Replies

1. 
   Guest_ | Sep 07, 1999 07:38am | #1

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   Nailgun

   I work north and east of you in southern Ontario. Had a similar dillemma a few years back. Decided to have the footings trenches excavated, blockwork done, parged, waterproofed, weeping tile, backfilled,Styro SM (XPS) on the interior side, more backfill,(crawl space only, footings to 4' below grade)mud sill bolted and covered the top with drapped poly held down by 2x6's. . . all in Nov. and the son-of-a-bitch cracked really badlly in several places, before I could get back to do the framing in Jan.

   Decided to put off building until Spring, when my mason rebuilt two sections, and two corners after we dug it up, and reinforced other sections with slurry & rebar down through the cores.

   This site had particular problems :Soil was mixed. . . clay & granular. Natural Drainage was not good due to site being at the bottom of slope, with undergound rock shelf swooping up near surface interferring with drainage.

   If I had it to do again I would pay way more attention to the weeping tile drainage, and put the floor on. Even if the foudation walls had cracked it probably wouldn't have shifted, and I wouldn't have been left with the only obvious repair which was major!!!

   -pm

2. 
   Nailgun_ | Sep 10, 1999 09:51am | #2

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   Patrick, thanks for your reply and experience with winter concrete work. I contact the Portland Cement Assoc. and spoke with there engineer re the problem. He assured me that a poured floor wall footing etc. will survive just fine if it is airentrained concrete in the mix. The small air bubbles help keep the concrete from cracking etc. Covering the floor walls etc. with 6 mil poly will help also . I think that I am going ahead with the pour and damn the torpedoes!!!

3. 
   Guest_ | Sep 10, 1999 11:04am | #3

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   Man, you guys who live and work in cold climates, I don't envy you that. It rarely gets below freezing here in Western Washington, and although it rains some, we can pretty much work outside year round if we want to. - jb

1. 
   Guest_ | Sep 13, 1999 08:55pm | #4

   *Backfilling without the first floor deck on is asking for problems. Without the deck in place the lateral pressure from backfilling will push the walls in, causing cracks. As for the plastic covering the deck, you will get ponding and leaks, and the plastic will trap the moisture underneath it and really satuarate the subfloor. I was faced with a similar problem and used a bunch of 2x4s and 2x6s along with the eventual roof sheeting, to construct a shallow pitched roof which I covered with a very large (26x50 foot) tarp, that wasn't real expensive (~$120). That worked okay, but keeping it in place during storms was a real challenge (lots of old tires). I think if I was ever forced into that situation again, I think I would buy a couple of buckets of asphalt emulsion sealer (~$15 a bucket) and mop that all over the floor. For a real deluxe job and to keep your shoes from having tar on them, top it off with a bucket of white elastomeric roof coating, (~$80 for a 5 gallon bucket of Henry's brand). That should work for 4-5 months. Assuming you don't have a basement floor, you might want to drill some holes in the decking after the first rain where the big ponds are on the deck. Admittedly, this has its downsides as you end up with a subfloor covered with tar and elastomeric coating. I don't know how well adhesives stick to that combination when it comes time to install the underlayment, but it sure sticks to your shoes and then comes off when you walk into the wife's just cleaned kitchen ;-). Good luck.

4. 
   Nailgun007_ | Sep 13, 1999 08:57pm | #5

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   I am in a situation where I have to get a foundation in before the snow flies. Would it be better to get all the concrete work done in the Fall, walls, floors and just leave it to about mid Januar?
   Or get the walls, floors in and get the first floor deck on and cover the deck with4 mil. plastic sheeting?
   Also would youall recommend covering the concrete walls with 4 to 6 mil. plastic sheeting and then back fill?
   This home is going up in northern ILL. In either case I want to get the concrete all done before the snow flies and back filled to allow for easier wood working in the late winter or early spring. If any of you have done this please let me know asap since this may start within 30 days.
   Thank you very much for your help and also thank you all for the replies to my earlier request about the deck railing problem.I was able to solve that problem by reinforcing the rim joist.