Time Frame:
After loan -
pre subfloor

Site Layout
Site Excavation
Planning the footing
Digging the footing
Preparing the footing for pour
Pouring the footing
Building the Basement Walls
First Rough-in Plumbing
Pouring the Basement Floor

Section II
Time Frame:
Subfloor - Log Raising

Log DeliveryBuilding sub-floor
Preparing for the log stack
Stacking log shell

Section III

Time Frame:
Interior walls -
dry-in

Interior walls
Setting Floor Joists and Support beams
Pre-wiring for main floor lights
Decking Upstairs Floor
Setting the Roof Trusses
Decking the Roof
Finishing the dry-in

Site Layout:

We stood where we wanted the front porch to go an visualized the direction we wanted the house to face.  Then we roughly marked the outside corners of the house with some metal stakes.  We moved them around until we got the house where we wanted it.  Once we were for sure we measured out an extra five feet past the size of the house and drove in our metal stakes.  We doubled checked to make sure we were square by measuring from corner to corner like an X.

Site Excavation:

The bulldozer dug out the area for the basement moving the dirt down hill and placing it where the drive way should enter the house. 

Since we are going to have an 8 foot basement wall the area was dug down at least five feet leaving about 3 feet between where the first course of logs will be and the ground level.

Note:  After our block walls were built, they were a lot taller out of the ground than we had imagined.  We wound up adding an extra row of block to give room for duct work and stuff.  Plus we didn't consider that the first row of block will actually be covered by 4 inches of gravel and 4 inches of concrete floor.  And then the subfloor will add another foot or so of height on top of that.  We really wish we would have dug down another 2 feet.

Planning the footing:

We put up batter boards at every outside corner of the house and pulled strings to square off the outside of where the block
walls are to go.

We used a water level to level each batter board always referencing from the original board.

Once we measured off the outline of the house as accurate as possible we measure across the house in an X from corner to opposite corner to make sure our measurements were equal and square.  If we were off we adjusted one end of the house and measured again.  This can take a few times to get it exactly square.

Our plans call for the footing to be 24 inches wide and we are using 8 inch block above ground level. So we measured out 8 inches from where the outside of the blocks will go and this is the outside of the footing. We then marked this 2 foot wide section with flour (anything cheap that the backhoe operator can see).

Digging the footing:

The footing was dug with a 24 inch bucket.   We wound up having to step the footing twice because of a slight slope still on the lot.  We wanted to make sure that the footing was always on undisturbed ground.   Each step down was place 8 inches down to conform to the concrete block that will be laid.

Preparing the footing for pour:

After the backhoe was through we had to clean out the bottom of the footing and square up corners where necessary by hand.   We rechecked the cleared area with the strings to make sure we were still on track.

Two strips of half inch rebar was then installed along the footing at about 10 inches apart and at least 3 inches from the bottom of the ground.   Rebar chairs are handy to keep the rebar off the ground but are somewhat flimsy under the weight of concrete.  If you want to do a good job, spend a little extra time and drive two pieces of rebar into the ground and place a bridge piece of rebar across them.  Then lay the two strips of rebar on top of the bridge.  Corners and joints must be overlapped by at least a foot.

Rebar was also used for grade stakes.  We cut our grade stakes twice the depth of the footing.  Then drove them in the ground about every 6 feet or so down to where the top of the concrete should be.  We used our strings as a reference to determine where the top of the footing should be.

Pouring the footing:

The footing was poured very dry to allow us to mound up the concrete along a section that the footing would need to be a few inches higher than the ground around it.  This method saved us some time and materials by not having to build forms.  The concrete was leveled to the tops of the grade stakes, smoothed just a touch, and left to dry.

Building the Basement Walls:

We are using both 12 inch and 8 inch block.  The 12 inch block were laid around the areas that will be back filled for strength.  The 8 inch block were then used to finish the wall to the top.  Where the two block sizes meet it leaves a 4 inch ledge.  This ledge will be used later to start laying the rock on.  

The block layers secured a piece of angle iron at each corner as a vertical guide using the strings on the batter boards for correct placement.  The angle iron is also used to attach the line that helps keep the blocks horizontally level.  This is the last time the batter boards will be used.

The block layers started at the corners and worked their way to the middle.

Note:  After the first course of block is down, go back and place sand along the outside of the walls on the footing.  This makes cleaning up the excess mortar mix and spilled concrete much easier.  We forgot to do this and now we are going to get our share of swinging a sledge hammer.

The crew of five were able to complete the entire basement walls in about 13 hours.  They were here only 1 and a half days.  And as you can see, you'd better not blink twice or you'll miss something.

The block walls where then filled with concrete along the areas that will be back filled. 

Threaded anchors will be placed every 36 inches to bolt to the subfloor cap.  You can usually find these in the screw and nail section of most building centers.

The First Rough-in Plumbing:

The initial rough-in plumbing was laid out and buried just under the gravel.  We decided to make provisions for a 3/4 bath in the basement.   This did not cost very much and will increase the value of the house.  Taking plenty of pictures of areas like this will be helpful in case there is ever a problem and we have to dig things back up.

Pouring The Basement Floor

The basement area was leveled and gravel was installed. Next we had a local pest control company to treat the soil for termites. Then plastic was spread out as a moisture barrior. Wire was then rolled out to reinforce the concrete. And the concrete pouring began.

On to Section II

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