Cribbing Inspection
Kevin Tamikado and Tom Porta
After the lot is excavated, the basement is ready for the cribbers to form the footings and pour the concrete for the footings. This will look like strips of concrete running around the bottom of the open hole. Once the footings are poured, the cribbers will stand their forms and have the basement walls poured. Our cribbers are currently in the process of transitioning from strip-ease forms, to the recent technology of Duraforms. Duraforms help to establish a straighter wall during the pour, are easier to assemble and strip. Once the foundation walls are poured, the cribbers are responsible for stripping the foundation; meaning they will come to take the forms off the wall leaving the concrete standing. The wall is stripped one day after pour. It is at this time that Cedarglen will come in to complete the cribbing inspection.
During this cribbing inspection, we are checking the foundation for any irregularities found in the concrete walls that have just been poured. We also make sure at this time that the concrete poured matches the requirements of the engineering tests done at the excavation stage. Other specific areas of importance covered in this inspection include weeping tile holes, window rough openings, gas and electrical masts and height of concrete wall.
Weeping tile holes can be identified as a hole through the concrete footing that is lined with a piece of weeping tile (plastic serrated cylinder). We check to make sure there is no concrete covering or blocking the route the water would travel through the weeping tile holes in the footings. This is particularly important because if the drainage holes were to be blocked it could cause the water to pool in that area thus causing problems in the future such as frost heaving in winter time.
Next we will check all the window openings. The window rough openings are measured to make sure the windows will fit into the concrete openings and are placed in the correct locations as per the plan. At this time the gas and electrical masts are checked to ensure they are in the correct location and installed properly. Finally, Cedarglen checks the height of the foundation walls thus verifying the basement height matches the house plans. To help trades and city inspectors locate the correct house we spray the address on the concrete.
Once we complete the cribbing inspection, we update our online cribbing inspection form to complete our documentation and note any follow-up needed. Our cribbers or other trades will get automatic notice from this inspection of this documentation and followup.