It has been a hard few weeks. The forming for the roof deck has taken longer than I thought, and is very complex. Every surface is slanted for proper drainage, yet I had to make sure all levels interconnected at the proper heights. The other difficulty is that I am now trying to build forms 39 to 45 feet above street level, so it's tough to access! I frequently find myself on my belly hanging on to some rebar with one hand and bending over the edge to screw some form to the outside wall! If I had a fear of heights when I started, it is all gone now! Here is a typical view looking down from the roof as I assemble AmDeck. The orange Looney Bins dumpster is at the street, Jeanne is at the front porch 18 feet above, and I'm 45 feet above the street on the roof!
Dad has continued to come in 2 days a week to help out and it has been wonderful having him around! This week he worked on the special stairs going up from the living-room to the dining room kitchen level.
Each step is a different shape so it was a tough one to figure. They came out just as I had hoped, and it is also nice to not have the walk up the rickety old ramp!
After getting the plumbing and electrical approved for the kitchen and dining room, we mounted plywood to the walls to give us a perfectly plumb and square surface to mount the cabinetry. We even brought in a couple of the cabinets to see how they look!
Here is a close-up of the plumbing and electrical mounted in channels cut in the foam:
On the great-room side opposite the kitchen, Dad and his helper built the AV counter. This will house the TV and stereo system as well as an access panel for all of the structured wiring. 
Now to the mammoth shoring and forming job upstairs!! My favorite part of the task was to form the custom compound curved archway into the Master Bedroom tower! I can't wait to take off the forms!
The shoring for the round tower room is so dense that it is very hard to get in and out! Here are the 3 windows formed and almost ready to pour:
In an effort to divert as much as possible from the landfill, I have been saving all but the smallest scraps of foam forms. The problem is, it is starting to take up a bit of space!
The forms for the skylights in the Guest and kids bathrooms were finished:
Finally, the form was almost finished. I had to get a bit more EPS foam for the roof so it was time for another ridiculous load on the CRV! I got some pretty strange looks as I drove through town!
Finally the week of the last big pour arrived. I was in a race to get the roof done for an inspection on Saturday, so I pushed to pour the walls on Thursday, then the roofs on Friday.
That meant being ready for inspections on Tuesday and Wednesday. They both went well, so now the time had come!
The next 3 days were a BLUR! There are no pictures because I didn't have a second to take any! I had to buzz through the next 3 days without sitting down, and hardly slept at night!
Thursday went alright, I had a few small blowouts, and a few places where I just didn't have time to finish the forms well enough, so I decided to hold off on those areas and do them with the roof slab on Friday.
Friday came and I spend a frantic morning with my laborers finishing forms in anticipation of a 12:30 pour. I had to delay the trucks another hour so I could get more forming done, then we started pouring. The first few trucks went sort of slowly, then we had a pump problem in the middle of the 2nd truck. When the pumper got it working we emptied the truck, then I tried to call for my "cleanup" load but the dispatch number had been closed for the day! I talked to the driver who gave me the direct line to the concrete plant. I reached the dispatcher who sent me my last 2 trucks. By the time the 4th truck backed into place it was 7:02! I quickly called my nearest neighbor and pleaded for their patience as I had to pour so late. They were very understanding and did not complain so I poured it as fast as possible. As the truck finished unloading it was now completely dark! And on top of that, there was not enough concrete to finish the whole job! I carefully chose which areas to do with the concrete we had to make sure the roof was structurally sound, then the finishers did their best by flashlight to finish those areas.
On Saturday I called at 5:30 in the morning to order more concrete, the first truck I could get was for 12:30, so I took the morning with a bunch on new laborers to finish the forms once and for all. A few of my neighbors showed up during the morning concerned hat I was going to be making a noisy mess all day because they were hosting a wedding. I assured them I would be done by 2-3:00 so there would be no problem . They were so nice and understanding about it, amazing considering what they have put up with for 17 months!
When the first truck rolled up I still wasn't really ready, but we started pouring. I let the finishers do the hose and vibrator as I checked under the forms to make sure everything held up, and to supervise the laborers who were still finishing forms. It was pretty exciting (stressful!) having the pour literally going on all around me! I could always tell if my forms were not perfectly tight, though! When the laborers were finished with the forms they started cleaning up . All of the blowout spills from the previous 2 days were broken up by jackhammer...
... then picked up and thrown into the side yard. It was quite a pile! (Before final backfilling, all of the trash and any non-concrete items will be removed)
By 3:00 the last truck arrived and we pump it is as fast as possible to honor the promise I made to my neighbor. Getting the truck to wash out and the pumper to clean up and leave quickly was challenging because by this point we were all very tired!! Finally, the street was cleared of trucks and I quickly hosed it down so it would look as presentable as possible.
When the laborers left at 4:00, the inside had been relatively cleaned up, and we even moved some of the ICFs up to the roof!
The Bank Inspector came shortly after we cleaned up, and did his inspection. One of the things he asked me to do was climb up on the back hill to take a picture. It has been a long time since I saw the house from this angle, So after he left I took my own pictures! It's looking so much like the house I imagined! Here is a view of the largest portion of the roof, this will be the sod roof, and will have a bridge that comes off of the lower left corner so we can access the back yard.
This view is looking between the 2 Oak Trees. Someday I hope to put a jacuzzi or small pool here!
This section of the rear of the home will mostly be underground. The window on the left is the Guest Bedroom, and just to the right of it is the back door. From the back door a gradual path with steps will wind up the hill, a small bridge will lead from the path to the roof deck, and then the path will wind around the tree to the rest of the back yard.
Here is how I look after a 3 day pour!
Next we push forward on the interior details, and hopefully, install some windows and doors!
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