Friday, February 9, 2007

The Beginnings!




So I thought I would start our first blog off with the fantastic pictures that Andrew created for our viewing pleasure. First is the aerial view of our land so that those who have been to Fairbanks can get an idea of where it's located. Second is a picture looking down off the road into the land. Lastly is the 3D Photoshop version of our house, created by my very handsome and skilled boyfriend. These are just a taste of what's to come in the following months!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

yeah! a blue roof! can't wait to visit :)

Anonymous said...

Awesome! More stats please. Acres, South facing?

Anonymous said...

Although we are sad about your decision not to move to Madison, we hope someday we can come up and check out the new pad and have the convenient Great Pizza. Congrats again.

Stump said...

Gail and I love the drawings. I would move the sink so it's not on an outside wall, just thinking that the water supply would be safer from freezing, but it is nice to look out the window while at the sink, and the latter is how our house is. South exposure of the window wall is good. Plants? (How do you put a picutre on a blog like palmergirl?)

Andrew said...

Jess - the lot slopes to the east but gets south exposure. The big window wall will face mostly east but somewhat south, and there are a couple big windows to the South as well. Gail and Larry - good advice on the sink, although I figure If we really want it there, we can do it like many houses around here where the plumbing is actually in the cabinetry so not in an exterior wall. The main "wet wall" is an interior wall.

Andrew said...

Stump: Palmergirl has a photo because she has her own blog account through blogger. It's her profile picture.

Anonymous said...

Hey you guys, this is fantastic. I am so excited for you and even more excited because I am coming to finish some pre med stuff in the fall! Can we hang out, can we please???? Love you, Heather Gaines

Anonymous said...

Amazing to see such planning! My home was a series of spontaneous construction using a bunch of hoolligan valley boys. Expense got out of hand and it all took much longer than I had semi-never planned.
Not one drawing was ever made and I had no idea of what I was doing. I applaud the amount of thought that you and Marcy are putting into the project. When you are finished you will feel as if you deserve a PH.D and you will. Mary

Deb and Dan said...

Looks good, I have a gas powered welder if you should choose to use metal for your supports. How about adjustable leveling at each point of foundation contact in case of frost heave?

Andrew said...

Frost heave would mean we designed something wrong, but it's a great idea to use some sort of adjustable connection just in case. If I can get some steel connectors made in your area, I can get them thrown in with someone else's powder coating job for next to nothing, so we don't need stainless steel.

As I understand it, a bank won't loan you money traditionally if your foundation is susceptible to frost.

There are (at least) three ways to protect against frost heave: 1: Bury footing below frost line, 2: build on (or create) non-frost susceptible soils, 3: raise the frost line with insulation.

We'll likely be doing (2) by carefully planning drainage and setting the footings on a bed of well drained gravel. No water=no frost. The gravel is expensive ($30 a yard delivered), but overall the cost is much less than a traditional basement or frost wall foundation. Putting the footings deep for a post foundation means more excavation and adds complexity in cross bracing the posts.

Our garage, however, will likely use a combination of method 2 and 3 in the form of a frost protected shallow foundation, like the Scandinavians have used for decades. It's a monolithic slab like they use in the south, but the perimeter sits on ~2' of gravel, and there is a horizontal skirt of rigid foam insulation that sticks out 2'. The added cost of gravel and insulation is less than the 4-5' frost wall it replaces.