Beginnings of my basement bar

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hopdog

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2008
Messages
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Location
Belgrade Lakes Region, Maine
The very beginnings.


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I like the open air feeling you must have with that. Kinda tough to move the bar stools around in that place, isn't it?
 
Forgive my ignorance- WTF is that ARXX material you are using?

Those are insulated concrete forms. I'll try to get some pictures up of the walls being pumped with concrete.

Where are the walls to the cold room getting poured? :)

If you look at the top picture there is a door all the way to the left. That is a room made completely out of styrofoam and cement (except for the ceiling). Also I omitted the radiant heat tubing in that room.
 
wow you guys don't have nearly as much snow as we do here in N.B. Looks great the R-value on he house must be great.

How old's your Aussie?
I have 2 boys almost 2yrs old
 
Nice build. Working in the snow sucks, so much props to your contractor and his crew.
 
wow you guys don't have nearly as much snow as we do here in N.B. Looks great the R-value on he house must be great.

How old's your Aussie?
I have 2 boys almost 2yrs old

We have a bit more snow now. The last pics were taken before Christmas. The R value is pretty darn good but the key factor is the building envelope is almost completely sealed to air infiltration and there is no heat loss to thermal bridging.

My Aussie is about 6 now I guess, she is a great dog. I'd like to have another.

How long has it taken from breaking ground to this point?

We broke ground around mid-August. There is two of us, myself and my friend working on it. Also "my poor ol' grey-haired daddy" helps out from time to time. My friend has had pneumonia for the past 3 weeks and was in pretty rough shape. He is now on the mend so we are just getting going again. No to mention it has been FRICKIN' COLD.
 
Man, I can only imagine how much of PITA it was to set those trusses. Your roof looks similar to the house that my ex-FIL and I built, with a 10/12 pitch. Major PITA.. worth it, but still a pain.
 
You are gonna like those walls when they are done. Are you using them for the upper walls as well, or just the basement?

We were the first in southeastern Michigan to use Polyforms when we built our two story walk out in 1992. The walls are R-30 and the house is cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Our heating/cooling bills are super low too.

Is the bar going to be poured concrete as well? ;)

Tom
 
Man, I can only imagine how much of PITA it was to set those trusses. Your roof looks similar to the house that my ex-FIL and I built, with a 10/12 pitch. Major PITA.. worth it, but still a pain.

I didn't use roof trusses. There is a big "shed-dormer" on the back so we set a big ridgebeam and put in rafters. It IS a PITA. I have a 12/12 pitch on the roof and I plan on putting standing seam metal on it. I don't want to ever have to get up there again.

You are gonna like those walls when they are done. Are you using them for the upper walls as well, or just the basement?

We were the first in southeastern Michigan to use Polyforms when we built our two story walk out in 1992. The walls are R-30 and the house is cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Our heating/cooling bills are super low too.

Is the bar going to be poured concrete as well? ;)

Tom

The whole house is concrete and foam, all of the living space anyway. I don't know if you saw my latest posts. For some reason they don't pop up. You have to click on them.

I did a lot of research on "alternative" building methods and this, in my opinion was the best for strength, durability and efficiency.

The basement is a walkout and that is where the bar will be.
 
On behalf of my employer, Holcim (US) cement, thank you for using concrete as a building material.

You should also save a bundle on your homeowners insurance too!
(Fireproof, windproof, hurricane proof, small tactical nuke proof....:D)
 
On behalf of my employer, Holcim (US) cement, thank you for using concrete as a building material.

You should also save a bundle on your homeowners insurance too!
(Fireproof, windproof, hurricane proof, small tactical nuke proof....:D)

You'd think so but my insurance quoted me a price of $50 la year less for a concrete house... weasels. I should check a few more agencies.
 
It's those pesky interior walls that keep it from being fire proof. I doubt the roof would stay on in a tornado either, but at least the walls would still be standing.

Tom
 
It's those pesky interior walls that keep it from being fire proof. I doubt the roof would stay on in a tornado either, but at least the walls would still be standing.

Tom

Fortunately we don't get many tornados up here. I do have hurricane ties on the rafters which are anchored to plates which are bolted to the walls...not that we get many hurricanes either... but if we do...

I read that there was a ICF house in Canada, I believe, that caught fire. The people were able to get out and close up the house and the fire suffocated itself because the house was that tight. They had to rebuild some of the interior but I have to believe that that was much less expensive for the insurance company than a total loss which they believe it would have been in a conventionally built home.
 
Any new pics coming up? :)
By the way thats the first time I see that kind of wall material, I live in Iceland and all .. well 95% of our houses are concrete & steel, wall including 10 cm insulation is about 12 inches.
our houses are built to withstand earthquakes and have good insulation
 
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