Installing the Basement Walls

Excavation complete and ready for the basement

With the basement area excavated, the land cleared, and the diseased trees removed, the site is beginning to take shape. We still have many trees remaining on the property, which will help preserve the natural character of the lot.

For now, we are waiting on the next steps to be scheduled with the various subcontractors. Construction is often a chain of events that must happen in a specific order, and when one subcontractor is delayed, it can affect the entire schedule. So, at this stage, we are working to get on everyone’s calendars and preparing for the next phase of building our passive house.

We finished the excavation, and now we are waiting to get on the various subcontractor's schedules to take the next steps.

We are going to be digging more and prepping, because the concrete basement walls are being installed on July 28, 2026.

AI mock up of the basement walls after installation

Before that goes in, we have to get all the underground, plumbing in and underground electric, as well as some of the footers that will support the structure.

The concrete walls were using are not what you might’ve seen before, as they are precast, in other words made in a factory. It’s also unique that these walls are going to sit on a gravel base, versus a concrete footer.

Pad for the Crane

These basement walls are going to be installed by a crane, and that is why there is a big pad of gravel right in front of the hole where the house is going. That will be for the crane to sit on.

The crane will also be used to install the walls and the roof, both of which are being pre-built off-site so that they can meet the extremely rigorous standards of Passive House. We don't have a timeline for that yet, but in all likelihood that will be August.

Bottom line, is that you will see a crane arrive early on the 28th for the basement walls installation and these walls magically go up in a day, at least the basement walls.

Lots to do after that, stay tuned.

Image above is not exactly how our house will look but close to what you can expect to see after the concrete walls are installed.