Where will the basement wall be situated?

There are many things to consider before you pour the basement wall. You should know where the sun will rise and set around your new home. You may want to sit on your deck in the afternoon and sun yourself. Or you may want the sun shining in your kitchen window at 7 am. It is nice to sit on your deck in the evening and watch the sun set. Take a few minutes to decide where to place the basement-wall. This will allow you to have full benefits from the sun.



If you are going to have flower beds around the new home it is important to know if the sun will be shining directly on them. Some plants don’t need a lot of sun and some do. You may want to work on your flower beds without too much sun shining down on you. You also have to consider how your driveway will approach the new home. Will the angle of the house allow you easy access to the two car garage?

If you don’t prepare the basement properly you will have water problems. Steep side hills can be very difficult to deal with. Don’t build your new home to close to the foot of a slope. Dig the basement away from side hills as far as you can. You need enough room to slope the ground away from the wall without digging into the side hill.

Once you disturb a side hill it will be difficult to maintain. You will have to spend a lot of money to deal with the problems that will occur. Retaining walls are expensive if one is needed. I have built several retaining walls for people and they are hard work. I will say it again; look your lot over carefully before you make any decisions. A residential general contractor will help you with your lot preparation. The equipment operators will give good advice as well. Surely someone can help you make the right decisions.

Some people can look at a building lot and say the new home needs to go here. Very few people have that gift. You need a creative mind to picture the new home already sitting on the lot. I can create a picture in my mind and build it. Doesn’t matter what it is! I can tell you exactly where the water will come in on the lot and leave. I can do this before a new home is ever built. So if you are absolutely sure where you want the basement wall, you can start to dig.

Build a footing course!

 When the hole is dug square and level it is time to build the footing course. This is the base of your basement wall and the foundation of your new home. They are usually 18 inches or 460 mm wide and 6 inches or 150 mm deep. If you have a good operator, he will make your job a lot easier.

A laser level is a good tool to have when the excavator operator gets near to grade. Check the grade often so the operator doesn’t dig to deep. If he digs to deep you will have to put material back in and compact it so you have a solid base. There is nothing any more solid than original ground! The operator can use the bottom of his bucket to smooth the area where the form will sit. Keep in mind that the area inside of the form does not have to be dug down to the same level. The basement floor is poured on top of the footing course, therefore the ground should be exactly the same height.

It is best to be on grade but if you are not, it is better to be a little deeper than too high. The ready mix concrete will make up the difference and give you a better base. When you order your ready mix concrete make sure you order a little extra to make up for the low spots in the footing course. You definitely do not want to run out of ready mix on this project. If you want to, you can lay a couple of runs of rebar in the form for extra strength; it is a matter of choice.

When you have the earth down to grade you can begin the form. I would use nice straight 2X6 for the form and I will tell you why! You could use a 1X6 board but you would need more stakes to hold the footing in place and keep the board straight. It is really not important to have a perfect footing course because it will be covered up. But if you are the fussy type I would use a 2X6, you can build the form anywhere and set it in the hole after. The only thing that really matters is that it is square and perfectly level. The top needs to be smooth so that the basement wall forms sit level with no obstructions.

Cut some 1X3 about 21 inches or 530 mm long, these pieces will be used for cross braces for the top of the footing course. Stand the 2X6 on their edge and nail a cross brace to one 2X6. Measure a width of 18 inches or 460 mm between the 2X6 and nail the other end of the cross brace to the second 2X6. I would use a cross brace about every 4 to 6 feet or 1200 to 1800 mm. Set your forms in place exactly where they will sit permanently; check the form for square ness. Cut yourself some 2X4 stakes and sharpen one end. Drive the stakes along the outside and inside of the form being careful not to move the form. Drive a stake about every 6 feet and always on a joint. Pack fill on both sides of the footing form, the fill will hold the form in place and will keep the ready mix concrete from coming out under the form.

When you are ready to level your form you will need your laser level again. Set the laser measuring stick on top of the form and raise the form to the desired height. If this height is a good height for all the way around the footing then nail the 2X6 to the stake. Do the rest of the stakes exactly the same way and the same height. Double check your work and if everything is good you are ready to pour the ready mix.

The ready mix will be fairly thick so that it sets up quickly. This pour will not take long at all; three people will work just fine. You will need one person to swing the chute and another to rough grade the ready mix with his shovel. The third person will come along with a trowel and smooth the top of the footing course. Make sure you crowd the ready mix under the cross braces and smooth a long the edge of every brace. Clean all unwanted ready mix away from the forms before it hardens. The next day you can strip the footing course of its forms and clean the 2X6 up so they can be used for something else.

Some people put a keyway on top of the footing course before it hardens, this is really not necessary. Keep your stakes and 2X6 because you will need them when you pour the basement wall. That is it for the footing course. I should add that it is a good idea to check around for the best price on ready mix. Who ever you buy from will supply you ready mix for your footing course, your basement wall and your basement floor. Besides your new home you may also build a car garage and that will be more concrete. Let the ready mix people know how much you will be buying because they should give you a discount for quantity.

Where you situate your basement wall determines the out come of your new home!

The basement of a home needs to be carefully situated on the lot to avoid water problems. If you are a new home builder, I have many hints that will help you make critical decisions regarding your new home. Don't be in a hurry, think everything through first. When the basement contractor stands the walls and pours them full of concrete, you won't be able to say, can you move it here or turn it that way. When the concrete forms come off, you are on your way to building a new home.

You should know where the sun will rise and set around your new home. You may want to sit on your deck in the afternoon and sun yourself. Or you may want the sun shining in your kitchen window at 7 am. It is nice to sit on your deck in the evening and watch the sun set. Take a few minutes to decide where to place the basement wall. This will allow you to get the full benefits of the sun.


If you are going to have flower beds around the new home it is important to know if the sun will be shining directly on them and at what time of the day. Some plants don’t need a lot of sun and some do. You may want to work on your flower beds without too much sun shining down on you. You also have to consider how your driveway will approach the new home. Will the angle of the house allow you easy access to the car garage from the road?

Think about what you may want in the future for your new home. Will you want a swimming pool, tennis court, garage? If your building lot is small, you will have to position the basement wall so that the lot can accomidate the other things I mentioned. Remember this, there are strict bylaws that come into play when building to close to your neighbours property line.

In most cases it is not permissable to drain your water onto your neighbours lawn or property. If you don’t prepare the basement properly you will have water problems. Digging a basement too deep will cause you problems and not deep enough will cause problems.

Your new home will hopefully last a life time so take the time to read the information through the links below. Believe me, not all contractors think about all the things that can go wrong. By reading this information you will have first hand knowledge to question your contractor with.