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New foundation wall built in cold weather, a couple of blocks loose
5

New foundation wall built in cold weather, a couple of blocks loose

New foundation wall built in cold weather, a couple of blocks loose

(OP)
We are located in the Northeast in a very windy location up on a cliff (level lot, sandy soils, and solid rock beneath it). Our contractor just built a foundation wall with  12" blocks for a kitchen renovation. I noticed that he has ignored the requirements on the plans for cold weather concreting.  On the daily 5-15 min visits I noticed that he used Type S cement for both below grade and above grade mortar and freezing tap water to mix the mortar.  Air temperature ranged from low 30s to mid 40s during the day hours and 20s at night.  No heaters or enclosers/tarps were used during the foundation construction. The sub says he reinforced the blocks and the bottom 4 courses and top 2 courses are solid filled.  Before he placed the sill plate, I noticed that there was shrinkage in the solid fill in the top row of blocks, some had light, some more. The sill plates were screwed to the anchor bolts a day after he finished the block wall.  A couple of days later, I noticed two small corner blocks with anchor bolts in them were pulling away from the adjacent blocks.  There are gaps in the mortar around those blocks. There is some shrinkage that is appearing on a daily basis in the mortar here and there.

On a different note, one of the foundation wall is not sitting straight on the footings below (12"x24").  The shortest distance between the edge of the foundation and the edge of the footing is close to 6".  The footings were also allowed to cure for only 5 days and the forms and insulated blankets were removed on a cold day when the temperature ranged between 24F and 38F.  The heater was not used the first night that the foundation was poured and subsequently only sporadically. I forced the sub-contractor to use the cold weather concrete mix (4500psi, Polar set, air-entrained) for the reinforced footings when he casually mentioned that he planned to use Calcium Chloride as an additive and 3500psi.  That was the only thing that I got him to do that conformed to the drawings. During this entire time of footings and foundation construction, the GC was on vacation.

Despite expressing concern about the integrity of the foundation and strength of concrete, the GC and sub say that re-pointing the loose blocks should take care of the problem and that there are no issues with the foundation. The GC is continuing with the framing at the moment despite my rather weak protests. I am not sure what to do.

Any insight or guidance from anyone here is greatly helpful.  Where can I find an independent and reliable structural engineer who can take a look at the foundation?

 

RE: New foundation wall built in cold weather, a couple of blocks loose

Phone book?

RE: New foundation wall built in cold weather, a couple of blocks loose

If nothing else, try calling your local chapter of the Structural Engineer's Association.  They should be able to give you a few SE's to call.

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
Motto:  KISS
Motivation:  Don't ask

RE: New foundation wall built in cold weather, a couple of blocks loose

Quote:

The GC is continuing with the framing at the moment despite my rather weak protests.

Maybe if you were to say to the general contractor "this foundation is rejected because it was not constructed in accordance with specifications" it would get his attention.

The cost of testing to prove that the foundation is acceptable should be borne by him, not by you or your client.

BA

RE: New foundation wall built in cold weather, a couple of blocks loose

(OP)
Thank you BAretired!

RE: New foundation wall built in cold weather, a couple of blocks loose

For what it's worth - cold weather protection is only required by ACI 306 for a maximum of 2 days.  There are additional requirements for a gradual tempereature drop once the protection is removed, butthe protection is only required for 2 days at most.  Additionally, the method of satisfying ACI 306 lies in the concrete surface temperature, not the ambient temperature.

Try googling "structural engineering firm local big city", of course substitute the name of a big city that is local to you.

RE: New foundation wall built in cold weather, a couple of blocks loose

For the masonry portion of the addition, the appropriate specification for masonry is contained in ACI 530 because masonry is involved and it is totally different type of cement based material. The requirement are different because it is an assembly of cured materials and mortar.

The mortar protection is different than that for concrete because of the moisture content during curing and setting and mortar has a relatively low influence on the wall.

Dick

Engineer and international traveler interested in construction techniques, problems and proper design.

RE: New foundation wall built in cold weather, a couple of blocks loose

Who designed the building in the first place? All done by an architect? I'd get the design professional involved, whoever it was...  You also may be getting a tough lesson on why having a good structural engineer on your project, even minor house additions (which I have done plenty of), is not such a bad thing and worth the additional cost.

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