Where unstable soil and periodic tidal flooding are a concern, helical piers topped with a concrete stem wall rise to the challenge.
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Q: Are precast concrete foundation walls subject to the same dampproofing or waterproofing requirements as cast-in-place and block foundations? I've heard that because these walls are made of a high-strength concrete that's virtually nonporous and impervious to water, they don't require extra...
Fixing Wright's Wrongs
In the flood-prone Gulf region, an elevated home is a no-brainer. The classic poured-concrete slab-on-grade — a simple monolithic pour with nothing more than a thickened edge at the perimeter — is not enough where floodwaters from a storm surge or rising water levels pose a threat. Using a raised...
Power trowels are great time-savers, but some tasks — like finishing slab edges and around penetrations — have always required a hand trowel.
Following the 2004 hurricane season, Florida-based Mercedes Homes paired up with researchers at the DOE's Building America program to design and build a truly hurricane-resistant home. But as researchers and builders have come to understand only too well, a home that provides complete protection...
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Q: A customer asked me about sealing a brand-new garage slab to keep oil drips from penetrating the concrete, in case she decides to have the slab finish-painted in the future. Is this necessary? What product should we use?
A high-tech floor coating, slat wall, and cabinets transform a single-car garage in three days.
Before installing flooring over concrete, do a calcium chloride test to make sure it's truly dry.
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Q: A client has asked me to build a practical outbuilding with a wood floor system. For simplicity's sake, I'd like to place it on a Sonotube foundation and use continuous-span wood I-joists. The bottom of the I-joists will be about 16 to 24 inches off the ground, and the perimeter joists will be...
When a 1,500-pound drop hammer is falling from 10 to 15 feet, hitting the butt of a 25-foot timber pile a few hundred times, and you have 70 or 80 piles to do, the neighbors tend to get up in arms no matter how charmingly you may have introduced yourself, notes contractor Eric Borden. His company...
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From Jailhouse to Supportive Housing
John Fallon spent years trying to help a homeless man whom we’ll call patient R, a paranoid schizophrenic and alcoholic who spent 21 years on the streets, in emergency rooms, and in the jails in and around Chicago.
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Q: Is ACQ-treated lumber and plywood suitable for building permanent wood foundations?
With careful layout, placing sills directly into the wet concrete can save time.
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lamps
Although Thomas Alva Edison's incandescent light bulb in 1879 is generally recognized as the 'birth' of modern lighting, technological advancements in the industry have been many, and creating a comprehensive timeline is a historical research project of great proportions. What follows below is...
This oversized window well adds emergency egress, light, and ventilation to basement living spaces.
Q: My clients want to use as living space the new walkout basement of an addition I'm building for them, but they're concerned about potential moisture-related problems with the planned carpet flooring. I've proposed installing a layer of rigid EPS foam f
Wet-location protection for hardwood flooring; an old nailing trick; recip blade compass
Before adding new living space above an existing garage, make sure the footings can handle the load.
The work goes faster if you use a laser, install anchor straps instead of anchor bolts, and measure as little as possible.