07-30-2010: ICF block, day 7

The ICF guys put up a lot of block today.  They got most of the remaining blocks up on all walls except above some windows and the top row (which has to be cut).  There is apparently quite a bit more prep work to be done, and they probably won't pour until next Friday.

07-29-2010: ICF block, day 6

We only had 2 guys working today, but they finished the master bedroom and east/southeast walls (master bedroom/bathroom/closet/guest bathroom).  Hopefully the whole crew will be back tomorrow and can get the front part of the house going.  We mainly just lack the front, west, and south garage walls.  They should be able to tell us tomorrow when the walls will be poured.  There is still quite a bit more bracing to be done and more prep work to be completed before the pour. 

We went to the brick company and looked at brick and stone samples this afternoon.  We've been spending at least every Saturday afternoon for the last 12 months looking at various parts of houses and have been focusing on brick and rock since late winter.  There is a house that went up several months ago in Orchard Park that I have liked the very best since I first saw it.  We've never written the address down but keep coming back to it.  We found a couple of bricks at the store that we wanted to see on finished houses (they have addresses for each brick/stone style that they've sold), and it turned out that one of the bricks (Canyon Spring) is on the house that I like so much!  There are 2 other houses in the Lubbock area with that brick, and we're going to go see how they look too.  We've got to decide ASAP because it takes 4 to 5 weeks for the brick to arrive.  We haven't decided on stone colors yet.

07-28-2010: ICF block, day 5

We actually have walls on the north and part of the east portions of the house!  They finally put up a lot of blocks today and really changed the looks of things around here.  They'll only have one guy out tomorrow until after lunch, so the progress tomorrow won't be so impressive.  The head guy onsite says he won't be able to tell us when they'll be able to pour the walls until Friday.  I'm still hoping for Wednesday, or maybe earlier.

07-27-2010: ICF block, day 4

They didn't get as much done today as we had hoped, but all of the window wells and door frames are in now.  They have also added a horizontal row of rebar at the top of the 3rd level of blocks.  Maybe tomorrow they'll get lots of blocks up!

They'll pour the concrete from the top of the blocks with a pump truck.  In case anybody was wondering how they get concrete under the windows, check out the last picture below.  They have a slot in the bottom parts of all the window wells for the concrete to go through.

07-26-2010: ICF block, day 3

The ICF guys worked from 7am to 4pm today.  They didn't put up an amazing number of blocks today but got more prep work done.  They cut out windows throughout the house, built the window boxes, extended all of the rebar (with zip ties), and put up 1 to 2 rows of blocks.  It's now at least 3 blocks (about 5 feet) high everywhere except around some windows and is 4 blocks high in some areas.  It looks ready for lots of progress tomorrow.  The subcontractor estimated on Saturday that they will be ready to pour the walls on about next Wednesday (August 4th).

07-23-2010: ICF block, day 2

The first picture was taken by Rick earlier this afternoon.  The ICF guys put up a lot of braces and have 2 rows of blocks around the entire house and 3 rows in some areas.  They'll be back on Monday.  Rick worked today on getting exact window and door dimensions ready for next week.

07-22-2010: ICF block, day 1

We didn't think they were going to really get started on this until Monday.  Our ICF guy was here this morning with the first load of blocks.  He gave Rick a list of lumber he needed and said he was going to mark some stuff.  Rick ran errands in town this morning and came back at lunch to find walls going up and took the first picture above. 

The lumber will be delivered tomorrow morning (mainly lots of bracing materials), and I hope they'll keep stacking blocks tomorrow.  It's pretty exciting to actually see some walls going up now.  The blocks are foamed in place (it's more sturdy than you would think), and they'll start bracing the joints and corners.