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Posted by on June 30, 2006, 1:31 pm
I started the other posting that dealt with the foundation on my home
being started too low, and now the builder wants to correct it. I met
with the foreman of the project today, and got his recommended
solution. I would be curious to hear some opinions on this solution,
and if there would be any concerns in doing this.
The backstory: I am building a new home. At this point, the
foundation and basement walls have been poured. The lot provides for a
fully exposed basement in the rear of the home, with evenly sloping
grade on either side. When starting to backfill around the walls, the
foreman noticed that the footer was poured too low and, as a result,
the top of the basement walls don't allow for proper slope on the
driveway. (The driveway would end up sloping down toward the garage...
the top of the concrete walls ended up being flush with the curb of
the street.)
The proposed solution: The foreman's recommended solution is to
"raise" the home. They would do this by adding two layers of concrete
block on the top of the current poured concrete walls (equating to
"raising" the house approximately 16 inches). The basement floor would
then be raised accordingly, so that the height of the basement ceiling
would remain at 9 feet. (To raise the floor, they will be filling in
the basement with more stone.) Essentially, I will end up with a
poured concrete wall with approximately 16" of concrete block on top.
Does anyone see any problems or concerns with this solution? If I do
continue with this solution, are there any particular "problem-spots"
that I should look out for during the construction of the home?
Thanks again for any responses! Everyone's input is greatly
appreciated!
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Posted by Bob Morrison on June 30, 2006, 2:44 pm
In a previous post bdinger@comcast.net wrote...
> Does anyone see any problems or concerns with this solution? If I do
> continue with this solution, are there any particular "problem-spots"
> that I should look out for during the construction of the home?
>
See my previous post on the subject. Hire your own engineer, but have the
contractor pay for the engineer's services to design a fix for the problem
the contractor created. If the contractor won't do this then fire him and
get a new contractor.
BTW, the proposed CMU solution could work provided all the construction
details for tying the block to the concrete and the house to the block are
properly followed. That's why you need your own engineer.
--
Bob Morrison, PE, SE
R L Morrison Engineering Co
Structural & Civil Engineering
Poulsbo WA
bob at rlmorrisonengr dot com
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Posted by mrsgator88 on July 1, 2006, 12:45 am
> my point is that the advice "fire the bastard!" is not always
> practical.
IMO it is never practical. The legalities of construction law are what they
are.
> i have gone and looked at jobs where the original
> contractor left or was fired and i wasn't even slightly tempted to take
> one of them. getting anyone decent to come in under these conditions
> is going to be tough. unless the OP is sure he has made a mistake in
> hiring the guy and should get rid him, then he should be careful.
A builder is responsible for his work, and doesn't want another builder's
work hanging over him. This will make it harder to find another builder.
> so often on this group i sense the attitude that contractors are a
> bunch of neanderthals who aren't capable of picking up a nail without
> consulting an engineer. most good builders would be quite capable of
> designing a fix without an engineer. after all, he will have to
> guarantee the end result. if the OP does not have enough faith in his
> contractor to trust this guarantee, then he is off on the wrong foot
> indeed.
Well, this is a place that people turn to to complain and learn, so you are
going to hear complaints here. And I agree with your point about "most good
builders" but I think at this point we are questioning if he is a good
builder. The plans call for the top of the foundation to be at a certain
elevation. IMO, this is something that makes someone a good builder or not
a good builder.
S
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Posted by Tim Mulvey on July 1, 2006, 2:40 pm
> Well, this is a place that people turn to to complain and learn, so you
> are going to hear complaints here. And I agree with your point about
> "most good builders" but I think at this point we are questioning if he is
> a good builder. The plans call for the top of the foundation to be at a
> certain elevation. IMO, this is something that makes someone a good
> builder or not a good builder.
>
> S
>
S,
Shooting the right grade is definitely important for a builder, but how do
you know the grade written on the plan was right and not a mistake? Over the
past 15 yrs I have never seen a print that is 100% accurate. No matter the
architect or engineer, or if the plan was hand or CAD drawn. Marson was
right saying that contractors get a bad rep here. And when architects make
mistakes, try to get damages from them and see how far you get. They will
say that the contractor should have found the error. I think all the facts
should be clear before a judgment is made.
Tim
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Posted by mrsgator88 on July 2, 2006, 3:40 am
Responses inline...
>
> S,
> Shooting the right grade is definitely important for a builder, but how do
> you know the grade written on the plan was right and not a mistake? Over
> the past 15 yrs I have never seen a print that is 100% accurate. No matter
> the architect or engineer, or if the plan was hand or CAD drawn. Marson
> was right saying that contractors get a bad rep here. And when architects
> make mistakes, try to get damages from them and see how far you get. They
> will say that the contractor should have found the error. I think all the
> facts should be clear before a judgment is made.
>
> Tim
If the problem was a mistake in the plans, the GC should have said so. And
comparing architects mistakes with builders mistakes is comparing apples and
oranges. Sadly, a few bad apples reflect badly on everyone. So, I'll give
someone a good rep right now.
The contractor who fixed the collapsed roof where I work did a nice job.
We're very pleased with what he did and how he did it. Problems that came
up even 2 years later were fixed promptly, at no charge, and without
attitude. My cousin hired him to do repairs at her townhouse a couple of
years ago, and just hired him to remodel her place in Florida. She's
sending him and a crew down there, from Illinois, thats how much she trusts
him.
And, we have a friend who custom built a house recently and their contractor
was very reliable, dealt with some real difficult flood zone issues, and two
years later comes to fix things as needed without any hassle.
So there, two good reps. But neither of these builders did anything that
would generate a question to this newsgroup either.
And as for suing an architect, well, if the plaintiff can demonstrate
damages, then he'll have to pay up. The plans for my home addition call for
the foundation to be built a certain way, for I-beams to be used in certain
places, etc. If my addition was built the way the plans call for and didn't
hold up, you better believe the architect will be liable.
So please don't whine about bad reps in this discussion. It reflects badly
on all builders, because this isn't some guy complaing that the stud wood
isn't furniture grade. He's building on a slope and the foundation wall
holding back that slope and all the water that comes down it will not be
from a single concrete form, but from some stacked workaround.
S
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