Blog

On March 4 they started setting foundation form boards for the GarageDominium.  Plumbers started installing the drainpipes for the sinks, baths, and toilets which will all be under the foundation on March 10.  “Bagging” the foundation began on March 12.  Basically, they use fill material of crushed rock to create the interior profile or mold of the foundation.  Visqueen (polyethylene) sheeting covers the fill material to act as a vapor barrier.  The result is what looks like bags of visqueen forming the shape of the foundation.  This mold will enable the concrete to form perimeter and interior beams.  Once the bagging is complete, they will install reinforcing steel and the tension cables.

Foundation preparation was completed during the week of March 21.  As mentioned before, this is a post tension concrete foundation.  Prior to pouring concrete, a grid of tension cables was installed.  About a week after pouring the concrete the cables are stretched to create tension in the cables and compression in the concrete which increases the foundation strength. The compression helps counter the tensile forces due to loads imposed by the structure that is being supported by the foundation. Rebar is also used to reinforce corners and high stress areas.  In addition to the cables and rebar, a layer of welded wire mesh was placed over the entire area of the foundation.  The wire mesh helps the concrete to resist cracking.  All concrete cracks, but the wire mesh minimizes it. Wire mesh will keep the concrete on both sides of a crack from separating further and prevent differential settling.  All the tension cables, rebar, and wire mesh were installed by March 25.  An engineer from GE Reeves, our foundation engineering company, inspected all foundation pre-work.  It passed.

We wanted floor outlets in the great room and in the study.   Electricians installed electrical boxes and conduit for these outlets prior to the concrete pour.  Also, plumbers placed some of the cold and hot water lines prior to the concrete pour.   The drainpipes were all filled with water and monitored for leaks prior to the pour.  Everything held.

We made a trip to Arkansas and Georgia to see kids and grandkids the week of March 21.  The concrete pour took place on March 29, the day after we returned.  We arrived at the lot just after 7:00 am as the concrete was scheduled for 8:00 am.  About 7:30 the pump truck arrived and set up. No concrete mixer trucks showed up until about 9:00.  The trucks were slow in arriving all day, mostly coming one at a time until late in the day when they arrived 2 at a time.  It took a total of 22 truck loads to complete the house and the 16’ x 10’ storage shed foundations.  Each load was 10 yards of concrete.  That’s a lot of concrete!  All the concrete was poured by 4:00 pm and it took until just past 7:00 pm to complete all the finish work.

On April 2 the foundation forms were removed.  Now we can start to visualize the house.  We can see the views and perspectives from the actual floor level.  Looks can be very deceiving.  Some parts of the house look smaller than we imagined such as the master closet and bathroom, while other areas such as the front porch seem larger.  We know it all measures per plan.  We even used my Live Home 3D floor plans to play with furniture placement, so we know the dimensions work.  But at this stage it is weird.  The builder says he hears this a lot.  Perceptions will change at each stage of the build – at framing, drywall, finish, etc.

I wish I had the vehicles all the various tradesmen have envisioned that we will put into the garage.  They all ask how many cars it will hold and what I have.  It is a very large space and having it all attached to the main house is a bit unusual.  Others typically build a detached shop building.  Our design allows U.W. to more easily come and help with my projects, something she is oh so eager to do!  It also makes it easier for me to come inside and give her the attention she craves. (This is where I woke up from the dream).