New Home Begins

[tkappeler]

Excavation day today. The basement is only going down between 2'7" on the high side and 1' on the low side due to the water table. This is after the 1' of top soil was removed from the existing grade. The garage footing needs to be raised 15" to top of footing so a few trucks of fill brought in and compacted.

Not too many pictures but it is progress. Footings will be marked and dug tomorrow. There is an outside chance for the pour to occur on Friday, depending on inspector's availability, but most likely Monday.

 

[dave1949]

Good to see progress being made, I'm sure that's a nice feeling.

What sort of basement walls will you have, precast? How tall is the concrete going to be? How high will the finished grade be around the basement wall? Seems like you have plenty of opportunity for good surface drainage away from the house.

 

[tkappeler]

Good to see progress being made, I'm sure that's a nice feeling.

What sort of basement walls will you have, precast? How tall is the concrete going to be? How high will the finished grade be around the basement wall? Seems like you have plenty of opportunity for good surface drainage away from the house.

The basement walls are indeed precast. They are 9' tall. Given that due to the higher-than-preferred water table, we can only go down about so far. The soil does drain pretty well as there was no standing water this morning with a full day of rain yesterday. The finished floor will be about 7' above current grade and we will build up the driveway 42" over the 140' driveway.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

May I ask why your building an above ground basement? Since you can't bury the basement down in the ground like a traditional basement then what purpose is there to going with concrete walls 7' high? I would think a standard footer would be more cost effective and just built a two story house without having a large concrete wall or huge stair case to lead up to your "first" floor so to speak.

 

[tkappeler]

May I ask why your building an above ground basement? Since you can't bury the basement down in the ground like a traditional basement then what purpose is there to going with concrete walls 7' high? I would think a standard footer would be more cost effective and just built a two story house without having a large concrete wall or huge stair case to lead up to your "first" floor so to speak.

We do not expect to have huge steps up to the one floor as we will build up the grade over the 140' front yard. It will be pretty gradual. As for the living area, we want to be on one floor. It is not important now but will be as we move beyond our 50s.

The precast was a better, stronger option although a little more expensive than poured walls. Since energy efficiency codes require insulation on basement walls, the precast saved me a step and time is money.

The cost of full walls, surprisingly; was not significantly more expensive than doing a crawl space. Plus we plan on using the basement for a home business and hangout space for my daughter and other visiting grown children.

 

[dave1949]

We do not expect to have huge steps up to the one floor as we will build up the grade over the 140' front yard. It will be pretty gradual. As for the living area, we want to be on one floor. It is not important now but will be as we move beyond our 50s.

The precast was a better, stronger option although a little more expensive than poured walls. Since energy efficiency codes require insulation on basement walls, the precast saved me a step and time is money.

The cost of full walls, surprisingly; was not significantly more expensive than doing a crawl space. Plus we plan on using the basement for a home business and hangout space for my daughter and other visiting grown children.

That makes sense. Without intending to offend anyone, I think crawlspaces are an idea that should go away - never to be seen or heard from again :laughing:

Where you have pre-cast exposed on the lower level interior, that shouldn't be too hard to get a reasonable finish directly on the concrete. I have plastered poured concrete interior walls and that has worked out okay so far, 6 years. But, pre-cast should be a much smoother surface than poured. I did a lot of chipping, grinding and brick block rubbing to prep for the plaster.

What is the R-value rating for your pre-cast walls?

 

[Robert_in_NY]

We do not expect to have huge steps up to the one floor as we will build up the grade over the 140' front yard. It will be pretty gradual. As for the living area, we want to be on one floor. It is not important now but will be as we move beyond our 50s.

The precast was a better, stronger option although a little more expensive than poured walls. Since energy efficiency codes require insulation on basement walls, the precast saved me a step and time is money.

The cost of full walls, surprisingly; was not significantly more expensive than doing a crawl space. Plus we plan on using the basement for a home business and hangout space for my daughter and other visiting grown children.

That makes sense, building the ground up that much will be a fun project but it will help hide the basement walls so as to not look too out of place. I wasn't suggesting a crawl space, just a standard footer and pour the ground floor then stick build from the footer on up. You could still do the same with the ground floor that you planned to do with the "basement" just it would be wood framing instead of the precast concrete walls.

 

[tkappeler]

That makes sense. Without intending to offend anyone, I think crawlspaces are an idea that should go away - never to be seen or heard from again :laughing:

Where you have pre-cast exposed on the lower level interior, that shouldn't be too hard to get a reasonable finish directly on the concrete. I have plastered poured concrete interior walls and that has worked out okay so far, 6 years. But, pre-cast should be a much smoother surface than poured. I did a lot of chipping, grinding and brick block rubbing to prep for the plaster.

What is the R-value rating for your pre-cast walls?

The walls have an R-10 rating, which is the current requirement per code. The new codes that will go into effect next year will require more than that. I am not sure if it is R-16 or R-19 for all basement walls.

Finishing the walls is pretty easy as the ribs have steel faces similar to metal studs. Thus, you can put additional insulation to the cavities and then simply screw the drywall up to the exposed ends of the precast ribs.

 

[dstig1]

I see you are using Superior Walls. I knew a builder that used those a bit around here. The crews struggled a lot with getting everything level enough to be satisfactory. I would double check that the top of wall is flat and fully level before cutting them loose. You will need to drywall over the exposed foam too as it is not fire rated, but it sounds like you plane to finish the space anyways.

Nice to see progress!

 

[dave1949]

The walls have an R-10 rating, which is the current requirement per code. The new codes that will go into effect next year will require more than that. I am not sure if it is R-16 or R-19 for all basement walls.

Finishing the walls is pretty easy as the ribs have steel faces similar to metal studs. Thus, you can put additional insulation to the cavities and then simply screw the drywall up to the exposed ends of the precast ribs.

That sounds good with the metal studs and all. I haven't seen homes done with pre-cast walls and wondered how the interior finishing works. In my climate, I would add insulation between the studs most likely.

What do you have planned for exposed exterior portion of the basement walls?