I think it's in the 4-6000 sqft range but there are many projects during the year, so I can't say with certainty.
I am told he sees foundations that routinely are off several inches from true level.
Not sure.
I think I shouldn't have mentioned this specific application because it's kind of derailed the conversation. My larger interest was in coming up with a cheap/effective way to measure cut length on a chop saw while standing only at the saw itself.
How warm is it inside? Is is a gas furnace with the pilot light burning? Sometimes that's enough to trip the thermal switch to turn the blower on. If so, turn the pilot off and relight it in the fall.
I keep wondering where's the GC or foreman to ensure the forms are level _before_ the pour (or more usefully after layout) and who the end customer is who's willing to ante up for inferior work routinely?
It's pretty rural here and there's no such thing as not expecting quality workmanship, even on footings for barns, tool or hay sheds, or the like; what more actual framed construction.
Makes no sense to me either to just have this as a routine problem; how much does it take to run a level and build forms between points, anyways???
Like once if asked to frame in a homeowner self-contracted place once, well, ok, but routinely for a large volume production builder???? No way that makes any sense at all no matter where it is.
...
Call in the pumper people and lift it into position...no need to trim studs!!! :)
Remember that Tim's in Alaska (unless he's moved). "Rural" to him may mean "accessible only by helicopter".
The other question is whether this is a permafrost issue. Was it level when poured but not level the next summer when it became possible to resume work?
I can't draw up step by step instructions for the guy! :-P
I have to assume this professional framer would know to use ground-contact PT wood and/or use a sill seal under the wood sill plate.
Only thing I saw him mention made reference to somewhere in MT on this and the guy is supposedly doing this by the boku-full, not just onesy-twosies which doesn't sound _too_ remote as far as having to have supplies and all...
Well, if that's the problem there's no point in even worrying about it; if the footings aren't below the heave line trimming studs to make the walltops level to within 1/16" now will have no bearing on what it is next week even...
are you the assigner of blame
if that too is out of your control you may want a plan to extricate yourself from who ever has control
later on someone will look for the one to blame
nothing may come of it except a name will stick to the shoddy work
In parts of Alaska, going "below the heave line" means digging down a quarter mile or more.
True, but there are other techniques than simple footings if going there and nothing OP's said indicates any such conditions exist here...afaik MT doesn't have permafrost. :)
All I'm saying if your hypothesis were even remotely the cause, then there's no reason whatsoever to be worrying about 1/16" precision on a stud height to try to make a one-time correction.
Hello, this is Pumper Inc., how may I help you?
Heya, this is Fred The Framer, I need a foundation pumped up a couple inches.
Where is it?
Well, you fly about 6 hours inland. Then you drive over a "road" built 60 years ago with absolutely no maintenance - bring an extra couple tires, cuz you'll need them. Then, you go down a 30 degree pitch with a muddy bottom, cross a small river ... you can miss us. We're the only site in the area, believe it or not.
Click ...
ing a 4000
And what about any of those conditions caused the original foundation to be uneven? There would be no reason to call Pumper, Inc. if the job was done right in the first place. Pumper, Inc., just like cutting studs of different lengths, is just another way of working around around the origina l problem.
May we now speculate that it is not possible to get quality foundation crew s to come to the site that you described, therefore "you get what you get"? I s that the bottom line issue?
It sounds like you got a framer who cares, but what about roofers? Electricians? Plumbers? Are quality trades available for all other aspects of the build? Are foundations the only part of the build that no one knows how (or is willing) to do correctly?
In remote areas, "correctly" often comes down to "who you can get". I know this is incomprehensible to city folk or even rural folk not far from cities, but it is very much the case. An acquaintance of mine wanted to do some remodeling in rural Wisconsin some years ago - hardly Montana, Wyoming, Alaska, or the Yukon - and he went through all kind of backflips finding someone who: A) Knew what they were doing, B) Was available, and C) Showed up.
Whoosh!!! Somehow I think you missed the smiley there...
I still don't see how any of that would/should have prevented the construction of the forming being verified to be at least approximately level _before_ the pour.
Surely there's _somebody_ in charge; this can't be a cheap build in those conditions.
What's the end purchaser think when writing the checks or is the plan to just hide such issues? And yes, I know you're just the messenger here and all...
If it's on permafrost the walls will NOT extend to a concrete foundation - air clearance is usually required to keep from thawing the permafrost under the building.
Slurried piles are "the standard". Driven piles are also sometimes used. Occaisionally even "shallow piles" - for small projects where limited lifespans are satisfactory.
Sometimes the piles are even "refrigerated" to maintain the frost (avoid thawing).
Poured foundations???????
Nope.
Anybody with half a brain "can do it right". It's not rocket science.
On 3/18/2018 2:45 PM, Clare Snyder wrote: ...
We all know there a many with far less than the required half who still try...and somehow manage to stay in business, besides... :(
Yes not that difficult , take them to the local mill or order the timber in pre cut .
Well - someone did get the dry Portland cement or the concrete mix into the site despite all those obstacles...
I find it interesting that the foundation problems were discovered only after the pour.
This sounds like a DIY job - just how difficult can it be to pour a foundation? To someone who has never done it, or only poured small slabs it doesn't seem that difficult, just hard grunt work. However, to do it right, and precise, is a different story. A sting level works OK for an 8 x 10 slab but is a poor tool for a 60 x 80 slab.
A question -- If the foundation is/was acceptable being off plumb why not the rest of the building? Why get picky now? If the owner accepted the shoddy foundation, 3 or more inches off level, because it was the best he could get why wouldn't he accept the skewed framing as the best he could get?
This is beginning to sound like a Trolling Thread.
You're assuming that there was budget to do it right.
Read the OP and then the subsequent "explanation" as to why the foundation is not level: extremely remote location. It doesn't sound like there is a "local mill" and it sounds like they don't know what the foundation is like until they get there. That's why I said "out in the field".
Even in the city, if the framer doesn't know that the foundation isn't level until (s)he shows up on site to start framing, ordering "pre-cut" re-sawn sill plates is going to introduce some serious delays. Toss in the "remote location" factor with no local mill and you might have a crew camping out in the wilderness for long time.
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