Building A Custom Home Series, Part XIII: The Dig and Foundation Walls

We’re breaking ground!

We’re breaking ground!

We’re breaking ground!

Four months after acquiring the lot on Great Falls Street, we are putting the first shovel in the ground. I’m a little excited!

Once the lot is cleared and prepped, the excavator can dig the hole!

Now that is some pretty dirt.

After the excavation is complete, the concrete subcontractor takes over and starts to form up the footer.

After the footer is formed, it must be inspected. We covered the forms while waiting for the city inspector (forecast said rain).

After the inspection passes, the concrete is poured.

The concrete sub uses a pump truck to get the concrete from the truck down in the hole to the footer forms.

Now the footer is complete!

Those “sticks” you see sticking out of the footer are the vertical steel supports required in the foundation wall.

And it’s time to form up the foundation walls. Those panels you see are called wall forms. They come stacked in a form box. The walls are formed in the field.

After the walls are formed, the city comes back to do another inspection.

Then the walls are poured!

After the concrete sets up, the forms are stripped.

And our foundations walls are complete.

From the day we start digging, it takes 7-10 days to get the walls poured. This is a quick transformation on the lot from one week to the next, and it’s likely the most unpredictable week in construction. Why? Because this is where the unpredictable typically occurs.

Stay tuned for the next post. It’s a guest post by my brother Adam, NDI’s Director of Construction Operations. He’s going to talk about these unusual site conditions and more specifically, how you can prepare for them.

Dream Big. Build Smart.