Then I watched them form up the foundation and now they have the plates down. Their construction is very different from ours. Watching these houses being built is more like watching someone make furniture.The first thing I have noticed is the spacing of concrete walls beneath all of the walls above. All of the walls in the house appear as though they will be supported all the way through the foundation. The basement is a slab. Re-bar is tied into a grid every 10” (inches) or so. They use #3 and #4 rebar, their foundation walls look like they are 5” thick, and the foundation only goes 10” below grade, but with every wall supported and with the size of house they will build the foundation looks more than adequate.
The seal plate is where I am becoming more and more impressed. The seal plate is a plastic barrier or spikes (from what I can see from the sides) with 5x5” beams on top. These are bolted every meter to the foundation. Some bolts stick up through the foundation by 50 cm. They use a different material for the bolts as well. They are a shiny ‘zinc’ plating, but it is gold in color so I don’t know for sure what they are using.The open floor spans also have plates and screws, which take the load ever meter to the slab beneath. I don’t think much of the floor will move or bounce. Other houses I have seen, do not have the same balloon style framing that we have. They have walls mortised together with diagonal bracing. Much of their sheet goods are 3’x6’, even their OSB and sheetrock is this size. I think the spans are so short between walls and openings, that they may not need larger products. I did see one guy
stocking a house with sheetrock. He was working by himself. Ceilings are about 9’ (feet) tall, so the 3’ widths will work well.From here on, the house will start to rise quickly. I will try to keep up with their building efforts. I will try to get inside and look at all phases of construction.
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