It has begun!

[Droppedlime]

After months of work to get it going with the loan, survey, and all the rest of the pain staking work.....it is beginning! Damn it feels good to know I am going to have a new house for my wife and I's first home.

[Cooter]

congrats!

start of a LONG journey! LOL

[UserX]

Congrats! Make sure you compact that area down REALLY WELL to prevent settling/foundation problems in the future.

[Cooter]

next place I build down here will be on bell-bottom piers set on limestone

[Droppedlime]

congrats!

start of a LONG journey! LOL

I know that's right. We started the whole process in August and just now breaking ground.

[dcs13]

Now's a really good time for input from people...

While doing your foundation, consider having a floor safe installed. Lot harder to find and get in to than a regular safe..

Looks rural, consider a transfer switch for a generator. Maybe a sub panel for a shop as well.

Tons of stuff to do when building. The guys here can give you a lot of tips.

[Cooter]

yup, floor safe is part of the next build

[ceyko]

Congrats, but better you than me. Only new/custom home I'm going to build going forward is the one I'm going to retire and die in. Which is going to have a much larger shop than the home itself.

[Cooter]

Congrats, but better you than me. Only new/custom home I'm going to build going forward is the one I'm going to retire and die in. Which is going to have a much larger shop than the home itself.

Mine's going to be IN the shop... 4ksqft house, 4ksqft shop space

[Vertnut]

Please be sure and have a soil sample taken and have a structural engineer design your slab. I have two folks from this board that are having really nasty slab issues because their "builder" didn't spend the $1500 to do it properly. If you're not in the city, no one else will require it, and a slick builder will put another $1500 in his pocket at your expense.

[ceyko]

Mine's going to be IN the shop... 4ksqft house, 4ksqft shop space

Not a bad plan and starting to become real popular too.

[Roscoe]

Please post progress pics along the way, and make sure to show your yellow Lambo in most pics when possible.

[GeorgeG.]

Please be sure and have a soil sample taken and have a structural engineer design your slab. I have two folks from this board that are having really nasty slab issues because their "builder" didn't spend the $1500 to do it properly. If you're not in the city, no one else will require it, and a slick builder will put another $1500 in his pocket at your expense.

Once a structural engineer designs the slab, how do you verify that the builder actually did what he was suppose to do?

[Lone Sailor]

Once a structural engineer designs the slab, how do you verify that the builder actually did what he was suppose to do?

Having someone on site to verify dimensions, materials, and workmanship. Something that an inspector would normally be in charge of, but if you are in a county setting then most of the time the code is much more lacks and you'll need to hire someone or see if the engineer would be willing to inspect everything himself.

[Vertnut]

Once a structural engineer designs the slab, how do you verify that the builder actually did what he was suppose to do?

The engineer does a "pre-pour" inspection after it's all set up with steel and cables. He may come in last minute and want to add steel to corners or spans that he's not comfortable with. Mine also shoots grades to determine the slab is level. They also look at "drops" or slopes in the porches and garage's to be sure cables are deep enough in the concrete. Once an engineer puts his stamp on it, he shares responsibility on it being structurally sound.