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Started a Custom Today

53K views 272 replies 53 participants last post by  BuiltByMAC 
#1 ·
Work has been slow this year, but we signed up a custom last week, and set up footings today. We've got a little work ahead of us so we hired Kyle back :thumbup:

It has been super soggy here the last week or so and today we got a nice break. Sunshine all day and made good time on the footing.

We started forming around 9am (after finding all the foundation gear and getting to the jobsite) and left at about 2:30 with it ready for inspection. Just 2 of us until the last hour then my brother showed up and tied some bar.

We are scheduled to pour at 1pm tomorrow if we pass inspection. Pictures are here http://picasaweb.google.com/TimothyUhler/Lot25Gleneagle#

We've built this house one time before http://picasaweb.google.com/TimothyUhler/Lot46Gleneagle# but didn't build the foundation the first time.

I'm super excited to frame something. I also met with the ILevel rep yesterday and they want us to try their new Shear Brace http://www.ilevel.com/walls/w_Shear-Brace.aspx on either side of the garage and are giving us the 2 walls :thumbsup: to try out.

Even though it is not the greatest time of the year here to be framing, I'm very excited about it. I think we may also use the Zip System again. After a very rough number crunch it is close to a wash for materials for using the roof and walls. We were about $400 more expensive using Zip on the last one, but I haven't factored in the roofers price, nor have I figured my labor hours yet. So we'll see.




More pictures to follow in the coming weeks :clap:
 
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#6 ·
What that is is the forms offsetting at the laps. Although I should check it, I didn't level that side and didn't think to check Kyle's work.

The footings are raised off the dirt to give it a depth at the min 8". We have the grade sloped and put a pipe under the footing at the lowest point so that if the crawlspace gets water in it, it'll drain and not just sit there.

I cropped the picture to show the footing. I took it before it was brought up to grade. The form isn't totally nailed together until after it is brought up. I put a stake next to the single nail in the overlap, it acts like a pivot. After the forms are levelled, then the lap is nailed tight.

If I get a chance I'll get a better picture tomorrow.
 

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#7 ·
The footings are raised off the dirt to give it a depth at the min 8". We have the grade sloped and put a pipe under the footing at the lowest point so that if the crawlspace gets water in it, it'll drain and not just sit there.

I always wondered why,in the wettest state,they use wood floor joists on the first floor and don't pour slabs like in the south.Soil conditions?Too much clay?
After I helped my sister put up her home in Lacey,Wa.and she had a flooded crawlspace problem.
Came to find out someone ran the gutters so they drained into the crawl space.
 
#8 ·
I don't think I'd want to trust anyone to prep the concrete work correctly on a slab on grade. Seems here that moisture could come through the floor.

If the soil is so bad that a crawl will flood, then a curtain drain will be installed around it. But I've not heard of problems like that in this area specifically.
 
#14 ·
It isn't that hard. It is more difficult on stepped lots and basements. I'll hopefully get shots forming the walls tomorrow, depending on the rain. But get your footing square, or pretty close, then snap your lines for the walls as square and parallel as you would framing, then just plumb the corners and brace long runs if it needs it and that's it.

The hardest work is stripping the forms :no: That is not always (ever?) fun.

I'll try and get good enough pictures that you can figure out the process.
 
#15 ·
Today did not seem to start out well. Someone hit a power pole last night so we lost power at midnight and same for the develpment we are working it. It is just down the road form me :thumbsup:

So I kept waking up thinking it was time to get up. Plus it was raining very hard last night and windy. Today was supposed to be the same.

I got to the job at 8 and the wind started blowing the clouds away. 2 hours later we started forming the walls and the sun came out :thumbup::thumbup:

Turned out to be a great day. The forecasts didn't prove true where we were at for 3 days straight.

Foundation formed and we are ready for inspection and went home a little before 3.





http://picasaweb.google.com/TimothyUhler/Lot25Gleneagle#5403736171897089362
 
#16 ·
You guys need to relax about the footing depth and soil conditions. I used to live close to where Tim lives and this is absolutely the norm there. Actually it looks like he has some sand down which is a luxury compared to what I had which was what we called walking in baby ****.

Just like Tim said, there is no frost line. Pretty much the whole west coast has no frost line.

Soil conditions in the Pacific NW are clay. You dig down and anywhere from 2' to 8', you hit hardpan which is like hitting ledge. You cannot move it, but it still gets slick when it rains.

Place a piece of plywood on a juicy muddy spot for a week and it will be quite solid when you take it up.

We backfilled with the excavation many times. What a mess if it rained alot. You'd walk along and not have a clue that a sinkhole was right there.

And garage slabs on compacted backfill.

There was hardly any type of gravel pit what you think of. They had pits, but it was more for crushed stone, blasting into the cascade mountains, etc. Not much plain ol' gravel you dig and find.

Tim, that foundation looks nice. We used to use those crappy cardboard boxes from the concrete company. Some of the worst working conditions I've been in working a hole in the winter. What misery. Mud. Rain. Get me to first floor ply.
 
#17 ·
Tim, what you're doing with the picture documentation of your builds is pretty unique, from what I've seen after years of searching the internet for information on residential construction. I'm real surprised I hadn't already ran across your image galleries in google searches. Really cool stuff, though ... I've picked up a lot of time-savers and tricks just browsing through your galleries.

The pictures of the forms details the process really well. I do have one question, though: Is there a releasing agent that you have to put on the forms before you pour, or will they pop off the concrete pretty easily?

Thanks for sharing.
 
#18 ·
Framerman,

When I was first working on the jobsite summers and after school it was my job to hold the cardboard pier boxes. We also tailgated almost every foundation, so no pump truck. Those days are gone:rolleyes: for the most part.

I'd be holding the box and then just enough concrete was releaseed down the shoot, but I still was on the receiving end of a lot of splatter. Now we use the plastic boxes. We don't really do many foundations though anymore. This will be the third this year, and we did 4 last year. But before that we hadn't done any since fall 2003 where we did about 9 of the including 2 basements.

In the old days, all the carps that worked for Pioneer could do concrete work including flatwork. Dave, my mentor, was pretty good at exposed aggregate too. So I learned to do most of that stuff, but I can't do flatwork.

I could, but its better to let the professionals


Plumbbobsquarepants,

Great name by the way :)

When I started writing for JLC back in 2003, David Frane (editor) came out to visit and take pictures of fiber cement for a siding article we were working on. He told me that number 1, take lots of pictures. They get a lot of good article ideas, but often with few to no photos.

I bought a Canon Digital Rebel and kept it onsite ever since. That camera died in summer 2007. I sent it in because the mirror fell off in the body. Canon said it was significant sand damage. That means a lot of sawdust and dirt :eek: Now I use a Rebel XT and you can find those for $200 off ebay give or take.

What I like to do is if there is a question on the forums that seems to come up every so often, I'll plan to take pictures of the sequence the next time we do that. Sometimes that will become an article, sometimes not.

Now however, the point and shoot cameras are very good and small. I know Mike Sloggatt shot pictures for his article on trimming an eyebrow roof with a p&s and got the cover.

If you keep it in your bags or shirt pocket, you can take pictures with no loss in production. The photo album I'm doing on this job, our customers are following. They get nervous and for them to be able to see the process makes them feel a lot better, so we get more than one benefit from the pictures.
 
#19 ·
Hey Tim, Thanks on the name .. I believe you're the first to figure it out here. :thumbup:

I shoot with Canon's too. They're fine cameras. The digital Rebel's can take some abuse. Four years is a long life for a camera that is at jobsites as much as yours is. To get one that'll keep out the dust completely, you'd have to step up to a 5D MKII and a sealed L series lens. I just bought that camera a few weeks ago, and it's an awesome camera, but it'd be a pretty big investment just to take out to jobsites. Like you mentioned, point and shoot cameras are good enough nowadays ... and the cost isn't so high that it'd break the bank if you wear out one every year or two. The resolution and image quality on most of the current Canon and Nikon P&S cameras is more than enough ... even for getting images bigger than needed for the cover of JLC. Just be sure you're shooting in super fine or large resolution all the time just in case they do pick one of your images for a cover :thumbsup:
 
#22 ·
Nice DOF in that first pic, Tim. I didn't look at the EXIF info on it ... did you take that one with the 1.4 prime? Look's sharp as a tack. Digging the sunset/sunrise image, too. Are you shooting RAW or jpegs?

I've shot with a 20d and 10d up until I got my 5d II. I shoot mostly in studio ... Here's a link to some of the promo shots I've done in the past year in prep. for opening up an evening and weekend studio. They're all taken with the 20d. The simpleviewer gallery is right out of LR ...

http://www.jasonericphotography.com
 
#23 ·
Both pictures were shot with the 1.4 I'm really digging the bokeh with that lens and the depth of field. I started shooting RAW about a month ago and what a difference!

Data for the first picture Model: Canon EOS 40D
ISO: 100
Exposure: 1/200 sec
Aperture: 2.8
Focal Length: 30mm

2nd picture was 1/125 ISO200 F9.0

I shot this picture a few weeks back, just a couple of days after I got the lens. This was cropped and shot ISO 100 F2.2




I shot the picture below with the wide angle at 10mm.

Nice website and very cool shots. I'm very new to this but really enjoying it.

Same lens below

 

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#25 · (Edited)
Hey Tim,
I know how you feel! I'm building a deck in Westport WA right now buckets of rain and blown around the deck all day. Tomorrow is suppose to be just as bad. Just hope we keep power out their. I noticed you said you didn't price in your roofing price yet would love to bid it for you if you don't have a roofer yet:biggrin: Just finished a high end roof you can check out from my other posts if ya want. Good looking build by the way, looks like a fun one I'm jealous. I'm just getting small jobs right now.
 
#26 ·
These are a few of mine that I shot in August of this year in and around Mt. Rainier.
I was there around early winter till late spring in the early 90's and all I saw was clouds and rain
Digital Cameras were on the way in.
Never got to see Rainier in the skyline in 4 months.
 

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#31 ·
Sweet pics Tim. I have a very nice Sony dSLR, but have not gone past the stock lens. I really need to get a fast one since I take many shots of my daughters dance shows and I can't seem to get decent ones yet. Outside pics are great.

This is our hayfield last spring. Stitched together I believe it was 6 pictures.

 
#34 ·
Sweet pics Tim. I have a very nice Sony dSLR, but have not gone past the stock lens. I really need to get a fast one since I take many shots of my daughters dance shows and I can't seem to get decent ones yet. Outside pics are great.

This is our hayfield last spring. Stitched together I believe it was 6 pictures.

That is ART! I'd have that blown up and hung on a wall!.
 
#35 ·
#36 ·
#37 ·
I too have been quietly keeping an eye on you.

It is interesting how my mind will wonder during the day and I think about all the guys here and what they are up to. All the different types of work and different weather conditions, all spread out across the land doing our thing.

Then I have to get my head out of the stars and get back to work.


Please keep posting
 
#40 ·
Started framing today. I think we had a decent day and we didn't get any precipitation until about 1:30-2pm. I hope to have the joists rolled by 9 tomorrow morning and get the floor sheathed and hopefully have dry enough weather to snap lines.

We might get to some wall framing tomorrow, but I want to get everything organized before we do any framing. We've got some tall walls that I want to get up first and I'm thinking about framing the back wall as a rakewall. We'll see, but I want to.

It is the same house as the one below, so it'll be that 18' wall + gable. I might chicken out though. :no:










http://picasaweb.google.com/TimothyUhler/Lot25Gleneagle#5407444793017749170
 
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