm and get the job done, almost without a word.

 

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Preparing for the garage slab

Randy Koball and crew arrived on site today to finish filling, tamping and laying rebar for the garage slab. In the cellar, under the south end of the garage, they built framing for the floor, about half of which will be poured; the remaining floor will be filled with gravel to allow a more natural […]

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Staying with the details

Today it was about as humid as it can be without rain—and hot. About 8 p.m. I went to measure the amount of sand inside our garage foundation and the distance of the radon pipe conduit from the north cellar wall. Hmmm…How much more sand is needed to support the garage floor? Will the cellar […]

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Backfilling, drain tile, and Nancy’s rock

A busy day today as our excavator, Stan, and crew returned to begin back-filling around the foundation. We’re lucky to have a ready supply of sand from a corner of our property that leads into an old sand/gravel pit—an area we’re ‘reclaiming’ into something that will more closely resemble its natural surroundings. Digging, hauling and […]

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Waterproofing the cellar

The June monsoons appear to be over and work resumed today—a week later than we’d hoped. Vilen Construction is back on site to waterproof the foundation walls around the cellar. We’re using a material not routinely used to waterproof residential foundations in this area; Volclay panels are a “biodegradable kraft board filled with […]

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Foundation forms filled just in time

As it turns out, the foundation forms were set and filled just in time; storms again arrived overnight Thursday into Friday morning, dumping slightly more than another inch of rain on the area. Jesse called from Koball’s to confirm the crew was able to get back to the site just fine and were in the […]

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Preparing the forms for concrete

Today is a fairly routine day for the concrete crew from Koball’s. They arrive and align the walls, then make room for the concrete ready-mix trucks from the plant in Rushford. The forms are topped off and pillar bases inside the house are squared and filled.

Other commitments kept us from watching the action today, […]

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Placing the forms

It’s a quiet, cool, overcast morning as I arrive at the site around 8. Our ‘neighborhood’ wildlife have been up for hours, but still linger; songbirds singing, an owl ‘hooting’ across the valley, a deer or two strolling along the edge of the woods and into the nearby fields. It’s easy to imagine how the […]

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Power to the site and forms delivered

The utility crew buried cables today and placed the power transformer, so we’re that much closer to having power at the site; they still need to connect to the grid and our electrician needs to place the temporary power junctions. We also received confirmation that a concrete crew is set to begin placing the foundation […]

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Footings

Back on site this morning; today picks up where yesterday left off, with more sunshine than clouds—and a new group. A crew from Koball’s Poured Walls is on track to pour the footings today (before the next round of storms move in tonight and tomorrow!).

Just before setting the frames and forms, Jesse and Bruce […]

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Location

Lanesboro, Minnesota
Climate Zone 6 (cold/moist)
Latitude: 43° 44' 18'' N
Longitude: 91° 54' 48'' W

House Size

Net Treated Floor Area: 1,514 SF
Gross Square Footage (House only): 2,210 SF

Building Envelope

Roof: R-99
Wall: R-61
Ground: R-53

Windows & Doors

Glazing: U-0.10 BTU / hour / sq. ft.
Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC): 0.48”
Frame: U-0.19 BTU / hour / sq. ft.

Modeled Performance

Specific Primary Energy Demand (Source Energy Demand): 12.1 kBTU / sq. ft. / year

Specific Space Heat Demand: 7.0 kBTU/sq. ft. / year

Peak Heating Load: 7,047 BTU / hour

Space Cooling Demand: 0.44 kBTU / sq. ft. / year

Peak Cooling Load: 3,625 BTU / hour

Pressure Test Goal: Whole House Air Changes Per Hour (ACH) = 0.4 ACH 50

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