Since we decided to do as much of the framing as we can ourselves, the question about how to lift those heavy wall sections came into play. We decided to try out the use of our engine hoist with an extension to see if we can get some mechanical help. Thinking that we’d like to try it out on a small section of framing first, we used it very successfully on a small section of wall on the front of the house. After preassembling the wall section on the concrete pad, we were able to lift it into place using our engine hoist, positioning the wall onto the foundation bolts and then securing it with braces.
Before lifting the wall into place, we put down a bit of caulk and foam sill sealer.
Caulk appliedFoam Sill Sealer
Then, using our engine hoist, we lifted the wall section into place…
Engine Hoist with modificationsFirst wall in place
For a larger wall section, however, additional support must be made to the frame so that the top plate does not come apart due to the weight of window headers, etc.
(hmmm, do you think this is the sad voice of experience?)
With quotes as high as $14,500 to frame the house (excluding lumber and material and we already have the roof trusses orderd and paid for) we decided to frame the first floor ourselves. Depending on how it goes we are looking at using a sub-contractor to set the trusses, frame out the room above the garage and add roof sheathing. Rather than using hammer and nails we decided to purchase a framing gun. I purchased a low-end Porter and Cable 30degree framing nail gun. The old compressor I had just was not up to the task so I also purchased a 10 gal. compressor. Granted, these are costs for things I may not use often, but with the massive savings from DYI, we will be well under budget.
We spent the better part of the morning poring over different framing books again to get it right. I drafted a diagram for laying out the different types of windows and doors with measurements for all the studs, jack studs, cripple studs and sill plates. Since the types of windows are few, most of the rough openings will be similar. We are following standard convention for laying out the top and bottom plates, and marking openings and stud positions. By laying out the top and bottom plates at the same time, we will make fewer mistakes. We are using 116 5/8″ wall studs to frame a 10′ ceiling height. These arrived pre-cut and will save much time for us. All we have to do is layout the plates,cut jack and cripple studs, cut headers and nail it all together. Once we got our stuff all in one bag and actually started the layout, it went rather quickly, except for the “new” compressor which does not work automatically. When the pressure drops below the dialed setting, it is supposed to kick on and bring the pressure back up. It would not do so, so I have to take it back. It slowed our progress so we did not actually finish the first wall. The enclosed images show our progress. Once we have our equipment working, we should be able to make rapid progress.
This week we checked everyone’s prices for framing lumber and materials and evaluated services, lumber return policy and service. We selected a local company, Roswell Do it Center, to provide our lumber and framing materials. We set up a draw account to obtain contractor discount on materials and scheduled our first lumber delivery for Friday. We will frame the exterior walls first, then the interior partitions. THis way we will only have the minimum of lumber required on site. More lumber clogs up the site and the longer it sits, the more prone it is to warping and damage.
We prepared the back porch by aligning the 2×6’s from the form boards. The lumber arrived on a large truck and the driver used the fork lift to position it on our scrap wood. This way the wood will sit on a level surface, off the ground and will not sit in pooling water (like it ever rains here :-)), and it will not warp as much as sitting on the uneven ground.
Here is a panorama of he completed slab about 30 minutes before the concrete workers departed. The form boards are still in place and we were going to wait a day before pulling the forms off.The monolithic slab is completed!
Since we are doing all the prep work ourselves for the slab foundation, we also did the installation of the rebar for the foundation. We did get some help from a couple of local construction workers who worked with us for an hourly wage. That helped a great deal and made the work go much more quickly. The entire family did learn how to wire rebar and how to insert support rebar for the footers. Here are a few photos of the process:
Nearly all rebar in place...Corners bent without Cheater pipes.18" apart Rebar meets footersLaying out the rebar
This week has been a very hot and tiring week of plumbing work. After trenching the main lines for the plumbing plan (6″ wide and up to 59″ below the surface of the slab as the trenches sloped toward the septic tank) the real work could begin.
New fittings required by universal code
We began by taking the difference between the elevation of the slab and the depth of the entry pipe into the septic tank. That difference was 59″. Since the ground slopes toward the septic tank, there was a natural slope that required us to dig less deep trenches on certain parts of the foundation.
The distance from the farthest fixture to the septic tank was approximately 140 feet. Using a combination of 1/4″ slope for the 2″ pipes and 1/8″ slope for the 3″ pipes, we were able to lay the initial pipes fairly deep below the slab and then slope the drain and branch drains toward the septic tank.
Using a riding trencher ditch witch with a 6″ wide trencher, we dug the trenches. It is critical to lay out the trenching plan to avoid driving over trenches and collapsing the sides. It is also critical to use string lines and exact measurements on the form boards to insure your trenches are placed in the proper locations. We further used intersecting string lines (again with exact measurements) to mark the locations of fixtures within the foundation. Failure to locate these exactly will result in toilets placed too close or too far from walls or waste and drain pipes that do not exit the foundation in the center of a wall. This is extremely critical; measurements should be taken multiple times, string lines placed and rechecked before and after placing fixture location.
A few things we learned…
To avoid leaks, you cannot kink pipes at intersections and no pressure can be placed on a fitting. Blue glue can help with sealing minor seapage during the pressure test (apply, let dry for 2 hrs; reapply), but will not stop a leak. A leak will require you to cut out the offending fitting and replace. (Don’t ask how we know this — ).
Rejected International Code fittings... or Modern Art?
Make sure when you are building your fittings, make sure you don’t work yourself into a corner and find that you have two sections that need joining and no room to pull the lines together for the joint… leave yourself room for mating up different branches of the system by working in the best sequence to allow room to maneuver.
The good news was that, with a few changes, our rough-in plumbing inspection was a success. The local inspector came out and did the inspection with the water test yesterday. He complimented the work, but required us to make some changes on the design because we used the wrong code book. Apparently, the international standards (which we used) are not acceptable. The local inspectors use the universal standards, which required us to completely rip out the fittings for one of the bathrooms (and a couple of other individual fittings) and lay it out differently. Finding out this information in advance would have saved time and fittings…
After this final work to finish the changes, we’ll be able to cover the plumbing ditches and begin work on the rebar for the foundation. This makes us very happy.
Just a quick post to let you see how the footers looked just after digging with the Ditch Witch. Since then, they’ve been completely cleaned out and form boards are cut… another update picture to come.
We decided to tackle our own foundation. The estimates we are receiving for much of the work on the house are in most cases double the cost of doing doing it myself. The cost for labor is very high, and sub contractors are adding a percentage on top of the cost of materials. As a result I have decided to manage my own monolithic foundation pour. I will do everything except the actual pouring of concrete. I have a sub who will inspect the pre-work, make recommendations for improvements, if any, and bring a crew to mash the mud into the holes and smooth it all out.
Lacking an experience in concrete work other than to watch it done several times, I turned to literature to learn as much as I could. I found the book, Foundations and Concrete Work, published by the editors of Fine Homebuilding, to be an excellent reference and source of information which ultimately boosted my confidence in tackling the job.
The book has sections dealing with; the basics of concrete, the basics of foundations, working with rebar, concrete tools, and information on various types of foundations. The book is more geared towards the northern tier where footers, stem walls and floor joists or basements are built. There was little on the peculiarities of the monolithic pour which is prevalent in southwest residential construction. I found the basic information to be be very useful. The section on the use of rebar and how to tie the various portions together was a great help. In addition the discussions of compacting soil was helpful with building the pad. Many of the techniques discussed in the section had a bearing on how we built up the foundation pad. I would recommend this book for the novice homebuilder and give it 4 out of 5 stars.
Now that the Ditch Witch work is complete, there is quite a bit of hand work still to be done on the footers. Cleanout of the remaining loose dirt, redistribution of all the augured dirt on the pad and cutting a 45 degree bevel on the inside top of each edge of the footer require some sweat.
Here is a drawing to illustrate the footer/slab plan:
Footer/Slab Details
Photos of non-cleaned out section of the footer:
Lots of pickaxing still required...No beveled edge yet.
Photos of cleaned-out sections follow. Note the 45 degree bevel on the inside edge. Adding that bevel increases the amount of concrete on the edge of the footers and reduces the stress points where the slab and footers meet.
Cleaned out cornerNote string line -- right on.Cleaned out with beveled edge
The pad was so solid that a pickaxe was required to clean out the corners adequately. The key is to get the bottom of the footers cleaned out down to rock or virgin soil. Any non-compacted dirt in the footers can result in eventual settling and cracking of the foundation. Since the pad is already leveled, we are moving the augured dirt to the inside of the foundation to build the pad up evenly. We probably will not require any crusher fine fill, since we have enough fill dirt to build the pad up the 1″ or so needed. The form boards will be 5 1/2″ above grade, so building up the interior of the foundation another inch will still yield a 4 1/2″ thick slab. 4″ is the nominal thickness… any extra adds additional rigidity.
We will be using a long, straight board to pull the dirt on the slab level by putting a lip on the board and dragging along the form boards to achieve a level surface. We plan to sink several pieces of vertical rebar into the slab with the tops level with the form board. These will serve as a pivot point on the interior of the slab for anchoring the long board when pulling the dirt level on the slab. Photos to follow when we get to that point.
