Foundation - Pumped not Poured

I have been a little behind the times posting, it's been a crazy few days, a long weekend followed by a crazy few days.  So I will be posting a few posts to catch up over the next day or two.

Let's travel back to Wednesday of last week, the frame for the foundation walls was put up and I wanted to get an idea of what the timing of the pouring of the concrete so on Thursday morning I made a call over to the PM, Bob, to ask when the walls would be poured.  I hoped to be able to get out to the site while the pour was occurring to get some video of it, but when I called over Bob let me know the concrete pump was already there and the foundation would be done soon.  I never heard of a concrete pump, so I asked about it.  Bob explained that since the walls were so tall and the back of the house so far off the street that they wouldn't actually be pouring it but rather pumping it in.

Here is a video of concrete pump at work on foundation walls.

Since concrete is in liquid form before drying they are able to use a pump to push it through a long tube to where ever it is needed.  Seems like I get to learn as we move through the process.  The pump truck has a reciever bin that the concrete trucks pull up to and pour the concrete into, which is then pumped out and into the foundation.

After we discussed the pumping not pouring of the foundation walls, we discussed the upcoming schedule.  The weather turned very nice into the upper 70s so the foundation would only need a day to dry enough to remove the frames, where as the surrounding houses required 48 hours due to the 40 and 50's weather.  Due to the fact that only one day was necessary for the concrete to dry the frames would be removed on Friday.  That would be followed on Monday with the waterproofing, then an inspection on Tuesday, and finally on Wednesday the ground would be backfilled around the foundation walls.

A Frame of the Foundation

Another nice day and more progress this time much more visible and recognizable.  I couldn't stay away and had to swing by the lot to see what went on today.  The excitement keeps building as I see the pieces of the puzzle come together, I will need to temper myself a little or I will be driving by everyday.  Good thing it's only about 10 minutes away from our current house. By the time I make it over after work the site is clear from the days activities, so I don't see the work as it's happening, just the end result of a day's work.

As I turn up the block and drive towards the lot, the pile of dirt moved to the front of the lot and a large red dumpster obstruct the view into where the foundation work is going on which adds to the excitement even more.  The wonder of what I'll see as I pass by and look around the corner of the objects blocking my view and finally get that glimpse.  Today was not a disappointment, a very noticeable difference could be seen, take a look at my view...

As you can see they completed or have pretty much completed the framing out of the foundation walls in preparation for the pour.  Amazingly, only a week ago today this was just a dirt lot, and now we preparing the foundation for our home and the many years of enjoyment it will bring us.  I am hoping to have a chance to be at the site when they actually pour the foundation so I can see it really come together, and get some video of it as it happens.  I will have to give Bob a call in he morning and see if he has an idea of the timing, maybe I can make it over.

You can see in the picture above the remnants of that large rock pile that was there yesterday, and some unsettled earth around it.  I was able to get a view from the other side of the house from the curb , providing a little different perspective, as well a a look at how high the foundation will be once completed.  I only had my cell phone camera today so I wasn't able to zoom in for more close ups, I work on making sure to bring it with me for future trips.

A Welcome to the Neighborhood

After a rainy Monday to start the week the weather cleared up early afternoon on Tuesday.  I decided to stop by the site to get a look.  There was limited progress, a pile of rocks had been delivered and you could see the receipt for the stone laying in the middle of the pile.  You can't blame the crew for the weather and they are still ahead of schedule, so no big deal.  The process has a whole lot of moving pieces as the lot looks much different than when we first saw it.

That's quite a bit of stone, I can only assume it will be used as a base for the foundation to fill in the dirt in the center of the footing, I will see if I can find out next time I talk to Bob.

Even though there was not a whole lot of progress to see, I did get to meet the owners of the house across the street from our lot.  They were very friendly, we talked for a little more than a half hour, about the neighborhood, their experience with the build, energy costs, and some friendly chatter.

I was very happy to hear that their experience with the build was great, and Bob, who was their PM was very helpful and knowledgeable throughout the process.  Bob's reputation continues to grow.  He received  rave reviews from our Sales Rep, Jackie as well.  It seems the people are what makes the whole process go smooth, and so far we have been lucky on the sales and build side as Jackie and Bob have been solid.

The other great thing to hear was the Energy Star efficiency on the house is the real deal.  You hear the sales side and high level information in the preconstruction meeting but to hear it from a consumer it really hits home.  When my wife and I started looking at larger houses, I always wondered how much more we would be paying for heating and cooling, but based on my conversation we may not have to worry too much.

The neighbors have gone above and beyond by taking some pictures of the process which will be fantastic as they will be able to catch some things that I might miss.  I thought it was wonderful of them to do that and I can't wait to see what they have captured.  I should have left them my email so they could send them over, guess I need to add to remember for next time.

Great neighbors make the neighborhood, so I am happy to have met them!

Footing

Below the foundation the first building blocks from which the foundation will sit is the footing providing a stable platform from which the house will sit and help reduce the amount of settlement the house will experience over time.  I was unaware of this prior to starting this whole building experience, but found this to be an key to a strong foundation.  On Friday the footing for our Ryan Homes Florence model home received approval and was poured.

Florence Footing

Your looking at the front door and living room area in the immediate foreground.  Behind it will be the powder room and family room. In the back right you can see the morning room jetting out the back of the house.  The kitchen area is hidden by the area here in the front right which will be the garage.

Next up is the house foundation, which Bob (PM) said should be starting up early next week.  We are still ahead of schedule so things are going good on the construction side.

A "Hole" lot of difference a Day Makes

About two o'clock this afternoon, I recieved a call on my cell phone from a number which I didn't recognize, I often don't answer calls like that, but today I felt lucky and decided to answer.  It turned out to be Bob the PM from Ryan Homes, calling with some information.  He informed me the permit to build from the town had come through yesterday.  I was shocked as he had said it could take up to two weeks when we had met just the other day.  "Very exciting news," I replied and as I began to ask the next logical question, "When will we be getting started," he had already begun his next sentence, " and the hole is dug for the foundation."  Now I was really shocked, what we thought was going to be another couple week wait had turned into a one day wait.

Bob let me know they would be in tommorow to frame out the footing to pour in the concrete, any with any luck they would have that inspected by Friday morning.  If the inspection occurs and passes it would allow for the foundation to be poured on Friday afternoon.  If not then we could expect the footing to be poured on Monday, the day which we were originally scheduled to start digging.  We are starting out ahead of schedule.

After work I decided to take a ride over to the site a get a look at the hole in the ground.  Here is how it looks.

One Big Hole in the Ground

There is some pitch from the front to the back of the property, which can be seen in the picture above  by looking at the back of the hole and seeing it is not being that deep, maybe two to three feet maximum. This makes sense based on Bob telling us there would be a 6 foot difference between first floor and ground where morning room door will be situated.

Before leaving I wanted to take a picture to compare the lot when we first saw it to now on the same angle and it's already looking different, as you can see below we are looking at a pile of dirt, who would of thought moving some dirt would signify such a significant step in one's life.

Dirt Pile

Quick site visit update

As I mentioned in the pre-construction meeting post, we took a ride past the lot to get a look on how the neighborhood is shaping up and we were floored how quickly our future neighbor's house has taken shape.  It had been two to three weeks since our last visit in which the foundation was in but nothing else besides a pile of wood out front.  This time the house was fully framed, windows in and sided.

Wow Ryan Homes worked fast on our future neighbors.  Our lot is the one in the right side of the picture, it has been leveled out and some stakes have been placed, so there was some progress.

We hope our house takes shape as quickly as this one!

Waiting on a permit

So we are all set to start, but the previous start date provided Monday April 7, may not actually be the start date as we are waiting for the permit from the township.  Hoping that comes in tomorrow and they are able to get started this week, a little early.  Probably wishful thinking, but why not the excitement keeps building but it's time to start digging.