Completing the Foundation

We began construction of the house almost two months ago and have made great progress even though it is still only one or two feet above the ground in some areas.  They added Select Fill to prepare the pad; leveled it and compacted it; and put form boards around the perimeter.  They drilled pier holes at least 15 feet deep and fill them with concrete.  Then they put steel rebar and cables in place.  That preliminary work took one and a half months.  About two weeks ago our contractors Zack and Marcus Melton came by to double check all the measurements, just to ensure everything was correct before pouring the concrete.  

On Tuesday, March 19th around 4 AM, the concrete crew began pouring the final slab.  They used a pump truck to transfer the cement to the far side of the site. The team then smoothed it into place and ensured everything was level.

Rubber mats for the Stamped Stained porches

With the slab poured and allowed to cure for a week, the cables were tightened to create compression on the concrete.  This internal pressure makes the concrete stronger and prepares it for the final operation - lifting it six inches off the ground. This lifting creates a void space under the slab which will allow the ground to swell or contract without moving the slab or adding any bending forces leading to cracks and foundation failures.  Here you can see the dark (wet) concrete patches added to the end of each cable fitting.

Concrete patches atop each cable fitting

The stamped front porch