Plasma cutting steel staircase Tung oil applied on trim woodwwork Floors milled from site grown trees Septic field restoration Reflecting afternoon sun Birth of a barn on Bragg Hill Radiant floors Solar panel installation Capping off the chimney Proud shape emerges on the hilltop Pumping concrete into the three gables Forming 12x12 Gables Delivering concrete from the sky Parallam beam positioning Flying flitch beam ICF window framing Precision concrete placement Lower level ICF fabrication Newly excavated driveway Finishing garage deck concrete Pouring concrete footers Rebar safety caps Surveying the construction site Checking out the excavation equipment Rapid soil stabilization Testing the soils for drainage Taking Solar Pathfinder measurements Milling downed trees onsite View to the Southeast over the Benzel Family Trust Future meadow to be cultivated Taking a stroll on Bragg Hill Road

Lower Level Ready for First Pour

click image to enlarge
click image to enlarge

Now that the footers are set, the Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF) assembly commenced at a rapid pace.  While the light weight Styrofoam forms snap into place, there is much careful preparation and stabilization required before the eight inch forms are filled with concrete.  The lower level walls are 11 feet tall and will absorb close to 80 cubic yards of concrete.  Because of the enormous weight and pressure of the concrete, careful preparation was made to keep the walls perfectly straight and true. Reechcraft adjustable ICF braces are used on the inside of the walls.  The internal structure of the ICF itself will assure that the outside wall will not move during the critical few hours of the pour.

V-Buck forms are cut on site and used in the window and door openings to secure these voids and keep them true. Observation holes are strategically placed in horizontal surfaces of these forms to view the concrete setup during the pour.