Hello again, and welcome back to the Core House Blog! We have been working hard since our last update. Soon after our latest blog, we broke ground on our project both on and off-site. The balance of on-site and off-site work has been interesting, but they often work hand in hand, informing each other throughout the process. Let’s get into it!

A Tale of Two Sites

First and foremost, we needed to build the floor system that the CLT (Cross-Laminated Timber) would be built on. We altered this design from our experience in the mock-up to create a much stronger connection. Next, of course, are the CLT panels themselves.

Cutting, moving, and installing these panels require a lot of planning. We carefully measured out and triple-checked every dimension, but that doesn’t reduce the stress of making the final cut. After we had the panels, we had to cut out the doorways. All the doorways are routed along the edge to match the routed edges of a CLT door. That way, when the doors are closed, the core will appear as a uniform mass of CLT rather than there being a disruption.

It takes a village to move the panels by hand, but with the help of hydraulic forklifts, you only need two people. However, we did have to get creative and build a jig because the forklifts are not designed to move panels. But they are perfect for moving our cores. We can move the fully assembled box using only them and two people, that’s over 7000 pounds!

To tilt up the panels we used old reliable, manual labor. We often needed help, and our peers were incredibly generous with their time and effort to help us. The panels would not have even gotten them off the ground without their help. We also had our friend Shane and his crane help us install the bathroom roof.

Look at that skylight!

With the loss of the Fabrication Pavilion roof temporarily, we were able to test whether our recently constructed cores were mobile as well. After disassembling the walls connecting the kitchen and bathroom, we wrapped up the cores and used the hydraulic forklifts to move them to the end of the pavilion, the core’s final placement before being shipped to site.

It Was The Best of Weather, It Was The Worst of Weather

Enough about the cores. Onsite, despite the winter weather trying to slow us down at every turn, progress has been steady.  The earthwork on our site was fully completed thanks to our amazing landscaper Tyler. With the dirt provided it is up to us to make something of it. So, we set up our batter boards and began digging.

And digging…

And digging…

But! Digging with purpose. First, we dug out our utility lines for water, power, and waste. Then, we dug out the trenches for the first slab we will pour. We then took about a week to glue our waste line so that it didn’t leak. Trust us, it’s harder than it seems. It only took us four tries, so we are practically professionals. With the waste line properly sloped and buried and all the stubouts in their perfect locations, we were able to put in the formwork for the slab.

As of today, we have dug the trenches for our first pour and second pour. We are nearly prepared to start pouring the concrete, all we need to do is lay a vapor barrier and rebar. Next Tuesday, we will likely make our first pour. Then the following Tuesday will be the main slab, so stay tuned!

For all your plumbing needs please call the Core House ™, there isn’t a single leak we can’t fix after four tries!