Hey Sully01,
I'm a retired software engineer, micro code, power on self tests on many types of disc drives, tape drives, storage controllers, printers.

I have been studying hot water floor systems since I retired in 99.
Have designed & installed 4 systems, this is my 5th.
Learn on every one.

I have made a little progress:

Main lower level of house walls have been poured: 8" concrete x 10' high, a 30' x 48' rectangle walk out basement.

I had the windows bucked in so that windows & doors sit into a 5.5" x 1.5" recess all around on the outside, so if they ever leak water goes to outside.
Windows & sliding doors are Andersen Series 100 Fibrex

Attic trusses are on site and I have added the 16" gable end overhangs.

The gable end trusses have the 2x4's laid flat, on them I glued & shot 8 penny nails 1/2" CDX plywood, primed all seams with Glidden Gripper, taped with 3-M all weather tape,

Next layer is 30# roofing felt,

next layer a drainage plane of 1/4" Benjamin Obdyke Home Slicker + Typar,

next layer is 1/4" 4x8' sheets of James Hardie exterior cement board with all seams taped with cement board mesh tape,

next layer is a base coat of Styro TuffII synthetic stucco,

now they are ready for the crane to hang, but 1st I have to backfill around sides & rear,
before that I have to have the footer drainage system inspected,

then install the 1" PEX water line in, the 4" sewer line out, & the 200 Amp power line in,
the 1,000 gallon cistern & float switch wires,

inside the cistern I will put a 300' of 1" pex to be used for cooling upstairs in summer.

Whew! just getting started

Congrats on getting started.
We need picture!

Awesome progress! Ditto on the pictures. :)

As my computer crashed, I'm on a public library computer.
All my photos are on my Iphone.
I selected 5 pics on Iphone & am in VERY SLOW process of them hopefully uploading,
seems to be choking at 2 bars signal strength.

Hope these pics work

1st pic is above rear of house looking East, the front door in middle is 8' high, the windows on either side are 7' x 5', the sliding door on the right (South) is 8' x 8',

the rear (West) bedroom window is 4' x 4' egress,

the front (East) 40% 12'-8" wall is on a 32" step down footer, as this dirt (haha) is decomposed granite (small rocks) and dry, this is all I had to go down by IRC code, the space inside the wall gets 7-8” thick type 2 EPS

2nd pic shows the 27' retaining wall 10' tall with a buttress on back side (dead man), on front (East) side will be parking & BBQ area by slider.

3rd pic shows the North wall buttress, required by my Structural Engineer due to 48' wall length & 8' of back fill.

4th pic shows the front (East) gable end (bedroom) with a 6' x 6'-8" sliding glass door opening out to a 12' x 20' balcony/carport.

The lovely purple color is what I got when adding dye to the Styro TuffII, not what I was shooting for, so I call it a base coat.

5th pic shows the rear (West) gable end during assembly, has a 4' x 4' slider for a 2nd upstairs bedroom egress.

BuffaloBill I like your work Im planing my first build for next year using ICF's.

have you considered using rigid insulation on the outside of the basement ? it would be first on my list so thought I would bring it up.

I agree with Martin Holiday's + and - recent comments on this Greenbuildingadvisor.com

My inner layer is 4" of Polyiso foam which can't be in contact with earth (gradually absorbs water)

http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/...-basement-wall

http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/...ers-spray-foam

Trying to upload latest pics on cell phone is not working, hung, 2-3 bars signal strength

got this message "your submission could not be processed because a security token was missing"

I give up

I found that I could upload 1 pic at a time