Basement wall installation

The morning after the slab was poured Marcus was back with his guys to start constructing the basement walls in the rain. These preformed rigid foam blocks are far more common here than poured concrete walls. They not only provide excellent insulation, but they also eliminate the need for all the framing lumber necessary for poured walls. This is what all that LEGO training was for when we were little!


The blocks have 2" of rigid foam, front and back, and once they are in place form a continuous cavity that will be filled with concrete. Vertical and horizontal rebar within the cavity provide the majority of strength to the walls. Marcus is apparently building us a bomb shelter...he's a bit over the top with his rebar usage.

The sun finally returned that evening. This is looking at the downhill (north) wall of the basement and the back door. As the walls go up, the size of the house seems to be shrinking! Good thing we'll have three floors!