Now that the foundation is done and the forms are off, it really feels like we have hit a turning point. We have a foundation and have a real sense of the space. Up until this point it really has just all felt like preparation for the actual building. We are now putting things back together. Even the forming was being built only to be stripped off once the pour was done.
The architectural forming for the patios was a good call and it looks pretty nice. I had hoped for fewer air pockets which i suspect were a result of the crew rushing at the end. If i have time at some point in the future i might experiment with mixing up some mortar to fill them. If you recall, we had to terrace the front because for our character retention we can’t have a railing around it. Now that it is done the terrace is actually quite deep so we are thinking that we will build in a bench seat and there will still be room for plants behind it.
Our original basement never had a leak but it was always sort of damp. As we learned when we were doing the excavation we are not far above the water table and that is likely why they didn’t go deeper back when they built the house. It didn’t help that the slab was barely an inch thick either. Basic damp proofing is just a coat of tar on the outside but we are adding a dimpled membrane as well. It is the sort of thing that is hard to add or change later so it is worth the investment. There will also be insulation and a membrane under the foundation so it will be nice and dry.
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