Here we see insulation being place in the forms, Ecofoil radiant barrier installation, vapor barrier insulation, rebar, radiant heating tubing and concrete pour. Subseqently, the forms were stripped off and flashing installed. Materials used by us:

• Radiant Barrier Insulation 
• PEX-B Radiant Tubing 

Click on the photo to start the video

As you can see, we have the radiant tubing installed below the rebar. We needed to keep it under the rebar and not passing through walls, since the GC is concerned the fasteners he is using for interior wall base plates could penetrate the tubing. If you enlarge this photo, you can see the 2' x 2' rebar grid, and the green paint outline of walls and rooms we chose not to heat. (Closets and Pantry). We used approximately 2100 ft of tubing, and over 1600 8" zip ties. We photo documented the installation for future reference purposes.

We've spent the last week installing radiant or hydronic heat pipe on the slab. We're using 1/2" Oxygen Barrier PEX for the tubing. I used LoopCad to do the intial layout using a 30 day trial period license. Our GC didn't want any of the tubing to go under interior walls so I had to modify the routing to suit. We spent the first day just laying out the floor plan on the vapor barrier using green paint. The next day we started the effort of installing the PEX under the rebar -- another requirement of the GC. Uncoiling the PEX was certainly a challenge -- especially in the cold. Commercial PEX unwinders cost around $700 and the local rental centers didn't have any for rent. After searching the internet and YouTube Maddog had a good suggestion. After getting the materials needed to make the unwinder we put it together in about a half and hour. What a game changer! I'll put together a subsequent post and video of how we constructed it. The one we based it on was inexpensive -- this one cost about $25...and it works just fine. We estimate the cost save for us to install the radiant heat is around $40,000.

The interior plans have changed slightly, but here is the walk-through of the original 3D model I created. The model was place on the exact spot in Google Earth so I could virtually review placement and views out the windows. Click on the picture to launch the video. 

One howls on the prairie, the other prowls on the hairy.

Click on this link below to view the video

Barndo on a Bluff Episode 1

Here is the first construction camera post. The time frame is from after surface grubbing through to road base build up on the level pad. The final pad will be six inches above the native soil and will prepare the pad for the foundation pour. Note the horses on the hill behind us at 1:22 into the video. Click on the square to view the video full screen. 

Busy day today. We picked out and bought the granite for the kitchen, utility and master bath. The granite is finished in a leather texture which really complements the stone pattern.  The backsplash we like is the top polished marble tile. We also covered up the sheet metal per manufacture's recommendation and installed some motion sense lighting (post) and always on lighting (two in back) to add a bit of security while the steel waits for construction. The visqueen covers also keep nosy people from the most suseptable theft. 

We got to the site today and were surprised to see a few new things. First, a vibratory sheepsfoot roller was being offloaded. That will be used for compacting the downslope fill. It looked brand new and also had a blade on the front. Maybe I can drive it. The other thing that was a pleasant surprise was the first use of the well pump. I had wired it up so our GC (more on him and his company later) could use the water to fill the tank they use to spray down the cut material to aid in compaction and settlement. 

It was nice to see so much excavation progress being made. Our crew said that they would be cutting around 8 feet below the topsoil upslope and moving that downslope. They took a reading at the exact center of the house location and used a laser rotary level to run all the excavation measurements relative to that center reading. This allows for a level pad to be built relative to the house center. In the video you can see how they are progressing on the pad. You may also see "Maddog" sneaking up on the crew to be sure she understands what is happening. I think Maddog is going to take the crew some local lunch favorites tomorrow. 

You can click on any photo or video to enlarge them. 

We installed two cameras on the bluff last weekend. The first is a purpose built time-lapse camera that cannot be monitored remotely. It's desgined to be waterproof and take a snapshot at a user defined interval (I chose one minute) and to build a movie automatically out of the images. A set of four lithium AA batteries and a 32 GB SD card gives at least four months of time lapse. The camera is set to stop at night and start again the next day. The camera I chose was the Brinno BCC100 Construction Camera https://www.brinno.com/construction-camera/BCC100. 

The second camera I added was a solar powered PT camera model Go PT made by Reolink. It features a 32 GB SD Card for time lapse and event recording, movement detection as well as an LTE SIM slot. As you will see in a subsequent post, the images are pretty good. I'm real happy with this unit and chose this over the more expensive brother the Go PT Plus to save some money. 

As you can see, the cameras are mounted on a 4x4 post strapped onto the well casing with superstrut. While not totally theft proof, it should deter dirtbags enough to slow them down while I'm being alerted to the motion. 

It looks like the grubbing has been completed on the entire area that the excavation and slab will be laid. The plants and roots in this area have been removed to create organic material free soil for the next step of construction - excavation. Excavation will be done by the cut and fill method. The pad area is at the center of the excavation, and a large uphill from the pad will be cut by a tractor, and filled below the pad to create a level surface for the pad itself.