Drain tile

The drain tile system is used in conjunction with your waterproofing.   It is done after you waterproof your foundation and establish the water plane on the exterior.   Our system consists of weep holes, sump pump and corrugated pipe with gravel and filter cloth.  The purpose of this is to get water away from your basement and to daylight (?) if you are on a hillside.   If you are not on a hillside, it is best to go the extra step and put interior and exterior systems in the homes.   The interior system consists of the interior drain tile and sump pump.  A sump pump is a pump used to remove water that has accumulated in a water collecting sump basin, commonly found in the basement of homes.  The sump pump is set at a level below the actual drain pipe and works with a float activated switch. The pump kicks on when the water gets to a certain level. This is done so when the water reaches a certain level it is pumped out of and away from your home.   During construction, this process takes about a day.

Backfill

Your excavator generally does this step in construction.  

During the excavation process of your home, whether you have a basement or not, you dig for footers and foundation. During this process we do what is called an overdig.  The overdig is there is so you work and have room to safely maneuver around the footer and foundation.

After the footer and foundation are in and the waterproofing has been completed, you are required to get an inspection done for backfill.

Backfill is simply putting the soil back into the overdig and establishing a positive grade away from the house.  This generally takes a day or two.

Positive grade – a plane established during the grading process to get water away from the house or foundation.

Ground Works

This step is done by a licensed plumber. 

The ground works consists of laying any pipes required in the ground for sewer and water and it typically takes a day to complete.

Slap Prep

The flat work mason does this work.  This step is done after ground works and is done according to the structural engineer and has thicken footer for structural beans, wire or steel mesh for strength, gravel bed of 4” minimum for drainage and a vapor barrier.   You must get an inspection before you can pour the slab.  This step usually takes a day.

Basement Slab

The basement slab is also done by your flatwork mason.  This step is usually done at the same time your garage slab and any porch slab that will have a concrete cap are done.  Usually it consists of a certain p.s.i. concrete which is specified by a structural engineer and is usually a minimum of 4” thick.  In a garage slab, you usually have “grade beams”.  Grade Beams are nothing more than thickened concrete areas, specified by the structural engineer, to carry the weight of an automobile and will probably be reinforced with steel of some sort.   This process generally takes a day.