Foundation Design

The city of Houston requires an engineer to design thefoundation. I think this is because there are so many foundation problems in Houston since the soils shift.

We chose an engineer that is on the Owner-Builder Network. His name is Karl Breckon and he is with BEC engineering. We decided we wanted a pier and beam foundation because if there is need for a foundation repair, it much cheaper and easier. Plus, the crawl space allows for easy repairs and additions for electrical, plumbing, etc.

The engineer, based on the soil test and blueprints, designed the foundation with eighteen piers and each pier goes down twelve feet!

Building Begins with Demolition

Why?

Since we got married, we have been living in a 2 bedroom townhome in the Galleria area. With 2 kids, we were quickly running out of room and like many folks, yerned for a full blown house. Judith will not live in the burbs and wanted something with character and a yard for the kids. I wanted something with investment potential and a garage. We figured we would go for a fixer-upper in town to meet our budget but living in a townhome while making renovations made us realize renovating with young children may not be the best thing. I began researching the possibility of building a house through books and local courses and while attending a Home and Garden Show at Reliant, ran accross Owner Builder Network. I attended some of their presentations, classes and met with representatives that made it seem doable. Here we are, trying to make this great undertaking happen.

The Soil Test

So, every step of the house process has taken much longer than we anticipated, but we have been hard at work even if the foundation has not been laid yet!

One of the first things we had done was the soil test (the first week of January)This is done by a geoscientist and then given to the engineer who will use it to guide him as he designs the foundation. The geoscientist we hired was from Geoscience Engineering and Testing, Inc. He did the soil test the first week of January. He was timely and professional, and we were able to pass that information on to the engineer.

We finally got our building permit approved yesterday. In the meanitme we have been meeting with foundation and framing contractors, plumbers and electricians trying to orchestrate the start of the project while Dan and the foundation design folks have been making things work to the liking of the city. At this point, taking a shovel to the ground would feel like some sort of progress. About a month ago my dad helped me clean out the lot. I had no idea how much shrubry and vines had overgrown the place. We discovered the garage foundation and driveway of the previous house. I guess that would be our first unexpected surprise expense. We thought all the remnants of the previous house had been removed. This will cost us a bit to remove. We also discovered an onion patch (more like chives) sprawling throughout the lot.

The Lot

Eric and the boys (they're gonna help build, too!). The lot is located in the East End, just southeast of downtown Houston. Its an old neighborhood, predominately Latino, but it is already gentrifying.





Here is the lot! It took a lot to get it, and we honestly thought we had lost it. (I will post the long story soon.) We have a lot of work ahead of us, and our goal is to finish the entire house by early summer!

Starting the Big Adventure

We decided to create a blog to post the house-building process. It is a huge undertaking and we are thrilled and daunted all at once! We hope you will visit our page often and go through this adventure with us!