Pouring the Walls...

Unfortunately I didn't get a better picture of the pump truck, which was huge.  You can see the boom behind the two cement trucks though.  It's really tall, the photo doesn't do it justice, perhaps 7 stories tall.  The guy handling the hose on the scaffolding is a consultant.  The walls took 23.5 yards of concrete and the pour went fairly smoothly.  

So the walls are done and next I have to find a roofer.  My brother Steve and I will frame in the laundry room and garage next week.

For those of you who don't know anything about this type of construction, the foam forms are made from recycled materials.  They stay in place and provide 2.5 inches of insulation on the inside and the same on the outside.  The concrete is 6 inches thick between the foam panels and since it provides such a tight seal it performs the same as an insulated stick frame house having an R-40 insulation factor.  So it's "green" building that conforms to construction codes.  The mass of the concrete absorbs and releases heat very slowly and moderates temperature and humidity swings indoors such that we will need only 1/3 of the air conditioning duty that would normally be required.  The costs are estimated at 7% higher than conventional stick-frame built but I believe that includes the labor involved in framing and insulating,  If you've been following, I put the walls up on this house with one hired hand in two weeks, including all the window bucks and rebar.