GETTING STARTED

The process behind the scenes in getting a new home started is much more involved than most people realize.   Let’s look at what is required prior to pouring the foundation.

The first step is to get a soil boring done on a site to ensure that the foundation of the home is properly designed for the conditions on a specific site.  The requires soils engineers to drill a sample and prepare a report at the location where the home will be built.  This process can take 4-6 weeks to complete. 

The next step in the process is to send the soils report to foundation engineers for design.  They will take into account the soil conditions, home loads, and design the depth of the beams, cable placement and if any piers will be required, they will provide those specifications as well.  This process can take 1-2 weeks.

Now we can prepare the lot by having the excavator set the pad for the foundation.  If trees need to be cleared, soils need to be shifted or if soils need to be brought in and compacted based upon the requirements from the engineers this will all need to be completed prior to proceeding.  Depending on the amount of clearing and work this process could take anywhere from 1 day to 2 weeks.

The next part of the process includes setting your foundation forms, installing plumbing and foundation makeup.  This process will include having a form board survey completed to ensure that the placement of the forms on the lot is correct.  Plumbing can then proceed followed by a city inspection.  The foundation beams and cables will then be completed and any wise builder will have the foundation engineer perform an inspection to ensure that everything is per plan, followed by a city inspection.  This process is approximately 2 weeks.

We are ready to pour the foundation!  Next time we will look at the framing stage of construction.