You've no doubt heard of using ICFs for walls and
foundations, but did you know they work just as well for
retaining walls? Chris Hurst of Zeropowerhouse Construction in
Sonora, Calif., has used ICFs to build a number of retaining
walls, including the 500-foot one around this multilevel
parking lot (1). The project architect considered concrete
block and cast-in-place concrete but chose ICFs because it was
faster — a critical factor in light of the impending
California rainy season and the potential for serious erosion
at the site.
The footing included steel reinforcing, a keyway, and vertical
rebar dowels 16 inches on-center (2, 3). It took Hurst's
five-man crew four days to stack the ICFs (4), install
reinforcing, brace the walls, and pump the concrete — a
six-sack mix with pea-gravel aggregate (5).
The crew gave the concrete a few days to cure, then backfilled
over a drainage system of filter-fabric, gravel, and perforated
drain pipe. The pipe ran to daylight at the ends and at several
penetrations through the walls.
After the parking lot was paved, the wall was finished with
two-coat stucco over wire lath (6). The cost to build this wall
— including the stucco — was about the same as it
would have been with block or poured concrete. Material costs
were higher, but labor and time were less. — David
Frane
Overhead Lift Trailer
Larry Schmitt, whose company installs standby generators in
Northern California, needed a way to haul equipment to the site
and maneuver it into place. Inspiration hit when he saw the
trailer that a local precast plant used to deliver septic
tanks. He bought a flatbed trailer of his own and attached a
welded steel frame to it; with this setup, he could lift
generators with chain hoists, then roll them to the outboard
end of the I-beam above and lower them into place.
The beam extends 5 feet beyond the end of the trailer; it's
hinged about a foot back from the rear frame so that it can be
folded forward during transport. Before rolling the 2,000-pound
generator shown here to the end of the beam, the electricians
will put blocks under the back end of the trailer to keep it
from tipping.
Schmitt tows the trailer to the site in the usual way, but once
there he disconnects it, turns the truck around, and hooks it
to a towing ball he's installed on the front of the truck. It's
easier for him to see what he's doing with the truck facing
forward, and with the front wheels close to the trailer it
takes only a small steering movement to swing the end of the
boom a great distance. — D.F.
No-Sweat Plumbing
I'm a master plumber with many years' experience sweating
copper. Nevertheless, I've come to rely more and more on my
Ridgid compact pressing tool (1) for repair and remodeling
work.
The cordless tool crimps 1/2-, 3/4-, and 1-inch fittings around
standard type K, L, or M copper tubing in about two seconds
— with none of the fire risk associated with sweat
fittings. Another advantage of the tool is that I don't have to
clear the pipe of water the way I would with sweat fittings.
You could even crimp on a new shutoff valve with a full stream
of water coming out of the pipe — not that I'd recommend
doing so.
The gasketed fittings (2) cost around four times the price of
ordinary copper fittings, but the reduced labor easily makes up
for the additional expense. The tool itself sells for around
$1,700. A larger version can join copper fittings of up to 4
inches. Ridgid also makes crimp fittings for natural gas and
propane lines.
The job shown here (3) was in an office that had lost its
hot-water supply. I found that the water-heater tank had split
because there was no pressure-reducing valve in the incoming
supply line. Ordinarily, installing a valve would be an easy
fix, but in this case the main shutoff and meter were tucked
behind a small access panel surrounded by wood framing. Sweat
connections would have required that we disable the fire alarm,
turn off the sprinklers, and protect the framing from fire with
heat shields and wet rags. But by using crimp fittings, I was
able to finish the job in a couple of hours with minimal
fuss.
Shawn Gokeyis a master plumber with
Climate Systems in Williston, Vt.