Step-by-Step Guide

Land Clearing / Site Work

Your site subcontractor will be responsible for clearing all the debris from the lot, preparing the pad for the foundation, cutting out a construction driveway/ construction entrance (a temporary entrance for subcontractors to assist in keeping the dirt from your lot from entering the street) and any other dirt or site work you may have throughout construction.

Tips

Schedule and Order:

• A Portable Toilet
• Roll Off Dumpster
• Schedule the electrician to come and set the temporary power pole for temporary power on the site. Check with the electrician as some inspection may be required. Notify the power company to come and hook up the power after the inspection.
• Surveying Subcontractor (See House pad stake-out for details)
• Notify the concrete subcontractor of the day the surveying subcontractor is scheduled. Get with the foundation material supplier to order the following: form boards, rebar, rod chairs, string, poly, blocks or any other material your concrete subcontractor may need and have it scheduled for delivery.
• Coordinate with your concrete subcontractor and let them know when the material is scheduled for delivery.

House Pad Stake-Out

 

The surveyor will locate the property lines of the lot and position the house on the lot according to the plans.

• Set (stake-out) all the corners and square the house on the lot for the concrete subcontractor. There are certain criteria as to where the dwelling can be placed on the lot. Check with the city or county (for any ordnance) or the subdivisions' restrictive covenants (an architect and/or surveyor will generally have this information).
• It is good practice to check behind the surveying subcontractor as they can make mistakes.
• Make sure to let the concrete subcontractor know as soon as the surveyor has finished staking the house.

 

Read the following steps carefully as some steps may or may not apply to your particular circumstance. Some of the steps also will be performed simultaneously.

Foundations

There are three different types of foundations:

Monolithic

A Monolithic Slab is constructed on natural grade.

The site contractor will rough stake where the foundation is supposed to be (according to the plans) and the site contractor will build the pad up (with dirt) high enough to allow the water to drain around the house. The surveyor may need to come back and reset the stakes after the pad is built.

Floating Slab

A Floating Slab is foundation built up on Concrete Block.

This method is used when building on a lot that has a lot of slope in any direction or building a basement home.

1. The surveying subcontractor will stake the house out on the lot (according to the plans)
2. When this is finished the concrete subcontractor will come dig the footings.
3. After the footings are dug out and the rebar is installed an inspection (Footing Inspection) is needed before pouring the footings with concrete.
4. After the inspection has passed and the footings have been poured the brick mason can come lay the block.
5. Make sure that the foundation is high enough to drain the lot around the house. If doing a basement make sure the blocks are sealed and the water will properly drain to keep water from entering the home.

If raising the foundation, make sure you can still get into the garage. In some cases the incline to get into the garage will cause a car to scrape. The garage may have to be lowered. However, if the garage is lowered, steps will need to be added to get into the house. Make sure there is enough room to put in steps and still get a car into the garage (Check with the brick mason to find out how much space is needed for steps).

Pilings

An elevated wood constructed foundation. If you are building on the coast or in an area which is prone to flood this type of foundation should be considered.

An elevated home can be constructed using pilings which are wood poles or concrete blocks. The exact location of the lot, soil type and size of the house will be a deciding factor in what is to be used.

Having the house plans engineer stamped will smooth the permitting process. Consulting a licensed geotechnical engineer and/or a structural engineer will ensure the technical information needed for this type of foundation.

Schedule and Order:

• Framing Subcontractor- Check to see when the framer can start work before ordering the framing material.
• Framing Material - Notify the framer of the scheduled delivery date.
• Windows and Exterior doors need to be selected and ordered .
• Brick or Exterior Stone selection needs to be made and order placed. Discuss the availability with the supplier to ensure material is available when you schedule delivery.

Plumbing Rough-In

Prior to the concrete slab being poured; the plumber will layout and install the necessary piping.

The plumber will call for a plumbing inspection after all pipes are installed consult with the Electrical and HVAC subcontractor at this point concerning items such as:

• Pipes for floor plugs, island cabinets in the middle of the kitchen etc..
• HVAC pipes if A/C unit is located in the interior of the home or cannot be reached from an exterior wall
• 4” pipe for dryer vent if dryer is not on an exterior wall

   

The plumber will call for an inspection if needed.

 

Termite Treatment

There are two ways to do this procedure.

Check with your pest control company to see what is accepted.

Slab Pre-Treat

This is done after the plumbing and necessary electrical and HVAC are roughed in; just before the concrete subcontractor covers the foundation with poly, also know as visquine . Consult with the concrete subcontractor as to when to schedule the treatment.

Borate Treatment

The Borate Treatment process is applied to the wood framing. Consult with the pest control company as to when to schedule the treatment.

After either treatment make sure the pest control company issues a termite bond.

Tips

Concrete

After the plumbing rough in has been inspected and passed the concrete subcontractor will wrap the slab. Depending on the type of slab (monolithic or floating) the rebar will be installed in the footings. The dirt is leveled and the foundation is wrapped with a moister barrier commonly known as poly, visquine, or plastic.

Remember to check all your measurements, such as:

• Double check with the foundation subcontractor to ensure the foundation is level and square.
• The plumber will ensure the plumbing stacks, toilet risers and tub boxes are in the right location.
• All electrical and HVAC pipes are in the right location and where a framed wall will be erected, and not in the middle of a room.

Check with the concrete subcontractor and find out if a pump truck or line pump is needed. A pump truck or line pump allows the entire slab to be poured from one location. This is used when a standard concrete truck cannot get to all areas of the foundation. This can occur if the foundation is on blocks or too high, cannot get around the foundation due to weather, or the foundation is too big. The concrete subcontractor will generally have a good working relationship with one of the pump truck companies and will schedule the delivery.

The subcontractor has quoted an estimated number of yards for concrete material needed. Keep in mind that it is very hard to get exact on the number of yards because of the footing being a little bigger, it rains and you have to dig the mud out the footings causing them to be bigger than expected, the dirt in the slab is not exactly level throughout, etc. However, the concrete subcontractor will be able to get you close based off the specifications on the plans.

Tips

Schedule and Order:

• Foundation inspection

Foundation Inspection

A foundation inspection will involve the inspector checking the footings, rebar, and making sure your foundation was done according to the plan specifications.

• Once the foundation inspection has passed you can schedule the concrete subcontractor to pour the foundation.
• Notify the framer and framing material supplier of the date of the pour.

Schedule and Order:

• Pump truck or line pump if needed (if needed arrange payment)
• Concrete material
• Framer and framing material
• Windows and Exterior doors
  • Communicate with the framer to determine when delivery of the windows and exterior doors should be scheduled. The doors and windows should not be scheduled for delivery with the other framing material due to a chance of vandalism and theft.

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