The Concrete Underground

[Red Leader]

Wow, I totally thought I already responded in this thread!

This is going to be really cool. Keep those updates rolling! We're all watching!

 

[ConCretin]

Oh I'll be watching this one. Can I ask a favor though, post bigger pictures!

Sorry, still working on it.

 

[Thedoc14]

Thats one giant hole for a lift shaft, but at least you can waterproof the shaft with that much clearance around you.

Is that a lake in the back ground?


Nick.

 

[horizontallyopposed]

Cool! Will be watching the progress on this one.

 

[SuperSocket]

In case you are wondering why on earth we would build a concrete house, I should mention that I’m in the concrete business. I own a heavy commercial/industrial concrete construction business and do structural concrete on projects ranging from bridges to hospitals to waste water treatment plants. I figured that since I’m in the business, it would be cheaper than a tradition wood framed house. Like so many other things I assumed at the beginning of this process, this proved to be wrong.

I would think that you should see a good insurance discount due to the structure being concrete? Maybe that adds up over time.

 

[Jagmandave]

I so wanted to build an ICF house on some property we have, unfortunately life intervened, but if I ever hit the Lotto that's how I will build!

I'm really looking forward to the updates....

 

[the_art_of_design]

What's your plan for perimeter foundation drainage since you're so close to the bank? I would assume traditional 4" weepers would not be sufficient to keep THAT much hydrostatic pressure at bay.

Loving the build! Up here in Canada we struggle to find good concrete contractors for anything exposed above grade. I'll be curious to see your forms for your cast-in-place work.

 

[rburke65]

The lake in the background was covered in post #1. Read.

 

[ConCretin]

Thats one giant hole for a lift shaft, but at least you can waterproof the shaft with that much clearance around you.

Is that a lake in the back ground?

Nick.

It's the Kennebec River.

I don't plan on waterproofing the pit because the lift comes in a self contained cartridge that is normally exposed to soil anyway. I'll fill the void between the lift and the pit with sand or stone after it is installed

I would think that you should see a good insurance discount due to the structure being concrete? Maybe that adds up over time.

If I live to be 1000 it might pay the difference but does provide peace of mind.

What's your plan for perimeter foundation drainage since you're so close to the bank? I would assume traditional 4" weepers would not be sufficient to keep THAT much hydrostatic pressure at bay.

Loving the build! Up here in Canada we struggle to find good concrete contractors for anything exposed above grade. I'll be curious to see your forms for your cast-in-place work.

We'll build swales to divert the surface water, use a waterproofing membrane with a drainage board on the exterior and run a 4" drainpipe to daylight on both ends.

We'll use standard modular forms for the foundations and build cutom forms for the exposed architectural concrete

 

[ConCretin]

Today, we stripped the base slab for the lift pit we placed yesterday and started on the wall forms

Despite the efforts of two 2" submersible pumps we were barely able to stay ahead of the water.

By the end of the day we formed and placed the walls

We'll strip the forms tomorrow and backfill the ever growing excavation. I keep telling myself it will all be worth it when I install the lift.

We plan to stand a piece of 8" PVC pipe in the backfill as an improvised well head so we can continue to pump water as we continue with garage foundations.

We'll import gravel to backfill the excavation and compact in 12" lifts to ensure we don't get settlement later on.

 

[Bib Overalls]

Wow!!

 

[theoldwizard1]

Your water issue will be with you forever ! I hope your architect and landscaper have done their home work !! Gravity is your friend, but I suspect you will need multiple sump pumps.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Still a ways off, but please include lots of pictures (and explanations) of the concrete floors and roofing. ("The floors and roofs are a variation of ICF.") Looks like a flat roof, or is there some pitch to it ?

I am also interested in your geothermal and radiation in-floor heating system.

 

[SiGmA_X]

Very cool. Looking forward to seeing the build. I hope you share the construction of the house as well (or link the the forum that will be on perhaps).

 

[Mr onetwo]

Looks like a very interesting project! I am in Belfast...not far from you.I have been in mechanical contracting in the Bangor area for 25 years...I am sure I have run into your crews at one time or another.Good luck!

 

[Ole_Red]

definitely watching this one

 

[ConCretin]

Very cool. Looking forward to seeing the build. I hope you share the construction of the house as well (or link the the forum that will be on perhaps).

I'd be glad to share info on the house construction as long as it's OK with everyone. There are some cool aspects including a cantilevered master bedroom supported be two large steel beams counter-weighted by a 36" thick basement wall.

Still a ways off, but please include lots of pictures (and explanations) of the concrete floors and roofing. ("The floors and roofs are a variation of ICF.") Looks like a flat roof, or is there some pitch to it ?

I am also interested in your geothermal and radiation in-floor heating system.

I'll do my best to post as much info as possible.

The roof and floor system are styrofoam billets supported by steel beams. You shore the floor before placing concrete. The billets have 'pockets' that fill with concrete to form integral beams. Once the concrete sets, you remove the shoring and the concrete beams carry the load.

For more information, go to Litedeck.com

We'll use tapered insulation under the membrane roof to create a little slope.

The geothermal heat pumps are supplied from two 250' wells drilled into the same aquifer. Water will be pumped out of one, through the system and back into the other.

Two 5 ton heat pumps will heat and cool air for fall, summer and spring and heat water for the in floor radiant heat in the winter.

Your water issue will be with you forever ! I hope your architect and landscaper have done their home work !! Gravity is your friend, but I suspect you will need multiple sump pumps.

Most of the water will run through the gravel under the building. We only got into it because I had the brilliant idea to dig an extra 10' to install a lift pit.

I'm pretty confident our waterproofing and drainage systems will eliminate the need for sump pumps.

 

[ConCretin]

Looks like a very interesting project! I am in Belfast...not far from you.I have been in mechanical contracting in the Bangor area for 25 years...I am sure I have run into your crews at one time or another.Good luck!

We've probably been on a lot of the same jobs. Feel free to stop by if your in the area.

 

[ConCretin]

We stripped the lift pits walls and started backfilling the excavation.

Since I'll eventually place my garage slab over this area, I want to make sure I minimize settlement. I opted to import some 2" gravel to fill the sizable hole that resulted from digging in wet conditions. It eventually took 60 cy. Yikes$$$

We stood a piece of PVC with slots cut into it to give a deep sump for our submersible pump. I don't expect water issues now that we're back to slab elevation but we'll have it if we need it.

We also spread some geo-textile material over a large area adjacent to the building foot print and spread about 8" of gravel. Our first couple concrete placements proved that the underlying material wouldn't stand up to the additional 50 concrete trucks we will be running over it.

Finally ready to start perimeter foundations tomorrow.

 

[theoldwizard1]

I opted to import some 2" gravel to fill the sizable hole that resulted from digging in wet conditions.

You call 2" rocks "gravel" ? Not in my part of the country ! Of course we have "real" gravel pits that mined regularly.

 

[DFW-LSX]

Subscribed!

 

[jvitez]

Superb! Your architectural ideas are spectacular, as even moreso your site. 25 acres of peace, privacy, and a custom home: about as close to heaven as anyone can get on this mortal coil. Congrats!

We built our house 6 years ago. I too wanted ICF construction and was willing to pay for it, but it was really new here at the time and our builder really wasn't interested, so I opted for stick built with spray foam insulation. I now see quite a few ICF commercial buildings being built, though very few residential ones.

We have geothermal heat, well to well as you're doing, with 2 6 ton heat pumps. We're saving ~40% on our energy bills. Your idea is perfect: water to air for cooling and water to water for in-floor radiant. It's how I wanted to do it, but the cost was excessive, so we opted for high velocity ducts for both heating and cooling. They works well. However, they are noisier than I was lead to believe, especially in a hot summer when all zones are running all day.

One more thing: I agree with the previous poster, go 18 ft wide for a double garage door. I wish I did.

 

[s123]

Really enjoy this thread. Wish you the best of luck with your project and will eagerly follow the progress. Hope you also will post info on the house and not only the garage/shop.

Really like your choice to use concrete. I do not know the cost of it in the US, but here in Norway it is not that big difference if you also consider maintenance, fire security and how solid it is going to be.

 

[ConCretin]

I appreciate your interest.and positive comments. I think I'm getting a handle on the picture posting. I'll start taking some higher resolution photos and post some decent sized pics going forward. Thanks for your patience.

 

[morfmedia]

Nice project, subscribed too

 

[ConCretin]

Unfortunately we spent the better part of the day today on our ongoing battle with ground water. I decided I would add another layer to the defense by installing a footing drain.

We excavated to the outside of the footing line and installed a 4" perforated pipe, filter fabric and 2" stone. This drain is lower than the footing and I still plan on installing the original drain on top of the footing daylighting in the opposite direction.

When this was complete, there was a significant reduction in water entering the excavation. It cost me some time but you only get one chance to do it right the first time.

Drainage complete, we finally moved on to footing forms. We plan to install rebar and place tomorrow so can move on to wall forming on Monday. The wall/footing is designed as a retaining wall for obvious reasons.

Earlier in the day I was scouting for a place to launch my dock and I snapped a picture from the opposite bank. I'm beginning to realize the limitations of my photographic ability but this will give you a sense of the landscape. You can just make out the PVC well head in the garage excavation on the right and the driveway cutting across the slope behind.

 

[JimVonBaden]

Sweet! This should be interesting for some time to come!

Jim

 

[locul]

Wow this is cool. But with all due respect. Please buy a better camera. We need every detail in this.

Best of luck.

Mikael
Denmark

 

[graffix000]

Looks like an incredible build started there. Anxious to see the results.

What is the history of the river? Any issues with flooding where you are building?

 

[audifirst]

wow, very nice

 

[DFW-LSX]

Whats ur square footage and bedroom/bathroom count? This is going to be awesome.

 

[Bears Fan]

With a view like that all the extra work will be worth it! What a beautiful build site, I would love to retire in such a picturesque setting...enjoy.

 

[ConCretin]

Finished up the formwork and rebar and got ready to place the footing for the back wall of the garage.

We are running a little behind schedule due to groundwater issues so we grabbed as much footing as we could so we could start a wall forming crew Monday. t was only 15 yards but it keeps us moving forward.

We placed the concrete using our Putzmeister conveyor truck. It can theoretically move over 300 cy of concrete or aggregate an hour over a distance of 100 plus feet - though we've never been able to feed it that fast.

I couldn't resist the excitement and jumped in myself.

I got my DEP permit this afternoon so in addition to moving on to foundation walls next week, we'll be starting on a set of elevated concrete steps down to the river that will serve as an base for the dock.

 

[ConCretin]

Looks like an incredible build started there. Anxious to see the results.

What is the history of the river? Any issues with flooding where you are building?

The Kennebec River has a rich history of commerce. It provided ice to preserve food in Americas's cities and a means to move lumber that built our ships and buildings. Today it provides great fishing and boating opportunities.

It does tend to flood every spring typically as the result of ice jams. Our basement floor is about 10 feet above the 100 year flood level.

Whats ur square footage and bedroom/bathroom count? This is going to be awesome.

There is about 4,500 sf of living space. Seems like a lot but the open nature of modern architecture can be a bit deceiving. There are full baths for the master suite, the guest quarters over the garage and the second floor. There is a half bath in the garage and a 'powder room' on the first floor.

 

[pauls340]

What was speced in your concrete for water vapor reducing admix? Was there one? Any waterproofing?

 

[ConCretin]

What was speced in your concrete for water vapor reducing admix? Was there one? Any waterproofing?

No vapor blocking admixtures. We'll use a spray-on waterproofing and drainage board on the exterior face of the foundation walls. I plan on installing Stegowrap under the slab on grade>

Hope that answers your question.

 

[pauls340]

Congrats on your project. You do have some major water issues up there. You might want to look into Vapor Lock 20/20 admix. We were just asked to have a second independant lab re-test VL and the ASTM D5084 Perm test resulted in 6,398 years for one drop of water to go thru a 4" slab of Vapor Lock enhanced concrete. It not only waterproofs the concrete but vapor proofs resulting in much less rerod rust since there is no vapor carring any moisture past the rerod. Psi goes up significantly. VL takes all the extra water in the concrete and turns it into additional c-s-h. www.spggogreen.com

 

[NUTTSGT]

I remember when you joined GJ and a thread about ICf came up. You were talking then about building your concrete house. Congrats on finally getting to start on the project.

Is that a 2x12 on that guys head ?

 

[ConCretin]

I remember when you joined GJ and a thread about ICf came up. You were talking then about building your concrete house. Congrats on finally getting to start on the project.

Thanks. It's great to finally get started.

 

[ConCretin]

Well, I think I've finally got the pictures sorted out. I've replaced all the photos in the thread. I was uploading the jpg files into Photobucket instead of the JPG versions.

Hopefully they'll work better for you. Thanks for your patience.