A Brief Delay

Now that the foundation is finished we can move on to framing. However, the framing has been pushed back until around the 14th of July. We had originally planned to use some local carpenters for the framing of the house, but they were unavailable so we lined up carpenters from a nearby town. Due to another project being delayed, the local carpenters are now available for our house but not for another week or so. It is worth the wait though since the local carpenters have more experience building in this area and they are cheaper. 

We have used this downtime to make final decisions on the roof color, the interior flooring, doors, and interior wall designs.  I have had to leave most of the decisions to my wife, since I have absolutely no interior design skills. She will be leaving most of the hands on work to me, even though I have absolutely no carpentry skills. There may be a slight flaw in this arrangement.

Foundation Finished

I have been a little lazy with posts lately, but I will try to update more regularly from now on. The final pour for the foundation is finished and we even had enough concrete left over to concrete the base of our power pole. Since the professionals were handling the foundation, it was done perfectly the first time around. The electric pole is my domain (or nemesis at the moment) so it took me nearly as long to do my part as it did for them to pour the entire foundation. 

I dug a hole with the intention of building a wood frame for the concrete. Since the plywood was too large, I fired up the circular saw for the first time on this build and managed to cut the wood and not my fingers. Impressed with myself, I strolled over to the hole and started to screw the boards together. For this I used my handy electric screwdriver/drill, a wedding present that makes an appearance once every 4 - 6 months and has a fancy laser-like light that points right at the screw head allowing you to use it in total darkness. Designed for nocturnal carpenters, I should have known better than to use it in broad daylight. 

I managed to slip the screw driver off of the screw head and shove it right next to my thumbnail. It made it in about a centimeter before I had the presence of mind to release the trigger. But the blood seemed to grease the screw a bit and it went right in after that. Job done.

Plumbing Work

The plumbers came around today and put the vertical pipes in for our hot water heater and bathroom. The floors of these rooms will have a concrete base so only these pipes had to be installed. The other pipes will go in once the framing is complete. 

Since we are doing the electric ourselves, it is inevitable that there will be a few small hurdles to overcome. The most recent problem was the length of the plastic pipe we buried from the power pole and fed under the foundation. It seems the pipe that we are going to feed the telephone line through was so short that it would end up below the concrete floor level, thus rendering it useless. After assesing the feasibility of building an intricate network of string and tin cans to replace the phone, I realized that I had some extra plastic piping. So with a little tape and a 30cm length of pipe, I ensured that we will be disturbed at least once a month during dinner by someone trying to sell us the latest green tea fad diet. This pipe will also be our conduit to Internet shopping, but at a much slower rate than I had hoped. 

Our little village has been subjected to a broadband Internet monopoly that easily rivals anything in China. The provider charges insane setup fees and yet they do not have the resources to provide broadband to everyone in our huge metropolis of 2,000 people. For the last two years, the entire village has been lobbying the national phone company, NTT, to come in and oust the oppressors. They have finally arrived and there are now multiple providers going door to door soliciting business. Free setup, free service for 2 months, the list goes on. But not all the way to our house. The area that can be serviced before this winter literally stops about 200 meters from our house. So it could be another year or two before we can illegally download music and movies at high speed. 

More Foundation Work

The work on the foundation continues and we are nearly ready for the second pour. The exterior frame for the foundation was finished on Tuesday and the interior frame finished today. The frame is basically Styrofoam held together with metal. While Styrofoam is not known for its tensile strength, it is very common to use it in Japan when framing a foundation. I think this is another occasion where a failure to hire a Shinto priest may result in disaster.

The Styrofoam will become a permanent part of the foundation so we will cover it in mortar and attach either stone or brick. 

Our self installed electric pole remained standing and the base is now a meter deep in concrete. We fed the cables under the foundation and they are now safe and secure on the interior of the house. Hopefully everything is set up correctly or we will be spending a lot of time chipping away at concrete. 

Foundation Continues

The rebar support for the foundation is now finished and the electric pole is still standing (thank you Shinto priest).  The forecast calls for rain tomorrow afternoon, but if it holds off the first pour for the foundation should go as scheduled. My wife is in Tokyo this weekend having a final look at wood flooring, wood paneling, and doors, so we are nearing the finish line as far as planning goes. Once she returns it will be a simple matter of calculating costs to see if we can afford the solid gold faucets and marble floors. If not, we may have to opt for something a little more affordable. Or sell a kidney.

Electric Poles and Toilets

The hole in the ground continues to expand and the framing for the foundation is nearly done. Today we attempted to install the permanent power pole and it went in without a hitch. Assuming the Shinto priest did his job properly, we will not encounter any high winds or earthquakes over the weekend and the concrete will go in on Monday. Normally, high winds would not be a problem, but the stabilization method we employed for the power pole is not exactly orthodox. As you can see from the photos, we used bits of the recently felled trees to support the pole until the concrete is poured on Monday. On the upside we provided endless amusement for the foundation guys, but on the downside I think they may now realize that I don't actually have any idea what I am doing. But really, how hard can it be to build the entire interior of a house? (Cue dramatic music foreshadowing imminent disaster).

On a side note, we now have a toilet. While peeing in the bushes up until now has been fun, I think the neighbors will appreciate our pale, blue outhouse.

Great Big Hole (Relatively Speaking)

There is great big hole in the land. Alas, no gold as of yet but they still have a bit more digging to do. Also, it seems a few more trees are going to meet Mr. Chainsaw to make room for our septic tank. I would prefer to keep as many as possible on the north side of the house, but a functional toilet and drainage system are nice as well. 

If the sun makes an appearance tomorrow, the foundation frame will be completed and the concrete will be poured on Monday. On the DIY side of things, we need to build a box for the base of the permanent power pole and dig the hole for it. Then on Monday we will put the pole up and fill in the hole with concrete. Sounds simple. I may even be able to get this done on the first try, but I'm not taking bets.