Prepping a house site and building a house

[Columbo]

@MrEvilPirate my brother and I went halves on a small vibratory screener when a local excavation contractor retired and sold off his equipment. Looks similar to a Read RD40 but a little smaller.

 

[Columbo]

This isn’t a good pic but I have a hole in the right spot and to the right depth lol. I’m going to get two loads of crushed stone dumped inside for the footers then dig the frost wall trenches. The schedule has the foundation contractor starting on 6/5.

 

[Columbo]

I got the stone in and compacted just before it rained on Friday. Today I worked with the foundation contractor and we got all the footings laid out. His crew will be here in the morning to get the footings formed up, concrete shows up on Tuesday. I’ll be working on the footing drain to daylight to stay out of their way.

 

[CM1995]

Looking good!

So your footings will be formed and poured on top of what looks like #57 stone?

I have always liked that method as it is common practice here to dig footings and earth cast but we don't have to worry about frost either. The way you are doing it would allow a bigger capillary break between earth and the basement slab allowing any water in and under the basement a way out.

 

[Columbo]

Correct, i shimmed a few low areas with 1.5” crushed stone, compacted, and then put a layer of 3/4” crushed stone over top. This layer was 4-6” and compacted. The area I’m building is pretty wet so I’m trying to do everything I can to keep the water where it belongs. Internal and external footing drains too.

 

[CM1995]

What type footing drain - 4" perf pipe or the flat vertical drain for lack of a better description?

 

[Columbo]

4” perforated pipe for the footings and then a separate drain for the gutter down spouts. I’ll tie both drains into a single 6” solid pipe leading to daylight. I was planning to use SDR35 pipe but the foundation contractor said he has recently started using SDR20 due to cost and ease of installation. I’ll have to look into that.

 

[skyking1]

Moving right along. I hope to join you soon in the process.
One thing I will do that I don't see on foundation jobs is a cleanout on each corner of the footing drain. Just a couple of fittings and two sticks of pipe, but being able to see what is going on is priceless.
If I had water issues it would be easy to figure out where it is.

 

[Columbo]

Good idea skyking! Thanks!

 

[Columbo]

Footers were poured this morning, crew starts forming the walls tomorrow. I stayed out of their way and put in the footing drain to daylight so I could move some of the fill pile out of the way.

 

[Columbo]

This might be better in a new thread but I don’t know where else to put it- Does anyone have any experience or opinions on using the so-called “triple wall” or SDR20 drainage pipe versus typical SDR35 for the footing drains? I can get the triple wall stuff locally for about $10 a piece less than SDR35. Given that I need about 100 pieces that adds up. Photo below is for reference on the triple wall/SDR20 pipe as it seems to go by different names in different regions.

ADS 3000 HDPE Triple Wall Pipe | Smoothwall Pipe from ADS

ADS 3000 HDPE Triple Wall and Smoothwall pipes are available in a variety of sizes. Triple Wall & Smoothwall pipes are ASTM F810 certified. Learn more!

www.adspipe.com

 

[skyking1]

I have not had a problem with any pipe that is bedded with care. Proper installation is the key.

 

[materthegreater]

I agree with Skyking. That ADS3000 will be fine, I use it a lot. Much better than the single wall S&D pipe.

 

[Columbo]

Good point! I’m planning to surround the pipe with crushed stone, filter fabric, and then backfilled with clean sand. That’s the typical installation around here anyway (although some people backfill entirely with crushed stone).

 

[CM1995]

Looks like an ADS HDPE alternative to Contech A2000 ribbed PVC pipe. Haven't used the ADS triple wall but have put miles of ADS single wall, N12 dual wall and HP pipe in the ground. Like Sky said it's all in the bedding and backfill.

A majority of HDPE pipe's structural integrity is the backfill material. Early on when ADs HDPE pipe hit the market guys installed it like concrete using dirt backfill which resulted in failures. Use a good washed stone like you used in the basement as bedding and bring it at least 6" above the pipe and it will perform as designed.

 

[materthegreater]

Good point! I’m planning to surround the pipe with crushed stone, filter fabric, and then backfilled with clean sand. That’s the typical installation around here anyway (although some people backfill entirely with crushed stone).

Your plan sounds good and you probably already know this - make sure the bottom of the pipe is as low as the bottom of the footing and pitched to daylight. Backfilling with sand above the stone layer is fine, but you want to make sure you have a full wrap of fabric around the stone/pipe to prevent any sand or silt from entering the pipe.

Most situations don't need to be backfilled entirely with stone, unless it is an unheated building. An unheated building will allow the frost to get into the ground around the foundation much more than a heated building will. If backfilled completely with stone this won't matter because the stone layer won't hold water and therefore won't expand when it freezes. Otherwise the expansion of the frozen ground will push against the concrete walls and can cause cracking or breakage of the walls.