New Build- Foundation Questions

[Yappin Tappin]

Hi everyone, bumping an old thread. I'm building a new house and the foundation is now complete. I just wanted to see if I should be concerned over any of these gaps or the bending of the pole in the attached pictures.

I asked my sales manager about them and he said he's not sure, and I'm not sure if it's worth it to get in contact with the site manager to ask him/her as I'm assuming these gaps aren't a big deal.

I'm just looking for piece of mind more than anything as this is my first house build.

https://goo.gl/photos/iR2EY2XwjDdZjFjZ7

[ken0042]

Why bump a 5 year old thread? Just start a new one.

[malcolmk14]

I have no idea what the answer to your question is - because I'm not a professional - but just looking at the photos I'd be concerned about them.

I'll be following this thread with some interest - curious to know if this is standard.

[Yappin Tappin]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Why bump a 5 year old thread? Just start a new one.

Sorry wasn't sure what would be better. Anyways thanks for changing it to a new thread for me.

[squiggs96]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Why bump a 5 year old thread? Just start a new one.

I thought mega threads were the only way to go.

[opendoor]

Not an expert, but I have some experience in residential construction.

The conduit looks a little sloppy, but functionally it should be fine. If it's going to get covered up I wouldn't worry about it at all.

As for the wood, it's hard to tell what I'm looking at, but to me most of that looks like formwork that's going to get stripped off. If that's the case then it's not really an issue at all as long as the concrete is fairly straight and level.

[Yappin Tappin]

Originally Posted by opendoor

Not an expert, but I have some experience in residential construction.

The conduit looks a little sloppy, but functionally it should be fine. If it's going to get covered up I wouldn't worry about it at all.

As for the wood, it's hard to tell what I'm looking at, but to me most of that looks like formwork that's going to get stripped off. If that's the case then it's not really an issue at all as long as the concrete is fairly straight and level.

Thanks for the info opendoor!

I think the far left and right images are the ones I was more concerned about, as they have bigger gaps in them. Especially the far right one since it seems like a large gap between two wooden pieces is not good, especially since one slants at an angle. I was scared that this is a piece that will be used to support the weight of the house.

In terms of reference, the far left photo was taken at the front left of the garage, and the far right photo was taken from the side of the house past the front entrance stairs and before it begins to slope down.

Any real concerns you think I should be worried about?

Sorry I'm terrible at describing this stuff. My knowledge on all construction type things is quite sad.

[RatherDashing]

That first photo looks like the ladder isn't poured into the foundation. I would be concerned about that one. For reference, the ladder is the two lengths of 2x4 or 2x6 which run around the top of your basement walls. That's what the framers will tie into when they frame your home, and what ties the frame of your house into the foundation. If they aren't poured securely into the foundation I would be concerned. As was said above its hard to see what's happening exactly in the photos.

[OMG!WTF!]

I'm also not an expert in concrete but if it is a mistake, it won't get far in the building process. You obviously can't build a house on very uneven concrete. There will be inspections along the way if nothing else that would catch such a problem. I suspect it is common to be slightly off on concrete pours and those smaller imperfections are concluded with non shrinkable grout down the road.

[opendoor]

Huh, I've never even heard of that way of doing a sill plate over a foundation. Just based on a quick Google search it looks like it's an Alberta thing; I guess it's dry enough there that all of that untreated lumber right on the foundation is less of an issue than in most other places. Most other places you have pressure treated sills that sit over gaskets on the top of the foundation and are are secured with anchor bolts embedded into the concrete.

Anyway, if that is a ladder type structure that's supposed to fit tightly to the top of the foundation then yeah, that does look really sloppy and I'd be a little concerned about it. But like I said, I'd never even heard of that way of doing it, so I'm probably not the best judge.

[Aegypticus]

The question I'd have about the first picture is why has the wood pulled away from the concrete like that? I don't think there should be that much shrinkage, so was the wood bashed around when they were taking forms off? Did some equipment run into it? Did the concrete actually pull away that much? It just seems weird. No way you could pour and properly vibrate concrete and leave a big gap at the side like that, and there's very little honeycomb, so what the heck happened?

[PaperBagger'14]

I can't speak to the concrete and forms there but as far as the conduit goes it is sloppy. It won't be an issue and it should work fine, however, check on it once all the dirt has been back filled in and make sure the pipe doesn't pop out of the LB (elbow shaped box).

[Yappin Tappin]

Thanks everyone for your help.

It seems like I should try to follow up with the site manager then just so at the very least I can hear the person tell me it's either minor issues or they will fix them.

[ken0042]

Having gone through a new house build recently, I would ask them to put it into writing if they say that it's fine, or that they are going to fix it. Even email is much better than over the phone.

I'd also get them to fix the conduit; in part because it looks to me like they backfilled too early- there's nothing in the middle conduit.

[speede5]

I don't really know what I'm looking at on the two pictures of the foundation.

The gap on the pt piece by the gas line is not a big deal, that board looks like it just there so they can bolt the gas meter to the side of the foundation.

The pvc coming out of the ground should have a sleeve on it. A short length of ABS a size bigger than the conduit. It prevents the conduit from moving when the ground swells/shrinks.

[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by speede5

I don't really know what I'm looking at on the two pictures of the foundation.

The gap on the pt piece by the gas line is not a big deal, that board looks like it just there so they can bolt the gas meter to the side of the foundation.

The pvc coming out of the ground should have a sleeve on it. A short length of ABS a size bigger than the conduit. It prevents the conduit from moving when the ground swells/shrinks.

What code rule is the ABS sleeve mentioned under? Not trying to be snarky, I've just never heard of anyone doing that.

[2Stonedbirds]

Depends on which municipality you are in and if the inspector had a bad sexual episode the night before.

If bringing conduit through concrete, aside from local codes or otherwise, I would always, always, always sleeve in another chunk of ABS or DB2 for the reasons mentioned by speede5.

[2Stonedbirds]

Also, the apprentice who left the writing facing out on the left conduit needs his pee pee slapped.

[Violator]

Originally Posted by 2Stonedbirds

Also, the apprentice who left the writing facing out on the left conduit needs his pee pee slapped.

its a bad picture but it almost looks like Rg cabling

[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by 2Stonedbirds

Also, the apprentice who left the writing facing out on the left conduit needs his pee pee slapped.

I just assume everyone on this forum is from Calgary :P my bad. Yeah I had a good chuckle at the outward writing. Amateur hour there apparently.

Edit: Violator I think he's talking about the actual writing on the pipe itself. It's common trade practice to hide that by facing it toward the wall wherever possible.