Basement Slab Forming MISTAKES!

Hi, I'm Tim Carter, AskTheBuilder.com. Another day at the job site. This is not my job. I'm not

building this home. If you discover something new, there's a good chance

you're going to. I'd appreciate it if you would click that thanks button below the

video. Every single dollar that I raise, I plow back into the channel to make more

videos for you faster. They were here this morning and they formed up to pour

the slab. Let's take a look. You're looking at just a standard 2x6 and

and they've got it formed up here so that the concrete won't spill out onto the gravel

This extra little piece of 2x6 is because there is a seam right here, all right? There's a seam

here. So you've got to put this on to bolster that to keep the top edge straight. But let's go look

at some other really interesting things. Out here in the middle of the slab, they put a

stake and they've got a nail in it. And they drove that down to a particular height because

that is going to be the top of the slab and they're going to screed off of that. In other

words, that's where they're going to take their screed. And you can see they chalked

lines all around the inside of the foundation. And I know it might be hard to see them down there

That's going to be the top of the slab. Now what's going to happen is this slab, I'm in the garage

this slab, that's going to be the highest point of the slab, and it going to slope down so any water that is in here goes out to this outside But that a mistake They should have put floor drains in here

Because what happens here in New Hampshire is if you have a lot of snow melt

and all that water hits the bottom of the gasket on the garage door, it freezes

Although here it probably is not going to freeze because they've got the floor heated. But many other garages, the water freezes

And then when you go to open up the garage door, it rips the rubber gasket off the bottom of the door

Here's something that's really strange. In all my years of building, I have never seen this

Look at this. These 6x6s right here. Big 6x6s. And then there's a gap underneath it

You see this gap? In other words, that footing was not level

and I guess I can only imagine this is going to be a bearing wall, but they don't have they don't

have support underneath it. That six by six is gonna bow with any concentrated loads on it. What a mistake

I'm just down the street from where the house is being built. I want to show you why it's a really bad idea

idea to put treated lumber underneath a structural wall. Look at this. These are all treated lumber

posts, you know, as a guardrail. And look what happens to them. Yeah, they rot out. They

rot out. Now granted, you're not going to have a lot of running water going underneath

that garage slab, but you know what? You're going to have water in the garage

so you tell me if it's a smart move to put treated lumber underneath a bearing wall

Check this out Rot More rot A bunch of them are rotted Who would put treated lumber It just crazy

In here they've got a raised, you know, a raised form. And the only thing I can imagine is that

they're going to let the concrete go underneath that. But notice, as I talked about in the video

before they did not put any insulation underneath the radiant heating tubes

That is going to be a huge mistake. What a shame. What a darn shame. They made a

nice octagonal form for around the sewage ejection pump, and that'll be nice

But I don't know how they're going to finish the inside here. It's going to be

really interesting to see. Maybe there's some type of special octagonal lid that will fit on top of the concrete. And you can see what they did here, pretty

smart idea, they drove nails in the side of the form here, that's going to be the top

of the concrete. So that's what those nails are for. And the same thing here, you can

see the chalk lines, that is going to be the top of the slab, they'll be very careful when

they put the concrete in so they don't lose that line. That's a very standard practice

But what's interesting, if we go down here, it looks to me, yep, it looks to me that the

concrete is going to end up, yeah, just there you can actually see the chalk line up on

on the third treated plate. There continue to be lots of surprises here

It's going to be quite interesting to see how this all turns out

My guess is there are going to be quite a few puddles in the floor

I not at all impressed with what going to happen I don like how that concrete poured up against the treated lumber plates I don like the octagonal form around the sewage ejection pump And I

especially don't like that treated lumber six by six that is got, are you kidding me? It's got that

huge gap underneath it. That's insanity. It's insanity. But that's obviously going to be a wall

they're going to put a wall on top of that and here's what's even crazier. You wait and see

As we follow the job, that's going to have a lot of weight on it because it's going to carry a lot

of the weight for the concrete floor that's going to be up above in the upper garage. Remember

there's two garage doors up above and it's going to be really interesting to think about all that

wait pressing down on those six by sixes that have the gap underneath it. Remember, if you

discovered something new, click that thanks text link underneath the video. And remember, every

single dollar that I raise, I plow back into the channel to make more videos for you faster

I'm Tim Carter. This has been AskTheBuilder.com. And did you notice? Got a hoodie on today

cold it's going to snow soon and it's just the third week of September it's only two days

after the first day of fall that's what happens in New Hampshire you got to build quickly

or you get stuck in the bad weather I'm Tim Carter askthebuilder.com

if you want to discover more home improvement tips go to askthebuilder.com