Basement Floor…Day 2

The Sletten crew poured the second half of the basement floor early this morning. Anna and I stopped by at about 7:00 pm and found Matt putting the finishing touches on the floor. The cement takes quite a while to set up in the cool conditions. The basement looks and feels completely different with the new floor in place.

Paul was working in the other end of the basement installing polystyrene insulation on the walls. The foam is glued and then screwed to the cement blocks. A framed wall will be installed inside the foam and covered with sheetrock. The Tappe guys plan to start the basement wall framing tomorrow morning.

A header and framing was installed in the passage into the crawl space this morning. There is an open web truss centered above the opening that required addition support and the 10” header height will provide space for the waste line plumbing from above to cross the doorway. Anna decided that the crawl space should be carpeted and turned into a play room!

Basement Floor…The pour

The Sletten crew is hard at work this morning pouring the basement floor. They constructed a wooden chute to help get concrete into the basement and by 7:30 this morning were well into the pouring. The first photo shows the Marshall Concrete cement mixer backed up to the chute delivering mud to the basement.

The next photo shows Matt on the float, Jim working the area around the water meter and sewer main, and Chuck on the wheelbarrow delivering concrete.

The video below shows the action in the basement nicely. As you will see there is very little talking and a lot of activity. It seems prudent to just stay out of their way while the concrete is still wet!

I stopped by at noon today to have a look at the basement floor. Matt was there waiting for the cement to harden enough to trowel (the air temperature in the basement is still only 47 degrees). They plan to pour the second half of the floor tomorrow morning.

Porch Footings…Day 3

Paul and Matt came by on Sunday morning to finish up the front porch footings. Paul decided to add three additional 8” footings at the ends to help support the lattice work that will cover the deck foundation. The first photo shows the 7 footings that will support the front edge of the porch. The second photo shows Sam checking out one of the holes prepared for the footings on the East side breezeway entrance. It looks like everything is ready for the framers first thing tomorrow morning.

 

Porch Footings…Day 2

Saturday morning brought blue skies and dry weather. Matt Sletten and Paul Winters decided to pour the front porch footings by hand today after getting rained out yesterday. The original plan had the first half of the basement floor and the porch footings being poured together this morning but getting a cement truck close to the basement is going to be tough until things dry out and everyone wants to keep the framing moving forward. The first two photos show some of the 120 bags of cement Matt staged beside the holes dug for the footings. They started mixing and shoveling about 1:00 pm…

Sam and I stopped by at 6:00 just as Paul and Matt were cleaning up after pouring the eight footings for the front porch. The next photos show (first) a close up of one the bigger footings and (second) a long shot with all eight just barely visible. The muddy conditions made the mixing and pouring operation even more difficult…The whole operation had a bit of an ancient Egyptian feel to it!

Porch Footings…Day 1

The excavating crew also dug the holes for the front, side, and back porch footings. They used an 18” auger on their backhoe to drill the nearly 4’ deep holes and only ran into two giant rocks along the way. Paul Winters & Matt Sletten will set the sonotubes tomorrow and plan to pour concrete Saturday Morning. The first photo shows the 8 holes for footings under the front porch.

The last photo shows the 3 holes for footings under the breezeway porch. The photo in-between shows one of the holes with my foot beside it for scale. If all goes according to plan the Tappe guys should start framing the porches on Monday morning.

Drain Tile…Day 7

The Sletten crew continues their work in the basement. The drain tile installation is almost complete and Chuck is nearly done filling and leveling the grade. The three trenches to the right in the photo will become the footings for the main staircase as the cement floor is poured. It looks like they will probably  pour the slab early next week.

The photo below shows the basement from the guest bedroom. We can see the crawl space wall nicely now (thanks to the high tech lighting added by Paul). It is actually starting to feel pretty nice down there!

Drain Tile…Day 6

The Sletten crew (Chuck) spent the day setting up the drain tile system and preparing  the basement floor for concrete. The first photo shows the drain holes drilled into each block core just above the footing and the drain tile pipe installed in the rock bed.

The next photo shows the drain tile (pipe) as it runs around the corner in the Northwest end of the basement. The drain tile is set closer the top of the rock bed here because the system of pipes is pitched to allow water to flow toward the sump at the other end of the basement.

The next photo shows the sump basket and PVC fitting that will connect to the crawl space system after the rock bed has been covered with fabric and fill has been added to bring the grade up to the concrete  pouring level. The existing foundation walls were built using 12 inch block with three internal cores (Chuck has dilled holes into each core). The last photo shows a section of floor edging roughly placed on the footing. The top of the edging is well above the holes in the blocks and provides a pathway across the footing to the rock bed and drain tile.

Drain Tile…Day 5

The Slettens have the drain tile installed all the way around the basement and have are busy preparing to pour the concrete floor. The first photos show the drain tile (pipe) and the trenching prior to installation. The fabric lines the trench before the the rock is added.

 

The next photo shows the completed drain tile trench as it makes its way past the water meter and new floor drain toward the East end of the basement…

 

This photo shows both ends of the drain tile pipe terminating into the sump basket located below the entrance to the crawl space. The drain tile system in the crawl space will be connected the PVC fitting beside the sump basket.

The next photo shows trenches dug into the basement that will will be filled with concrete as the floor is poured and become footings for the stairway supports.

JLM’s skid steer brings rock for the drain tile and fill for the floor around the back end of the house and right into the basement. The basement should be ready for cement later this week. The Slettens plan to pour the floor in two sections with the joint running just East of the of the basement walk-out door.

Drain tile…Day 4

The Sletten crew is busy today setting up the drain tile system beneath the basement floor as they prepare the space prior to pouring the cement slab. They have the laser out to help set the pitch of the drain tile pipe and to establish the grade height. The first photos show the trenching and drain tile. Wooden stakes all around the basement floor are set at the grade height and marked with big white X’s. The trench will be lined with fabric and the drain tile (pipes) carefully set on a bed of rock. The trench will then be filled to the top with additional rocks and “wrapped” with the fabric. The concrete  floor will be poured on top of a sheet of plastic that spans the rock filled trench. The top of the floor will be 2  1/2” above the “old” footing.

The drain tile pipes extend all the way around the perimeter of the foundation walls and are pitched to drain into the sump located below the entrance to the crawl space. The drain tile system already installed in the crawl space will empty into the same sump basket. A pump in the sump basket will send any water collected out through the wall and into the back yard through a 1  1/2” PVC pipe…

The diagram below shows the basement wall construction details and the water proofing system together. This is the kind of thing you add to a home hoping that it will never be used…but knowing it is there brings peace of mind.

  

• Wrapping the rock bed in fabric will prevent dirt from clogging the system.
• Floor edge is a “L” shaped corrugated plastic panel that allows water to flow under the concrete slab.
• The plastic sheet provides a vapor barrier and radon gas protection.
• The foam insulation has a backing that provides a vapor barrier for the basement wall.
• The 2 x 4 framing provides space for plumbing and electrical components as well as an air space.

Drain tile…Day 3

The Slettens are back to do the drain tile in the basement before they pour the cement floor. Chuck spent the day digging the trench for the rock bed where the drain tile will be installed. The hard packed clay makes for some tough digging.

The outlet for the drain tile system in the crawl space comes through the end wall and will connect to the sump basket that will be installed close to the back corner.  The basket is something like 18 inches in diameter and 2 feet deep (its visible in the background in the left hand photo above).

The Weekend Report…

The site is SLOWLY drying out after the big storm Thursday and Friday but there's still plenty of mud in the basement and the freshly excavated walk-out. The Tappe Construction folks plan to be working on the “L” Shaped House framing Monday morning (their tool box and construction fork lift are already here).

Helen and Sonja decided that they just had to tour the basement despite the water puddles and mud. They jumped in at the East end and and walked out through the walk-out door. I tried to tell them that they would have to walk through the mud to get out but they had a foolproof plan of their own…

The big rains have helped to compact the back-filling around the footings and foundation walls. The  fill has dropped at least a few inches almost everywhere and probably more like 6-8 inches  around the basement walk-out doorway. I continue to think that the rains have actually been a big help on the project…so far.

Matt Sletten removed the plastic from the garage floor Friday afternoon after one week covering the new concrete.  The new floor looks awesome.

Rough Grading and Basement floor…

I did not make it to the “L” Shaped House yesterday (it rained all day and looks like it will rain all day today as well). We got almost 2 inches of rain with this storm (so far) that also included tornados in downtown Minneapolis (KARE Link).  Surprisingly…somewhere during that time the excavators showed up and removed the basement floor. The soaking rain is second blessing because it will (again) help to settle the newly back-filled foundation walls. The panoramic photo (and the one below it) show the rough grading around the North West corner of the house a little better than pictures from the other night.

The machinery entered the house through the basement walk-out doorway. The site is a slippery, muddy mess. The clay in the soil sticks to your shoes making them into clown shoes after just a few steps.

The basement with the floor removed and the bracing for the back-filling operation in place. We took the floor out to provide complete access for the new plumbing and to facilitate installation of the drain tile waterproofing system we have opted to include. The heavy rains and resulting puddles (lakes?) make this decision seem appropriate. It will also be comforting to have a really good look at the water and sewer connections to the house.

 

The old basement floor in a pile at the top of the driveway.

The Garage Floor Footing…

The “L” Shaped House garage will have a single post between the third and fourth stalls. The post will support the center of an “I” beam that the end wall of the bonus room above the garage sits on. We poured a big footing in the garage floor to support the post. In addition to supporting the bonus room we plan to install a  jib crane on the upright post to be used for light duty lifting (200 lbs).

Jib Crane specifications (click on the picture)…