Exterior Walls

Last week, they started putting up the exterior walls. With every new development, the house feels more real. Of course, with every new development, comes a new decision. This time it is insulation. The exterior walls are mostly pumex block, which is a synthetic block for construction. It is porous, so it provides good insulation. The pillars between the pumex, are concrete and provide less insulation. Now we have to decide whether to add insulation, and if so what type. Since we live in a basically mild climate, insulation is not as important. Although, when it rains in the winter for a number of days, it can get pretty uncomfortable. And of course, the summers are hot. So our choices are:

• Thermoplast: Covers all the external walls (both pumex and concrete) and is very expensive
• Addax: Covers just the concrete pillars, is a relatively new product (about 10 years old), and is moderately expensive
• No additional insulation

I've talked to several people. It seems all three are good options. If money was no object, more insulation would be great. Since we are not on an unlimited budget, will the additional cost be worth it??? Maybe no insulation is the best choice and we will just work the heat and air conditioner a little harder???

Ofer and Iran came by last week. They met us (Eli came with me) at the building site and demonstrated our options. They layered some pumex block, showed us samples of addax and thermoplast, and explained the pros and cons of each. Ofer is pro addax and Iran is pro thermoplast, however both say that the house will be insulated with no additional insulation.

Concrete

In a way, building a house is similar to being pregnant. When you are pregnant, every mother offers advice you and tells you about her pregnancy experience. When you build a house, anyone who has built a house offers advice, and tells you about the building experience. In Beit Gamliel, where we live, almost everyone has built a house or done major renovations on a house. So, without even asking, we are learning about house building from everyone.

When it came to the foundation, everyone had advice, so I checked the internet and learned, "Building the foundation of your house is one of the most important tasks while building your house. If the foundation is not properly laid then the entire edifice will be unstable. " (From http://www.indobase.com/home/building-a-home/footings-foundations.html)

Apparently there are several methods for laying the foundation. In our house, the first layer of the foundation is dirt. We had hoped to be able to reuse the dirt that they dug up when they started building. Unfortunately, the dirt was filled with trash. The builders decided to use as much of the dirt as possible by taking out any large pieces of trash and adding new dirt. Then placed a layer of styraphone and then metal rods. Finally they poured the concrete.

I was standing around the site while they poured the concrete and Ofer asked me if I was going to take pictures. I asked him if there was a reason and he told me people often take pictures of the foundation before the concrete is poured. So, I took some picture.

In Israel, the law requires that you hire a company to inspect the construction materials at certain points. The builder noitifies them at certain points, such as when the concrete is poured. Just as they were getting ready to pour the cement, the inspectors showed up for the check.

Starting to See a House

When I look at the construction, I am starting to see the house. I have looked at the plans so many times that I can tell what will be where. They have poured the cement around the perimeter of the floor. They are covering and sealing the basement, so they can pour the cement for the 1st floor.
Here is one of Alan's images with the areas of the house labeled.
The basement without any covering. The basement with some covering. The worker is walking on the section that he covered.

We are standing by the kids' sitting area.

My Amazing Husband

Well thanks to Harry, the electricity was hooked up today. I'm not sure what he said, or who he talked to. The only thing he said was that it took several phone calls.
Efriam completed the paper work. The connection was inspected today and Benny did the final hook up.