Done with the Foundation!

 This was the weekend I was determined to finish the foundation. I had less than 60 blocks to complete it. But...weather again. Saturday looked like my only day to get out there. But first I had to wait for it to warm up. Once it did I was out and going at it. And once again, I laid 47 blocks. That seems to be my average as I think I've reported that several times before. 

I was able to finish the back wall, and nearly all of the long side wall though. But by the time I cleaned up for the night, it was well past dark. Sunday was blustery cold with no chance to finish. Back to work on Monday, but only for a day. The kids Spring Break was this week and I would be staying home Tuesday and Wednesday with them. That gave me two more days, and as long as I had just one hour (weather be damned!) over those two days, I'd be done. I figured out I had 13 blocks left. And get this...of the 23 bags of concrete I had delivered I was done to...ONE. I had been averaging around 13-15, so I was hoping it would be enough. If it wasn't, I would make an immediate trip out for one bag. Yes I would. 

So on Tuesday I got out there, mixed up my last bag of concrete, set up the laser level again and went at it. It went smoothly while finishing the long wall, until I realized I had forgot to leave a space for the vent! No big deal, I'm just glad I realized it before it had set up and hardened. Wrapped around to the front wall and was done in no time. 

It turned out great. Everything came together great, perfectly level and absolutely square. I ran the laser level around the entire perimeter after I was done (just for fun) and got solid tones everywhere I put it. That's what a auto-leveling rotating laser level, a 4' level, a 2' level and a torpedo level will get you...if used correctly! And, the foundation is at the exact right height so that once the sill plate, joists and subfloor go down, it will be exactly even with the existing floor. This was critical as there will be a hallway and bedroom entrances from the old to new living spaces. The floor and ceiling (and roof too) must to be perfectly even with each other.

I must say, I'm glad it's over but I will actually miss it a bit. I fell into a groove and while still working very slow compared to professionals, I could keep a steady pace and work consistently. That is, until another batch of concrete had to be mixed up. And that I will not miss!

60 blocks this weekend, 297 total, 0 to go...

That felt good to write. Now, on to setting the anchor bolts and sill plates. So more concrete mixing is still in my immediate future, great! But, off for a little Spring Break vacation to Corolla, NC. And also time to spend a couple of weekends and get the boat ready for the season. 

One other little note to mention. In this picture of a mason line block I used on parts of the foundation, shows an old wooden one. This I got from my Dad. I don't know for sure, but I'd bet he used these to build his own garage, back in like 1980 or so. Now how cool is that? 

So Close...

So now that the corners are done, all I had to do was fill in between them. One obstacle was trying to figure out where to place the crawl space entry. I knew which wall it was going on; didn't want it on the front facing wall obviously, and the back wall will eventually be covered by a deck. But where to place it on the side? In the center, or towards one end? After much deliberation, we decided to put it a bit closer to the front from center. This way, there would be room for an air conditioner or heat pump past it, further towards the back of the house and away from normal view. See how what seem like simple decisions become complex? Not really complex, but they need to be thought through carefully. No turning back now. 



The other crawl space issue was the height and width of the opening. I purchased a concrete steel-reinforced lintel block to go over the opening. But I began to wonder if I really needed it. All of the crawl space openings I had seen recently did not have one; the sill plate went right overhead. But of course their foundation or floor setup was different than mine, so no obvious answer. I asked online and received some really good information. Forget the lintel block, but add another 2x to rim board to act like a header. Like any other header over a window or door in a wood-framed house. Simple enough! Then the joists would hang by joist hangers. 

Just to confirm we called the local building inspector. Explaining our solution and he quickly agreed. Maybe this was the norm....but not being contractors we don't know. The result of this is that I will have 8" more headroom that with the lintel block. And when the opening will be 24" tall to begin with, 32" is a huge difference. The width will be 32" which with the 32" height, seems plenty big. I set up a string line over top the blocks to act like a sill plate and crawled through...no problem!


So anyway, I had a three day weekend but the weather didn't cooperate on day 1. But Saturday and Sunday were just over 50F which is minimum to mix concrete as I have found through trial and error. 

I had to wait awhile for it to warm up in the morning and could finally start around noon. On Saturday I laid 44 blocks. On Sunday I had to wait longer and then had other plans later in the evening. 21 more blocks down. 

I just need ONE more good day to finish this up! But wait, next decision is where to place the vents!

65 blocks today, 237 total, 60 to go...

Corners Finished!

Once again I saw the weather forecast wasn't going to be ideal for the weekend. Saturday looked like a wash with rain and cold, while Sunday looked better. And of course, Monday even better yet. So I decided to take off a day of work in order to make some progress on this foundation. 

I got started Sunday afternoon once the weather warmed up enough. I worked most of the day and made good progress, getting up to the fifth course on all four corners. Once I set that top block on the corner and get it perfect, I don't want to touch it. I know if I go ahead and add another block next to it, I'll knock it out of position. So it's been my method to prioritize getting a new single course block on all of the corners, and then with what time remains in the day, filling in between. 

I also need to mention that I had some great help Sunday, for the first time. Both of my kids came out and helped me out. Chelsea was able to carry the concrete blocks around and lay them around the perimeter, just where I needed them. She made sure to point out to me that she moved 32 blocks! And she did indeed. Olivia had a hard time picking up the blocks so instead she helped me keep the mortar stirred up, adding a little water as needed to keep it just right. I sure was able to keep right at the task at hand with the help I had. 

29 blocks today, 122 total, 175 to go...

Monday was a really nice day; it was a good decision to stay home and work. After taking the kids to school (hey, we get to sleep in another half hour!) and doing other odds and ends while waiting for the temperature to climb, I started off on putting down the 6th and final course of blocks. For the 4th, 5th and 6th course corners, I've been getting out the laser level and using it to make sure they all are perfectly at the right height. And by doing so I've noticed that even though my string lines are about as tight as I can pull them, there is still some droop to them. Can't be trusted! They are still very useful to finding my corner marks and parallel lines, but I'm using the laser level for the height on the last couple of courses. 

I got the 6th course blocks and then keep on moving. I finished up the corners in the front of the house and then stayed right there and started filling in. Before dark arrived I was able to have 5 courses complete of an entire wall section. I getting the hang of this. And with the help yesterday, I had most of the blocks right where I needed them. This is starting to look like something! Though I need to brush off all that dried mud on the blocks... Actually, I'm thinking about painting the interior of the crawl space walls with white paint. I think that will lighten it up a bit whenever I need to crawl in there in the future. It would be easy to do now, as there's no way I would do it once the floor is in place.

Still have a long ways to go, but today I laid the most I had ever done, 50 blocks. I can really start cruising along now that the corners are complete. 

50 blocks today, 172 total, 125 to go...

Too Cold

I've been inside for a few hours now hanging out by the fireplace. I'm actually finally starting to feel warm. I think the weather hit the high of 43F here today for all of five minutes. I really wanted to make some more progress, so decided to go for it and do a little more work. 

But it was just too cold, and I worried about the concrete setting up. But I was able to add another course to all of the corners. Up 4 now, 2 to go. And I'm dead set on the mark at 16" below the finished height. I put down another 13 block using one bag of concrete (which is what QuikRete, the maker of the mortar I'm using actually estimates you'll use per bag). Then I gave up.

We're supposed to get below freezing tonight, so I covered all of my recent work in a couple layers of old blankets. That should keep things warm enough to set up overnight. 

With an average temperature here of 51F now, I'm done with this. If it's not going to be warm on the weekends, I guess I'll have to take another day off of work on a nice day if I want to make some progress. And I'll really like to get this done this month so I can get it backfilled, cleaned up and seeded for spring.

I was able to seed and straw the front area where the porch will go. Instead of using tarps to keep the four foundation holes clean where the porch columns will go (which wasn't doing a very good job anyway), I bought a sheet of plywood and cut it up to make four 2'x2' boxes. I cleaned the mud and dirt out of the holes and laid the box inside. That should keep the dirt out now and I won't have to worry about them any longer. And since this area is all at the finished grade, I can go ahead and get some grass planted, and at least make this side of the house look decent. Plus once we do to work on the porch, it won't be a muddy mess. 

13 blocks today, 93 total, 204 to go...

Slow Progress, Cold Weather

So now that I have that first course down, I don't really need to worry about rain too much. It doesn't matter if water gets into the excavated trench, caves parts of it in, and turns it all into a layer of mud. So I figured my progress would speed up. Nope. It seems that ever since we broke ground, I can't catch a break when it comes to the weather. Now it's the temperature. 

In order to mix concrete and have it set up well, I'd really like it to be 50 degrees during the day and above-freezing through the night. But other than that first day I started, we haven't hit that mark on the weekend, not even close. Sure there were a few days during the week, but...my real job gets in the way. So everything has been quiet for the last couple of weeks.

Today the weather was marginal, with a high of 48. I was tired of just staring at the place so went for it. I used hot water from the house to add to my concrete mix. I concentrated on adding another course of block in the corners, as that's the next "hard part" of the job. Once all six courses of all corners are set and at the right level, all I'll have to do is fill in between and then the job will begin to move along. I promise. 

After three courses, all of my corners are not right on with where they need to be...24" from the top. There are still a couple of high spots within the span, but those should wash out as I progress higher. 

I've been using my story pole and the string lines to set the block to this point. I think for the 4th, 5th and 6th courses I'll get out the laser level I use it to verify that everything is coming up where they should. It only takes a minute to setup and is good insurance against potential sagging string lines that could cause the foundation to be just a bit off. And we don't want that!

Ok, so today I set 26 blocks, 80 total, 217 to go...