Chapter 5: Runner on First

Within days a trencher was out cutting soil for the service runs. Electricity, water, phone and internet lines were laid. The services terminated where the plans required them to. Next the whole road-bed was dug up and re-lined with crushed limestone. It was compacted and lined again. Four passes gave that road a foundation equal to that of an interstate highway. Then the asphalt top cover was laid on in two passes with tarred road felt in between the layers. The resulting road was substantially higher than what had previously been laid. The road camber had been adjusted while rolling it down to promote drainage. The verges were filled in with compressed gravel.

I found myself established in a small furnished house for the duration. I was on a month-to-month lease. It was nothing special. It was simply a place to lay my head. I bought a used Subaru Outback with four wheel drive and got it insured. I was mobile again.

The end loader and dump trucks came to demolish and remove the remains of the old buildings. Under the watchful eye of the architect, a surveying team staked out the slabs. The end loader got busy digging out the footings for the house and the brick barn, as well as digging the hole for the septic tank. Forms went up and beds of gravel went down. The welders framed two nests of woven rebar where the slabs were to be poured. Next the cement trucks came. The float-men slicked the concrete surfaces while the foreman insured that the slabs were properly graded. They took time to cure. The septic tank was dropped in place and covered over with a pre-cast concrete cap. The inspectors had been watching and signed off on the foundation. That ended the first two weeks.

The crane came. Load after load of concrete slab showed up. Teams of men glued up the edges of the slabs and constructed a temporary scaffolding to hold the slabs in place until the adhesive cured. The adhesive used was stronger than the concrete. The outer slabs had a surface treatment that looked as if giant brush strokes had been made along the length of the surfaces. A facade would not be necessary. The brick barn was well underway.

Once the walls were up the welders came to install the stainless steel mid-line support. The wet saw teams came next to cut out windows and doorways. The rest of the slabs arrived to complete the inner walls, garage roof and main roof. The wet saw men came back to do some final work on the garage entry-ways. Then everything got sprayed with industrial sealer that sank into the surface of the concrete. It acted in a fashion similar to that of drywall primer. It was applied twice, exceeding code requirements. No more penetrations were to be done. Everything else was going to be done using construction adhesive. The crane left.

The plumbers plumbed, the HVAC men ran ducts and control lines. Once all the foam insulation and wall studs were glued up the electricians ran their circuits. Extra data lines were run to support internet connections and speaker installations. Stone masons were called in to build the fireplaces. A call was made for the inspectors to come and sign off while they could inspect the interiors of the walls as well as the smoke boxes and flues of the chimneys. That finished off the second two weeks.