Cmo's Blog

House Build - Getting out of the ground This is my story of the trials and tribulations of building a new home from start to finish, acting as a general contractor and doing as much work as possible to minimize costs while still creating a well built house.  I have one rule, do it right, nothing "hokie".  That means time, money and lots of research. There are 2 slabs in this foundation.  Both will be poured at the same time.  Some of the grade beams will be poured at the same time as the grade beams. 6/18/20 Slab works begin Trenches dug for remaining grade beams in the middle A vapor barrier (yellow) put down between layers of sand Same on lower pad Steel "mat" layed down.  #5 rebars 12" on center Starting the work on the wooden forms Cleaning up Ready for concrete (steel rebar mat, vapor barrier and wooden forms) Filling up the grade beams first and vibrating them (not shown) before the slabs Video of workers in action (so...

House Build - Getting out of the ground This is my story of the trials and tribulations of building a new home from start to finish, acting as a general contractor and doing as much work as possible to minimize costs while still creating a well built house.  I have one rule, do it right, nothing "hokie".  That means time, money and lots of research. The next big step is to build out the retaining walls.  This project has two slabs that are separated by an 11' retaining wall.  That wall is 12" CMU block that reduces to 8" block a few course up.  These blocks are hollow and get filled with concrete.  They are essentially a form for the center concrete.  They have rebar added both vertically and horizontally. Building the walls The first few courses of the main retaining wall, built on the grade beams, which are on top of the caissons. Another view, notice it switches from 12" block to 8" block. That's based on the engineering. All...

House Build - Getting out of the ground This is my story of the trials and tribulations of building a new home from start to finish, acting as a general contractor and doing as much work as possible to minimize costs while still creating a well built house.  I have one rule, do it right, nothing "hokie".  That means time, money and lots of research. The next big step is to get the footing or grade beams installed.  A grade beam is a concrete beam poured in the dirt that supports the house between the caissons. They look like footings but are on top of the caissons so they are called grade beams as they span between each caisson. 4/15/20 Finally starting the grade beams  Initial trenching for the steps that tie the lower foundation to the upper foundation Intial grade beam trenching Steel delivery for grade beams Steps forming.  Also notice the caisson bars are bent over to fit into the grade beams Top view of steps Grade be...