At Okanagan Glacier Homes, we’ve built many homes throughout the valley. We get a lot of questions about what’s involved in building a custom home. We do our best to walk you through the process, but we’re going to take that a step further and show you exactly what it takes by letting you follow along with our latest builds.
You can follow along with this project, the Lakefront Build, as we post blogs and videos during the entire process.
Read: Part 1
In part 1 we managed to get the trees down and clear the lot to bring in our big machinery.
The large equipment is needed to move massive amounts of dirt so that we can start the process of putting in the foundation and the walls that will hold back the mountain.
Digging into the side of a mountain isn’t always the easiest task. When building a custom home in the Okanagan, it’s not uncommon to find large amounts of rock that need to be chipped away and removed. Although the Lakefront build has some rock, it’s not too bad.
Once we remove all the dirt and rock that’s necessary, the next step is to start laying down some lumber to pour concrete footings.
This is a very precise procedure that’s important to get right. The entire house will rest on the work we do here.
You can really start to see the scale of the project the closer we get to ground level. Quite a bit of earth needed to be removed to accommodate the structure we’re going to build. It doesn’t look like much yet, but once we start pouring concrete you’ll be see things take shape.
The guys in the picture below are using a jack hammer to work on some stubborn rock formations that are preventing us from getting the lumber to the proper location and height.
In the next photo you’ll be able to see the special underground septic system we’re using on this project. There’s no access to sewer pipes in this part of the Okanagan. Kelowna and West Kelowna are a little too far to this custom home build to tap in to.
This system is a self-contained treatment centre. it’s like having a complete water treatment plan in your backyard. There is a little maintenance required, but it means the home owner doesn’t need to have septic tanks pumped out.
Once the footings are poured, the framing for the foundation begins to go up.
You’ll notice that the areas where concrete will be poured are all reinforced with rebar. This wills strengthen the walls to hold the mountain back and the house upright.
Below you’ll see a good example of a closed-in form with the rebar in place before the concrete is poured.
A great example of the level of rebar required to make the concrete as strong as possible.
You can really start to see the home take shape here. The walls that will hold back the earth are starting to take shape and the footings are mostly poured.
The concrete requires plywood on both sides to hold it in place while it’s poured and dries. Here the guys have half the walls up, the rebar in place, and are now putting the second part of the plywood in position.
Here’s a great example of the earth that will be filled in once the structure is complete.
Quite a bit of lumber is used to ensure the concrete goes where intended.
Keep following along for more pictures and updates and project progresses!
Are you ready to build a custom dream home in the Okanagan? Let’s talk!
