Daily Archives: November 17, 2012

More Sewer Fun

Posted on November 17, 2012 by ellen

The previous post accounts for the biggest open question about the plumbing in the master bathroom–do we need the dry vent for the toilet? Well, what would it hurt anything right? In the family room bath the toilet is at … Continue reading →

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Sewer Simulations

Posted on November 17, 2012 by ellen

What? Now we have to replace the sewer to “code”? Yep, that is a permit’s requirements. These fussy cities, what do you do? Umm, figure out the code? I was able to download the codes after feverish searching on the … Continue reading →

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Permit Possibilities

Posted on November 17, 2012 by ellen

I went to the city To buy a fat pig (permit) Home again, home again, jiggidy jig. I have been very pleased by how helpful the permit office in Arvada has been to me. I have visited a few times … Continue reading →

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Repurposed Materials

Posted on November 17, 2012 by ellen

Mark Benjamin, of Crown Jade, recommended this very imaginative business in Denver as a source of the R-15 insulation I needed for the perimeter of the foundation.   Repurposed Materials is mostly dedicated to reusing industrial materials in new, imaginative … Continue reading →

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Into the Void (Our Caisson Foundation)

Posted on November 17, 2012 by ellen

We were very pleasantly surprised to find that the rear wall that holds back the earth bermed north side of the house has a caisson foundation. I had never heard of this type of foundation, and it is not generally … Continue reading →

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Dirt Can’t Hide (From Intensified Digging)

Posted on November 17, 2012 by ellen

Excavation resumed after the plumbing was dug out. The goal was 16 1/2 inches down from the top of slab or about a foot of digging throughout. The first few inches were completed before the plumbing was dug out, just … Continue reading →

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The Trouble at the Bottom….. (Pete Seeger)

Posted on November 17, 2012 by ellen

We can say it is a good thing to find the trouble at the bottom which would have reared its ugly head someday especially if we had tried to install a cosmetic fix for the existing slab. Excavation of the … Continue reading →

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Back at the Ranch

Posted on November 17, 2012 by ellen

Now that the players have all been described, how are things going at the house? The slab was removed after days of breaking it up with the jack hammers and hauling wheelbarrows of concrete out to the rubble field. We … Continue reading →

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HP Geotech

Posted on November 17, 2012 by ellen

I asked the Asbestos test engineer, Rick Luce, for a recommendation for a soils engineer, as he had mentioned that he worked with several and would give me a recommendation when the time came. He recommended Alan Lisowy at HP … Continue reading →

Posted in Moisture Intrusion/Expansive Soil, Planning, Project Team | Comments Off on HP Geotech

Waffle Mat Slab

Posted on November 17, 2012 by ellen

The Waffle Mat system uses 19 1/2″ X 19 1/2″ X 8 1/2″ recycled plastic boxes. The boxes have a rim on two sides and can be used in sets of 4 or individually depending on the design. I decided … Continue reading →

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Crown Jade Design and Engineering

Posted on November 17, 2012 by ellen

At Greg’s strong recommendation, I decided to seek out a structural engineer who would be willing to take care of the specific design using WaffleMat for our installation. The person I chose had presented at a USGBC event as a … Continue reading →

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