Loucks Concrete Specialists, La Porte, Indiana
While not the largest job of the year, a residential job at the exclusive Aberdeen Subdivision in Valparaiso, Indiana, was definitely one of the most challenging of the year for Loucks Concrete Specialists of La Porte, IN.
This 4,500 square foot home is carved into the side of a hill, the walls varying from three feet up to 12 feet in height in order to accommodate the landscape.
Loucks dealt with an elevation difference of 22 feet from the top of the garage wall to the top of the house wall, with a total of 13 footing steps.
The foundation had 44-plus 90-degree corners, 16 angle corners, and 19 wall steps. Some corners were as high as 12 feet.
With the tall walls,”we had interior floor ledge as deep as seven feet for floor trusses,” said Roger Pettet, Production Manager of Loucks. Pettet took the photos of this project himself, noting that he had to “put four photos together” to get the full effect of the foundation in his photots. This certainly qualifies as a “basement from hell.”
Formco Foundations, West Jordan, Utah
On a mountainous lot in The Colony residential development in Park City, Utah, lies the foundation that Formco Foundations considers its “basement from hell” for 2000.
Kirby Justesen, president of Formco, which is located in West Jordan, UT, gave us the statistics on this job: 698 yards for the foundation walls, 408 yards for the footings, and 123,000 pounds of rebar!
The foundation includes walls of four different heights, from 14 feet to 22 feet high. Total number of linear feet of foundation was 1,387. Details include 800 feet of shelf; 77 corners with an average of 16 feet; and 68 weld plates and moment frames.
Footings were in two sizes; 315 linear feet of 36″ x 12″ footings and 1,033 linear feet of 24″ x 12″ footings. There were 60 pads.
This residence and many others show the current architectural style of many different wall heights and angles in upscale residences.
Balmer Brothers, Akron, PA
Folks must be making money in Philly, because one notable basement project last year was for a 29,000 square foot house in Philadelphia. Not as beg as Bill Gates’ house, but still plenty romy.
Balmer Brothers Concrete Work of Akron, PA, noted that some of the difficulties in this job were the circular stairways, angled walls, ledges and offsets, not to mention the spread footings.
Wall heights varied from 36 inches to 18 feet, and totaled 1,000 linear feet. The garden walls are even higher. All footings and walls were pumped either with Balmer’s 28 meter or 36 meter boom pump, and the entire foundation was waterproofed with Wall Guard waterproofing.
This residential job was not so much complicated as it was big. The footings and walls took 800 yards and the garden walls and retaining walls another 1,000 yards.
Over the years, Balmer Brothers has done numerous unusual foundation, both commercial and residential tract housing and agricultural waste systems. In the past few years, however, the firm has found a niche for itself in large and unusual foundations, many for homes.
Balmer Brothers Concrete Work has been in business since 1973. They started doing curb, sidewalk and flat work, buying their first set of aluminum forms in 1975 in order to build small, box-like foundations.
The firm joined CFA in 1977, and Jerry Balmer served on the CFA Board in the early 1980’s. Current employment is around 30 people.
Balmer Brothers says the key to success is adaptability. They say are prepared to change as the building market changes, but in recent years large residential projects have been one emphasis.
CFA to Fund Energy Study
The CFA Board of Directors voted at their board meeting in Las Vegas to donate $3000 from the CFA Education and Research foundation to partially fund a study of the energy benefits of building with removable-form wall systems. The study, with a total cost of $15,000, is part of a PCA funded project that will compare energy benefits of alternative wall systems. Traditional formed walls will be compared to ICF’s, steel stud and wood stud construction. Testing will be performed by CTL (Construction Technology Laboratories) in Skokie, Illinois.
PCA is promoting concrete walls (in any form) as alternative to above-grade wood walls used in residential construction. In the past, the main emphasis has been on foam insulation and concrete combinations. This effort, however, has increased the awareness of all types of concrete wall systems for use above grade.
The objective of the study is to provide accurate and defensible energy use comparisons of residential buildings with various types of concrete exterior wall systems to that of identical buildings with wood and steel frame exterior walls. The results will quantify the energy efficiency of concrete wall systems including thermal mass effects. It is anticipated that traditional forming systems, in particular those used in combination with rigid insulation, will perform very well when compared with systems without thermal mass (wood and steel studs) and where the thermal mass of the concrete is isolated between foam forms.
The is the second instance of “partnering” with the Portland Cement Association to promote a wider use of traditional forming systems. The first was the production of the “Cast-In-Place” concrete homes brochure (see elsewhere in this newsletter). The Portland Cement Association, which represents cement producers throughout North America, is committed to promoting the use of cement. Considerable effort and money has been expended on the above grade homes market using ICF’s. This represented another opportunity to increase the market share for cement. producers.
Ed Sauter, director of the CFA, was recently appointed to serve on the Residential Committee of the PCA.
Balmer Brothers Wins Basement of the Year Award
Balmer Brothers Concrete Works, Inc. of Akron, Pennsylvania was voted the winner of the 2000 Basement of the Year (Basement from Hell) Award. Over 160 votes were cast between Tuesday and Thursday in the CFA booth at the World of Concrete and their 29,000 square foot basement was the odds-on (this is Las Vegas) favorite. The project was complex as well as mammoth.
Second place went to Formco Foundations in West Jordan, Utah and the third place winner was Loucks Concrete Specialists, Inc. in LaPorte, Indiana. Descriptions of the winning basements as well as the other 5 submittals are presented throughout the newsletter. The formal presentation will be made at the summer meeting on Friday, July 27th at the Sheraton Falls View in Niagara Falls, Ontario.
Record Attendance at Summer Meeting
Summer in Niagara Falls, Ontario is not nearly as warm as summer in southern Missouri. Just ask the record crowd that attended the annual CFA summer meeting held from July 26th through the 28th at the Sheraton Fallsview in Niagara Falls, Ontario. There were no complaints about the heat. The hotel offered some magnificent views of the falls which were just across the road.
The event opened Thursday night with a record thirty-eight exhibitors (watch out World of Concrete). One hundred forty registered for the full conference along with 70 spouses or guests. The variety of topics were presented during the educational segment of the program including sessions on concrete homes, economics of concrete placement, managing credit, tools for testing, the CFA web site, and concrete basics.
Activities included a picnic at the Chateau des Charmes, a delightful winery in the Niagara wine region (I didn’t think Canada produced anything other than Moosehead and Lablatts). The better wines compared with those of California and a special wine called “Ice Wein” was garnering special attention by many in the sample room.
The Saturday night event was a picnic at historic Queenston heights, where the Canadians repulsed an American invasion attempt sometime in the 1800’s. A bus tour of Niagara Falls attractions was also well attended. Unfortunately we had to compete for space with the thousands of tourists who descend on this area in the summer.
Next year promises to be a totally new experience in a place most CFA members have never visited. The only crowds next year will be CFA members because we have reserved all of the sleeping rooms of the resort for the three days of our event.
CFA Elects Smith Treasurer
Mount Vernon, Iowa–The Concrete Foundations Association (CFA), at its annual meeting in Portland, Maine, elected William Scott Smith, LaGrange, Ohio, treasurer. Other officers elected were Gary Bromley, president; Dave Clark, vice president and Barry Herbert, secretary. Joe Carr, immediate past president, becomes chairman of the board. Elected to the board were Bruce Neale, Kirby Justesen and Arie Van Wyk; Dave Clark and John Skotzke were reelected. Joan Ausbury was reelected to the board by the associates council made up of manufacturer members.
After graduating from high school in San Diego, Calif., Smith went to work as a concrete laborer. In the years that followed, he worked his way up to become business owner and president of Modern Poured Walls, Inc. and Modern Waterproofing, Inc., in LaGrange, Ohio.
He is active in the Building Industries Association of Lorain County, on the Code Review Committee. Smith lives with is wife Linda and two sons, Sean (a freshman at Wittenberg University) and Bryan (a Junior at Keystone High School) in Oberlin, Ohio.
As treasurer of CFA, Smith hopes to help the membership grow in order that more poured wall contractors can experience the potential for their businesses through the sharing of experience and ideas. He wants to promote the growth and continuing improvement of poured walls as the preferred foundation construction method, utilizing the CFA as the unifying body in which poured wall contractors can turn for information and support.
About the CFA
The Concrete Foundations Association is a not-for-profit organization of firms engaged in the installation of concrete foundations. The purposes are to maintain and improve the quality of cast-in-place concrete walls and foundations, and to promote the mutual interests of the members. Information about the association and membership may be obtained by contacting the Concrete Foundations Association, 121 1/2 First Street West, P.O. Box 204, Mount Vernon, IA, 319-895·6940, fax: 319.895.8830.
CFA Elects Van Wyk to Board
Mount Vernon, Iowa–The Concrete Foundations Association (CFA), at its annual meeting in Portland, Maine, elected Arie Van Wyk, Waldo, Wis., to its board of directors. Others elected to the board were Kirby Justesen and Bruce Neale; Dave Clark and John Skotzke were reelected. Officers elected were Gary Bromley, president; Dave Clark, vice president; Barry Herbert, secretary; and Scott Smith, treasurer. Joe Carr, immediate past president, becomes chairman of the board. Joan Ausbury was reelected to the board by the associates council made up of manufacturer members.
Van Wyk graduated from Oostburg High School, Oostburg, Wis., in 1969 and went on to found his own concrete construction business, Van Wyks, Inc., in 1979. His business has grown steadily since. He concentrates on building basement foundation walls for the residentlal market.
Van Wyk and his wife, Sue, live in Hingham, Wis., with their daughter Laura and son Matthew. They are active in local organizations.
As a member of the board of directors of CFA, Van Wyk hopes to contribute to the improvement of the cast-in-place concrete foundation industry, and the acceptance of “lower level living” space in all homes, nationwide. He will serve a three year term.
About the CFA
The Concrete Foundations Association is a not-for-profit organization of firms engaged in the installation of concrete foundations. The purposes are to maintain and improve the quality of cast-in-place concrete walls and foundations, and to promote the mutual interests of the members. Information about the association and membership may be obtained by contacting the Concrete Foundations Association, 121 1/22 First Street West, P.O. Box 204, Mount Vernon, IA, 319-89S-6940, fax: 319,895.8830.
