Big jim's big project

[HOTFR8]

I know; Hind sight is 20/20. That's me too honest. This was a big learning experience for me. Live & learn I suppose.

What ever you do do not tell them anything they do not need to know and inspection also means do not show them anything they do not need to see.

 

[Thedoc14]

What ever you do do not tell them anything they do not need to know and inspection also means do not show them anything they do not need to see.

X2 on that one, You are now an expert Jim on how to deal with your arch enemy, The Council.

Looking good so far any updates?

 

[Big_Jim]

Updates? Hell yeah! They have the one face pour done & the blocks are removed. All the footings are done. They start on the walls Monday.

Notice the wall of dirt is intact?...Not for long.

This next shot is just after the wall of dirt caved & the driver backed it up. I thought the truck was going over.

Then they poured the wall & it started to bulge on the ends so they had to stop & let it cure for about 20 minutes then continue.

The contractor is smiling now that it didn't blow out.

We even got my kid (Amber) to help out hooking up all the mafia blocks.

Stay tuned!

 

[Big_Jim]

Never a dull moment around my house. Seems the concrete truck found an old septic tank I didn't know I had. I couldn't believe he just backed it out of a hole that deep as if it was just another day at the office. It freaked me out I'll tell you.

 

[HOTFR8]

Never a dull moment around my house. Seems the concrete truck found an old septic tank I didn't know I had. I couldn't believe he just backed it out of a hole that deep as if it was just another day at the office. It freaked me out I'll tell you.

Can I guess where the excess concrete went if you had any left over ?
Looks like a week for getting concrete trucks stuck as that nearly happened to me this week as well with wet ground.

 

[Big_Jim]

Yup good call. Lots of other things have happened & will get to posting some more pix soon.

 

[Kevin54]

I think I'd post a sign for all the truck drivers..."Enter at your own risk"

Luckily none of them has went over. YET!!!!

Looking forward to the build pics.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Looks like a great build taking shape. I wonder how many times a concrete truck driver breaks through something in his career ?

 

[HOTFR8]

Yup good call. Lots of other things have happened & will get to posting some more pix soon.

So that was a good guess. All my excess went at the door as it was getting so boggy.

Looks like a great build taking shape. I wonder how many times a concrete truck driver breaks through something in his career ?

Or for that matter gets bogged. Heavy Haulage is the only way to get a loaded cement truck out. I have seen them use a crane and bucket so they do not have to access a risky area.

 

[Big_Jim]

Looks like a great build taking shape. I wonder how many times a concrete truck driver breaks through something in his career ?

The driver said it wasn't the first time that it happened to him. Must happen all the time or at least occasionally. Once was enough for me!

 

[Big_Jim]

So that was a good guess. All my excess went at the door as it was getting so boggy.



Or for that matter gets bogged. Heavy Haulage is the only way to get a loaded cement truck out. I have seen them use a crane and bucket so they do not have to access a risky area.

This was the third truck load of cement. The first one spun all six wheels up to the axles but was able to get out (Excellent driver). The second one was when the wall started to collapse (****** driver total lack of interest in his job). The third time was the falling into the septic tank (Ironically same driver that spun all six wheels again he is an excellent driver) He is very attentive and cares about the work he is doing. The floors are next! I can't wait to see what happens this time. I get a bunch of water in my basement of my existing home so part of all that you see going on here is drainage going in around the house with the gutters tied in. The guy that is doing the work really knows a thing or two about the way water flows under ground. I have all clay under my house so water stays on top and comes in through the foundation. He is going to dig around the whole house & put footing drains in plus he is going to make provisions just in case we have to link the front & back of the house by way of cutting the basement floor & installing pipes. He doesn't think it will come to that but while he has it all dug up he will put the pipe there for future use if we need it. Then he is going to back fill with a more sandy mixture of dirt so that water will not get trapped like it does in the clay I have. While getting ready to put the stairs in that lead to the garage; they had to cut the basement floor and dig out for the steps. He had a crow bar & a hammer and he was hitting the crow bar (PING PING PING) I mean pounding on this thing. I thought he was still cutting through the cement but no he was chiseling away at the clay! It was like stone! (I digress) getting back to water flow. He is making a huge dry well at the back of the yard with stone gravel & sandy dirt. These next two shots show the war zone that was once my back yard. He will be running the drainage out to this area. Its a ton of work but it will be worth having a dry basement & garage.

 

[HOTFR8]

Sounds like the fellow doing the job for you knows what he is doing by being prepared for anything in the future.

 

[Big_Jim]

Sounds like the fellow doing the job for you knows what he is doing by being prepared for anything in the future.

Sure isn't the fastest turtle in the cage but he is meticulous & he is doing it right. He is explaining why he is doing it the way he is as well as showing me how the previous owners tried everything in the book to get the water to stay out of the basement. More importantly why what they did didn't work and why the way he is going to do it will work. He is a great guy and takes his time to make sure you know what he is doing & takes your suggestions. If he can't do it he will tell you why you shouldn't do it that way then explain how it should be done. He hates it when people are fast. To him fast=mistakes and corner cutting. Just not happening under his direction. So it's not getting done fast but it is getting done right that's all that counts in the end.

 

[HOTFR8]

It is good to work with some one like that. You know how it is all going together.

 

[Big_Jim]

As per usual there is never a dull moment around my house. In fact I'm wondering what's going to happen next! The boys were digging to expose my existing foundation so they can install footing drains. So I now have a trench that goes around 3/4 of my house. So the helper (Lowell) was in the hole cleaning up what the excavator couldn't get. I was standing at the opening of my existing garage and the excavator (Dean) was in the driveway working with the mini excavator when all of a sudden I head a very loud holler coming from the trench. I walk over & look and can't believe my eyes. Lowell is buried up to his chest in dirt & he is pinned to the foundation. I should mention that one of the things he was doing in there was breaking off old rusty ties in my foundation that the original builder never broke off & sealed. If he didn't these rusty ties would have done a number on him. As it was he was having difficulty breathing till we got some of the dirt off him. Dean actually had to dig him out with the mini. Needless to say I was a bit freaked out. While we were digging him out small amounts of dirt kept falling in & he noticed my (Insanely thick) cement stoop was hanging over his head. He told me "I gotta get out of here because if that stoop falls on me I'm done". while most people would think that I'm a sadistic ******* I did wait till he was out of real danger before I snapped some pictures. Sorry for the blurry pictures I was shooting into the sun & My camera hates doing this.

He made it out alive with only loosing a sneaker (Temporarily).

 

[HOTFR8]

WOW. that was lucky, you hear of so many getting stuck in unsafe places like that. Did you not have anything to stop material sliding back in ?

 

[Big_Jim]

Did you not have anything to stop material sliding back in ?

No they didn't. In fact the guy I spoke of earlier in the thread that really knows dirt (Dean); he did say there was a possibility that it may cave in. This was told to me by Lowell "After" he got out of the hole. He told him to stay on his toes. Then he tells me just seconds before he was kneeling in the hole & saw some dirt trickle down the side so he stood up. He said I was always trained that when something like this happens to put your arms up so at least they can find you if you really do get buried. "In-case you really get buried?" Well what the hell do you call what just happened???!! "That wasn't too bad!" he said. All I can say is good thing I was there because Dean had his ear plugs in & he was 50 feet away running the mini. He heard nothing till I yelled to him for help. It only takes a second to ruin someones day.

 

[HOTFR8]

You would call it a cave in and here it would be called a work safe issue for confined space. If that happened here tools would be down until it was safe to go back to work. Make sure you get some ply wood or something to move along as you dig in case it happens again.

 

[Big_Jim]

Will do! I will mention it to him though you know sometimes you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. I will do my best though.

 

[HOTFR8]

I have learnt a little about confined space rescue in my time as a firefighter. If you protect the wall from cave in again all should be ok. If your worker does not like the idea just tell him he does such a good job you need to protect him so he can do your next job.

 

[Big_Jim]

On a side note it could make for a cool story to tell the grand kids. [a guy died while making this garage so your grandfather could keep warm in the winter] I know... not funny.

 

[HOTFR8]

No not funny. In fact that would be a big put off for me. Just think of the legal issues if that happened.

 

[Big_Jim]

spoke with the contractor & he has me penciled in for Monday the 30. He tells me 10 days and he will have the whole structure up sheathed not sided and the roof done. From all his references they tell me there will be a cloud of dust in your back yard and when the dust clears there will be a structure there. That will be a nice feeling. Well 2:30 am time for bed. Will post more soon. Stay tuned.

 

[fatboy99]

Looks like a great build taking shape. I wonder how many times a concrete truck driver breaks through something in his career ?

The summer after high school and before Tech school I drove a cement mixer. I was sent to a rural church to pour new basement steps saw fill and vent pipes for the heating oil tank sticking up by the area they wanted me to pull up to I asked the contractor where the tank was and he said it was on the other side. After putting on my chutes I started to pull up and the truck felt like it was sinking I shoved it into reverse just as I saw fuel oil starting to bubble up out of the vent OOPS That same summer one of my coworkers went into a septic tank AND it was still in use. It was at an construction company that was expanding its office one of the gal's in the office came out screaming there's black water shooting out of the toilets!!! Glad we had a not responsible for damage past the curb release on our delivery ticket's !!!

 

[blownhemi]

Wow, sound like an exciting jobsite.

Hope everything goes well in the future. Looks to be an interesting build

 

[HOTFR8]

Wow, sound like an exciting jobsite.

Hope everything goes well in the future. Looks to be an interesting build

Concrete trucks in septic tanks and guys getting burried. If it was here I would be worried.

Let's hope all goes smoothly from now on.

 

[Big_Jim]

Time for an update: They finished digging all around the house, pressure washed my foundation, applied the rubber waterproofing, laid in gravel as well as all the pipping, for the drainage. I'm happy to report there have been no other issues (this week)! All around the house has been back filled. They leveled off the garage floor in preparation for the door cutouts & pex tubing. They are making preparations for a small drain as I am thinking of putting in a dehumidifier. They say they want to pour the floor Wednesday so I'm thinking the following Friday.:rolleyes There literally isn't more then 10 square feet that they have left untouched. An aerial shot would show maybe a postage stamp size section that still has grass. He was adding what he calls a swale to the front yard so that the water flows away from the house. When they originally built the house they put dirt right up to the vinyl siding and it was flat not pitched away from the house. He wants to lower it about 6". While skimming the front lawn guess what he found only 2" below the surface? My well cover. He said "I cant see how grass was growing on it". I have city water so I only use my well to water plants, wash a car, or hose down the kids. So how do I lower the front yard 6" if the well is now exposed? Well the wife & I are going to make a stone wall around it and plant some plants in there. I'm going to screw a stainless handle to it just in case we have to open it up for repairs. Next are the down spouts for the gutters. On a side note I ordered up the garage door openers (Liftmaster 3800) two of them and an 18500 BTU air conditioner with remote. Heat in the winter and AC in the summer. No excuses not to work on the hot rods then.

 

[Big_Jim]

You will notice that next to the foundation is a more sandy mixture of dirt then as you go out its more dirt/clay mix. This is to facilitate drainage.

You can see he is starting to cut down & form my driveway.

Drainage under the garage floor just in case.

More sand.

My front yard. Notice the well just in front of the wife's Impala.

Boy from this angle the garage looks HUGE! It's only 24 wide X 29 long. 696 square feet.

 

[Bib Overalls]

From what you say and what I see in the pictures it is obvious your contractor knows what he is doing. Cutting the front yard down and getting the drainage right is a much bigger issue than you might think. Of all the things that Mother Nature throws at your house; sun, wind, heat, cold, insects and vermin the most destructive is plain old water.

 

[HOTFR8]

Is that the access to your well ? If so I am keen to see how you cover it so you can access it again specialy given you do not want anything heavy to drive over it.

 

[Big_Jim]

We are going to take the yard down about 6" and build a rock wall around it. I'm going to put a stainless steel handle on it then fill it with dirt. Maybe make some drains on the side to let water out. Sorta like this. Keep just enough dirt in there to support some vegetation and still be able to remove the dirt if we need to get in there without having to excavate or have piles of dirt everywhere. Maybe just enough to fill 1 wheel barrow.

 

[HOTFR8]

OK.

 

[Big_Jim]

It will make the wife happy. I just got an email with a quote from the builder. I need a very large aspirin. My first thought was (Im not building a house here; it's just an addition). I asked him the other day to throw a ball park figure at me & that I wouldn't hold him to it. I just wanted an idea what it would cost because up to this point I have no clue what this is going to cost me. He hemmed & hawed and came up with a $13,000 labor cost but he said it was just an educated guess. So I figured $20,000 tops. His wife sent me a quote for $42,000... There is no way I can afford that! I didn't ask for their kids collage tuition! That's with no materials either. I'm just sick now. Don't know if I will get to sleep tonight but I will give it a shot. Probably spend all night thinking about selling a kidney to pay for this.

 

[blownhemi]

****** hell! That serious dollars.

Written quote should come first.

 

[Omphaloskeptic]

Time to find another builder; if he can't give you a 'ballpark' figure with any degree of accuracy. If the written quote is over 3X the 'ballpark', what does that tell you? Why should you be stuck with their kids college tuition or his 'yacht payments'.

A young professional couple I knew years ago (he, a M.E., she, a Architectural Designer), worked with an architect to design their upscale home. They also had the foresight to hire a real estate/construction lawyer to write up their contract. The young couple insisted their builder go over the contract with his lawyer to insure both parties were happy with the terms. Long story short, the builder signed it and after many screw-ups on the part of the builder (and his subs), the buyers deducted over $8,000 dollars in fees and penalties legally on the final payment. No court, no judge, just documented proof of their costly screw-ups and the signed contract got them this amount. The builder tried to pass the extra costs onto the buyers and the builder didn't have the right (nor the legal standing) to do so.

Caveat Emptor!

 

[HOTFR8]

Written quote should come first.

Yes I agree, you should have some idea as to what the work is costing you. Even then you should always expect the unexpected that can change quotes and how the job works out.

 

[Big_Jim]

I have a meeting with all parties involved on Friday. We need to trim that price or it's time to look for another contractor. Even if it means doing some of the stuff myself. Thing is; I'm not in the best shape at all. I'm 5'-9" and near 400 pounds so it's tough to get down & not many ladders hold my weight. Before you all get on me about my weight I used to be 460 pounds. Its an uphill battle loosing weight for sure. In all fairness I am having a lot of work done. I have an average ranch 57 feet wide by 26 feet deep with vinyl siding over wooden shakes. I know I will never get the vinyl to match up so I'm going to reside the whole house so I figured while I was at it I would have him rip off down to the bare sheathing & wrap the whole house. The addition is 24 wide by 29 deep. The garage has 12 foot ceilings all insulated, sound proofed (Don't forget my Mom will be above my garage), vapor barrier, sheet rocked (5/8" fire code), taped & sanded ready for paint. All the framing, the roof, sheath & wrap the addition as well as side it. Frame out the rooms and closets, Install all the doors and windows, insulate, sheet rock, taped, & ready for paint. All the trim is done & installed & install the kitchen cabinets. He also has to make a platform in the garage with stairs leading down into the garage from the basement with a fire door. And the last thing is a 16X20 deck with no railings. I'm doing the railings.

Now keep in mind this does not include floors (Tile in kitchen & bath rugs in living room & bedroom). Installing the new windows in my existing house. Materials, installing the garage doors, lighting, electrical, or plumbing.

So what do you guy's think? Am I over reacting?

On a side note we are getting closer to the floor being done. The door cutouts are down as well as the vapor barrier & steel mesh. Next is the pex tubing and cement. They did a vapor barrier under the door cutout & over the top as well. He said "Hell I have it why not put it down".

 

[HOTFR8]

Looking for another contractor will not be easy as they will want to know why you did not finish with your first contractor. Why not ask you present contracter for a bill at the end of each week so you can say to him about that is to expensive or can we leave the other job for a later date. Work through how it is all done. At the end of the day you both need to come out of this ok. You do not want to be left owing money and your present contractor will not be happy if you owe him and look for another contractor. Either way the solution will only come from talking out what you need and how you best afford it.

 

[Big_Jim]

I'm sub contracting all the jobs out. He hasn't done anything yet. The guy doing the foundation & drainage is another guy. I have the plumber lined up. Just need an electrician. The way I see it is if he wants the job he will have to come down on his price. Don't think that will happen because he is very busy. He will most likely just say fine & move on to the next job. Another thing I'm finding out is he is just the grunt and his wife does all the billing & proposals. The guy doing the foundation says he wont deal with her calls her a greedy *****. So the contractor may not even know that she hit me with a $42,000 proposal. You would think that with all the people out of work in this country that there would be someone else willing to take on the job. Thing is I don't want to get stuck with some fly by night contractor with no morals or work ethic doing a bunch of shoddy work. Just don't like getting bent over a barrel.

 

[HOTFR8]

I'm sub contracting all the jobs out. He hasn't done anything yet. The guy doing the foundation & drainage is another guy. I have the plumber lined up. Just need an electrician. The way I see it is if he wants the job he will have to come down on his price. Don't think that will happen because he is very busy. He will most likely just say fine & move on to the next job. Another thing I'm finding out is he is just the grunt and his wife does all the billing & proposals. The guy doing the foundation says he wont deal with her calls her a greedy *****. So the contractor may not even know that she hit me with a $42,000 proposal. You would think that with all the people out of work in this country that there would be someone else willing to take on the job. Thing is I don't want to get stuck with some fly by night contractor with no morals or work ethic doing a bunch of shoddy work. Just don't like getting bent over a barrel.

Sounds like SHE needs a lesson and you may have to tell HIM you do not like the billing. If you had VCAT like we have here you could dispute the charge at a tribunal hearing.
In saying that you can mention the well and septic tank damage as expenses you are not happy about.