Second Home 2nd Floor Forming

Our Second Home is moving right along as well. With the first floor walls and columns all formed up, the crew has begun work on the second floor. Rumor has it they will construct a temporary roof over the entire floor (you can see where it has been started) to keep out snow and ice, two variables unacceptable in concrete construction. We are on schedule for our concrete pour, and I will have that posted with a possible steel work post in between.

First Home Complete Drywall

Home One is looking great with the scaffold removed and the siding all wrapped up. Takada-san and the boys have finished hanging drywall in the interior of the home, and have finished the flooring and most of the interior finish work. Another point of interest here in Japanese home construction: performing all finish work before the other interior sub`s have completed their bits. The washitsu (Japanese style room) is progressing nicely, and the boys were installing the tracks for the shoji sliding doors. Really, really nice work.

Second Home Column Forms

Hokkaido styles. 5:30pm, pitch black, -7 degrees Celsius and snowing. This is how we do it here. With the rebar work all wrapped up, the mobile crane was back to start setting forms for the columns that will hold the second floor. I like the way the snow forms perfect little snow pillows on top of the columns. Too cool.

First Home Siding and Flooring

After a fairly large snow fall, our first home has been graced with a nice shade of white. The siding crew was just short on material, but by looking at the left side of the home one can garnish an overall image of the home will look like when complete.
Takada-san whipped his way through the first floor flooring (even though the planks are half the width that he is used to, doubling the amount of time required to lay them), and will install the stairs and start the second floor flooring today. It`s looking like there will be no problem having the home ready for the new owners, with time to spare for moving in and setting up furniture, electronics and the like.

Second Home Column Rebar

After a successful pour yesterday, the steel crew has begun to extend the rebar in the columns while the scaffold guys re-erect the scaffolding. In the video you will see the process utilized to join two pieces of rebar together. After heating the steel, a compressed air is used to squeeze the two bars together. Another extreme measure here in Japanese construction. Why simply tie the bars together with tie wire when you could actually join them? Fascinating.

First Home Siding and Flooring

Our Second Home is seeing great progress. The boy`s have almost wrapped up the siding, and Takada-san and his crew have began the flooring inside the home. I would imagine the siding should be done by tomorrow, and knowing Takada, it wont be long before the flooring is finished.

Second Home 1st Floor Slab Pour

It`s beginning to look a lot like Christmas here in Furano. The snow refused to let up as we poured another 100 cubic meters into the foundation at Home Number Two. With a thickness of 30 centimeters, the slab should be plenty strong to hold up the rest of the building and to withstand any force that Mother Nature throws at it.
The carpenters and steel crew will be back tomorrow to start forming the columns and exterior walls. Word is the second floor slab will be poured (scheduled for December 29th) in conjunction with the walls and columns, so I expect a fairly large quantity of concrete will run through the proposed two pumps at the job site. By that time, winter will be in full swing, and there is talk of covering the entire job site with a tent. Let it snow, let it snow.

Second Home Slab Backfill/Rebar

Home Two was scheduled for another concrete pour today, but we`ve run two days behind. Apparently, plumbers and electricians didn`t fall into play properly, which through a curve ball at the project. The steel workers were back to finish installing the rebar for the first floor slab, while the boys working for the foundation sub-contractor`s tidied up a bit of back fill (pocket pool 8 ball in the side pocket; watch closely and let me know if you get that joke!). Look for an update on Thursday after the pour, which your`s truly plans on making a guest appearance . Clear cut and concrete, I`ll be a finisher for life!

First Home Drywall Work

Moving right along at our First Home, Takada-san and Okunaga-san have been ripping through sheets of drywall, pausing only long enough to let the dust settle so they can see. With our completion date of mid-December fast approaching, the boys set a fervent pace to ensure the new owners will be able to enjoy their Christmas break stay here in Furano.
Unfortunately, there aren`t many huge changes that jump out at you. But, if you look closely, you`ll see the wiring (obviously) is all wrapped up, insulation is installed in the first floor ceiling, unit baths are in (but unfortunately filled with cardboard, look for a post in the very near future), and, siding arrived at the job site today.
Hey, Okunaga-san, watch those fingers cutting such small pieces of wood in the chop saw! The new owners wont be happy to have one of the boys lose a finger in their new home!

Second Home Stripped Forms

With forms stripped and scaffolding removed, the foundation at our Second Home looks like it could be the frame of the `Millennium Falcon`. The plumbers have arrived to lay pipe, and everything is on schedule for another pour next week Tuesday.

Second Home Foundation Pour

We had a busy day up at the hill yesterday. At Home Number Two, we poured 100 cubic meters of concrete into the wood forms that will support the home. Since Japan (along with the rest of the world except America) uses the metric system, concrete quantities are in cubic meters. Yet, to conform with international standards (except for the US), concrete strengths are measured in Newtons. Regular everyday concrete has a strength of 21N, but for large structures such as this, 24N is the minimum. In kg per cm2 it goes like this. Everyday concrete apparently has a strength of 240kg/cm2 which converts to 3440lb/in2, making average concrete slightly stronger than US concrete at 3000lb/in2. In regard to slump, 18-21cm is the norm, for this foundation we ended up pouring 12cm. Quite stiff, even when thoroughly vibed.
The two meter boxes that make up the actual footing that the columns will sit on were poured first, followed by the grade beam that tied every single footing together. Something that really impressed me was the foundation company actually had a laborer follow the crew with a bucket of water and a brush and scrub any splashed concrete off of rebar that was waiting to be poured. In essence, any mess that was made on the first trip around with the pump was promptly cleaned up, so that concrete would stick to rebar in a portion of the foundation that was waiting to be poured during successive passes of the pump, or any any rebar in the columns that will be poured in conjunction with the second floor.
Everything went smooth, and the carpenters are back today removing forms and preparing the first floor slab, which is scheduled for a pour on Tuesday, the 13th of November.