2005 CFA Media Coverage

Frost Coming? Don’t Stop that Concrete Pour: Success is All About the Mix
When temperatures dip toward freezing, building officials routinely shut down foundation work—or require costly protective measures, including insulating blankets and heated shelters. Residential foundation contractors have long chafed against these restrictions, and now they say they've finally got the research to back up their gut beliefs.

Tech Talk: Securing the Foundation Secures the Home
This month's feature section of the ACI 332 Standard looks at the requirements for connections to the foundation wall, specifically the anchor bolt. Although there are other methods of securing the sill plate, the anchor bolt remains the most common method or at least the most recognizable.

The 10 Most Influential People in the Concrete Industry
CC set out to find those who are leading the charge across this diverse and dynamic business. Concrete Construction's 10 Most Influential Changing the concrete industry in 2005 including Ed Sauter, Tilt-Up Concrete Assoc. and Concrete Foundations Assoc.

Tech Talk: Codes - Designing a Bigger, Better Wall Begins with Footings
You've got a home to construct. It will be defined by the walls, floors and roof that enclose the living space and provide the years of custom appearance that make it your own. The longevity of this project, however, does not begin with the method of construction that is selected for these elements. Before vertical expression of the design takes form, there must be a structure that will maintain the continuity for transferring the building and living loads to the selected site. This common structure, known as the footing, is often the source for much debate throughout the industry.

All Concrete Passive Solar Home Stores Energy in Walls
Construction is underway in Perry Park, on a passive solar all concrete high performance home designed to get the maximum benefit of state of the art insulated wall technologies.The Greene/Cassidy Home just north of the Perry Park Golf Course, is sited to make the most of the inclination of the sun, in all seasons. To save even more energy, the building shell is constructed of "Poured in Place" formed concrete walls, and features a complete building envelope of extruded polystyrene insulation sandwiched in between the concrete.

Why Build a Basement? Extra Living Space, Security, Convenience
Basements provide inexpensive space for many uses. A basement's sturdiness and location make it ideal for housing mechanical equipment like furnaces, water heaters, and other utilities. These same properties make it an excellent choice for recreational space, storage areas, workshops, or hobby rooms.

Working with Gang Forms
Huge sections of form work complete with scaffolding dangle from a crane cable. Workers on the ground swing the form sections into position, guided by guy ropes, then by hand. Brent Byford, assistant project manager for Walsh Construction, Chicago, supervises as the gang forms are plumbed, then braced, for a retaining wall on a highway project on Chicago's west side.  Gang forms are several unit forms attached together, or a single large form, usually moved into position by crane because sections are too heavy to set by hand. The length of a gang form for walls is often determined by the distance between control joints or by the capacity of the jobsite crane.

Online Program Designs Basement Walls
The Concrete Foundation Association has introduced an online engineering service to manipulate the design of basement walls. An engineering program on the Concrete Foundation Association's (CFA) Web site allows users to design a basement wall using CABO 95, IRC 2000, UBC, BOCA 97 or ACI-318-99 codes. This service is free for the association’s members and costs non members $25 per visit.

CPG of Greater KC hosts Innaugural Plant and Concrete Home Building Tour
See photos from the Concrete Home Building Council's recent stop in Kansas City.

This document is archived here with permission from the Concrete Promotional Group of Greater Kansas City.

Tech Talk: Codes - Designing for Unsupported Footings
There are many aspects of current construction that all too often are not easily supported or referenced in a general building code. One example is the design of footings and foundations at extreme changes in elevation, such as the step from a basement foundation to a garage wall. This design requirement also exists where a building lot falls rapidly from front to back, requiring the foundation wall to step at varying intervals. Still other conditions exist where the design must account for footings spanning trenches or poor soil conditions. ACI 332 has developed guidelines for these conditions, supporting the current practices that are followed in the field with sound design guidelines.

Material Selection Guide: Foundations—Waterproofing Materials
A leaking basement in a new home is the single most common complaint homeowners have. Leaking walls in a commercial building can be worse. Even if you sub out waterproofing, which many contractors do, you should understand the basics and should consider adding waterproofing to your list of services.

Not An Everyday Basement
There are plenty of complex basement pours, but not many come along that demand this type of flexibility. This 14,760 sq. ft. residential home in Grand Blanc, Mich., features walls which are 12 ft tall and 12 in. thick, with 12 in.center rebar placed both vertically and horizontally.

Checklist for Pumping Ready Mixed Concrete
Pumping ready mixed concrete at a construction site requires critical planning on the part of those directly and indirectly involved in pumping. Communication with other workers at the site is critical in ensuring that everyone is safe.

Waterproofing Inside and Out (p. 18-19)
It is often said a properly-designed, backfilled and drained building will never leak because water takes the path of least resistance. That's why even unwaterproofed vertical walls rarely leak when you do things right. But getting things right take commitment.

Retaining Walls that Work (p. 20-23)
Form generally follows function with retaining walls. It isn't that retaining walls are particularly difficult to build, they just demand special treatment.

Concrete Home Gaining Popularity Says WSJ
Each Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal includes a real estate column called “Money’s Worth” featuring three homes for sale across the U.S. with a unique unifying feature or characteristic. The May 4 edition presented three concrete homes noting that homebuyers looking for more energy-efficient and disaster-resistant homes are turning to concrete.

CFA Celebrating 30th Anniversary at Summer Confab
The Concrete Foundations Association will celebrate its 30th anniversary at the annual summer meeting in San Francisco, July 6-9.

NAHB's University of Housing Admits Concrete
The Concrete Home Building Council (CHBC) of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) conducted successful pilot programs of two educational programs that will become a part of NAHB’s University of Housing Educational Programs.

Joints in Slabs
A concrete slab on grade or floor is going to crack. There are some exceptions to that rule when heroic measures are taken, like post tensioning or shrinkage-compensating concrete, but most slabs are going to crack. It may appear that concrete doesn't move very much, but it moves enough to crack itself, especially as it dries out after placement. Even after it hardens, a concrete slab moves because of temperature changes or settling of the base course.  That's why we need joints in slabs. We put joints where we think the concrete is going to crack anyway, and use the joint to create a nice straight crack with sharp well-defined edges that can be sealed or filled and more easily maintained.

Tech Talk: MTSU Offers Education for Mgmt Pros in the Concrete Industry
The nuts and bolts of building a footing or wall are best taught on the job, but where does one go to learn the ins and outs of running a concrete construction business? Many have learned from the School of Hard Knocks, but there is an alternative school of learning.

Waterproofing - New!
Landscaping, proper drainage and grading will support your waterproofing efforts. Proper drainage is an essential component of waterproofing your basement — and the rest of your home. Even before a new home is constructed, effective drainage and grading must be "built" into the landscaping plan in order to prevent and minimize future problems with moisture, mold and leakage in the home.

Tech Talk – CFA Influences Residential Construction Standards - New!
CFA influences code development and market improvement. Concrete professionals, today more than ever, want a reliable source for regulations and industry standards and ways to improve their market area for concrete foundation development. The Concrete Foundations Association (CFA) advocates in various ways for the industry, including the development of a professional standard to provide a measurable baseline for quality performance in residential concrete construction.

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