First floor framing

The framers got a lot of the floor framed today. My friend Eric and I checked it out and it amazes me that these guys are out standing on a 5” wide steel beam 11’ high in reaching down nailing in joist hangers with no support. I better check my insurance coverage :)

They expect to have the floor framed by early next week. D&S foundation was also out finishing up the last window well.

Framing starts

The framers continued work today putting down the board that attaches on top of the concrete wall and on the tops of the steel beams. They put some kind of foam material down between the board and the concrete.  They glued  the boards down to the steel beam and then attached it with some type of fastener (I need to take a closer look).  Apparently the structural engineer’s drawings scaled differently than the architect’s so the TGI’s were all a foot short.  Doug says there won’t be any charge, but they have to order new ones (the Framer- Lonnie- was responsible for ordering them.) The Internet company was also out and the Internet connection seems better.  

Steel Beams Arrive

They put in the steel beams today. I think there is one more to go. The welder just sits there and cuts them and the framers put them into place. Unfortunately the web cam was down due to Internet connectivity. It seems to be working well now. Once they have the first floor framing done they will backfill—hopefully later this week. They also need to pour the structural concrete floor in the garage, one more window well and concrete supports for the large window well. Whereas many production builders will backfill immediately, we aren’t backfilling until the concrete has had time to cure, and the added support of the floor framing is in place.

The soil engineer said the existing dirt will be fine and he will inspect the backfilling process. He said the perimeter drain wasn’t exactly as he designed. The sub contractor followed the plans from the architect, but the soil engineer had specified a layer of plastic against the wall and under the pipe. He said it will be fine, just not as he designed. Doug said 19 out of 20 houses he has built have the drain as installed at my house. No real concern, but I’ve learned that it’s not uncommon for written engineer reports or drawings to differ than the set of plans so anything relating to engineering should be double checked with the appropriate engineer.

The absolute key to avoiding any foundation problems is keeping moisture away. We will add a French drain around the back of the house to catch water from the hill above, keep good slope away from the house, and not plant anything near the house. The engineer and Doug said with these steps we should never have any problems.

Steel Beams to be Delivered

Framing will start today. Be on the lookout for a 1500 steel beam along with several smaller beams.  I spoke to the soils engineer yesterday and he said we will be fine backfilling with the site dirt as long as it is compressed and moistened properly.  I will hire the engineer to come on site to inspect the backfilling.