The CO

Today, after plenty of inspections, we received the Certificate of Occupancy. 

This means that, for the most part, construction is complete.  What's next?  Final touches and furnishing, such as cabinet panels on appliances and paint touch-ups.

Stay tuned for photos of the spiral staircase and more in this ultramodern beachfront home!

Heather

P.S. Go to The Blergh

The House Takes Shape

The house looks like a house.  Where once loomed dull, hulking blocks of cement, tall white walls stand proud and clean.  The Leisure-blue roof folds into the building in fitted layers.

So what happened?  What caused such a big change?

It's all in the stucco.  The stucco, which every day is closer to being complete.  This week, the workers began what my dad calls a synthetic stucco.  The synthetic stucco contains the acrylic colors we picked out.

Stick around for frequent updates on the construction of the ultramodern home with a backyard where Juan Ponce de Leon probably landed!

[and check out The Blergh.]

Blue and Gossamer

The first thing I said when I stepped around the house into the backyard was, "Wow."

Then I said a few choice words of which I will not post here.  Then, "Dad, come look at all the dragonflies!"

The air was thick with them.  A hundred, nay, a thousand dragonflies filled up the sky, humming and flitting back and forth on flat wings like airplanes in the early 20th century.  It was like nothing we had seen before.

Zoom in anywhere to see what I'm talking about.

We picked out the colors for the exterior and they've been painted in some places.  The choice for the accent color was between three shades of blue.  The three of us- my mom, my dad, and I- unanimously decided on "Leisure Blue".

Here are some other shades of blue I like:

Stay tuned for frequent updates on the construction of the ultramodern beachside abode watched over by a loyal legion of dragon(fly)s!

Heather

Playing On a Construction Site at Night

Most parents would strongly discourage their children from playing on a construction site at night.  My parents take me to the construction site.

To be fair, we don't actually hang out inside the in-progress-house.  We head to the beach out the backyard.

On Tuesday night, we got there around ten pm and saw the moon rise.  Then, trying to be very, very quiet, we watched dark shapes of mother turtles slide up the shore to the dune, where they flung sand behind them to make their nests.

Before that, we had gone out to dinner at a nearby restaurant.  See the bottom of this post for more on that.*

And before that, while it was still light out, we gave a guest a tour of the house.  During the tour, I noticed stickers like these on the windows:

"What do those numbers mean?" I asked my dad, and he explained.

The windows are designed to withstand hurricanes.  The number 65 on the left means that the window can withstand pounds per square foot of wind blowing inward.  There is suction pressure on the backside of a house, so the 70 on the right means the window can withstand 70 pounds per square foot of wind pressure going outward. 

I was confused, so my dad illustrated this concept by pushing me towards my right-the direction the hurricane wind is blowing in- then running to my other side to pull me in the same direction he pushed me-the suction pressure trying to suck the window out.  I think I may have made it more confusing than it is just by writing it down.

The windows are also rated for impact.  They have several layers of glass and air space between some of the layers, so if they are hit with flying debris, they don't shatter.  This may come in handy when Dad teaches me how to fly the drone.


*We went to a nearby restaurant called Ocean 302.  It's awesome.  This is the part where I advertise my blog:  If you like food stuff, check out The Blergh.

Also check out The Blergh's Instagram. @theblerghblog

Stay tuned for frequent updates on the construction of the ultramodern home so groovy that sea turtles swim by just to see it.

Windows

Windows are in.  The roof underlayment is on the sloped roof.  Here is a photo facing west.

Roof Deck

Another beautiful day!  The building is continually progressing.

Roof trusses and roof deck

The roof deck and roof trusses are on.  There will be some bodacious parties on that deck!  There will be a couple of rooms carved out of the roof trusses.  Possibly a man cave?

Photo was shot with a DJI Phantom 3 standard drone that Santa brought.

2nd Floor Walls

 The walls are 6" thick, cast-in-place concrete.  There are over 200 tons of concrete in the walls!
~110 cubic yards

The 2nd floor walls are up and the view is amazing!

This is a view from the living room.  The glass opening is 24 feet wide!  The concrete forms will come off soon.

Flying Floor Trusses

Now there is a second floor.  The upper concrete walls go up next week.

Concrete Walls

The first floor concrete walls have been poured.  Check out the view from the first floor.  I can't wait to see the second floor view!

Wall Forms

The wall forms are going up!

Walls Started

As soon as the concrete was poured, they started placing the steel for the concrete walls.

Foundation complete

The foundation finally got poured.  They used a 32 meter boom pump to place the concrete.  The foundation has 73 yards of concrete.

And a Hurricane

There have been some minor delays.  The plumber was busy and it took a while before we could get the rough plumbing completed.  Then hurricane Matthew blasted through.  We stopped work and secured everything.  There was no damage to the property, though there was a lot of beach erosion.  Finally, the concrete guys could finish the foundation.

More Foundation Work

The foundation is starting to look like something.

Foundation

The guys started forming the foundation grade beams and slab.

Pilings

The pilings were drilled today.  There are 28 continuous flight auger piles.  The piles are 16 inches in diameter and 30 to 35 feet deep.  It is amazing to see how they install these!  They drill a hole to the pile depth with a hollow auger, then pump concrete under pressure through the drill.  As the auger is removed concrete is pumped to the top of the hole.  Then a steel reinforcing cage is lowered into the wet concrete.

Gold Dust

We brought in 14 loads of fill today.  The dirt has to be approved as compatible with the existing beach dune sand.  Therefore, the stuff is trucked in from Vero Beach and costs like it is flecked with gold!

Ready to Build!

We have all of the permits necessary to start construction!  There is a permit from the Florida DEP for the new building, one from the County, demolition permit, well abandonment permit, permit for the new well, septic abandonment permit and another one for the new septic system.  Seven permits for one house.  We'll need two more for the pool (State & County).

Well Abandonment

The current well was too close for comfort to the new septic location.  Before we could get a permit allowing the new septic system, we had to abandon the well.  To achieve this, the well was pumped full of concrete.

After the demolition of the current buildings, we will begin construction of the new well.