Richland Chambers Lake Level after the rain..

We have been in the throws of an historic drought in our Great State for about 3 years or more, depending on who you listen to or what you read.  There are some 'dire' forecasts out there if you want to find them. Texas Lake Levels are at 67% capacity that much has been reported and documented.  Richland Chambers Lake Level was just about 10 feet below pool before the recent rains that fell across the State last Thursday and Friday.  I can tell you from being out and about that we were really crispy dry.

LakeSide Dreams last Friday

 The consensus on the rainfall we received at the lake is about 5".  I've heard from several Richland Chambers residents the last few days from all around the lake and that seems to be a safe estimate.  RC Lake itself came up about a quarter of a foot as a result of the about 24 hour deluge.  Though that is not much considering where we are, everything is a little bit greener and way less crispy.  This morning was cool, about 56 degrees, and the dew was very heavy, ah yes fall is just around the corner.

What's up with the house construction?

Central Vac rough in

Total of 320 amp service coming in, 2-200 amp breaker boxes

This is a real time update versus the 'catching up chronology ' of the last couple of blogs about the house construction.

As of today the house construction on Richland Chambers is moving right along.  We are in the 'mechanical ' stage on the interior.  The electrician has been working for several days, pulling wire, placing boxes for plugs, switches, fixtures and other stuff.  

We are having a central vacuum system installed by North Texas Central Vacuums.  They came and roughed in the system yesterday by running central vac pipe and control wires.  We will have a total of 7 vac inlets including one in the garage on the unit with a kit to clean out the cars.

Central Vac tubing in the walls

Rooter is checking out the 'sweep out' line that will come from under the cabinet

The plumber is still working on rough in and has set the tubs and is running the gas lines today.  They should be finished in the next day or two.  They are installing a manifold system in the house which will enable us to turn off the water supply to individual fixtures in the house from a central location.

Setting slope cans in the living room

The HVAC system is roughed in

I neglected to put conduit in the slab for floor plugs, so we are doing it the hard way

Plumbing rough in using pex pipe

The last thing to go in the walls is the rest of the 'Bug be Gone' system.  A3 Pest Solutions from Blooming Grove is installing the system.  They will come and finish running the tubing for the system to all of the outside eaves and soffits before we seal up the walls.  Everything is looking good so far and we hope to be spraying the foam insulation by the middle of next week.

Cut in the concrete for power to the island in the kitchen

Finished 'trench' for floor plug in living room

Our Home Construction on Richland Chambers The Slab

Plumbing rough-in, forms and beams

Post tension cables

This is the 2nd installment of the house building chronicle:   One of the requirements of building in The Shores on Richland Chambers is the engineering process for your slab.  We got the drawings and turned them over to the concrete contractor.  He took them and got started forming and digging the grade beams.  We selected a plumber after reviewing several bids and they came to rough in the slab.  Once the plumber was done I called our local Orkin franchise to 'pre-treat' the slab.  They came out and sprayed really good stuff around all the plumbing openings in the concrete.  This will seriously dissuade any bugs with the intention of coming inside form underneath.  This is step one of their process.  They will come back after the house is just about done and spray around the edge of the foundation.

Slab pre-treat

Slab pre-treat

Pump truck to place the concrete

 Once the pre-treat was done our concrete contractor came back and continued preparing the slab. They finished and reinforced the forms,  laid  plastic moisture barrier and placed the post tension cables along with some rebar.  Early the next morning  concrete trucks started to arrive.  Since our lot is fairly narrow and the slab is pretty large a pump truck was necessary to place the concrete.  All the concrete was poured at the same time for what is referred to as a 'monolithic' pour.  Which simply means it is all one big piece.

The truck is controlled remotely

Placing concrete

Placing concrete

Finished slab

Once concrete is poured it is there. You have to think through everything that needs to go in the floor. I would have done a couple of thing differently at this point, nothing earth shaking, but definitely causing a little extra work to get accomplished now.

Dove Hunting in South Texas

Alright I know this is not about Richland Chambers but it is about having a lot of fun with some great guys who live on the lake.  I was invited to go on a dove hunting / golf trip down in south Texas outside of Uvalde not far from Concan right on the Frio River.  What a great time.  The hunting was fantastic. We had great guides, lots of birds were flying and several of the guys shot their limit a couple of days.
The golf club is called the Club@Concan and is ranked 21st of the the top 50 courses in Texas. We played two mornings in an absolute picturesque Hill Country setting with beautiful weather. During our games we saw multiple deer, some turkey and bobcat tracks in the sand bunkers.
The lodge we stayed at is called Margaritaville and was just right for our group of 17 hunters/golfers. It is owned and operated by our outfitter, Frio Country Ranches 
Clint Arthur is the gentleman's name who was running the show and he and his team did a great job taking care of us.  We golfed in the morning, hunted in the afternoon and ate like kings every evening.  I highly recommend these guys and look forward to going next year. (I have got to practice my shooting for next time, both birds and golf!)

House Construction on Richland Chambers, Step one

My original intention was to document the house building process, so here's goes the first installment to recap the last few months of construction.

Step One: Get a soil analysis.

Everybody knows the foundation is the most important part of any home. The soil analysis is accomplished by doing core samples on the building site, then the engineer prepares a report based on the sample. Around  Richland Chambers Lake  Navarro county has "highly expansive" clay soil which shrinks and expands depending on the amount of moisture in the soil. So an adequate foundation is critical. The soil analysis is then taken to an engineer along with your floor plans and he generates a foundation plan. In our area we see a lot of post tension, big beams and piers depending on the engineers recommendations.

The house pad is prepared by establishing the grade, then select fill is brought in, spread and compacted in 'lifts'. This is not a real glamorous stage of construction, however extremely important.

Select fill being installed in 'lifts onsite

View of back of house pad

Home Construction update on RCLake

The house is moving along nicely, slowly, but looking good. The framers have gone as far as they can with siding, trim and soffits and will be back next week to finish up with posts and beams. We are still waiting for the last window to arrive and when it does they will be finished pretty quick. The HVAC is roughed in, that is the air handlers have been set and all the ducts are in. The plumbers are working on 'top out' and my buddy Fred with Delta Electric is getting started wiring the house. The next thing will be to finish all he cedar and paint the gables and trim.

Richland Chambers is down like most Texas lakes right now so might as well get everything finished now so we can enjoy the lake when it comes back.

Lots of good deals on lots in The Shores right now, the water is falling and prices are too.

Launch at Oak Cove Marina on Richland Chambers Lake

Richland Chambers is almost 9.5 ft low as of today and the hot summer continues. Apart from the record low of 11.5 feet in 2006 this is the lowest the lake has ever been. There is still plenty of open water for boating out there and the place to put in is at Oak Cove Marina.

Oak Cove Marina on RC Lake is located right off of US 287 just before the bridge if your heading south east. Jerry and Roylene have taken advantage of the low water conditions to improve the boat ramp. They have done a lot of dredging, put down more rock and the ramp has 5 ft of water all the way out to the end of the cove today.

So yes you can launch your boat on Richland Chambers.

To keep up with the lake level go to: RC Lake Level

Good deal on Richland Chambers Lake Property

The Shores on Richland Chambers is a 600 lot, almost 800 acre subdivision that opened around '04-05' and sold by Texas Land and Lakes. The neighborhood was sold out by about mid 2009. Since that time there have been many changes in the economy and now in 2013 there are quite a few lots for sale by individual owners. There have been some very good deals in The Shores  and this is one of the best.  The lot is .59 acres and is a good building site with just a little slope.  There is also a single slip boat house on the water included with the property.  Check out the listing:  Lot 511 The Shores.  
Like more info or would like to see it in person?  Shoot me an email: johnteelremax@gmail.com