[TheForge] Concrete forms OT, but important... for me anyhow.

[jerry Frost]

I understand why a mason wouldn't want to try straightening that mess out.
It'd stamp his/er name on whatever happens in the future, too much
liability. We ran into that when we had to fire an electrician and tried to
find another to finish the house. What ended up happening was a good friend
of Deb drove up from Michigan and managed to winkle it out. And we get to
live with it how it is.

Were that my project I would've hired a house mover to lift the house off
that half assed jumble of a foundation, get it out of the way. THEN do the
dirt work in the open, have a real foundation laid and have the house mover
come back and set it down. Heck, faster easier and cheaper to have a pile
buck drive piles, jack it up OFF that mess weld the necessary beams and set
it down. A professional outfit would have it finished the day or day after
the piles were driven. Reconnect the utilities and you're no longer camping
in it, you don't even need to move out, just pack the fragile stuff. Then
you can spend a summer hammering the old crap out of the way STANDING UP and
skirt it. Done deal.

Seriously, whoever built the house was pretty clueless, or set on the idea
of doing it themselves. The only justifiable reason to do THAT was they were
too broke to do it right. Seriously that original foundation is a complete
dumbass clusterfuck,  they tried to lay a foundation on OG rather than do
the unbelievably stupid SIMPLE dirtwork necessary to do it right. I don't
care how broke someone is they can afford a shovel, rake and time to do it
right.

There is NO good reason to try to make the existing foundation work, it's so
much easier to just remove and replace it. You my friend have fallen into
the trap of the "do it yourselfer" who thinks you can do anything. How long
have you been screwing with it now? Sure, ANYTHING can be done but is it
worth it? Do it right brother, cut your losses and don't live with the mess
you're making for yourself. Ever want to insure your house? What do you
think an insurance company rep is going to say when they look at that
foundation?

Jer
-----Original Message-----
From: TheForge [mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Andrew
Vida
Sent: Wednesday, August 13, 2014 12:45 AM
To: Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA
Subject: Re: [TheForge] Concrete forms OT, but important... for me anyhow.


On 8/12/14, 6:59 PM, jerry Frost wrote:
> I was a little surprised watching your video, you don't sound like a 
> crazed maniac like I thought you would. Go figger eh?


Oh trust me, I am.  The very fact that I undertook this in the first place
is proof of that.  It's 4:45 AM and I cannot sleep for worry now... Neighbor
is blck mason - I will talk to him about doing block work instead, but not
sure what he will say.  He saw this once and freaked out... thought the
building would fall.  It isn't going anywhere.
>