HOHN

Wow! Great responses, guys! VERY helpful.


A couple replies to various comments made:

-- My foundation has that awesome sealer goop on the outside. I talked to the builder himself. I also saw them use the green goop on another house in the neighborhood that just went up.

-- PO used treated lumber for the bottom plates. They are powder nailed in place. I do NOT feel like ripping all this out just to ditch the treated bottom plates. I will not use any *more* treated, though. Might it be worth painting over the treated stuff or something to contain the vapor that is bad? I don't know..

Electrified, I live in North Columbus up near Parkside Elementary (soccer field and such) just across Central.


My sump pump AND my Radon evac pump are both inop. This is ridiculous that they are both broken already! I'm not too happy with the selection of components or the installation, whichever is to blame.

I'm going to install a subpanel in the basement off a 100A feeder in the main panel in the garage. I just can't see running all the basement wiring up into the attic over the garage and back to the main panel. That's probably another $500 in just copper! Forget that!



There are a few slight foundation cracks which are probably normal settling. Hairlines in the walls, and almost all vertical. I was told that horizontal cracks in the basement are much more significant than vertical cracks, but can anyone explain to me why this would be true? If it's false, can someone tell me why?

There's a slightly larger crack in the floor, but it doesn't seem to be growing, and it's even on both sides (no lifting or falling). I'm gonna put some hydraulic cement on it and call it good.

Thanks for the pointers on the blue extruded vs the expanded. I'm a fan of extrusions!

annabelle

Depending on where the horizontal cracks are more "opened up" it will be caused by cupping or heaving of the slab. A vertical crack is usually due to pressure exerted on the wall. Minor cracks,well as we say....there is a crack in every sack.

wyododge

Justin,

Sounds like you have a good plan. Pressure treated sill plates are standard on concrete. Your sill plate can be wet and a pressure treated plate will resist rot. You will probably have any new sill plates exposed for a while after framing, and they were exposed from the mill to the store so in my opinion, there is not a lot of volatile chemical left. Also the new pressure treated lumber requires ACQ fasteners. One thing I do is make sure that when you install your drywall, leave at least a 1/2" to 3/4" of space between the floor and the bottom of the drywall. That way if you have a minor spill or flooding (toilet overrun, washer drain plug) it will only get into the drywall if there is a significant amount of flooding. Also do not screw your drywall to the sill plate, and don't nail your baseboard to your sill plate. The pressure treated sill plate will cause them to rust. I am assuming your are framing 16" on center. If not, you should.

Hairline cracks in foundations are a normal occurrence. This is due to shrinkage during curing and is one of the reasons that rebar is integrated into the pour. Horizontal cracks show signs of footer instability as another poster indicated, but some minor horizontal cracking can occur naturally. I believe you said the walls were very high in the basement so a FEW horizontal cracks can be caused by natural shrinkage on a pour that tall. Larger cracking in the floor can be caused by numerous things, generally uneven ground under the concrete which causes pressure points or stress areas. But flat concrete will crack, that is why there are control joints cut or formed into concrete floors, this just makes the concrete 'crack' where you want it to. Heaving is an altogether different issue. Not sure about your ground but if you have heavy clays they expand and contract with moisture content and can be a real problem. Be careful with tile floors with concrete basement floors. If there is not much heaving, and you want to install smaller tile floors (bathroom, laundry) then use a 'concrete' underlayment which will isolate the concrete movement from the tile. 'Glue' the masonite down with a flexible adhesive. There are many on the market just make sure they are rated for concrete.

A sub panel is a good idea to avoid long runs of wiring. Not only for cost but for safety. Just make sure, very, very sure that you isolate and use redundant grounding for the sub panel and the main panel. Ground to your plumbing (cold water) close to the entrance of your water main, and use ground rods. You can never have to many grounds. I like to use solid 6 GA grounds for the rods and plumbing. Make sure that your ground wire is isolated for the entire run out of the house. Meaning that they do not contact any conductive materials prior to exiting the home to ground.

As far as your sump, if your house was built in 2005, and your sump stays pretty full, five years is not so bad. If it dries out and fills up then dries out again, you may want to dig out the sump a bit when it is dry and put some gravel and then pea gravel in the bottom, this will filter some of the sediment out (if any). Then suspend your pump off bottom so you are pumping clearer water.

As far as the RADON evac pump, well lets just say that I do not agree with the RADON danger. My mother is a health and safety consultant for some major corporations. The data related to the Radon 'scare' is similar to that of other EPA mandated issues. But that is a whole other issue and a personal choice. but again, an evac pump running for five years is really not that bad. These two items (pumps) are where some contractors generally save a bit of money.

WOW that was long, SORRY!!!!!

Jeff

Colo_River_Ram

Justin,

You might want to consider a false ceiling with removable tiles this would allow you to do future wiring and or plumbing jobs with out having to rip things out..

I like this thread we get to help with the engineering and You have to do all of the work

wyododge

Justin,

One more thing, Just a little trick that I use.

If you have to build any soffits to enclose ducting or plumbing, buy a sheet or two of 7/16" OSB and rip it to fit size and width. then rip 2x4's in half to connect the verticle and horizontal sections. This meathod is WAY cheaper than the typical 2x4 ladder and way faster to build. It is also much, much stronger. One piece of 4x8 OSB and two 2x4's will build 16' of 2 sided 12" x 12" soffit for a cost of about 25 bucks. If your sofit is really wide (over 16"), use the osb for the sides and 2x4's flat for the bottom.

Another thing, If your soffit runs full length or width, put some 1-1/2" conduit for future phone/cable or electrical expansion (don't run phone/ cable in same conduit as the electrical) inside.

I have a few other tricks if your interested.

Jeff

HOHN

Sounds like I'll need a small table saw to do this ripping thing. I don't have one, but if I sell a guitar I might be able to swing one soon.

I'm interesting in EVERY trick you can offer.

The PO that framed the basement didn't run soffits for HVAC ducting and such-- he just dropped the whole ceiling. Since the celing is generous for a basement, he took the path of least resistance. That "dropped" part is still almost 8ft though.

I'll have to take some pics.

Thanks.

Justin

annabelle

Why rip them when you can buy them and not need to sell a guitar.

wyododge

I use a skill saw (rigid) and a 2x4 screwed to the plywood. Way easier, especially if you are by yourself. If you don't have roller tables, ripping a full sheet of plywood on a table saw is kinda dangerous by yourself. If you can't afford a full size table saw, by a good skill saw (rigid makes a great one), with a good blade and some good saw horses. Cover the top of the saw horses with two by fours. You will be able to do almost anything with this set up as opposed to a good table saw, and takes up much less space.

If he already has the ceiling framed below the ducting, then move on, no reason to redo all that stuff unless you want a higher ceiling. Just make sure that he has supported it well. You should be able to do some pull ups off of the framing without much deflection. If you can't it will eventually sag. Cut 12" wide pieces of OSB to make hangers for the framing where needed. Use a laser to check to make sure the ceiling is level. If it is not, now is the time to fix it.

More tips.... Save your 2x4 scraps. When you are installing your gang boxes for the electrical, cut a few into 1/2" x 1-1/2"x four inches long. Use these pieces to space your gang boxes off of your framing. Your new drywall will flush out perfect with your gang boxes and your cover plates will fit nice and flat.

When you install gang boxes for two, three or four devices (switches or outlets), screw a piece of 6" or longer 2x4 on to the side of the gang box opposite the nails, with the wide side facing you. Space this piece of scrap back a 1/2" (using the above spacers). When you install your drywall run a couple of screws into the scrap so that your gang box is supported on both sides. Makes for a much nicer finish. Your gang box will be flush on both sides and wont move around.

Since we are on gang boxes, after you have run all your electrical, cable and data wiring, label the wires sticking out of the gang box, and also label the inside of the gang box, that way if you have to come back in two years to do something, you will know what set of wires goes to what (the shielding that you labeled during rough in will have been cut off).

Use double gang boxes for outlets in the corners. Generally this is where AV stuff is located and it is much safer to have double gang boxes (four outlets) to plug all the equipment into. You may end up needing a couple of extra circuits, but it will be safer in the long run.

If you are finishing a bathroom in your basement or a laundry room, use 7/16" OSB for blocking between the studs. Install blocking anywhere you are planning to attach something to the wall to include, towel bars, toilet paper holders, cabinets, mirrors... In bathrooms I block all the walls, floor to ceiling. The only exception is by the vanity and behind the toilet where there would never be anything attached. Make sure to take pictures of your plumbing and electrical before installing your blocking, write measurements on the blocking for electrical and plumbing on the blocking for future reference.

When you are done with your framing, rough electrical and plumbing, take pictures of every wall. If something goes wrong, or you need to find something, you can find it much easier. Where the blocking is not floor to ceiling, measure the distance to the floor and write it on the blocking with a sharpe marker and take a picture. Gives you a reference in the future when your wife wants to hang something on the wall.

Start a punch list now and write down all the things that you say, "I'll get that later". Paper never forgets. On most of my projects I have a white board to write this stuff down, a piece of paper stapled to the wall is just as good.

But of all the most important tip I can give you is to take your time, this is not a race. Take a moment everyday before you start to think things through to completion to make sure you are not messing things up. Corners get you every time, and that is where mistakes will show up.

Man that was long!!!!

Sorry guys!!

Jeff

annabelle

All good advise. However, if you do your own electrical and plumbing work, be prepared to assume the responsibility for it. I still question if you want to pay for the expense of a table saw for such a small project. I would do it with a skill type hand saw. Although, I framed for 10 years and have been in construction for 30. Don't jeopardize you guitar playing fingers.

mopar-or-no-car

Probably more likely to cut off your fingers with a table saw then a skill saw

annabelle

Good point....don't fall into a false sense of security with a $500.00 table saw! Kick backs are a b*****.

Bark

Depends on how good he is with the guitar. People like me should not be allowed near a guitar

wyododge

FWIW, I got tired of digging through piles and piles of 2x2's to find some that were straight enough. That's why I use 2x4's or 2x6's and rip em. It takes a little extra time, but I get a much better end result.

annabelle

He's right.......you do have to cull a lot.........don't let the warehouse man pick them for you.....and band them if you don't plan on using then right away. Again, it's is all a matter of how many you need.

HOHN

I've been pretty happy with my little Hitachi circ saw. With a good blade, even modest saws can work well. 15A, decent balance, not too heavy.