New Home Begins

[Obed]

Yes, the excavator brought in nice, clean, compactable fill, brought in a vibratory roller similar to this:

View attachment 291776

and rolled it a lot in 8" lifts. He only brought in enough for now to get about 1/2 way there. The goal was to get the footings in. He then dug out the trench for the gravel for the superior walls (poured concrete for the main house portion, stone for the garage). The bottom of stone elevation for the foundation is only 9" above current grade the garage floor is then about 3 foot above that.

The garage floor is a total of about 3 1/2' above the street elevation. This buildup will occur over a 137' length which is pretty gradual. The other benefit of this buildup is that the mound for the septic will be more "disguised" and not a big hump.

Tom,
Could you post some pictures of the garage area? How deep will the new fill be under the garage slab by the time it's all done?
Obed

 

[tkappeler]

Tom,
Could you post some pictures of the garage area? How deep will the new fill be under the garage slab by the time it's all done?
Obed

Obed,

Here is a picture of the garage walls, 4' tall sitting on 10" of gravel, 8" above the current grade. There will be an additional 2'8" of fill up the 4' walls.

 

[tkappeler]

Today was the day we were looking forward to. The basement walls were set!! We were one of two jobs being done today, however; the crane's pump broke at the other job site, so that crew came here to help out. They were like a well oiled and orchestrated machine.

Three tractor trailer's worth of 9500 psi panels. There are a lot more pictures but here is a sampling!

 

[EddieWalker]

Thanks for the pictures, but now I'm really confused. From the look of your lot, and your neighbors lot, it looks like you have a fairly flat building site. Are you building a basement above grade? Are you going to add dirt to the sides of the basement and create a hill?

WHY?

Eddie

 

[tkappeler]

Eddie,

Yes, the lot is relatively flat. The county has defined the seasonal high water table at a mere 41". The "rule of thumb" is to have finished basement floor 24" above seasonal high water table. As a result, we need to really build higher out of the ground. The garage was lowered to minimize the amount of fill to get into the garage. We will need to bring in a whole lot of fill. On the front, the garage openings will be about 3' higher than current grade. Raising 3' over the 137' from the street is pretty gradual.

As for the sides, we will add fill and a retaining wall(s) to step it down. I already discussed a few pages back about the water runoff containment.

 

[EddieWalker]

Thanks. I read the early posts but didn't realize what you where doing at the time. Is this how others are building homes in your area? The crew looks like they do this all the time, but it's something I've never heard of before. I'm overwhelmed with all the additional expense to build a house this way in materials and labor!!!!

Eddie

 

[tkappeler]

... Is this how others are building homes in your area? The crew looks like they do this all the time, but it's something I've never heard of before. I'm overwhelmed with all the additional expense to build a house this way in materials and labor!!!! ...

What do you mean by how others are building in your area? Up out of the ground? This area is relatively low. Well, NJ is relatively low ... in altitude and other intangible ways.

We are about 15 miles to the Delaware River. We are a whopping 33' above sea level. There are three other homes < 5 years old on this same road that have done something similar for the same high water table reasons.

 

[EddieWalker]

That's what I was wondering. If others are building houses like you are. Not knowing your part of the country or how people build there, it's interesting to me as a contractor how houses are built in different areas. I know that in FL, they dig ponds and use the dirt to create a hill to build their house on in some areas to get up above the low water table. Along the coast here in TX, they are building them up in the air on piers. I kind of like that, but don't have any first hand knowledge about what it takes to build that way. I just like having all that storage under the house and enjoying the view from up higher.

I've only been in a few basements in my life, so it might just be me, but I don't understand wanting one. If you live in a place that you have to have them, that makes sense to me. But if you don't, I would spend the money on rooms that have windows and take advantage of the view you get living out in the country, or just having natural light.

Eddie

 

[tkappeler]

That's what I was wondering. If others are building houses like you are. Not knowing your part of the country or how people build there, it's interesting to me as a contractor how houses are built in different areas. I know that in FL, they dig ponds and use the dirt to create a hill to build their house on in some areas to get up above the low water table. Along the coast here in TX, they are building them up in the air on piers. I kind of like that, but don't have any first hand knowledge about what it takes to build that way. I just like having all that storage under the house and enjoying the view from up higher.

I've only been in a few basements in my life, so it might just be me, but I don't understand wanting one. If you live in a place that you have to have them, that makes sense to me. But if you don't, I would spend the money on rooms that have windows and take advantage of the view you get living out in the country, or just having natural light.

Eddie

Got it now. I hear you about wanting to be in the country. This is about as close at it gets in NJ. As for basements, yes, they are common here. For us, the incremental cost to go to a basement from a crawl space was nominal. And I can now literally double my livable area (basement area = first floor area) if I choose to. We have room for a home business that is in the works and the shorter of the three car garages will double as tractor storage and wood shop.

 

[mjncad]

Looking good Tom. The vibratory roller will do wonders for compacting the soil; but you might need to rent a plate compactor to get the edges the roller can't get to.

I don't like living in a basement; but since they are common here, they make a great place to store things and a wonderful place for the mechanical room. A basement sure beats an attic for those purposes.

I sure like the concept of dropping precast panels in place, especially since the panels are made in a factory under controlled conditions. However I have no idea how cost effective they are compared to traditional foundation construction techniques.