House Start

[B4D2USA]

We finally managed to get the excavating contractor and the concrete man scheduled to start our house project. Short story is: The neighbor had an excavator (Komatsu PC120) he would lend me (for free) to dig the hole if he could store it onsite until he sold it. When we went to look at it, he changed his mind and decided he would rather sell it outrite to me. I offered to rent it and commenced to find comparable rates to figure his compensation if he agreed. In the meantime, I also soliticited bids from locals. The price to contract it done was a few hundred more than the base rate for a rental machine (not including the delivery and pick up fees, nor fuel). Plus, the contractor would grade the spoils for the driveway and deliver road base at cost. DONE!

As the excavation began, my contractor found that he had much more material than he allowed for stockpiling backfill and driveway. It is all sand and he was envious of the quality that he could sell easily. In exchange for the labor to build the roadbed with slag, I allowed him to take away a couple of loads of sand.

The site has become ringed with sand dunes and the concrete men needed access to the rear of the site, so I cut a trail through the woods with my little John Deere utility tractor. When I return to the site tomorrow, I will be grading some more slag to extend the driveway so the concrete pump truck can get close to the site. Here's a few pictures.

[Stock]

Is there a frost min line in that area?...... lovely looking sand alright could do with 20 or 30 loads to sand drain and verti drain the heavy blue clay I'm on................evil stuff to dig.............

[245dlc]

That looks like a Cat 315CL is it not? Easy digging that kind of sand I think a ditching bucket would of been a proper fit, but then again I'm just thinking out loud again. lol Nice little tractor Bruce I wish I could dig in ground like that more often. lol Hope it all goes well.

[ianoz]

Hi Bruce , Its going to be interesting following the build . We don't have basements here to start with .
Questions ,Questions ,questions . So to start with why are'nt the small change of direction corners dug through . How were the footings set out , I can't see any profiles . Keep the photos coming bruce.

[B4D2USA]

Is there a frost min line in that area?...... lovely looking sand alright could do with 20 or 30 loads to sand drain and verti drain the heavy blue clay I'm on................evil stuff to dig.............

The local building department requires at least 30 inches, but that is too shallow for me. In Chicago, it's 48 inches, so that is my minimum. This sand is so well drained that a few years ago we had the remnants of a hurricane dump 14 inches of rain in 24 hours. I never saw a trickle out of the perimeter drains around the shop.

That looks like a Cat 315CL is it not?

Good eye Bert. Thier Bobcat had a smooth bucket and that is what they dressed the bottom with.

Hi Bruce , Its going to be interesting following the build . We don't have basements here to start with .
Questions ,Questions ,questions . So to start with why are'nt the small change of direction corners dug through . How were the footings set out , I can't see any profiles . Keep the photos coming bruce.

Ian, the foundation is a complex one with lots of setbacks and 45 degree corners. I aked the concrete contractor what he wanted from me in regards corner boards, etc.. All he wanted (after I had begun staking them) was a straight line depicting the front of the house. He plots the points into his handheld gizmo and finds them onsite. He then pegs the important corners with iron stakes. Stringlines are run from these points and used to guide the dug-in footings. He will dig through the corners after he plots all the support pads for the columns. When they pour the footings, they will also cast a keyway into the top to accept the foundation walls once they are set and poured. Outside the footings, I will have to dig out a narrow trench to allow for my PVC slotted drain tile. I will be waterproofing the exterior of the foundation after it's poured, though other than dampness, I doubt I will have any seepage. No worries, more to come.

[ianoz]

Hi Bruce , Most of our footings are set out by serveyors , Some concretors put in offset pegs , others just extend the mark out lines , and hope i don't rub them out . Others don't do any thing . The serveyor comes back after the footing is poured and puts pins in the concrete for the bricks / boxing ...Most of our houses are concrete slabs on the ground .

[B4D2USA]

Progress!!

This week started with 3 loads of slag (2 @ 3", 1 @ fines) to make a roadbed up the hill for the form trucks/concrete pump/transit trucks. After laying in the 3's and topping them with the fines, the concrete contractor still dug his tires in trying to get the form truck up to the site. We delayed the pour by one day and I had a load of concrete washout delivered. It did the trick EXCEPT that by the time I brough the D4 around to grade it, the concrete fella used his bobcat to spead it all out. No fun for me, but probably a lot faster. Basically, the D4 was a glorified compactor. Before going home for the day, the concrete crew ran the form truck up the hill as a test: it made it. Last night I still had visions of the D4 and the 933 pulling the pump truck up the hill. This AM at the crack of dawn, the pump truck showed up. By the time I mobilized the security team (the dogs), the pumper was atop the hill and unfolding the boom. No drama, let's get to work. Shortly afterwards, the 1st concrete truck arrived and here are the results.

[245dlc]

Bruce did they dig the trenches for those footings by hand? Here footings are poured in forms on top of the graded basement bottom and in a lot of places after the basement is dug a pile auger is brought in usually mounted on a tandem axle truck and piles are dug down to refusal and filled in with concrete and rebar to the surface where a void form is installed and a structural wall is built on top. Good to see the D4 was able to help out in some capacity and that proper security was in place. lol

[B4D2USA]

Bert, typically, the footings are formed and filled as you said, but in this case, the sand is pretty easy digging and it is a faster method for them. Personally, I'd form them, but that's me.

[ianoz]

I have not seen photos of the security team for a while , Grown into beautifull dogs .Keep the progress reports rolling in .