New Home Construction

[EddieWalker]

The exposed rock that is showing is very common.

It's caused by air pockets when the concrete was poured in along the forms. On a really tall form, like yours, it's extremly hard to get it perfect. There is a vibratory rod that is used to help settle the mix. But most crews just push a pole into the mix to try and minimize this. Another technique is to hit the forms on the outside with a hammer. None of these methods work all that well.

When they poured the mix, they should do it in layers and keep spreading it. This is important to stop the wall from blowing out from too much mud all at ounce, and to minimize the air pockets.

The places you notice the exposed rock on both sides is just coincidence. It doesn't affect the integrity of the pour.

Since you only noticed this in a few spots on such a huge pour, I'd say they did a **** of a good job.

They should come back and plaster over these places to give you a smooth finish along with filling the holes left from the rods that held the walls together.

In otherwords, there's nothing to worry about.

Eddie

 

[bmac]

Eddie,

Thanks for the reply and the reassurance. Glad to know that not only is the work OK, but that you find it better than average. I respect your opinion and this makes me feel much better.

 

[Cityboyfarmer]

I second Eddies opinion. The exposed agregate is nothing to worry about. It can also be troweled with cement to make it look better. That said, I have seen walls poured with forms that have a brick or stone pattern that came out perfectly on the patterened side. The trick seems to be the careful use of the vibrating cable while pouring in layers like Eddie said.

I built a 2200 sq. ft. basement with 4 walls 9' high using wooden forms. Took the crew about 4 weeks from excavation to removal of the forms. Steel forms are a lot faster and easier to square and plumb.

From your photos it looks like your contractor did a very good job.

 

[bmac]

Not much to report since the last post. The weather has not been cooperating. Rain from 2 hurricanes has pretty much saturated the ground here and now our typical (actually, more frequent than normal) afternoon and evening thunderstorms have kept the ground too soupy to work.

The surveyors have been back to precisely locate the foundation on the property and more permitting completed. I went out to check on things today and there has been minimal progress. The basement area has standing water. There is a pump in place but it was not running. I'm sure it needs to be attended so as not to burn up the motor once the water is removed. They have placed the forms along the back footing in preparation of pouring the basement slab. Of course, the slab can't be poured until the basement plumbing is done and that can't be done until the water is gone.

So, there you have it. No pics today. Didn't think there would be much interest is standing water.

Hopefully this thread will not have drifted down to the 3rd page again before I have something more meaningful to report.

Until then, ...

 

[bmac]

WOOOHOOO!!!! Some work actually got done this weekend. Not much, but with the rainy weather we've been having, I'll take anything.

The plumbing rough-in for the basement was done sometime between noon Saturday and 2PM today. They had to bring a pump in to get the water out so the drain and vent lines could be installed. Here's a picture that will bore most of you but has put a big smile on my face.

 

[bmac]

Now, the plumbing scheme for the basement is pretty simple. I'll have a wet bar sink and one bathroom. Still, there is one item that I cannot identify. I'm sure the collective braintrust here will provide the answer (and I'll probably feel like a fool once I read it).

In the attached picture, I've identified the pipes that I can, and placed some ??? over the thing in question. The next post will have a closeup of this area.

 

[bmac]

In this close-up, the shower drain line is on the right. The plastic box thingy is in an area that should be under the shower floor, as I read the plans.

How foolish am I going to feel when you guys enlighten me?

 

[bmac]

Now once everything dries out, they can pour the basement slab. Here's the standing water that remains in the shop area of the basement.

 

[bmac]

OK, my last question for now. I told my builder that I wanted to have a 9 ft ceiling height in the basement. Therefore, he formed and poured 10 ft basement walls. It looks like they have set up 2x6's to form the slab on the rear of the house. I think they are visible in the picture of the water in the basement If I am correct, then the bottom of the 1st story floor joists will be 9' 8" off the slab when I account for the 2x6 plate that will rest on the top of the poured walls. This does not provide much clearance to run the HVAC ducts and still have a 9' ceiling height. Am I missing something here?

 

[EddieWalker]

It looks like a sand box to me. I've never seen it done like this. Kind of fancy. When they pour the floor, they leave space around the drain line so they can adjust it to fit the shower. It's one of those things that's just about impossible to get exact until you put the shower in place.

The trap is what really complicates things.

The top half is a cover. The bottom half keeps out the concrete from the drain pipe.

I use wood forms, others use cardboard boxes. Your guy has used a fancy plactic unit. Very nice, but I wondoer what it cost.

Of course, it might be code for your area, or just the way you do things in your area.

Thanks for the update.

Eddie