Basement waterproofing…

My friend Kim asked how basement waterproofing systems work and why they are referred to as “drain tile”. I found these nice resources while searching for more information on the subject and decided to post them here (actually Kim didn’t exactly ask me to do this…its more like she made a comment…to Deb…but I wanted an excuse to post this anyway).

The first resource is a very nice article published by the University of Minnesota extension division entitled Moisture in Basements: Causes and Solutions. The 5th page in the article is an overview of solutions to basement moisture problems that describes the interior drain system beneath the slab like we are installing at the “L” Shaped House.  The article title above is linked to the University of Minnesota website.

The photo below shows an interior drain system beneath the slab in detail. The system that Paul Winters is going to install will be a little different (the diagram shows a retrofit system) but the photo illustrates the major elements very nicely.

Back-Filling…Day 1

The excavators have pretty much finished up back filling the garage footings and foundation wall. The two photos below show a front and back view of the garage space after the filling. The back filling and preliminary grading around the foundation walls make it very easy to get a “lay of the land” around this end of the “L” Shaped House. Its surprisingly difficult to imagine how this will look until the fill is back in place.

The cement floors for both the garage and crawl might be poured as soon as next week. The 10 inch sand base for both spaces is in place ready to be leveled and compacted.

Block Laying…Day 11

The foundation walls in the West end have been joined to the existing basement walls. Matt and Jim are busy building up the wall sections between the corner leads in the guest bedroom and basement family room spaces. Matt figures that they have just a few more days to go on the block work.

The foundation wall  joins the (existing) North basement wall in the photo below. The new wall is now at full height. If you look closely you can see the drain tile pipe protruding out the end wall from the crawl space.

Drain tile…Day 2

The drain tile installation includes placing foam insulation on the walls…drilling holes in the blocks…placing the floor edge at the footing…and covering the rock bed in fabric. The first photo shows the foam insulation going up on the walls and the system elements in place on the footings. The silvery stuff is Thermax brand insulation, R-9.8, and flame resistant; it can be used in crawlspace without thermal protection. Joints are covered with foil tape; voids in corner are filled with spray-can foam insulation.

The second photo shows a close up of the water drainage holes drilled into the cores of every block and the corrugated plastic water channel that directs potential water from the block wall into the gravel bed containing the perforated pipe. The corrugated plastic channel sits on the footing and extends out over the rock bed.

The foam wall insulation sits right on top of the plastic floor edge strips holding it in place.

 

The whole system is wrapped in a gray fabric to isolate the backfill from the gravel bed.  The rock bed is being held in place with a temporary wood dam that will be removed as the fill is added.

Block Laying…Day 10

The new foundation walls in the West end are now joined to the existing foundation. The basement walk-out on the back wall of the family room is clearly visible in this photo. The perimeter walls will  rise two courses above the existing basement. Thankfully the forecast for an all day rain did not come true and the Sletten’s have made really good progress.

The excavator is back to back fill the foundation around the new garage. This photo (taken around noon) shows the dirt being moved back into the trench for the footings. They expect that the (garage) back filling will be complete tonight.

Drain tile…Day 1

The JLM crew went to work on the drain tile (water-proofing) in the crawl space today. The perforated pipe and preparations for the rock bed can be seen in the photo.

Block Laying…Day 9

The West end foundation wall keeps rising from the footings. Jim has made the connections to the existing foundation and has the base complete. They have cleaned up the old foundation wall blocks and have them ready to join up to the new and add the new courses.

The foundation walls defining the garage are now complete. The photo below will might be the last view we get of the footings. Matt and company have cleared out all of their equipment and cleaned up the site in anticipation of back filling the foundation walls.

Block Laying…Day 8

Matt and Jim Sletten are finishing up the the three course exposed block wall on the garage perimeter. The first photo shows the garage viewed from the back corner with the entry door and garage door openings visible on the East side and back wall.

The (distorted…) panoramic photo below shows the garage from the East side dirt pile. The four overhead garage door openings are visible along the front wall. Matt figures that they will be done with the garage by the time they go home tonight.

Framing…Day 0

The open web floor trusses for the first floor arrived sometime this morning. They are parked at the curb just “itching” to be installed…

Block Laying…Day 7

The last corner lead on the West end is about to go in and the basement foundation walls will follow shortly. The layout for the family room and guest bedroom are easy to see now that the foundation walls have been built. The 8 inch block on the North wall where the egress windows will sit is pretty much at full height.

The tedious work fixing the basement end wall has begun. The first order of business is tearing down the sections that will need to be replaced. The old window on the left will be saw cut and end up flush with the crawl space floor at the 48 inch height.

Block Laying…Days 5 & 6

The past couple of days have brought lots of progress on the “L” Shaped House. The garage and crawl space foundation walls are up to grade level. This photo shows Matt building the first corner section for one of the garage door openings. There will be three courses of exposed 6 inch block all the way around the garage foundation wall. The framing will sit on top of these blocks. It is still a little hard to imagine that the garage floor will end up at Matt’s waist level in the photo. The whole East end is nearly complete.

The next photos show the garage end wall with an opening for the entry door. The garage slab will sit on the “ledge” formed by the 6 inch blocks resting on top of the 12 inch block foundation wall (shown in the second photo).

 

The two photos below show the progress being made in the West end. The first shows the foundation wall built on the deep footing underpinning the basement walk-out door. The second shows the wall one day later as it starts to wind it’s way around the guest bedroom footing. Jim Sletten has just one more corner “lead” to build…then its on to the old foundation wall repairs.

Rain Day

Here’s what happens when you get .33 inches of rain overnight…

• The site turns into a slippery mess.
• The low spots fill up with water.
• The block laying has to wait for another day.

Block Laying…Day 4

Jim Sletten is working on the last corner “lead” for the garage. He will “jump” down into the West end of the basement later today to start on the foundation. It is now easy to see the outline of the east side of the house and how it will sit on the lot. We made a few decisions, the crawl space height (48 inches) and are talking about some others, the drain tile (waterproofing) in the basement, and the plumbing rough-in.

The evening report shows how far Jim Sletten got on the basement walk-out underpinning. The corner leads are in place and he is about ready to start on the basement level.

Block Laying…Day 3

Today we see the garage foundation taking shape. Jim Sletten builds the “leads” in the corners and Matt follows along filling in the walls. Chuck and Tony keep plenty busy laying out block and distributing mortar. The block company brings new blocks as the piles dwindle. The whole process runs like a finely tuned engine. Would you believe that it is snowing in July?…only in Minnesota!

The two photos below show the crawl space and the footings that will underpin the basement walkout door. The crawl space will be 36 x 12 feet, 48 inches high and will have a poured concrete floor. When you stand at the North edge of existing foundation the basement underpinning looks like it is at the bottom of a very deep hole. It makes you realize that there remains a lot of dirt to be moved.

Block Laying…Day 2

Today Matt and crew are going to try to finish off the crawl space foundation walls and get a good start on the garage. The photos below show the progress as of 1:00 pm today. The end walls of the garage and crawl space are full height (see the flat topped blocks on the top course). The garage slab and floor joists will sit on these surfaces. The bottom photos show the new crawl space wall meeting the existing basement wall. Two courses of block will be added to the existing wall to match the crawl space height resulting in an 8 1/2 foot ceiling height in the basement. Some careful repair of the existing wall will come shortly.

 

Block Laying…Day 1

After getting rained out yesterday Matt and his crew are hard at work today. They started at the south wall of the crawl space and have worked their way to the (first) end wall of the garage. As amazing as it seems…there will be 2200 cement blocks in the foundation walls. Matt estimates that with good weather the foundation should be nearly complete the end of next week.

 

The music playing in the video must be special “block laying” music

We stopped by last night about 7:30 pm and took these photos showing the day’s progress. The footings and foundation walls are making it much easier to visualize the “L” shaped layout of the house.

Footings…Day 5

It’s a big day at The “L” Shaped House. The first cement trucks are on the site pouring the footings. The top photo shows the conveyor system reaching all the way across the the garage to deliver cement to the footing on the far side. In the middle photo Sam looks on while Matt Sletten and crew fill forms. The last photo shows the crew preparing to pour the West end footings.

We also get our first action packed video of the blog… Here we see Matt guiding the hose while the crew carefully distributes cement into all the cracks and crevices of the forms. The whole system for moving and pouring the cement is amazing. The guy in the vest in the middle photo is operating a remote that controls the conveyor. He can precisely position the hose over the forms and control the delivery of cement while standing just above the trench.

The three photos below (taken last night) show the poured footings after everyone left for the day. The first is a panoramic shot of the house site, the other two show details of the basement walk-out wall and the garage+crawl space footings.