# Wtf is this????



## pschieuer (Mar 10, 2011)

I'm doing a complete remodel of a home including the entire exterior and interior. The owner decided he wanted a 40x70 shop building out back for his toys. He happened to have a buddy that supposedly could do all the concrete work. So a day or two after they decided to build this building, this buddy showed up and dug footings. This is what I found when I showed up this morning. I've never seen anything like this in my life. They didn't even pour a footing under the part with the OSB, just a wall sitting on dirt! I just don't even know what to say about this. On the opposite side from the OSB, they actually have some sort of footing, but it's only a few inches thick. Nothing about this even makes sense. I WAS going to frame this for him, but I want nothing to do with it now unless they start completely over under MY management. They dumped close to 20 yards of concrete in this! :what::what:


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## TaylorMadeAB (Nov 11, 2014)

That really is something else.. There has to be a story behind that mess.


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## pschieuer (Mar 10, 2011)

Yeah, the story is these guys know ZERO about what they're attempting to do.


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## TaylorMadeAB (Nov 11, 2014)

It just seems to me that someone who can order concrete, get rebar, and string a line should be able to do something even slightly better then that. 
That honestly looks like a group of 8 year olds did the work.


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## Dukelewis8719 (Sep 16, 2015)

All I got to say is, I feel sorry for the situation your in.

Its not his true buddy. 

Its his bar buddy he met one night while being half lite. I've seen a few of these.


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## 91782 (Sep 6, 2012)

Would liked to have seen a vid of the mud wagon driver's face during that whole thing.

In fact, I bet he's already posted a vid of it on YouTube


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## avenge (Sep 25, 2008)

But you can fix it for a couple hundred bucks, right?


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## pschieuer (Mar 10, 2011)

avenge said:


> But you can fix it for a couple hundred bucks, right?


For about the price of an excavator rental we can at least get a start on fixing it.


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## asevereid (Jan 30, 2012)

https://youtu.be/jgflCE7zRpc


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## Chad McDade (Oct 14, 2012)

Well, you can straighten all that out with the framing, right? LOL


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## muskoka guy (Nov 16, 2013)

Suppose they will lay a few courses of block on there, and off you go. Lol


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## tgeb (Feb 9, 2006)

I've seen some things ......But that right there is something else. :thumbsup:

I'm guessing the OSB is supposed to be formwork? Did someone inspect the trenches and rebar placement?

Wow...just wow. :no:


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## Tinstaafl (Jan 6, 2008)

pschieuer said:


> They didn't even pour a footing under the part with the OSB, just a wall sitting on dirt!


When you think about it, that's all a footing is anyway. I'm trying to figure out what the OSB is for. :blink:


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## Leo G (May 12, 2005)

TaylorMadeCon said:


> It just seems to me that someone who can order concrete, get rebar, and string a line should be able to do something even slightly better then that.
> That honestly looks like a group of 8 year olds did the work.


Why would you insult 8 year olds like that?:laughing:


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## TimelessQuality (Sep 23, 2007)

Could probably save it with a second pour if the grade is gonna be high enough


If you look closely, you can see the point where the beer ran out:jester:


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## Morning Wood (Jan 12, 2008)

Wow. Just wow.


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## kiteman (Apr 18, 2012)

Looks like the wash out pit down the hill.


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## maxwage (Nov 25, 2012)

Did your client give his opinion on the quality of the pour?!!


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## Macmini (Sep 16, 2015)

Omg, I don't think you could do a worse job if you tried. I almost can't believe it's real.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## J.C. (Sep 28, 2009)

That doesn't even look good from my house...


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## VinylHanger (Jul 14, 2011)

They may have to double up on the sill foam. Or maybe they could just grind it flat. Not even sure what to say. That has to be a joke. I wish I was there as it was poured. Here, hold my beer while I pour this ****.


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## Walraven (Jan 24, 2014)

I can't wait to show the boys this worst footings iv ever seen


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## 91782 (Sep 6, 2012)

OK, got the perfect response:

Fake! That was PhotoShopped!


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## pappagor (Jan 29, 2008)

just fill in a few of the low spots and grind off a few of the high spots good to go ha ha. then they wounder why the price of concrete keeps going up. wasted a lot of concrete. i would run as fast as i could witch for me is a slow walk.


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## heavy_d (Dec 4, 2012)

I think his buddy professed he was good at "cocaine" and h/o heard what he wanted to hear.


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## tgeb (Feb 9, 2006)

So, How are ya gonna fix this?


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## Leo G (May 12, 2005)

tgeb said:


> So, How are ya gonna fix this?


The other guy touched it. Now he owns it.....:whistling


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## Sir Mixalot (Jan 6, 2008)




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## Youngin' (Sep 16, 2012)

Oh man, please keep us up to date with this train wreck.


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## pschieuer (Mar 10, 2011)

Leo G said:


> The other guy touched it. Now he owns it.....:whistling


No worries, I'm not getting anywhere near this mess unless I'm hired to rip it out and start from scratch. There is no fixing this. Unless they rip it out and start over, there's going to be problems with this building.


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## TractHomeTrades (Jun 14, 2015)

Excuse me sir but you need to fix your fascia boards before the next draw!!


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## Trim40 (Jan 27, 2009)

But, but, but, that's how they do it on the DIY channel.


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## heavy_d (Dec 4, 2012)

You know, if you are somehow able to keep getting updated pictures, this could be as epic as that thread on another site where the dudes landlord was building a shed. Remember that shed guys?


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## Morning Wood (Jan 12, 2008)

I remember that f'ing thing. I'm actually surprised they used rebar.


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## heavy_d (Dec 4, 2012)

This is what they are attempting to build:


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

I could answer any question you have about it, but WTF isn't really a question...


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## vconstruction (Apr 1, 2007)

That shed was awesome. I couldn't wait for updates everyday


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## 91782 (Sep 6, 2012)

heavy_d said:


> This is what they are attempting to build:


NO!

I am absolutely convinced you are PRANKING us!


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## Youngin' (Sep 16, 2012)

heavy_d said:


> You know, if you are somehow able to keep getting updated pictures, this could be as epic as that thread on another site where the dudes landlord was building a shed. Remember that shed guys?


Yes! The shed of doom!


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## Chad McDade (Oct 14, 2012)

Oh, yes - I remember the shed of doom. For a good while I thought it was somebody purposely building that pos to f*** with people....


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## B.D.R. (May 22, 2007)

That shed was a great thread. 
Hard to believe that someone would invest that much time and effort making something that looks that bad. Hahaha


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## larry228 (Feb 19, 2009)

I think this guy saw the shed of doom posts and learned from their mistakes. If you recall, the original shed had no footings, the framing was right on the grass and the last update I searched, it it still standing somehow.

This project is off to a much more substantial beginning


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## barnabas (Nov 16, 2013)

Thats a high quality foundation there... im sure he just expects you to adjust your first layer to match the "flow" and have a perfectly level building!


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## Spencer (Jul 6, 2005)

The amish around here actually use this method all the time, though they make it look a lot prettier. 

Generally its a method they use when building off a slab for garages or small shops.

Excavator comes in with a 10 or 12" bucket and slices out the footer/wall. One excavator around here even has a big trencher that they use for this. Having the right dirt that will cut well is important to not turn it into a disaster like above.

You set your vertical rebar so that the top is at the proper height and use that to know where to float the top off. Usually this height is the grade around it since you use the dirt as your form. I don't know why they left it rough in your pics.

After the footer is poured and its still wet they go back through and drop in vertical sticks of rebar. Those are left to setup then the next day they bend them over flat and tie in with the slab rebar.

Next, while the concrete is still wet they chalk lines on the top of the wet concrete. Then they take wood stakes and insert them every 2-3' into the wet concrete. Next the form boards for the slab are screwed to the wood stakes. Sometimes this is done on the same day the slab is poured which allows the stakes to be tweaked and made perfectly straight. 

Pour the slab over top and presto! You have a no footer concrete job. You saved the cost of forms and a day of labor. They unscrew the form boards and take them out. Then break off the wood stakes with a sledge.

I worked for a guy who did this all the time. Though it didn't look anything like your pics it was a similar "no footer" concept.


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## WarnerConstInc. (Jan 30, 2008)

Its not just amish. Its just a simple spread footer for a slab on grade. 

I trenched and poured 100's of them. grade was set with a laser, string lines set up to set wood stakes, key way and then rebar. 

Every slab on grade house is done like that.

The osb was to keep from wasting concrete in the over cuts.

If you could keep the form boards in place, that footer could still be used/saved.


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## Spencer (Jul 6, 2005)

WarnerConstInc. said:


> Its not just amish. Its just a simple spread footer for a slab on grade.
> 
> I trenched and poured 100's of them. grade was set with a laser, string lines set up to set wood stakes, key way and then rebar.
> 
> ...


What width do you usually see them? I think with a trencher 10" is the norm but when you have to use a hoe or mini they use the 12" bucket.

My garage is done this way. If I could go back I would have formed up a 12" rat wall over the footer and then built my walls off of that. I don't like having the sill so close to grade but it works and saves a lot of time.


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## WarnerConstInc. (Jan 30, 2008)

I think they were 12" for the most part.

We did some with a small footing at 48" and then set wall forms on top so there was a small stem wall around everything. More work and more excavating more fill too. We did garage slabs thus way on houses with basements. 

I don't miss that work at all.


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## overanalyze (Dec 28, 2010)

I have done a couple monolithic slab on grade garages, but I can't even fathom in my early days ever passing what they did as a real attempt!


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## kiteman (Apr 18, 2012)

*Wtf Is This????*

Monolithic slab garage for my SIL I'm framing next weekend.


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## 91782 (Sep 6, 2012)

B.D.R. said:


> That shed was a great thread.
> Hard to believe that someone would invest that much time and effort making something that looks that bad. Hahaha


So it can be YouTubed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chuWQItCOb4


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## pschieuer (Mar 10, 2011)

Here's a few more pictures of this mess. I figured out the reason they did such an awful job. Mid afternoon yesterday it rained a little, so they came inside the basement I'm framing. They brought their bucket of beer and offered me one. :beer:

Not long before that I noticed that it'd been a while since I'd heard any noise from them, so I went upstairs and looked out. They were sitting out there playing cards and drinking coronas. From what they told me yesterday afternoon, they plan to pour the rest of the foundation to the building, as well as all the curbs around the new culd-a-sac that they're replacing. I have no clue what I'm going to find when I roll in Monday morning......:what:


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

Beer - is there nothing it can't do?


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## Spencer (Jul 6, 2005)

pschieuer said:


> Here's a few more pictures of this mess. I figured out the reason they did such an awful job. Mid afternoon yesterday it rained a little, so they came inside the basement I'm framing. They brought their bucket of beer and offered me one. :beer:
> 
> Not long before that I noticed that it'd been a while since I'd heard any noise from them, so I went upstairs and looked out. They were sitting out there playing cards and drinking coronas. From what they told me yesterday afternoon, they plan to pour the rest of the foundation to the building, as well as all the curbs around the new culd-a-sac that they're replacing. I have no clue what I'm going to find when I roll in Monday morning......:what:


This is great. Keep us updated. :thumbup:


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## mnld (Jun 4, 2013)

I, uh, ummm, ............. what's the laser for!??????!?


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## pschieuer (Mar 10, 2011)

mnld said:


> I, uh, ummm, ............. what's the laser for!??????!?


So they can keep everything all nice and level and stuff. Duh.


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## Spencer (Jul 6, 2005)

mnld said:


> I, uh, ummm, ............. what's the laser for!??????!?


Its just for the look. It doesn't actually work. Batteries are expensive. These guys are good enough they can just eye ball it.


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## CO762 (Feb 22, 2010)

kiteman said:


> Looks like the wash out pit down the hill.


Actually, that was his buddy's job, running the washouts. He was pretty good at that as he did that a long time, so throw in some rebar and some osb for the finished sides and good to go.

But the guy forgot the j bolts. That may cause problems.


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## Lanya LaPunta (Oct 31, 2010)

TaylorMadeCon said:


> That really is something else.. There has to be a story behind that mess.


My take on the "story": His "buddy" really is a former "buddy", who found out that the s.o.b. was playing around with his wife.

Paybacks can be a b-tch.


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

mnld said:


> I, uh, ummm, ............. what's the laser for!??????!?


Same thing as a light house - in case they get lost...


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## CO762 (Feb 22, 2010)

pschieuer said:


> coronas.


Wow, hit me with a brick. Never would have guessed. I've seen their work before, in many different places, in many different cities, states...


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## pschieuer (Mar 10, 2011)

This is what it currently looks like. Personally, I'm surprised it turned out as good as it did. Just took a lot more work than it should have. They ended up adding on another 10' to the end for a bathroom and office. We're waiting now for the power company to bury the lines that are too close. They charged the owner 11k to bury a few hundred feet of line. He just thought it was a heck of a deal. Once they're out of the way, I've got a framing crew coming in to put the building up. 30x72 with 16' ceiling. I would never personally put a building on that mess of concrete they're calling a foundation, but if he wants to throw money at me to make it happen, I have no problem with it.


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## Calidecks (Nov 19, 2011)

pschieuer said:


> Sorry about taking so long here guys, but here's a few more pictures. They actually poured the floor on Saturday morning. I was around when they poured it, and honestly, I was surprised that it didn't turn out worse. They were just starting to get the power trowel on it when I left and it wasn't looking too bad. I didn't have the heart to tell them not to bother doing any better than they did on the rest of it since they're gonna have to tear it all out anyway.


No sand on the plastic. I'm used to getting 2" of sand, then plastic, then another 2" sand. Like this. I'm sure soil and freeze probably has something to do with the difference.


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## TaylorMadeAB (Nov 11, 2014)

Are you covering your liability for your scope of work? 
Regardless if he knows the piss poor job that went on with the foundation, wouldn't you be held liable for building on a sub-par base?


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