Compacted Soil

Compaction 2
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

Went out to the lot today and watched them compact the new dry soil. The engineers have been measuring the compaction rates and are very pleased with the results. They want a measurement of 90 and are consistently getting over 105.
I have no idea what that is but they are very happy with it.
It was 36 degrees when I was out there at Noon. Hopefully the weather holds out so that the footings can be poured this week.

That's What She Said

The diggers scooped out 4 feet of wet goop from the already existing hole and found that the earth was hard underneath. This is excellent because it means that we will be starting with a solid base on which to lay the dry soil on. As they lay the soil and compact it, an engineer will do a compaction test at each foot to make sure all is as it should be. Once this is complete, a final analysis will be done to determine if there is still a need for spread footings and additional tile work. If not, the overall improvement costs will not be as high as first estimated.
Tomorrow they should be done with filling and the foundation guy can begin the work of pouring the footings and then the foundation.

Happy Thanksgiving

What a great way to go into the Thanksgiving holiday! The new engineering firm finished their research on our lot and said that they could find no plausible cause for the water other than the pond. They said that this area of the development was a "cut" or high area (as opposed to a low area that was filled.) The development company has authorized them to reconstruct the pond with an impermeable liner in the spring.
There will need to be a few things done to improve the excavation so that it can be built on. Part of this is replacement and compaction of dry soil. Another part is to use a spread footing and a more extensive tile system as insurance.

We have asked our builder to find out what assurances we will have, preferably in writing, that if we have water problems in the future that the developer will take care of them.

As long as the answer to this is acceptable, work will begin on the foundation on Monday.

Yea!

Engineers Galore

Our builder had a meeting with the land development company on Wednesday. They are going to hire another geotech engineering firm to do a comprehensive study of the lot and determine definitively if it is the pond that is causing the wetness. If it is, they will either fix the pond or they will fill it in. They have also offered to pay half of what the cost of what the additional waterproofing will be on the house.
As I stated before, if it turns out that it's not the pond and it's a water table or natural spring, we'll have to locate another lot.
Sigh.

Wait...Some More

Well, we still have nothing more than a hole in the ground. And one section of it is still damp. Our builder, Dave, is in the process of working with the land development company to see what help they are going to provide.
I'm hoping that we hear back today about stuff but I'm not holding my breath. I just hope that we get something resolved this week.
If we stick with this lot (that's right, there's a possibility of moving to a 3rd lot) we'll have to do quite a bit of work to make sure that some time in the future we don't get water in the basement or have settlling problems with the foundation. The engineers say that they can engineer around this and make sure the house is ok but it will just cost money.
The biggest thing that I'm concerned with is that if we have to fork over more money for waterproofing we won't be able to do the Geothermal (or ground-to-air heat pump as it's called).
As Dave has told me, "A week won't make us but it could certainly break us." Meaning that taking a week longer up front to do thing right won't hurt us but if we don't take the time now, we may end up paying for it in the long run.