First Post: Foundation in the Ground

This is the master plan as submitted to the Vilonia Planning Commission.

Having already tried to think back upon the process of building the new Ruple Photography Studio, there are already decisions, steps, and challenges that have now been forgotten. I felt the need to start cataloging the process so that, upon completion, we could look back and see a timeline of the construction process from design and planning, to groundbreaking, to putting up the finishing touches.

The past three years, we have operated our photography business out of our home here in Vilonia, Arkansas. We have a den that is seldom used where we set up our handed down equipment from April's father, Buster. He and April's mom, Candy, are pro-fessional photographers down in Texas (it's like this whole other country). He has helped us immensely with providing us with his older equipment, and sometimes his new equipment if we can sneak it away from his house while we are visiting. So, I painted the walls and ceiling of our den, put up the backdrops, and we were in business. Our first year, we provided portrait services for about four seniors. Our next year, we did approximately 15 seniors, and this past year, around 35 seniors came through our doors to have their senior portraits taken. Now, we are located directly across from the high school here in Vilonia, and seniors are a big chunk of our work, but we have been getting busier and busier with families, children, and especially weddings.

I say all that to say this...we are ready to move the business out of our home! It is pretty tiring to have to clean the whole house up every time someone comes over for a session, or a proofing. And, now that Jack is here, our changing room has been converted into the baby room. Furthermore, we are so limited by the small size or our den studio, we actually have to turn away some business that we know we can't handle.

I believe the planning process for the new studio began in November or so, just after Jack was born. Since we knew we would be inside for a couple months, and business is typically slowest during the winter months, it made since to try to get the studio built before the following summer season. Well, after doing some reasearch on the process of getting a business structure built, it became clear that there was going to be much more to it than simply planning and building. First, there was a planning committee that needed to approve the site plan...well the planning committee only meets on the final Thursday of each month. Guess what, the final Thursday of December was between Christmas and New Year's and we were going to be in Texas with the inlaws. So, the approval would have to wait until the end of January. Also, we had to apply for a business loan and wait for its approval. All told, I didn't get started on the actual building process until well into March.


Before.....


Using the new Kubota tractor.


Digging the footer trench.

Crazy thing is, this spring was one of the wettest in Arkansas ever. After I dug the trench for the footer, every time it rained, the trench turned intead into a moat. After the water dried, there was a new layer of sticky mud in the bottom of the thench, not the best base for holding up a building. Finally, I decided to dump a bunch of gravel in the trench and compact it down. This helped with drainage and with the mud problem. Also, I dug a trench from the bottom of the footer out across the yard until it daylighted downhill. Now the water could actually escape the hole. After an inspection of the footer trench and the steel reinforcement by our city inspector (who never got out of his truck), we were finally ready for the concrete. Unfortunately, more rain fell over the course of the next week, and it was April 30th before the councrete could be poured.


Finally pouring the concrete...9 cubic yards of it.

After the concrete set up, it was time to lay the outer foundation wall. I decided to go with concrete block with pier and beams across the middle. This seemed easier and slightly cheaper than going with a slab foundation. The final deal breaker was the fact that a crawlspace building would be easier to move in the case that became necessary. Now, I've never done concrete block before, but I did some research, and I know how to keep things straight and plumb, so the walls went up in a couple of days.





Which leads me to the main point that I'd like to illustrate through the building of this studio. There are a lot of phases of construction that I have little to no experience in. I think that people in general are intimidated by the process of going from nothing to an entire building. But, I have learned that with some good research, on the internet, in magazines, books, and asking questions, you can figure just about anything out. The same rules of physics apply to everything you are doing...nothing is magic. If you can afford to take your time, and be willing to think things through, a ton of money can be saved. I will definitely post later on the final budget of the building (another learning experience).


Me and Jack on the tractor.

That pretty much brings me up to speed. I know this post is terrible long, but several months of work had to be caught up on. From now on, hopefully I will be able to log my progress every couple of days. As it stands, the foundation wall is complete, the floor piers are set, and after the long weekend lumber will be ordered to start the framing of the floor and walls.