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Centerline Construction Chat, Episode 2 – Foundations

Watch as Jeff Satterwhite explains the process and materials involved with building the Foundation of a Home, the second step in the home-building process.

(The first step is the Footings, which is explained in Episode 1 of Centerline Construction Chat.)

There are Several types of foundations and materials in the foundation.

The blocks in the video are Masonry blocks, a 12-inch block and an 8-inch block. There several other types but these are the 2 main materials in Foundations in Coastal North Carolina.

They are used in several different areas. The 12-inch blocks are often used in porches or other areas where there is a slab. You can set an 8-inch block on top of a 12-inch block which gives you a ledger to hold the concrete.

In this case, we used the 12-inch block at the bottom to create a ledger for the brick. This will be an all-brick home so the bricks will set on the ledger of the 12-inch block and will follow up the face with a 1-inch air gap between the wall and the back of the grip to create the exterior wall.

The other type of block is called the Header Block, which is a special type of block designed for slab construction, the slab will be poured in the middle all the way to edge and the notch part of the header block will catch the concrete for the floor.

With the 5-inch threaded rod and the 8-inch block, the holes are filled with mortar. The type of material that is between each head and bed joint in the foundation and that gives it strength.

We use an S-type mortar whereas on veneer, you use an N type. S is stronger than N.

This is going to be a Slab Construction Home, the other type is called a Crawl Space, where the space at the bottom would be open rather than filled with sand – otherwise known as an Open Crawl Space.

The threaded rods in the exterior walls of the Foundation are for wind hold-down. So each one will have a big square washer with a 5-inch nut to hold down the walls of the home for the 130-mile-an-hour wind zone.

What we did on the inside of the garage is called Parging. This is a cement treatment that is put n the face of the foundation which will give it a smooth appearance.

For more information or questions, go to www.gocenterline.com or contact Jeff Satterwhite at (910) 620-8883 or Jeff@gocenterline.com Thank you for watching