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I am going to start a new house this fall here in
SE Ohio. I would like to get a jump on rainy spring weather by doing the poured basement walls and floor this fall and then start framing in early spring. What is the potential freezing danger to the walls and floor? Should the floor have a floor drain to keep water from standing? Or should I wait to pour the floor until spring? Please advise.
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hi Aaron,
Wait till spring. Not worth the risk of having it crack and not worth the cost of protection to prevent damage.
Organize yourself well for a spring start and you won't lose anytime. The excavation and pouring of a foundation in all done inside the first week, hardly worth worrying about.
Gabe
*Aaron,I'm having a house built in the spring as well, and will be having the foundation (not floor) put in this fall. My GC assures me this is not a problem, done all the time. We're in NE Ohio (Knox Cnty). He explained that the important thing is to protect the footer by insulating it with straw or any other means. Also will be capping off the top of the wall with visqueen. Don't know where you're at in SE Ohio, but our winters haven't been that bad for a while anyway. We'd have to have a long string of bad weather for it to effect your foundation. Year before last with all the wet weather, some other folks I know didn't get their basement in til July. I think that IS something to worry about. We plan to raise our frame in early April, so any delays would be a big deal to us to (timberframe storage, extra rent on housing, longer building process, etc.......). I'm not saying I don't expect some delays, but if you don't get started but 2-3 months later than you had expected, I think that's a bit different.Matt