It might not look like much... but it's been a LONG time coming...

7 years ago

first concrete sandwich panel wall placed at the northwest corner of the house today. I was skeptical that my wall panel folks would actually show up today with a crane, but, as you can see, they brought a little 100 ton guy... Hope to have 5-6 more panels (or more) done tomorrow. Hopefully more pics, too, as I learned how to operate the lift thing, so we'll get some aerial views. :)

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cpartist

7 years ago

Woo Hoo! Can't wait to see it all start coming together for you.

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bpath
7 years ago
Post video! I've never seen this before!
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A trip back in time. Part 2 might be long.
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There is a personality that grows at a work place among the machinery, the light streaming in through windows, the dust accumulated and each piece of machinery as though they are each a piece of the whole of the body. Your description tells of skills and knowledge seldom continued in this modern world. That personality is a friend that welcomed those that spent so much of their time there. So glad for you to have the opportunity to visit a place of such personal memory and connect with the spirit of those that dwell there. We all leave a piece of ourselves in the places we occupy and listening we can detect the ones that went before us. I hope I have the privileged to see this part of you and your family's history. Thank you for the mental images.
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Woody had to do this for his mother and it was the hardest thing ever, he said. Personally, I can why it's hard to do, but I can see why it's the kindest thing, too. I like the quote Jim-1 just mentioned. I know you'll do the right thing, no matter how hard it is, and I wish I could give you a big hug right now. Thanks for coming here and giving us the chance to bolster you a tiny bit, Jenni.
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Sorry to be a gallery hog, but it's been a long time
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Thank you Dee and everyone. Isn't it nice to be missed? Just had a little spell in hospital but OK now. Paradisi: The snail plant is a prolific creeper, we have four grown from seed, and they cover the side of the garage. The seeds are in a pod which looks like a bean pod, but black. I believe its proper name is Vigna Caracalla - Phaseolus gigantica family: Fabaceae. That is what some members on the GW told me. It is highly perfumed, something like a gardenia and the shape of the flower is gorgeous. Doesn't last long in water but good on the vine. Thanks Goldhills, Pete has grown plenty of veg this year, tomatoes slow due to weather, silver beet, lettuce, carrots & beans- super, but our first pumpkin. Maria, our Shariffa Asma took a while to take off, as did the English Garden, but the wait is worth while. Heather, my friend, how's everything with you and your family? How different to have gladdies growing on the traffic islands, very colourful. Don't they get stolen?
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It’s been a long time.... let’s see your stash.
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lafdr, Yes. Guilty! Hoarder of laundry products. I can't speak for the others, but it's my quirky little pleasure for some odd reason. My supply makes me happy :) My goal, is to get down to armjim's supply, if I could ever not have to try out the next one, the better one, the new one. I could easily (and happily) live with just Tide powder, stpp, oxygen bleach, Borax and dryer sheets (I don't use liquid fabric softener). Not pictured in my photo above is my supply of backup powder detergent in case of powdergeddon, which are extras of my usual powders like Tide, ALL, Mexican Ariel. There's been talk of manufacturers wanting to discontinue with powder detergent and give us only liquids to use. I could not imagine not having my powder detergents anymore. This possibility fuels powder hoarding.
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User
7 years ago
I like it. I always thought tilt-up would be an interesting way to build a house.
omelet
7 years ago
I'm happy you have progress.
jaimeeap
7 years ago
Exciting!!
just_janni
Original Author
7 years ago
Corner detail where the mothered corner stops and then dies into the side wall. There is also insulation turning out to line up with the insulated panel roof
just_janni
Original Author
7 years ago
And oops i.e. I think we killed the battery on the lift goofing around last night
chicagoans
7 years ago
That's some serious machinery! Thanks for posting the cool pics.
Matthew
7 years ago
Who makes these panels?
worthy
7 years ago
No insulation in the interior of these panels?

Aside from resistance to small arms fire, I am curious as to what you perceive as the advantages of concrete panels vs. stick framing. And why not poured walls instead of panels?
just_janni
Original Author
7 years ago
There is 4" of foam in each panel and completely thermally isolated wythes because the connectors are a carbon fiber product. Overall we are not fans of drywall and we can hang all our roofing bar jousts off of the interior panels as they are also structural

The look fit our aesthetic and the sandwich panel provided a lot of interior flexibility

They are made by a company called International Precast
just_janni
Original Author
7 years ago
And fabrication in a plant is a much better process than on site
cpartist
7 years ago
Funny I just went to look at their website and they said I needed to update Flash. They need to get with newer technology instead of Flash. :)
PRO
Virgil Carter Fine Art
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Where are you building? Do you figure you are paying a premium for this approach as opposed to conventional wood framing? Can you post your plan and elevations?
just_janni
Original Author
7 years ago
We are in central NC

And a premium is relative LOL

It works for us because we are not planning to "finish" the interior concrete or the exterior. So with one "panel" we get exterior finish, framing, insulation and interior finish with the industrial loft look

We wanted a house of concrete steel and glass and we are almost to a Passive House level of efficiency. But really, there has been NOTHING particularly cost effective about this build so far but it's totally ours and what we wanted to do to support our retirement goals and have a cool place for the animals...
energy_rater_la
7 years ago
very cool.
PRO
Virgil Carter Fine Art
7 years ago
Will you seal the exterior face of the concrete panels or simply let them weather as they will?
just_janni
Original Author
7 years ago
Leaving natural. They cure to a pretty high PSI so they really don't need sealing. Figure we start with "natural" and if for any reason it doesn't look right / good we can always paint / stain / seal / etc
User
7 years ago
Please take and post more pictures.
just_janni thanked User
just_janni
Original Author
7 years ago
DO NOT let my husband hear this - I am currently downloading pics from the "good" camera and it's slow - there are so many pics on the memory card that it hasn't even told me how many there are - let alone the approximate time to transfer. Aye carumba. I loved my "old" D-SLR that wasn't a full frame - quick and dirty, built in flash - and FAST.... but - when it broke - we had to "upgrade"...

Amazon Prime is losing their collective shirt on my "free photo storage" LOL

Thanks for the interest. We're also posting at www.facebook.com/shophouseNC
just_janni
Original Author
7 years ago
So - today is first day of the week I am not there - hubby is (I have to take a dog to the doggie eye doctor). They started at 7 AM with the first truck. (yippee!) but of course we had rain last night and now we battle mud. Trying to get some steel plates to help with bringing in the large trucks for panel delivery and not having the trucks get stuck.

Figures - the first day they have their act together, we're battle Mother Nature.

At least there is no real rain in the forecast.

Hope they can forge on - it would be good to have some REAL progress and get 5-6 panels installed today. If they can do that, they could complete the west wall.

More pics later today when I get up there.
User
7 years ago
Webcam! Webcam!
DLM2000-GW
7 years ago
Went through your build blog a bit and let me just say it will be a while before I pick my jaw up off the floor. Wowzer! What a journey and what a house it will be! So glad to be on the building forum at this time or it's unlikely I'd be in a position to follow along. This is going to be amazing to watch!
just_janni
Original Author
7 years ago
Definitely moving faster today despite 100 degree heat. West wall is done and moving down the north wall. Will place a few front wall panels and then they have to move the crane.

Thanks for all the interest. I have learned so much here and everyone has been so helpful it's nice to share in return
sail_away
7 years ago
Nice!
dekeoboe
7 years ago
Brings back memories as we also did pre-cast concrete walls. They used two cranes. I hope the weather holds out for you. We had lighting around us when they were pulling them up. It is amazing to see the guys walk on top of the panels connecting them together.
tamizami
7 years ago
so exciting, love your aesthetic vision!
sheloveslayouts
7 years ago
Amazing! I peeked at your website and at first glance your home reminded me of the house in BBCs Grand Designs episode one last season. Here's a link:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LPXMyGxSomE
cpartist
7 years ago
Ok I must be dense. Where is your blog?
sheloveslayouts
7 years ago
Here ya go cp: http://shophousenc.com/blog/
just_janni
Original Author
7 years ago
Holy crap I am tired. Took vacation this past week and worked pretty much nonstop in the crazy heat side by side with the workers setting panels. I am working on trying to operate the crane.. So far no dice

but I am thrilled with how precise everything is. Might be worth it after all. LOL

It might not look like much... but it's been a LONG time coming...

cpartist

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bpath

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It might not look like much... but it's been a LONG time coming...

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