House Construction on Richland Chambers, Step one

My original intention was to document the house building process, so here's goes the first installment to recap the last few months of construction.

Step One: Get a soil analysis.

Everybody knows the foundation is the most important part of any home. The soil analysis is accomplished by doing core samples on the building site, then the engineer prepares a report based on the sample. Around  Richland Chambers Lake  Navarro county has "highly expansive" clay soil which shrinks and expands depending on the amount of moisture in the soil. So an adequate foundation is critical. The soil analysis is then taken to an engineer along with your floor plans and he generates a foundation plan. In our area we see a lot of post tension, big beams and piers depending on the engineers recommendations.

The house pad is prepared by establishing the grade, then select fill is brought in, spread and compacted in 'lifts'. This is not a real glamorous stage of construction, however extremely important.

Select fill being installed in 'lifts onsite

View of back of house pad