New Home Begins

[radrock]

Thanks. I really appreciate it now. :thumbsup: We have moved about 5 tons of trash, 4 tons of stone/concrete/cinder block, at least 8 tons of firewood (yet to be split) and lots of moving of materials around.

If you see the floor plan, since it's a rancher, it has a large footprint. 47 square of shingles

Shame you couldn't have found a place to just bury that cinder block someplace. It wouldn't hurt nothing in a hole and saved you some money for waste removal

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Shame you couldn't have found a place to just bury that cinder block someplace. It wouldn't hurt nothing in a hole and saved you some money for waste removal

In some areas it isn't legal to bury building debris on site.

 

[radrock]

In some areas it isn't legal to bury building debris on site.

Yeah it's that way here too but I would think cinder blocks would be an exception. Broken up it could even be used on a soft or muddy roadbed with base rock placed on top.

 

[Obed]

Here are PDFs of the floor plan and front and back elevations:

Floor Plan

Front and Back Elevations

Tom,
I like the floor plan. One thing I would consider if I were in your place. The garage is in front of the kitchen, most likely to enable the house to fit in a subdivision lot. You are building on a large lot so I would consider moving the garage and laundry to the side of the kitchen. That would allow you to have a wider front porch and some windows on the front side of the great room. Doing so would give you more light in the great room and a good cross-breeze if you like to open the windows to cool the place down. The house would also be more attractive and you avoid that prominent "All-Garage" look that many city houses have. You could talk to your builder. He might be able to move the garage without getting new plans drawn up. It also would give the house a larger look without significantly increasing the cost.

Obed

 

[tkappeler]

Tom,
I like the floor plan. One thing I would consider if I were in your place. The garage is in front of the kitchen, most likely to enable the house to fit in a subdivision lot. You are building on a large lot so I would consider moving the garage and laundry to the side of the kitchen. That would allow you to have a wider front porch and some windows on the front side of the great room. Doing so would give you more light in the great room and a good cross-breeze if you like to open the windows to cool the place down. The house would also be more attractive and you avoid that prominent "All-Garage" look that many city houses have. You could talk to your builder. He might be able to move the garage without getting new plans drawn up. It also would give the house a larger look without significantly increasing the cost.

Obed

Thanks for the suggestion but I really can't move it at this point. First, the lot may be 3.5 acres, but it's like a bowling alley. 140' wide and 1/4 mile deep. I needed a variance since the zoning requires 50' on EACH side, leaving me with 34' to build in. Making the house wider is not an option. The front faces N-NE, so more windows there does not help too much there.

The architect is wrapping up this weekend (hopefully), so we are really close to applying for permits.

 

[tkappeler]

I see that the codes have now changed so that we have to have all "habitable" areas using ACFI circuits. At first I thought "Holy crap, how many circuits at a price differential of approximately $30 EACH." I was already at 35 circuits. The last time I did a major upgrade, the old codes only required ACFIs in bedrooms, so was planning on three ACFI breakers. After researching the definition of "habitable", it only means three more circuits. Whew!

Also, who is the numnutz that conceived of putting the french drain on the outside of the foundation, only to bring the water inside, just to pump it outside again? I do understand the premise of reducing hydrostatic pressure on the foundation, but this just seems so .... wrong.

Venting complete. Thanks.

 

[dstig1]

Ah yes. The code silliness. AFCIs are ridiculous in all circuits, but then so are the tamper proof outlets. But they will still be required.

You may be able to daylight the footing drains. It is beyond dumb to bring them inside if you can avoid it, but I understand what you are saying...

 

[tkappeler]

Ah yes. The code silliness. AFCIs are ridiculous in all circuits, but then so are the tamper proof outlets. But they will still be required.

You may be able to daylight the footing drains. It is beyond dumb to bring them inside if you can avoid it, but I understand what you are saying...

Unfortunately, the ground is about as flat as can be ... maybe a 1.5' total elevation difference. The footings will be down about 4' with the rest of the basement built up out of the ground. Lots of fill will be brought in.

 

[dstig1]

Can you go to a dry well?

 

[tkappeler]

Can you go to a dry well?

Not sure what you mean about going to a dry well

 

[dstig1]

Dig a hole down to well below grade where the soil tends to drain better. Line with filter fabric and fill with clean rocks in the 1-2-3" range (no fines). Fill up to the grade and cap it. You want to keep fines out so it doesn't plug up over time. Then you pipe drainage water into it (usually with the pipes buried and terminating in the pit higher up towards the surface) and it drains away below. It is a simple solution for handling runoff water that works well when you have no slope to send the water away, or cannot do so due to some rule or other condition.

 

[tkappeler]

Dig a hole down to well below grade where the soil tends to drain better. Line with filter fabric and fill with clean rocks in the 1-2-3" range (no fines). Fill up to the grade and cap it. You want to keep fines out so it doesn't plug up over time. Then you pipe drainage water into it (usually with the pipes buried and terminating in the pit higher up towards the surface) and it drains away below. It is a simple solution for handling runoff water that works well when you have no slope to send the water away, or cannot do so due to some rule or other condition.

Interesting. How well would that work if the water table is only 4' down? that is why we are only digging down that far and putting the basement up out of the ground.

 

[sdkubota]

Interesting. How well would that work if the water table is only 4' down? that is why we are only digging down that far and putting the basement up out of the ground.

That is a good plan because you will never win a battle against groundwater. Sump pumps may keep it at bay but someday they will fail and your basement will be flooded. I am 100% certain of this outcome.

 

[tkappeler]

With an 1800 square foot basement, I have planning on two sumps in opposite corners, separate circuits, generator backup on both

 

[dstig1]

Ah well a high water table shoots that plan. Looks like you are out of other options and just need to bring it into the sumps and pump it out as originally discussed.

What is your contingency if you strike water before you get down 4' for the foundation? You should bounce that one off the excavator/contractor as it is a real possibility. There are other options for shallow frost protected footings that can work with much less digging:

Tomorrow

This is for our area, but you should be able to find similar.

 

[tkappeler]

Ah well a high water table shoots that plan. Looks like you are out of other options and just need to bring it into the sumps and pump it out as originally discussed.

What is your contingency if you strike water before you get down 4' for the foundation? You should bounce that one off the excavator/contractor as it is a real possibility. There are other options for shallow frost protected footings that can work with much less digging:

Tomorrow

This is for our area, but you should be able to find similar.

The perk tests included digging two test holes down 11' per county monitored procedures. This was done in spring which traditionally has the highest water level. The septic guy expected it to be in the 2' range, so almost 4' was great.

As for contingency plans, the existing house is on a crawl space and is in OK shape as far as water is concerned and it's been vacant for at least 12 years. One new home a few doors down built completely on existing grade and brought in 6' of fill around the basement walls to completely raise it out of the ground. I really do not want to go that route if possible as the water runoff issues become significant with what would be a 6' drop in only 30' to the sides.

 

[Obed]

With only a 4' deep water table, I'm a little surprised you are building a basement. You are going to have to walk up a lot of steps every time you enter the house just to get to the kitchen. Unloading a car full of groceries means a lot of trips up the stairs. Of course, to each his own. I see lots of houses with steps to the main floor, but normally in hilly terrains. I rarely see that in flat areas unless the area is in a flood zone.

 

[tkappeler]

It's been awhile with little progress as the permit process in NJ is arduous.

sealed Blueprints (12 pages) - check
sealed truss shop drawings - check
TJI IJoist subfloor plan - check
sealed surveys - check
building application - check
electrical application - check
plumbing application - check
cut sheets for heater and A/C - check
cut sheets for fireplace - check
cut sheets for wall systems - check
mechanical plan - check
plumbing Plan - check
electrical plan - check
sealed proposed foundation survey - check
well approval from state and county - check
signed applications by all foundation, basement wall system and framing subs - check

septic plan approved by county - IN PROCESS
architect's review of truss and floor system - IN PROCESS

If all goes well, the last two items will be this week.


[edit] I am so grateful that the township accepts email and I can forward all non-sealed items to them and they print to the permit package. This saved a lot of driving to the township. [edit]

In addition, the demo of the old house, which we were originally going to have done in spring, is now scheduled for this Monday, 11/12 as the demo company feels the old home is too close to the new footprint and they want to be able to navigate all around. So the basement walls are now pushed back to 11/29.

Next photos will be the demo of the old house next week. Finally!!

 

[sdkubota]

"architect's review of truss and floor system"

Thanks for the laugh...that is precious!:laughing:

 

[ENG18LT]

"architect's review of truss and floor system"

Thanks for the laugh...that is precious!:laughing:

I too had a laugh on that one too. Some architects are...well, full of themselves.