hello, I am building my own house in indiana.
after I had some trouble with the architect, I went over the plans and found a bunch of errors, I went to another architect who was trying to convince me to tear up my basement slab and pour new footers.
I went over the plans again, and they seem to comply to building codes vis loading of glulam beams, without any new intermediate support.
so should I look around for an architect I can afford, go with the original plans, or what. how difficult is it to tear up a slb and pour a footing?
Hello Mikey and welcome to the site. So you wanna build your own house, ok what do you know about building a house? I mean are you actually going to be doing your own work or are you going to hire a contractor?
As far as tearing out the slab, is this a new slab or existing from a previous dwelling on the site? Most homes today in the midwest are built either over a formed & poured basement or else they are built on a monolithic slab, which incorporates the footings into the slab. Generally the footings are dug out, formed and poured, then once that has cured the slab is poured and finished. Then the carpenters finally show up on the job and start laying out and framing the walls out.
If this is an old slab we're talking about, it should be relatively easy for your concrete man to tear it out with a skid loader, backhoe, or what ever he is digging the footings with. Now if this is a new poured mono slab and the architect's plans don't match up with the slab, well then you do have a problem.
Generally you start with a set of plans and build your foundation off of that. HTH
Your comments are confusing.
You say your are building a new house but talk about tearing up a slab.
The use of GluLam beams does not meet any building code I have ever used without an engineer's stamp. You must trust your engineer; you have no real alternative.
If you need to cut open a slab to pour a new pad footing, its not a big deal; you just cut it out and pour it and then pour the slab back. The only reason to clear span a basement is if you need the space unbroken and you have the ceiling height for big beams. GluLam beams are expensive. I would consider LVL's or I joists unless the house is gigantic.
Why would Mikeydude say the plans seem to comply to building codes if there are no building codes?
It is my understanding that Indiana uses the IBC state wide for class 1 buildings and local governments are responsible for regulation of class 2 buildings (1 & 2 family dwellings). Is there or is there not a building code for a house in this location?
I think you're correct mighty. I live on stateline and must confess I haven't built a house in Indiana (only Ohio) but though their codes are less strict, they do have them.
On another note, I'll typically span a basement with a single Glulam and put my I beams on top of it, perpendicular. I must agree as well that the post is a bit confusing.
I am currently building a new house, my previous experience was working for a contractor during the construction of 2 similar houses.
after we put the subfloor on, I noticed that the plans called for having the second floor girder (spanning 14') directly above the entry doorway (about 4" over the door) deciding that this was probly an error, I consulted with another architect (the original architects office made so many errors and ommisions on the plans that I have trouble believing they were approved by the inspector, and they been very unhelpful and noncooperative since then).
after speaking with this 2nd architect, he confirmed that the external door should move 3 feet so that the second floor girder would be over a solid wall, but after that he said the roof plan was "bad" and that it would be better to redesign the house plans and "add" some footings in the basement. I do not know if he might just be fishing for a job, being overly cautious, or what. (note, he did not say it was wrong, or dangerous, just "bad")
the glulam beams (3x 5.125x12 24f-v4) in question span the roof lengthwise across the house, with sip panels resting upon them. They are theoretically able to span the 35'. the roof is sip panels with metal so the dead load is pretty small (~9 psf, making the dead load on the beams ~50lb/lf). From the original architect and the glulam load tables I have been able to find, the span is allowable, but the last architect guy got me a little spooked. unfortunately, if I stop now to redesign, aside from the large amount of extra money I probly cannot afford, it would probly delay me another 1/2 year or more (my ability to take my vacation days being the limiting factor)
what I was asking is whether you guys thought it sounded like I might be needing to stop because of what the 2nd architect said (said archiutect did not ever say that I should.....).
seems like your framers would of caught this error when they looked over the plans. errors like this is the exact reason i decided to hire a general. we cuts cost elsewhere and are doing a lot of sweat equity ourselves. however our stress has been very low and its actrually been fun and exciting. (we are almost dried in now after four weeks). most architects plans have some notice or disclaimer on the bottom in regards to errors and code issues. anyway, i would stop until i knew exactly how to fix the problem and its costs. you could always consult your local building inspector as well.
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