Build My First Home | The trials and tribulations of building a first home

Porches Formed and ready for pour

Posted on the June 17th, 2009 under First Stages by admin

I visited the site today and discovered that the porches were being formed and prepared for concrete pour scheduled for Monday 6-22-2009. I also noticed that the porta-potty had arrived on site. Now the workers will not have to leave to use the restroom. I need to be certain that the block crew fixes the damage to the stem wall prior to pouring the slab. This is becoming a concern for me. In order to pass an inspection the wall must be fixed and I am sure it will get done, I just want to know when so I don’t lose any sleep over it. Ha Ha.

Back Porch Shown. Size: 11' x 22' Should make for some nice BBQ's

Stem Wall Installed Today

Posted on the June 10th, 2009 under First Stages by admin

Well today marks the first day of actual progress in terms of structure on the house. Our concrete block crew installed the stem wall for the foundation today. You can see from the pictures that the perimeter of the house is well defined by the stem walls. These walls will enclose a huge amount of fill dirt that will be poured into the area of the house. Once the dirt is installed the plumber will come out and install the rough plumbing. The slab will then be poured to meet the top of the blocks shown in the pictures. This creates an elevated slab and the northern front porch home look we are trying to achieve. It is looking really good. Check out the pictures.

Concrete Footings Poured Today

Posted on the June 9th, 2009 under First Stages by admin

At last our concrete was poured today for our stem wall footers. The concrete guys did a great job. 12 yards of concrete was used for the footers. Footers are poured prior to the actual concrete foundation. Once the concrete in the footings cures, the block crew will come out and add the stem-wall blocks to the edges of the footings. Then the rough plumbing and fill dirt will be installed. Once that is complete, the final concrete slab will be poured. I took photos and video documenting the process.

Adding Concrete to the footers, creating the grade beam

Always put some extra money into the foundation of your home, instead of purchasing fancy expensive window treatments or a hot tub. Most home builders in Florida will build single family homes on monolithic slabs. This leaves your foundation extremely vulnerable to cracking and shifting. With a typical monolithic slab, homeowners have complained of drywall cracks and tile cracks. My house (shown) is built on a self-supporting slab or also known as a stem wall foundation. It utilizes a grade beam consisting of concrete and steel rebar (shown) to support the weight of the exterior walls and roof structure. Concrete blocks are placed on the exterior edge of the grade beam and then fill dirt is placed inside of the stem-walls. A concrete slab is then poured in the center of the stem wall blocks. This allows for all of the load to be transferred to the grade beam rather than the slab itself.