Installing the Superior Walls

If you look at the prints for our house you will see that the basement walls that are embedded in the hillside are shown as concrete blocks filled with rebar and concrete. As long as these walls are totally filled with concrete they are waterproof and very strong. To complete such a wall you would to hire someone to layout the footers, a second crew to excavate the footers, a third crew to form and pour the footers, and then after they pass inspection, a crew of masons to lay the blocks. Since these are 10' walls, they would have to lay blocks to 5' high and then have a concrete truck come and fill them. After that concrete has hardened the second 5' section can be placed on top of them and then those are filled. So besides having to juggle a lot of different crews, an additional problem is that it is nearly impossible to be sure that all of the cells in the wall are actually filled with concrete; invariably there are some voids and these tend to weaken the wall and they often leak.

So we chose an alternative known as Superior Walls. These walls are produced in a factory, transported to the job site on a flatbed truck, erected with a crane, and bolted together. Since these walls are placed directly into a bed of compacted gravel, no poured footers are required. Additionally, the walls are guaranteed not to leak (although this county also requires that they be painted with waterproofing compound). Superior Walls are slightly more expensive but to me it was a no-brainer since it guaranteed a better foundation with a lot less subcontractors getting involved. Oh, and I forgot to mention that they come fully-insulated and with the studs in place, ready for drywall!

The Superior Walls crew was scheduled to arrive first thing Monday morning and I figured I had plenty of time for some last minute things at the job site on Friday. So at 6:15 AM on Friday I was awakened by the telephone and wondered who in the heck might be calling at such an hour. Not being a morning person I was sound asleep and in such a state there is no way I can get to the phone within 4 rings, so I rolled over and let the voice mail take care of it - that is why I pay for it right? A few minutes later it rang again. This time I was awake so I picked it up and the voice on the other end announced that he was waiting for me at my gate (which was locked) and that the crew would be there within a few minutes. The best laid plans right? By the time I was able to get dressed, pour myself some coffee, and get to the job site, my contact had left but I was at least able to get there before the trucks started rolling in.

It was my kind of job; everyone knew what he was doing and all I had to do was stand around with my hand in my pockets and watch. I just love watching work getting done! While Critch was extending and setting the outriggers on the crane truck, the rest of the crew was setting up lines and running a plate tamper over the gravel to ensure that it was level and well packed where the walls would go. It was not long before the first wall was attached to the crane and swung into place. A second wall was soon bolted to it and ensured that it could not fall over. While the crane swung back to hookup the third wall section, the two installers caulked both sides of the joint they had just assembled. The four man crew was a well-oiled machine and quickly completed the job. Within tow hours they were done and gone.  You can see the open ends with embedded wood for attaching the rest of the wall framing for the wooden walls that are not buried in the hillside.  

So the house build is off to a great start; now if I can only keep the momentum going!