At the time of writing of this blog, the construction tradespeople have been super busy due to the hot economy. It’s taken many contacts by email, phone, and text just to get people to come back with bids. Upon review of our plans, one of the foundation contractors noted that we would need to have grading work done before he could lay any footings. We did have a grading plan submitted to the City of Phoenix, so perhaps that was something I had forgotten about.
One question was whether the depth of the “pad” that is to be constructed (above the grade or level of the land) could itself be used or added to the required depth for the footings? Given that our footings need to be 3 feet deep, it would be even more costly to have to first dig through the pad and then start the 3 feet of footings. For instance, if the pad is 2 feet deep, can those first 2 feet be considered as part of the depth of the footings; otherwise, theoretically, we would have to dig to 5 feet to pour the foundation. I learned that if the pad is”certified” by a soil engineer, the depth of the pad can be used as part of the footing-depth. However, that costs an extra $700 or more.
The company doing my grading is James Bissell. James is also removing a fence from the west side of the property. It’s an old chain link fence, but oddly it has some pretty big footings for the posts, so it’s harder to remove than you would think. But we begin on Monday with removing the fence and later in the week, we start with the actual grading and creation of the pad upon which the house will sit. At least it’s some progress.
Modern duplex construction in Phoenix. 