1615 Chaps Way in Steamboat Springs

  Inside, there is a veritable stud forest as the individual rooms on the lower floor are laid out. Outside, the soffits are going in, complete with an extra coat of stain. The work up high requires the big lift. The brackets are being stained and ready for installation.

  Now that the slab on the lower floor is dried and set, it's time for the next steps. Inside, the crew is framing out the rooms. Jaime prepares for the interior walls. Outside, Earlen and Reinar stain the fascia boards. Newly stained boards drying in the sun.

  With the dawn of the new day, the pour from the day before had hardened nicely. While waiting for today's truck, Stein cut an expansion groove with his concrete saw.  The truck arrives for the garage floor pour. No pumper today -- this will be a "tailgate" pour. Once everyone is poised in place, the concrete begins to flow. Mucking the concrete. The extended chute almost covers the entire garage. Eventually filling the whole area. Nelson uses the "skis" to hand trowel.

  A gloomy day outside, but we'll be pouring inside. First the pumper arrives. Jimbo hooks up the heavy hoses through which the concrete will flow. Then he lifts the pump high. The first truck arrives with its load of concrete. Ready to pour into the hopper, then pump into the house. The long hose snakes into the farthest reaches. And concrete begins to flow. Mucking the concrete. And smoothing it out. First with the long tools. Then on hands and knees with hand trowels. Using the screed to make the floor level. Next, the power trowel. Stein gets his groove in. Moving the equipment into the next room. The full treatment. The final treatment.

 With the foam ready, Juan started to install the heating tubes for the radiant heat. The tubes are plastic. Juan's tool to unspool the tubing. The tubes come together at a manifold.  It will be above the concrete. Another manifold. Once the tubing is ready, rebar goes over it to reinforce the concrete once it is poured. Rebar squares.

After Leif and Stein finished getting the gravel smooth and even, the foam sprayers arrived.   The familiar pumping truck. Inside, materials and the chemicals that are blended together to make the spray foam. The hoses snake from the truck into the area to be foamed. The workers wear "moon suits" for protection as they spray. The first coat goes on and quickly hardens.       The layers quickly add up to two inches of insulation -- watertight between the gravel and what will become the floor.         Hardened in place, the foam can easily support the weight of a person. Stein and Earlen measure the spaces to calculate how much concrete will be needed.