Archive for the ‘Foundation’ Category

The Big Cat is back and the perimeter of the foundation is getting backfilled.   Once the outside is done, we will build a bridge over the foundation wall and fill and compact the interior.

Backfilling the Foundation

After the concrete set we stripped the forms and sprayed waterproofing on the outside walls of the full basement.   At the end of the week we will backfill both the outside and inside of the foundation, after making sure there is no frost trapped in the ground.   Once the inside is backfilled and compacted we will form and pour the interior footings for the support posts.

The metal straps coming out of the concrete are hurricane straps that will be bolted into the exterior walls and will prevent the building from moving in the event of a hurricane.   We are building in a D zone which assumes sustained 100 mph winds and 120 mph gusts.

Forming  and pouring the foundation had  a couple of unusual challenges.

• The main part of the building will be timberframe and with an Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) curtain wall that is 8″ thick.  Both the wood structural posts and the EPS panels require full bearing, so the foundation had to be 16″ thick. And, as the timberframe has  been ordered and will arrive on site already cut, the foundation had to be perfect.
• The wine storage room and beer cooler are offset at a 66 degree angle and the foundation for the wine storage room requires oversized forms.

Ca-Gin Concrete is doing the foundation work and we meet with them repeatedly to go over the plans and check the elevations.   We were pouring more than 170 cubic yards of concrete.  To the right owner Jon Maldon, Dan Cassidy and Bobby Gingerella of Ca-Gin Concrete, and architect Megan Moynihan at the end of the day.

First the footings.

And then the walls