Have any other professionals ever seen this. Over the past ten years of working with ICF's I have had two crews of very reputable ICF guys get footings out of level. In both cases there was high voltage power lines within 50' of the project?

Dave

I don't know if I'm a professional, but we haven't experienced it. Will keep our eyes peeled though.

Kevin

Maybe the high voltage is messin' with the lasers. This is a WAG, but as I sit at my computer, I can hit the "talk" button on my c.b. and my screen freaks out. Ever stand near hi votlage lines when its raining? You can "hear" the voltage. Just because we can't see anything visibly happening, doesn't mean it's not happening. If someone forced me, that would be my answer. (other than co-incidence) Sounds like a good project for "Myth Busters"

Bunt

 

I don't think that a high voltage power line could interfere with a high quality laser level. (but i could be wrong). There are however a few other variables that could contribute to out of level footings when using a rotary laser level to set the screed boards. On one job a few years ago my $1600 laser was bumped while in transit. I didn't know it at the time until I started setting block and noticed that my "level" grade that the laser was indicating was 2 1/2" higher on the north end of the building then my level footings. I had to get it recalibrated to get it back in tune. There is also always a chance that you can unintentionally 'bump' the laser while it is on a tripod and not know it. This could throw your laser 'plane' off resulting in unlevel work. Just my .02 cents.

Knowing "how" the footings were out of level would "shed light" on what may have happened. Was the footing "wavy", or hi at one end and low at the other?

Bunt

We did not have an out of level on one of our model homes but we did have a differant situation that we can not figure out.

Our excavater blew a hydrulic line on his new full swing in the spot where the well line was to go under the footing, so we dug out the soil there and put in new clean fill.

The next thing was on the east facing wall where the cable for the well pump ran under the footing the cable started on fire before we started to build the wall it burned all the way down to the pump. Now realize that there was no power hooked up to this cable yet and boy did I give my well driller buddy crap about this one.

Even more strange is we had bought a brand new hammer drill to drill in our rebar stubs the next morning and we proceeded to drill them in when we reached the location where the well cable went under the footing the hammer drill caught on fire.

Then the next thing that happened was once the walls where all poured and straightend and it was time to put the windows in the wall where the well cable went under the footing the wall was bowed out it was straight when we poured and the buck visually looked straight before we installed the window everything looked straight until we went to put the trim on and exactly where the well cable went under it was now 3/4" bowed.

This is the only spot on the house where the EFIS bubbled and we have had to remove it twice and redo it. This is the only place on the entire 1.2 acres that weeds grow in a nice line from the house to the well about two feet wide and the chemicals cant stop them.

The number 2 model which is located just to the south on the next 1.2 acre lot has none of the problems that the first one has in that spot. I guess this is one for unsolved mysteries.

The suggestion that has been made in this regards is based on the histoy of this land this hill was at one time very near a Soiux indian burial ground and some times if you where a bad indian they put you off to the side away from the rest of the tribe so that your bad spirit would not harm the good spirits of the rest of the tribe.

Buntly, both occasions had similar results, they where about 1" out of level but perfectly flat. First obvious choice was there lasers needed recalibration, but one job was large with basement and crawl footings at two levels placed over numerous days with different laser locations. If they where getting new results every day it would have been obvious but neither customer found the problem until footings where poured and ICVF was in progress.

Dave

Self levelling lasers?

The overhead electric lines are probably powerful enough to disrupt the magnets that are used to center and level the laser.


Bill...nice story, I'll go with unsolved mysteries...if that was an Indian buriel ground you wouldn't be building there...unless it's a casino of course

We where do a storm sewer install in the road had my laser set up and my reciever was going crazy, tried 3 difrent receviers and could nor figure it out. Finally I figured out the problem we had a cop working since we had half the road closed it was his red led light on the roof making the recivers go crazy. So i parked my truck in the street with yellow led light and no problem.