Foundation for new garage poured short

[anaxagoras]

The guy I hired to pour the foundation poured the footings last week, they garage will now be 6" less wide on both sides. So now I loose a foot of floor space. I only realized it because I went out and measured it to double check his work. I'm really not happy about this. I haven't even told him yet because i'm fuming . Any suggestions for what I can do?

 

[Dustin Echoes]

Ask him to come over and measure it, don't tell him that you noticed yet. See what he says when he sees the mistake, and go from there.

 

[signcrafter]

First step would be to call him and ask where things went wrong. See if he has a way to fix this. If he gets defensive then tell him that all supplies are already ordered including the custom trusses which will now have to be reordered and he will be paying for them since it was his screw up.

 

[LB-1911]

The guy I hired to pour the foundation poured the footings last week, they garage will now be 6" less wide on both sides. So now I loose a foot of floor space. I only realized it because I went out and measured it to double check his work. I'm really not happy about this. I haven't even told him yet because i'm fuming . Any suggestions for what I can do?

Couple of questions for you;

What are the overall dimensions of the structure according to the plans?

Is "the guy you hired" in possession of a set of plans?

How wide are your footings?

Were your measurement from the inside of the footings or the outside of the footings?

 

[1500hd]

If it it not right it should be fixed. Mistake- fix it and move on. Sh*t happens.

 

[Zeke]

That's funny: 6 inches less on both sides. You must have a pretty good plot plan.

Here again is another thread where 90% of the replies will come from non contractors and half of them will want to string up the contractor in the center of town.

 

[larry_g]

I would suggest that you try to figure out where the mistake was made. Who excavated for the footings? Was the trench in the correct place? Were the footing formed before pouring, and were the forms checked, or are these unformed footings just poured in the trench? Are the plans detailed enough to where the footings should be? or are they just nominal measurements of the building, or are they just verbal? Once you can figure out how the mistake could have been made then I second what Dustin said, get him out there to discuss the problem. Be prepared to eat the problem if you are acting as the GC and architect.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[larry_g]

That's funny: 6 inches less on both sides. You must have a pretty good plot plan.

Have you never seen a step in the footings?

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Zeke]

Have you never seen a step in the footings?

lg
no neat sig line

Yes, but I don't think that's what he's talking about. He said a foot of floor space, not a foot of opening.

 

[RivennHewn]

How big of a deal is it? Losing a foot off a small single car garage would be a problem, losing a foot off of a 60' pole barn, not so much.

Does your planned layout still work?

Use a level head. Problems and mistakes happen. If you can live with it, maybe you can discuss a large discount and move on.

If you can't, I'd have him pay for an engineer to come up with a structurally sound fix, and hire a special inspector to watch him do it per plan.

Anything is fixable, just a matter of how much time, money and effort you're willing to go to for that foot.

 

[southalabama]

6" off each side. Guess you are talking 6" off width and 6" length?

Tell the guy to fix it. It happens.

Once saw a house where kids moved the strings and it wasn't checked for square again before the pour.

I wouldn't accept it but I wouldn't freak either.

 

[joes169]

If it's only footings at this point, there's no better time than now to correct it. The footings get sawed, you remove one wall (two if it's somehow short each way) and re-form and pour, doweling the two together. If the one wall really is exactly 12" short, I'd assume it was an honest mistake by whoever was holding the "smart end" of the tape. We often "cut a foot" for a more accurate measurement, but if both parties aren't on the same page, these things can happen.......

 

[anaxagoras]

Sigh, crisis averted... I measured it again today, I feel silly for even posting this now... I guess it's a lesson, if a measurement seems wrong double check it...

My buddy was over yesterday giving me a hand with a few things and he helped me measure. Since the width of the garage was longer than the 25' tape measure at hand, I stood in the middle and held the end and he read the length off... you can see where this is going. He read the measurement incorrectly i'm guessing he read to the inside of the footing... At least his inaccuracy was consistent side to side

I got my girlfriend to stand in the middle this time while I measured to each end and amazingly enough the size is perfect... Good thing I didn't call the foundation guy screaming my head off.

 

[LB-1911]

Lufkin 100 ft. Tape Measure
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Lufkin-100-ft-Tape-Measure-100LS/100205133

 

[mmack66]

Damn. Just got a new pitchfork I was wanting to try out.

Oh well, this is GJ. There will be another chance.

 

[ADSR]

That's funny: 6 inches less on both sides. You must have a pretty good plot plan.

Here again is another thread where 90% of the replies will come from non contractors and half of them will want to string up the contractor in the center of town.

LOL, i get this all the time, bro. They want the building say 24 finished and they measure The inside of the pony wall. 16" diff. and they ask WTF

 

[Woody610nb]

So there was a loose nut on the tape.

 

[jhelrey]

^ Nope, just the one holding it!

That's why you always measure with the same tape!

 

[tomphot]

What I find amazing in this is that Anyone on this site would say No big deal about loosing 6" on each side. Glad that wasn't the case.

 

[gml1998]

And I was looking forward to tomorrows posts.
Glad you re-checked measurement.

 

[bczygan]

 

[upndown]

Measure twice, Cut once..

 

[C96]

No big deal about loosing 6"

Really, no big deal? That would only leave 4” left to satisfy her!