On Thursday, one of the coldest days of the winter so far, Henry’s Concrete poured the slab for the new basement floor. Carpenters closed up all the openings and preheated the space so that the concrete would cure at the correct temperature, which is closer to 50 F than the 13 F (-10 C) it was outside that morning.
To prepare for the big day, our very skilled excavator operator, Joe, and his colleague, Clint, from Drew Corp. leveled the 3/4 inch stone and taped sheets of XPS foam board insulation together on top.
XPS stands for extruded polystyrene, and has the highest R-value (R-5 per square inch) of all below grade insulating materials, best for trapping heat but sadly, the least environmentally friendly. XPS is made from fossil fuels and not easily recyclable because of its closed cell structure. The chart below lists the impact of different types of insulation materials. We plan to use wood fiber batts for interior walls and wood fiber fill for insulating the the attic and exterior walls.
Note: GHG stands for Greenhouse Gas
Outside, Joe used his mini excavator to dig a ditch along the driveway for utility workers to lay 400 watt electrical cable from the pole near the road to the new house site. The next day, Central Maine Power (CMP) installed a new taller and stronger pole, drilling through ice and snow and frozen ground like it was butter.
https://vimeo.com/904814743?share=copy
Next week, the carpenters will begin “sistering” some of the old beams that support the first floor of the old portion of the house. In the picture below you can see one beam that was cut to make space for cellar stairs, possibly when the Red House extension was added in the 1840s.
Parting shots from the work site …
2 responses to “Post 30: From the Ground Up”
Wow, moving right along!
Henry’s (in fact, Henry himself) did our basement slab, too. It was also winter…we weren’t completely closed in yet so they put these giant blankets over the concrete. Cured up just fine. Building in a Maine winter takes resourcefulness as you both have demonstrated over and over in this project!