Foundation

Over the last few days we have been doing punch list work,finishing up odds and ends, at the new build in Nelsonville. We want to finish up all of the little jobs before we move on to the next step of applying the tongue and groove pine to the ceiling and walls. While this punch work is important, I don't particularly want to write about it. I thought that it would be better to go back to the beginning of the build and catch up.

We hired a local excavator to cut in the driveway, clear the space for the house, and dig the basement. After 10"x24" concrete footers were poured, my masons came in and built the basement walls using 8" concrete block. The walls were then grouted, a process in which concrete and steel reinforcing is inserted into the voids of the block, to add strength and stability.

Fireplace

A cold snap has settled in in Southeastern Ohio, and has presented some challenges in building a Masonary Fireplace here on the Nelsonville new build. We basically had to erect a tent to enclose the entire chimney and scaffold, then heat it with kerosene space heaters.

There will be two fireplaces built side by side, one in the kitchen and the other one outside in the screened porch. They are being constructed with concrete block and will be covered with cultured stone. It's hard to see what we're doing outside because of the tent, but the inside fireplace can be seen here before the stone was applied.