Basement Floor - May 2014

The next order of business was the basement floor.  However, before we could complete the floor, we needed to lay the septic pipes which are under the concrete slab.  The placement of the pipes was important because it needed to line up with one of the walls in the basement.  We also needed to make sure that all the pipes needed were placed because it's certainly not something you can add afterwards!

Working on the proper angle for the septic pipe

Set-up for the leak test for the building inspector

We decided to pour the floor right away instead of waiting until the basement walls were completed so that we could have a solid surface to work on to build the walls.  Once the floor was properly leveled, a layer of stone was spread across the entire basement.  This doesn't sound like a big deal, but because we couldn't use the machines to bring in the stone and to spread it, we had to use wheelbarrows and lots of manual labor!

Basement with stone

Next, we placed a layer of 6 mil poly sheeting as a vapor barrier, and then a layer of 1" R-Tech Insulfoam, which is a green building product.  Adding this layer of insulation means that the slab will be surrounded by insulation, which helps to make the house more efficient, and as well as keep the floor warmer and dryer.  This will also help improve the energy star rating for the house.

Underslab insulation completed.

Finally, we were ready for the concrete floor!  We hired the help of PolySteel Northeast for this job, and the floors came out great!  But don't get me wrong, Steve and our Dad's were there working right along side for this job!

Metal keyed construction joints were used to divide areas of the floor (can be seen in above photo).  These served as starting and stopping places while pouring the floor, as well as contraction joints for the concrete.  This will help reduce or eliminate cracking in areas that you don't want to crack.

Using a bull float to level the ridges and fill the voids in the concrete.  This is done after screeding.  

Using a power trowel to apply a smooth finish to the concrete.