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View Full Version : A New House-Update #9 Long-With Pix



Karl Laustrup
01-25-2006, 3:10 PM
January 25th, 2006 [Not February as I had originally.]

Well gang, it's been a few days since my last update. That's cause nothing has been happening until today. :)

Today is put the black stuff on the outside of the foundation walls. The guys picked a nice day to do it as it's about 37 degrees and SUNNY. They were putting it on with brushes and I could tell it was going on a wee bit stiff. They were about 3/4 done when I arrived around 1 PM. They should finish with no problem.

Tomorrow is backfill day. Whoopee!!!! Supposed to be mid 40's tomorrow [Thursday]. GC was talking about probably not having enough dirt to backfill and grade from the foundation. HUH?????? Somebody please 'splain sumpin to me. How can you dig a hole and pile the dirt up. Build a wall around the hole. Then when you go to fill the outside around the wall there isn't enough dirt? :confused:

I had similar last year when I dug trenches for some drain tile through the back yard. Dug a trench about 18" deep, put crushed rock, drain tile and more crushed rock and then filled with the dirt. NOT ENOUGH DIRT!!! Where does it go? Do the dirt gremlins steal it at night? To me this is one of life's little mysteries.

Anyway, lumber is to be delivered Friday and framing is to commence Monday. Weather permitting [PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE!] of course.

Here's a couple of pics of what I saw today.

Thanks for looking.

Karl

Jim Becker
01-25-2006, 3:39 PM
Looks great, Karl. As to the backfilling...they are likely raising the grade to provide proper drainage and that might account for the need for additional material. Of course, those "dirt gremlins" could also have eaten some of it... ;)

Tyler Howell
01-25-2006, 3:54 PM
[quote=Karl Laustrup]February 25th, 2006

Did we Jump ahead while I was napping Hope they are farther ahead come Feb 25, 2006. Karl I know how stressfull those construction projects are:p
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Jeff Sudmeier
01-25-2006, 4:28 PM
Congrats Karl! I remember putting on the black stuff well! It sux!

Karl Laustrup
01-25-2006, 5:01 PM
[quote=Karl Laustrup]February 25th, 2006

Did we Jump ahead while I was napping Hope they are farther ahead come Feb 25, 2006. Karl I know how stressfull those construction projects are:p
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Thanks Tyler. And Frank with your PM. Date has been changed.

Time is going by too quick, in most respects as it is, without me accellerating it a full month. Besides that would put it awfully close to my B-Day. I can wait on that for a while. ;)

Jim, they are raising the grade about 2' up and about 8' out. The dirt at the east end [which I think is the 3rd pic] will be removed to a level of the driveway in front of the garage. This area will have a 14'x24' deck. I plan on enclosing the portion under the deck in some manner to use as storage for lawn furniture etc. My mom thinks she should park her new car under there. I told her I don't think that it will be high enough for that.

Here's a couple of pics of her new wheels. Turned 83 in October '05. It's a Chevy HHR. Fun little buggy. :) We call it the gangster mobile. :D :D

Karl

David Wilson
01-25-2006, 5:03 PM
Looking good Karl. Do you possibly have a little old lady with lots of house plants living next door?

Dennis Peacock
01-25-2006, 5:25 PM
Looking GOOD Karl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep'em movin' buddy......:D

Andy Hoyt
01-25-2006, 5:53 PM
Karl - The dirt goes to the same place where all the socks do.

Frank Chaffee
01-25-2006, 7:06 PM
Karl,
What’s that song...”Pink tennis shoes and white shoe laces”?
Wonderful to see how healthy your Mom is looking!
Frank

Jim Becker
01-25-2006, 10:21 PM
Karl - The dirt goes to the same place where all the socks do.
Oy...don't remind me. We never had that problem until these two kids came along. They are obviously in cahoots with the dirt and sock thieves! Next thing you know, my sawdust will start to disappear...err...hmm...that would be a good thing. :D
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Karl, I'm glad they are regrading. So many homes are improperly graded and it causes ALL kinds of problems...like, um...issues with basement walls when gutter water doesn't properly drain away, etc. I had to solve that issue here after we moved in. It's still not totally right, but we no longer get flooded with water coming from the gutters...only the high water table when it is, um...high.

Joe Breid
01-25-2006, 10:45 PM
Looking good Karl. It is some unbelievably warm weather that we are having for the end of January. If it was a normal year and you tried to backfill all that you would be putting in the hole would be big frozen chunks.

We are in the process of building an office building at work and the only pictures that we have with snow and cold in them are from the early part of December. It probably will get cold in another week when they start laying the stone on the outside.

Keep building!

Joe

Vaughn McMillan
01-26-2006, 1:30 AM
Looking good Karl...great progress.

...Somebody please 'splain sumpin to me. How can you dig a hole and pile the dirt up. Build a wall around the hole. Then when you go to fill the outside around the wall there isn't enough dirt? :confused: ...
Karl, depending on the type of soil, the natural soil is packed anywhere between about 60% and 80% of the potential total that is can be possibly packed. When the contractor backfills, he'll be packing the dirt at 90% to 95% of its total potential, so it'll take more dirt to fill the same hole.

To make a short story long...let's assume you dug out exactly one cubic foot of dirt from your yard (the soil in its "native state"). You weigh that cubic foot of dirt, and it's about 75 pounds. Next, you take a sample of the same soil, and pack it as tightly as possible into a 1 cubic foot mold. You weigh that cubic foot of dirt, and it's 100 pounds. That point is considered to be "100% compaction". The native state in this example would be at 75% compaction. When the contractor runs the tamper or rollers over the backfill, he'll be compacting the soil to 90% to 95% compaction...in other words he needs to pack it so it's at least 90 pounds of dirt in a cubic foot. There is likely a city/county/state code he's following that specifies the percentage of compaction required to pass inspection. Residential backfill is often about 90%, foundations are often 95%, and I've worked on road and airport projects that had 98% and 100% compaction specs.

This example is way oversimplified, and it's likely your soil is more like 125 pounds per cubic foot at 100% compaction, but the 100 pound figure makes it easier to visualize. Also, the moisture content of the soil plays a big part in being able to get the dirt packed to 95% compaction. Too wet or too dry, and you can beat it until the cows come home, and it won't be compacted enough. Different soils have different characteristics, but a good contractor and testing technician will often know within a reasonable ballpark number what your local soil should weigh when compacted, and how wet it should be to get it there. Dunno if your contractor will hire one, but testing labs can come out with a little nuclear machine that'll tell the contractor how many pounds per cubic foot the compacted soil weighs, and what its moisture content is, thus telling him if he's got it to within the required percentage of compaction. (That's assuming they have tested to get an idea what 100% should be.) OTOH, if the contractor knows his local conditions and is honest (which he sure seems to be), he should be able to eyeball the compaction and get it close enough for exterior backfill. (If 90% is the spec, 89% won't make the house cave in. ;) )

Sorry for the long post, but my dad owned the first commercial testing lab to use those little nuclear machines in New Mexico back in the 70's. I grew up around compaction testing, both in the lab and on the jobsite. I know more about dirt than Mr. Clean.

- Vaughn

Tom Drake
01-26-2006, 6:41 AM
Coming along nicely Karl.

Karl Laustrup
01-26-2006, 8:15 AM
Thanks for the esplanin of the compaction of the dirt. I did not know all that, but now I'm informed. I like being informed of stuff like that. :)

However Vaughn, I ain't believing you for a minute. ;) :D I know it's them darn dirt gremlins. :eek: I just can't figure out where they take all that dirt. :confused: :D

Karl