The House Is Set

The house was set yesterday.   They got started early while I was doing other things and got one section in before I got there.   Here's what it looked like when I got there.  the roof is shipped flat and then raised up by the crane after the section is set on the foundation.

 

I wondered how the roof wasn't wider then the house when it is laying down.  Here's why.  The last 4' or so is raised up and over to form the peak. 

 

Here's the other half  its way up the hill.  I didn't appreciate the size of these until I saw one moving.  The trailers are 70' long.   slight technical difficulties here, the back end of the trailer grounded out.

  

Here's how you get a house unstuck.  The dozer had to help all the way up the hill. 

A very tight squeeze but they made it. This section was harder than the other, since the eaves weren't sticking out on this side.

It made it to the top of the hill.  They are getting ready for the crane.  They are doing all the unwrapping.

Here's the crane.  The operator said it will lift 90 tons, but you've gotta have that weight really close to the base.

 Here's why it can lift a house and not fall over.  That's 30 tons of weight sitting there behind the cab.

Here's how they lift it.  There are 4 cables, run under the house through holes drilled in the band joists.

Here's the rigging the cables get attached to. 

 

Ready to lift.

A quick time lapse video of the lift and set.  I should have decreased the interval to 2 or 3 seconds.

 I had to leave after the section was set.  When  I got back, they were setting the gable ends.  They are built at the factory and trucked in.  The smaller sections that go on each side of the window are craned into the opening in the roof before it is closed up.  Then they are set by hand.

Another quick video of one of the dormers going in.

The dried-in house.  A pan shot I took today.   There's still a lot to do, the upstairs needs to be built out, HVAC installed, well, septic, etc.  As you can see the porch is missing as well.

Deliverance

Hmmm, that's probably not the best title.  How about Delivery, or Delivered?  Anyway, the house was delivered today.  It was supposed to be set as well but there was some more grading that needed to be done on driveway up the hill.  By the time they got the equipment in to do it it was too late to start setting the house.

Here are the two main sections.  The roof is hinged.  The sections will be picked up off the trailers and craned onto the foundation, then the roof is raised. 

Here's a shot from further away.  The truck with the dormers, the gable ends and some other assorted pieces had just shown up.

The crane is ready to go.  The house will be set in the morning.  I'm amazed they got that flat bed in there, the space is really tight for a 50' trailer.

Still Waiting

The house was supposed to arrive from the factory and be set last week.  Last week the builder told us it had slipped a week due to delays at the factory.  As of this morning it was confirmed for today and they would set it tomorrow. An hour ago I got a text from the builder that it would be delivered tomorrow.  Needless to say we are disappointed.  This new delay is not supposed to affect them setting it tomorrow, but we shall see.

The House Factory Tour

We toured the factory today and got to see our house.  It was pretty far along in the process - the walls inside had all been rocked, insulation was in, plumbing was in.  They haven't gotten sheathing on the outside yet.  I am told they do that at the same time they are doing all the taping.  They do as much as they can in parallel.  So they have a crew building the floors complete with all electrical and plumbing at the same time other crews are building walls.  All the interior walls go on starting from the center of the house out, they also install water heaters, bathtubs, etc.  After each house section is built and dried in (including siding) they tow it to another building to do all the finish interior work - trim, painting etc. 



The biggest dust collector I've ever seen.

Because precision matters.  cut to 1/8".   I've seen rough framing where 1/4" is good enough.

Here's a floor being built - most of these  pictures are not my house.  It's sitting on a jig.  The decking is glued and nailed after all wiring, plumbing, etc is pulled.  This factory builds the house off-frame.  The jig is perfectly flat, and the dollies can be adjusted for any imperfections in the floor.   You can't do this with a frame. 

Dead center, and a doubled band joist.  Over 30' of house every joist was dead on.

Here's how they lift the floor to set it on dollies:

And here are the dollies.  The house will roll on these until it is lifted onto the frame.

Interior walls being built.

Here's one half of my roof.  At the same time they are doing interior walls, insulating and doing sheathing they are building a roof. The roof is lifted and the house is moved under it. The house section it goes to is off to the left.  Notice the drywall on it already.

Moving a house, this is half of my house.  It's all manpower (lots of it).

Here's a closeup of the roof hinge system.  The house is shipped with the roof down.  After the house section is set on the foundation, the roof is craned up into place.  They will sheath and mostly shingle the roof at the factory.

 

Here's a jack they use to lift the house off the dollies to get the frame under it.  Once it's on the frame they put sheathing and siding on the outside, shingle the roof and then it goes to final finishing. 

 

The Foundation Is Complete

 The foundation is finished.  The color coat is on, mud plate is on.   I am told that the house will be delivered on the 14th.  This week they are supposed to back fill everything and pour the garage floor.   The last picture is a close-up of the color coat on the foundation.