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North Shore Farmhouse | Truck In the New House
04/07/16 | 23m 43s | Rating: TV-G
An inspector arrives to approve the new foundation. Kevin sees how Erik Kaminski installs the perimeter drain. The first shipment of precut framing lumber arrives on-site. Kim Turner explains her landscape plan to Richard and the homeowners. Framing begins.
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North Shore Farmhouse | Truck In the New House
KEVIN
Today on the "This Old House"... It is a big day here on our North Shore jobsite. The trucks start arriving. And they are carrying the framing materials for a new reproduction farmhouse that we're building.
RICHARD
And our homeowners learn about their new landscaping plan.
BILL
It's exactly what we're looking for.
TOM
Looks pretty bad right here.
NORM
Are you kidding me? Is this place really worth saving?
RICHARD
We can do better than this.
TOM
Time to get to work.
KEVIN
Nice and easy, nice and easy. Everybody together.
Grunting
KEVIN
Oh, yeah!
ROGER
The right plant in the right place.
KEVIN
Good!
RICHARD
It's state-of-the-art, perfectly square. All in all, a good day's work.
KEVIN
Hi, there. I'm Kevin O'Connor, and welcome back to "This Old House." It is a big day here on our North Shore jobsite. In just a little while, the trucks start arriving. And they are carrying the framing materials for a new reproduction farmhouse that we're building. Now, everything was designed and partially assembled in a factory up in Vermont about 200 miles north of here. And once those trucks arrive, Erik Kaminski and his crew are gonna start assembling our new house. But before that happens, we've got a couple things that we need to check off the list.
ERIK
Foundation's sprayed, sitting on the footing.
KEVIN
Bill Holton is our local inspector. Hey, Bill. Good to see you.
BILL
Good morning.
KEVIN
Erik, good to see you again. So, we have got footings and foundation poured, right? And we want to move forward with the framing, so we need the sign-off from you, correct? We can't go forward till you give us the okay?
BILL
Yeah, okay.
KEVIN
What is it that you're looking for at this stage?
BILL
Well, before we bury this foundation -- and this is the last time we're gonna see it before it's all backfilled -- I want to check and make sure that the walls sit on the footing properly, that they're spaced, that the walls are in the center of the footing. Check for the anchor bolts, that the distance between the anchor bolts -- 'cause the anchor bolts are gonna hold the framing -- the whole anchor to the system. And then we'll be pretty much done with our...
KEVIN
Good. I mean, it's an important step, right? Because this is what's holding up our house. And as you say, we will never see this again once this is backfilled.
BILL
That's correct. That's right.
KEVIN
So, what do you have to do, Erik? Do you have to walk him around and...?
ERIK
Yeah, so we're just gonna walk around. We're gonna take a look at the setup here, how everything was poured, the alignment and everything -- you know, everything he just discussed -- to make sure we're in accordance with what he needs.
KEVIN
Let's get to it. Hopefully we'll pass.
Let's go. -ERIK
Sounds good.
ERIK
So, Bill, we've got the footings down in here. We've got the foundation wall sitting half on this footing. We've got proper alignment. The walls are set. We've got the big footing over here that we're gonna be using for the fireplace. It's gonna sit in the middle of this home.
BILL
That looks good.
ERIK
You want to go up top and take a look at the bolts? The waterproofing and the exterior drainage?
BILL
Let's do that. This looks good down here.
ERIK
Thanks. So we got the garage footing going in here. We overpoured on top of that ledge right there.
BILL
Yeah.
ERIK
That we pin down to. Now that we're up top here, Bill, we can look at the proper spacing of the bolts that we have that's gonna hold this house down onto this foundation. We've also got the insulation, the drainage. And we're gonna continue this right around the property. We've already done it on this side, but we're gonna go to daylight around this corner of the foundation.
BILL
Okay. Looks good.
ERIK
Yep. So, how did everything go here today, Bill?
This looks good. -ERIK
Great.
KEVIN
So, how'd we do, Bill?
BILL
Yeah, did a great job. This is a good foundation, good footings. Everything lines up.
KEVIN
Nice job, Erik. That's what we wanted to hear. Well, we appreciate you coming by.
BILL
Okay. Thanks.
KEVIN
So, with that signed off on, I know we got the trucks coming with the framing material. We're ready to start framing?
ERIK
No, before we get to the framing, Kevin, we've got to do the exterior perimeter drain, the insulation, and the backfill.
KEVIN
All right. Well, let's get to that.
ERIK
After we took the forms off, we waterproofed this. That's that black coating right there. We're gonna get a lot of water in this area with all the ledge we took out. So what the last thing we want is to have the basement be wet.
KEVIN
I mean, you're gonna have a lot of water running off of the roof during a rainstorm, but like you say, this ledge, I mean, you guys basically dug yourself a swimming pool.
ERIK
We did. We did. So we have to take extra precautions to make sure we don't have a wet basement.
KEVIN
So, waterproofing on the foundation. I see that. I see a pipe here. So this is the perimeter drain we're working on?
ERIK
Yeah. It's a perforated pipe. It's got holes all the way around it.
KEVIN
Okay. And what's the formula here -- the recipe?
ERIK
So, basically, we lay down a bed of crushed stone. We lay that pipe on top. On top of that pipe, we put some more crushed stone and landscape fabric so when we backfill, that dirt doesn't clog those holes.
KEVIN
Beautiful. So we got a nice, clear channel for the water to run into the pipe. Obviously, you've got to get it away. Where does it go?
ERIK
With the grading we have on this property, we're able to run it to daylight.
KEVIN
Got it.
ERIK
The end of that drain's gonna be 20 to 30 feet past this foundation.
KEVIN
So, can we finish laying this?
ERIK
Yeah,
let's do it. -KEVIN
All right.
ERIK
So, Kevin, we're gonna have some stone drop down into this foundation. We're gonna spread it around and get that pipe laid out.
KEVIN
Sounds good.
ERIK
Gonna drop this right here. Let's back off a little bit.
KEVIN
So, what do we got? Like 3, 4 inches of stone on the bottom here?
ERIK
Yeah, roughly 3 or 4. We just want to keep that water and give it a good place to go.
KEVIN
4-inch pipe?
ERIK
Yep. Perforated all the way around.
KEVIN
Just gonna swing it right around the corner?
ERIK
Yep. Just roll this right out through here.
KEVIN
Gravel below and on top of the pipe allows for easy access for the water to enter through the perforated holes. Gravity will then take the water around to the back of the house.
ERIK
Looks like we're ready for the next bucket. Got enough around that corner?
KEVIN
Yeah, this is good here.
ERIK
Let's spread this stone, Kevin, and then I can have you go get some insulation. We can start installing that. All right. We're ready for insulation.
KEVIN
All right, so rigid boards there. Just gonna lay them in there, or do you got to secure them or anything?
ERIK
Just gonna lay them in there. The backfill's gonna hold them in place.
KEVIN
And what do you get for an R-value off of these?
ERIK
These are R-10. They're rigid insulated panels. Code requires us to have a certain insulation for the concrete. Concrete makes up for some, and then we put the pink R-10 one layer on the outside before backfilling.
KEVIN
I'll get you some more.
ERIK
Take that other one from you. Got it?
KEVIN
You want this one in, or you want it cut first?
ERIK
Let's hold off on that one. We'll lay the fabric down now.
KEVIN
All right. Fabric?
ERIK
If you want to grab that end of the landscape fabric, we'll lay this down over the pipe. So, the reason we're laying this fabric down is when we go to backfill, we want to make sure none of the dirt or anything clogs up these holes that we've got down here in our perimeter drain. So we're gonna lay this down prior to backfill so we'll get proper drainage when this all gets filled in.
KEVIN
Nice.
ERIK
Kevin, it looks like we're all set here. We're ready to backfill.
KEVIN
All right.
ERIK
Kevin, as you can see, we've taken out two areas here in the footing that we've run that perimeter drain through.
KEVIN
Right. So that gets us through that. And we get it, what, 10, 15 feet away from the main foundation. It's not to daylight yet, but this is far enough so you can keep working?
ERIK
Yeah. We'll determine the length on this when we come up with final grading. But we're ready to go on this garage foundation.
KEVIN
And then after that, we're pretty close to starting to frame up this house.
ERIK
Yep. We certainly are.
KEVIN
Awesome. All right, thanks, Erik.
ERIK
Thanks a lot.
RICHARD
The foundation passes inspection, the perimeter drains are in place, basement slabs have been poured. In most new house construction, we'd now be waiting for trucks filled with uncut lumber for the framers to build this house over the course of weeks. But today we're getting a truck filled with precut sections of the building, so this house will be framed in a matter of days. Mike Gingras is the project manager from the factory. -Hey,
Mike. Good morning. -MIKE
Good morning.
RICHARD
Hey,
Erik. -ERIK
How you doing?
RICHARD
So, what are we expecting today?
MIKE
Three tractor trailer loads of framing material, precut with wall panels pre-made.
RICHARD
So tell me about the process. What happens on the other end?
MIKE
On the other other end, we have a factory that we precut all the materials through these big machines. And we load it on a truck and send it down. We started about a week ago, and the trucks are on their way.
RICHARD
Pretty amazing coordination.
MIKE
It is.
RICHARD
How do you interact with Erik as a general contractor?
MIKE
Well, it's my job to inform Erik of how the package is coming, how to put it together. We go over the plans. We have a real system here that we've developed that we want to perform.
RICHARD
And it all goes together?
MIKE
It all goes together.
RICHARD
All right. So just waiting for the truck?
MIKE
Yes.
ERIK
How goes it? We're gonna swing into here. You're gonna have to swing wide. Obviously, watch the pitch. You're gonna swing in here. You can pull straight in. You can loop all the way right around and right out, so you don't have to reverse any. All right? What do we got?
MAN
We got 10, 11, 12.
ERIK
I got 13'7". Watch your step up there.
MAN
Ah.
ERIK
We got it. We got it.
Chuckles
ERIK
You're good.
You're good. -ERIK
You're good.
RICHARD
Hit a little wrinkle getting the truck onto the site. Incredibly tight turn right here. We got trees and we got power lines.
ERIK
So, I want this guy, like I told this guy, I want him to get over tighter. Back up and get over tighter. We'll get the Lull, take it down there, grab the forks, get that. But I need him to back up and get over.
MIKE
Can you go that way with the Lull?
ERIK
We can. Just have him get it -- yeah, that's fine.
MIKE
Yeah. Who's driving the Lull?
MATT
Right here.
MIKE
Okay, do you want to grab that and come down with me?
ERIK
That's good for right now. We're gonna go get the big forks.
MIKE
Oh, okay. Probably right where they started from.
ERIK
Watch that wire above, Mikey. Are those individual? Can they move?
MIKE
No,
it's together. -ERIK
They're welded? Okay, tip it.
MAN
Slide her in.
ERIK
There you go. You got it.
MIKE
Yeah, good.
ERIK
Matt, you want to guide him back? 15 and above.
MATT
If he backs the truck up a little bit, I can still fit, pull around, and drop anything below 14 over there. And then anything above, I can back it in.
RICHARD
The first truck barely made it into the jobsite. To save time, Erik and Mike decided to unload the later trucks out at the main road. All right, so you got three big trucks coming here. How do you figure out where to put everything?
ERIK
Connor Homes provides us with this book that details --
The book. -ERIK
The book. That details exactly the stack number and the reference as far as where it's gonna go. So in accordance to this book, we know anything that's with an "A" or starts with a "1," is gonna be first floor. "B," "2," is second floor. And they've correctly labeled all of these packages for us, so it makes it relatively easy to get off.
Even you could do it. -ERIK
Even I could do it.
RICHARD
Enough framing material for the entire house will come off of these trucks. The next problem is organizing where the stacks are stored. First floor stacks go near the building site. Second floor and roof material can go father away in the backyard.
MIKE
What we've got on this truck is mostly second floor stuff and second floor walls. I mean, you can just tell by the stack numbers here. And then we've got a little bit of roof and ceiling involved, so those will probably be something you want to put aside.
ERIK
And the stack numbers correspond to the book that you gave me for the unloading procedure.
MIKE
Yes, it does. Yeah.
ERIK
Okay, sounds great. Well, let's get this unloaded. Thanks. Up. Up and tip.
MATT
You got to fork down and go straight in.
ERIK
There you go. Watch Lou. Come down a little bit, Charlie. That's a 16. That goes to the backyard.
Indistinct conversation
ERIK
Yep.
RICHARD
While Erik sorts out the delivery, the homeowners need to sort out the landscaping on their very raw four acres of land. Roger recommended they contact landscape architect Kim Turner, and she is here today. -Hey, guys. Hi,
Kim. -KIM
Hi.
APRIL
Hi, Richard. How are you?
RICHARD
Thanks for joining us today. So, this started as a big hunk of forest. What were you thinking?
KIM
So, the homeowners are building a historic -- a new home, but it looks historic. It looks like a historic New England farmhouse. So we want to make sure that the home feels like it's always been here. And one way we do that is by preserving some of the mature trees on the property. And we have two beautiful old oak trees that we're preserving. Another way to do that is to use reclaimed materials. So we have a lot of reclaimed granite, both curb stock and cobbles, and also brick. Another thing that we're doing here is we have a big turnaround in front of the garage over there that we're gonna pave with macadam, which is a traditional way to pave roadways. Kind of looks like crushed gravel.
RICHARD
How's this look to you guys?
BILL
It looks great. I mean, one of the things that really drew us to the lot was the rawness of it. And there are sort of three aspects of the property that we really want -- that signify that and that we really wanted to put on stage for the finished property. And those three elements are the two field oaks here and also the piece of ledge, which we'll incorporate.
RICHARD
Oh, I see that right here.
KIM
Right, so there was an existing cart path through the property that we're actually maintaining as the new driveway. And that gives a really beautiful reveal to the house, and it also points the driveway right at the front door as opposed to the at the garage. We're gonna expose this ledge by taking out some of the invasive species. We've got some buckthorn here, some other poison ivy and bittersweet, as well. We're gonna clean up the ledge and make it a feature of the front yard.
RICHARD
That's great. So the front yard looks awesome. What about the backyard?
KIM
Well, we can go there next.
RICHARD
Well, it doesn't look like too much right now, Kim.
KIM
That's right. But it's gonna be an unbelievable transformation. So, we have three main spaces in the backyard. The first -- we're standing right now in the site of the screened porch. And right in front of us is gonna be a sunken brick terrace.
RICHARD
Good. That sounds good for you guys, right?
APRIL
Yeah, no. We're really excited about it. So, the terrace we see as an area that we're gonna spend a lot of time. We have our kitchen right here. We have the screened-in porch right here. So, you know, we see ourselves bringing food back and forth. We're gonna have our grill, table.
RICHARD
You will be coming and going to the grill every day.
BILL
Looking forward to it.
RICHARD
Cool. All right, so there's the terrace.
KIM
Then the second space is off of the main body of the house over there. And it's going to be an elevated deck. It's about 18 inches higher than the sunken terrace.
RICHARD
So, how are you guys gonna use that?
BILL
Well, we see the space in the back just in general as our leisure space. We're gonna spend leisure time out here, entertaining with people, enjoying the property and the two oaks which sort of anchor the back area of the lot. And also just playing with our daughter in the backyard.
RICHARD
You have fair skin. You might want to put some sunblock on there.
APRIL
Yes, I do.
RICHARD
All right, so the deck comes down to a lower level.
KIM
And then the third space is at the base of the stairs to the deck. We're gonna have this reclaimed granite seating area that opens out to the relatively flat backyard.
RICHARD
So, what do you do with a big lawn like that?
APRIL
So, we're really looking forward to having a nice backyard where our daughter can run around, play, and we can watch her.
RICHARD
And Bill has something to mow?
BILL
I've got a lot to mow, and I could use your help.
RICHARD
I'm busy. All right, is that gonna be close to level?
KIM
More or less. There's a little bit of a pitch out to the back woods, but fairly level.
RICHARD
Well, it looks great. So, what's left for you?
KIM
Well, now we have to pick out some materials.
We go shopping. -APRIL
Yeah.
RICHARD
So, one of the trucks is unloaded, and Matt Khoury and his crew is in charge of framing this thing. So, Matt, you are a professional framer?
MATT
Yes, sir.
RICHARD
How many houses a year do you frame?
MATT
We frame approximately 45.
RICHARD
Okay. And how many of those are now being done this way, with prefabricated and precut?
MATT
I would say roughly 50%.
RICHARD
Is it a changing trend?
MATT
Absolutely, yeah. It's gone up considerably over the last five years.
RICHARD
So, if you were gonna frame this building conventionally, how long would it take you probably?
MATT
This building here, approximately maybe four weeks.
RICHARD
And how long do you think it'll take to get it done this way?
MATT
I'll be up to the roof in a week here.
That has my attention. -MATT
Yeah, absolutely.
RICHARD
All right, so are you ready to go here? What's happening now?
MATT
We've already laid the sill seal here. And what we're doing is we're getting ready to lay the mudsill plate on top of the sill seal.
RICHARD
There's your beginning point.
MATT
Then we'll bolt that down and go from there.
RICHARD
Good. So, there's some lags that are put right into the foundation's sill sealer. -You ready to go?
MATT
Absolutely. Yep.
RICHARD
All right, cool.
MATT
So we'll locate that right over the holes. Make sure it's on its line here.
RICHARD
I see -- snap lines. Good.
MATT
Yep. We'll keep it on the line.
RICHARD
All right, what do you got there?
MATT
We've got a Ramset powder-actuated nailer. It works off of loads fed through the feed tray.
RICHARD
Give that a shot. Go.
MATT
We'll keep it on the line.
RICHARD
Good. You got another?
MATT
Yep. Keep it right on the line.
RICHARD
All right, but that's just holding it temporarily. This is how you're ultimately gonna hold it down, right?
MATT
Yes. We'll come by and we'll put the nuts on top, cinch it down, and that'll be the final application.
RICHARD
All right. You got another 80 feet at least.
Absolutely. -RICHARD
I'll let you go. The sill seal is usually a thin, closed-cell foam material that acts as insulation and a water barrier between the cement foundation and wood framing. It goes down first.
MAN
11 3/4.
RICHARD
A piece of wood called the mudsill plate is bolted on top. The rest of the house is attached to that. On the basement level is a walkout to the backyard. This gets framed up to the first floor level. On top go the rim joists. These are placed on edge. A floor joist is nailed into the rim joist every 16 inches. Finally, the subflooring goes on top of the floor joists. Most of the lumber is already cut to size in the factory. Each piece is numbered and labeled.
MAN
FJ04 and FJ07 next.
RICHARD
Erik uses a master set of plans to figure out which piece of lumber goes where. All right, Erik. After our very first hot, long framing day, how'd we do?
ERIK
We did well. All the materials came off, everything looks good, and the guys are hard at work.
RICHARD
All right. Any surprises?
ERIK
Trucks were a little bit late, but we'll take it on a hot day like this.
RICHARD
And at the end of the day, we have our first floor deck ready to go.
ERIK
Yeah. We're ready to go.
RICHARD
What's up for next week?
ERIK
We're gonna do exterior walls, second floor, so on.
RICHARD
To the moon,
Alice. -ERIK
There you go.
RICHARD
Till next time, I'm Richard Trethewey...
ERIK
I'm Erik Kaminski.
RICHARD
...For "This Old House." You need some water. You want some?
ERIK
No, I don't.
Laughs
KEVIN
Next time on "This Old House"...
TOM
The panels are going up, and they're going up fast on our North Shore reproduction farmhouse.
ERIK
And as you can see, all the panels come plywooded with solid headers.
TOM
You know, the other thing I notice, that there's no electricity, no saws around here. So you can work in the rain. You don't have to worry about getting zapped.
ERIK
Yeah, we're gonna get to the second floor and get the roof up before you know it.
TOM
That's gonna be great.
KEVIN
And our homeowner picks a color palette for the living room.
NORM
That's next time on "This Old House."
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