Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Selecting a site 2009 Project of the Year Award!!!

OK. Gravel, lots of it. Backbreaking work. We put in a 10' gravel strip from the existing beach to the cabin foundation. North foundation wall has a 10' strip, and the south wall has a 20' strip. We (luckily I recruited some good buddies) put down plastic first and then dumped gravel on top. Rakes, Water, 5 Gallon buckets, and lots of gravel. Dad was running the tractor and 2-3 of us worked the gravel. Brutal! Wish the lake wouldn't have filled up so fast. We tried to do this a month ago, but time/schedules didn't work out..... Also, floor joists and flooring are in! Exterior walls start tomorrow. -Scott

...and the Wow factor continues
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I asked this on a previous post. Is there the expectation and enginnering that the foundation is water tight?

That is awesome.

A slinger truck would save a bunch of labor moving aggregates.

Making progress. The guys finished three of the walls and then a bad storm blew in over the weekend and knocked two of the walls almost completely over. They had to spend half a day repairing the damage. Guess it could have been worse so we are thankful. My dad and the boys spent the Friday night camping in a tent on the floor of the cabin. Fish are starting to bite as well, which is always nice....

Scott

Scott

Thanks for all the time you spend keeping us up dated. The place really looks great, continue to enjoy the water.
OTTO

That is a truly amazing & awesome project.

Theo's right (what else is new?), that is an awesome project.

Brettski- I missed your question about the expectation that the foundation is water tight. The answer is yes and no. Once the foundation was dug, it was hard packed with clay and then filled with about 6" of gravel on the top. On the upper side of the south wall of the foundation has 3 ventilation holes. If you look at the above picture of my boys fishing off the side of the cabin (with the tent in the background ), you can see one on the left and one behind the fishing net. The north wall has the same holes about 2-3" lower. We sloped the gravel/clay from south to north so it will drain on the north side. So, in the event of a gully washer, yes, the foundation will get water in the inside. The photos above are with our lake at full capacity. So we have approximately 15" until it would hit the drain. The exterior of the foundation was covered with aquatic sealant to prevent any damage to the exterior of the foundation wall. I'll have to check with my Dad on the numbers, but the emergency spillway, is somewhere around the 15-18" above full capacity level I think.

Scott how much water shed feeds your pond and how wide is your emergency spillway?

I've been curious where this was going, an what you were building. Somehow, I never imagined that it would be an actual house!!! It's like a house boat that doesn't float.

Just out of curiosity, did you compare what it would take to make a floating house to what it cost to do it with a concrete foundation?

Thanks for the great pictures and commentary.

Eddie

Rockytopper- emergency spillway is around 100 feet wide. In a typical eastern Kansas year, approximately 100 acre ft/per year runs into the pond. The pond is about 5 acres.

Eddie- we actually never gave the house boat idea any thought. We were wanting a cabin and then the water around the sides evolved while designing the cabin. We originally thought about piers, but decided on the foundation concept.

Go all of the PSL beams in place. Loft and floor is now in place. They will be working on rafters this week.

Scott

How many square feet is the house going to be? Love the pictures. It is a great idea.

Ezylman- It will be 1200+ if you include the loft (main floor =960 and loft = 320). The outside eating area (left hand side of the above picture) will be an additional 600 sq feet.

Scott

Wonderful.

This is turning into one of the best ever.

Be sure and come to the convention and bring all the pictures.

OTTO

OK. Back at it. We have the rafters installed and should have the roof finished tomorrow. Siding will be delivered tomorrow along with four sliding glass doors. The guys will put on the siding and windows/doors before turning their attention to the deck. Also, ordered metal sheets for the roof.

Scott

I just looked through the entire thread again, Scott. It is an awesome construction thread PLUS there are great stop-and-smell-the-roses pictures.

Yes, Brettski, all mods do is look at the pictures. :P

Great Job !!! Thanks for the update - keep them coming.

Scott, I am amazed with what you and your family have done with this property. From the pond construction, to islands with rock diving platforms and now the cabin on the water. I'm curious. Why did you choose to put the porch on the front?. I would have flipped it to face the pond. Keep sending the pic's this is an incredible project and pond property you are building.

Scott, any chance of posting your plans? I am seriously considering a similar idea for my place. I would need to increase the size though. The wife said nothing smaller than 2000 sq. ft. of inside space.

Rockytopper- the porch on the inside was just a matter preference. We will have an 16 ft walkway (6 feet wide) to enter the cabin under the outdoor porch. This will be over a swale that we dug out, so you will have to use the walkway to entert the cabin from that side- might even toy with the idea of digging it out further so the walkway crosses water as well. If you look at the first photo below, there is a rock at the bottom. The 16 ft walkway will start here and extend to the porch. On the opposite side of the outdoor porch we will have a 22 ft dock (6 ft wide) extending towards the island. Our architecht, my uncle Sam, designed it so when you walk in, you will see straight thru to the opposite dock pointing towards the island. Additionally, there will be a 5 foot deck surrounding the entire cabin.

Ezylman- All we have are architecture blueprints which are 3ft x 3ft in size. I'll see if we can get something in electronic format to post. Increasing size shouldn't be a problem. We originally were going to go smaller, as we wanted the small, cabin feel to it, but it grew, and grew and got grander and grander as my Dad and Sam sat down to design it. It was originally going to be the cabin only with no porch and not extended out over the water. I guess that is what happens when you sit down to design a cabin with an architect over a bottle of wine.....



Here are some more photos from yesterday.

Scott

Scott...

I look forward to seeing your plans. I am really intrigued by doing something like that here. Do you know what kind of a cost increase you had by designing it like that instead of going with a traditional slab or a traditional pier and beam foundation?

As far as the bottle of wine goes, just be glad the plans weren't done over a bottle of tequila. When tequila is involved, things just never turn out right.

Thanks for the up date. You guys have done a great job.
Thanks for sharing it with us.

OTTO

Thanks Mike. Do you remember how nasty that day was when you drove up to Kansas? Gnarly wind and rain. We ended up at the local cafe. We'd love to be able to come to the conference, but schedules don't permit this year. Maybe the next year as it sounds fun.

Scott

PS- you look more enthusiastic in the second photo