On The Road with Barb and Brad: Building the Casita... Time lapse

I haven't posted a blog entry for some time, but those who follow us on Facebook know why. As detailed on the last blog entry, we are building a spot to stay for the winter months that is warm (relatively) and yet conveniently near family. We have now finished 98% of the project and will be starting our summer travels soon. So, for those who are interested, we thought that you might like to see how the lot shown in the picture above became the site shown at the top of the blog.

When last I blogged we were in the throes of having 100+ truckloads of dirt delivered and packed down to form the foundation of the site. Load after load were delivered, spread, and packed by an industrial roller. Once this was done the site was formed up for the concrete.

The RV Pad area packed and ready for the concrete forms.

The concrete pad was massive! Not only was it 6 inches of reinforced concrete base, but there was also a 6 inch edge around the entire perimeter. This edge does double duty. It serves to contain the brick pavers and also provides a clean, neat edge between the pavers and the yard area. It was determined to do the pour in one shot instead of multiple days of pouring. So, with the aid of a concrete pump, 9 truckloads of concrete were delivered, poured and finished. They started about 8:00 in the morning and worked all day, but the results were well worth it! The pads for both the Casita and the Spa were poured at the same time and were a part of the entire process. This made them an integral part of the concrete and not just sitting on or next to the patio. A much more stable platform and less likely to have problems later.

The pad for both the Casita (foreground) and the Spa (on the upper left)

We were able to walk on the pad that evening but once poured and finished, we needed to wait a few days before we could start the buildings. We needed to wait a month for the concrete to cure before we could start putting down the pavers or driving any heavy equipment on the pad.

Casita (left) and Spa being framed and sided.

Casita from the street. Spa to the left.

It took a while, but finally the buildings started taking shape. As with all building projects, they seemed to grow or shrink in size as building progressed. Sometimes they seemed huge and other times they seemed waaaayyyyy too small. We found ourselves second guessing our decisions on several occasions.

Sand around the Fire Pit area.

Pavers being started.

The next big step was to add the sand for the brick pavers to set on. Once spread and packed, the pavers were placed using brownish-red bricks accented by a curving sidewalk pattern of white bricks. Once laid, a polymer sand was spread between the bricks. This polymer eventually turned into a grout like consistency and helped to keep the pavers in place.

Doors are on and the cedar wrap added around the Spa.

Once the Casita was sided and roofed, Brad was able to get in to begin finishing the interior. Our Platinum package called for The Preserve to finish the Spa but we chose to finish the Casita. After some careful planning, the first thing was the placement and installation of electrical lines. Outlets and light switches were planned and boxes installed. Wires were pulled and marked. The ends were coiled up and we waited for the breaker box to be installed and service power provided to the site.

Murphy Bed wall with electric wires and outlets installed.

Murphy bed wall and Sofa Wall as insulation was going up.

After the electrical was finished came Brads favorite part...NOT. Insulation! It took a while but finally it was completed. Just in time as the temperatures finally began to rise outside and it was getting hot in the upper parts of the ceiling. We did encounter a pesky leak that ruined several of the ceiling insulation batts and resulted in the roof being re-done.

Our next order of business was to stain the concrete floors. Well that was the plan anyway. The stain went down on the Casita floor and instead of a nice smooth copper brown we had a splotchy patchwork that resembled a cheetah's coat! A second attempt only made it look worse. The Spa had a similar issue with coverage and then combined it with the most god-awful green color you ever saw. Not a pleasant forest green or even mint green, it was a pea soup nasty green. Not anywhere close to the color that we thought it was going to be. Well, we dashed off to our second home this winter... Home Depot, and picked out two new colors of concrete paint. We brought those in and had them painted on and were relieved that the uneven coverage and green tinting was gone.

Our daughter and grandkids were due out for Spring Break and we wanted them to be able to stay in the Casita. Things were running behind so we hurriedly put up the wallboard for the wall where the Murphy Bed was to be installed and wallboard where the HVAC unit was to be installed. So their visit saw only half of the walls completed and no running water in the Casita. The Spa's shower wasn't completed until the last day of their visit, but the kids got to take the inaugural bath in it.

After Spring Break, Brad buckled down and spent many long days finishing the walls and ceiling, installing the lights (both inside ceiling fan/light and exterior porch and floodlights). The kitchen cabinets came in and were built and installed. One cabinet stayed on the back order list for 4 weeks giving us quite a scare. It finally came in and we breathed a big sigh of relief. As the Casita and Spa interiors were being finished, the outside was being landscaped and the sod brought in and laid. Both buildings were painted and the RV pedestal area (which provides electric, water, satellite and sewer hookups for the motorhome) was finished. One of the original ideas we had was to put a storage loft above the kitchen/entertainment center area. This took some designing and is supported in the front by two cables that are attached to the ceiling rafters. It came out better than we had hoped and provides a good amount of storage without taking up valuable living space.

One of the last things was the outdoor kitchen. It was the first time that this particular model had been built by the folks at The Preserve and it proved to be quite a learning experience! I won't bore you with details, but it is finally 98% complete as I write this blog and can serve as a cooking area if we need it.

So below are some photos of the completed site...