I
was driving home from my daughter’s house in Wylie this morning and saw a most
disturbing site. A crew was preparing to pour a house slab. I know that doesn’t
sound like a momentous undertaking but, when the ambient temperature is 31 and
holding, this is a BIG problem. Why, you might ask. Simple. What temperature
does water freeze at? If you guessed 32, you would be correct. What is one of
the leading elements to manufacture concrete? Not cement, concrete. Cement is
only another ingredient. Kind of like a Storm Drain is not part of the Sewer
system. Okay, let’s move on. Water. It takes water to prepare a proper concrete
mix.
If
you’ve never built a house, been in construction or know anything about how a
home is put together, remember this, if the foundation is bad, I don’t care how
much you spend on the home, it’s going to turn to crap! The slab these clowns
poured today is going to freeze tonight. That’s right FREEZE! You might ask,
what’s the big deal? It’s this. The integrity of the mix has been compromised
and will not achieve its designed strength which means, when the framers go in to
secure the walls, the base for the house will not be sound enough for the
entire unit and in time, the house will literally fall apart.
How
can a person protect themselves from buying a scrap heap? Easy. Ask the seller
for the test reports for the concrete. If they can’t produce them, find out
when the slab was poured. It takes
thirty to forty-five days to complete a house nowadays. If they can’t answer
any of your questions about the first two, hopefully they can tell you when the
home was completed. Do a timeline then check the weather records for
temperature information. You’ll be better informed.
Now,
if you’ve already bought the lot and the construction has begun, make damn sure
they aren’t pouring the slab in inclement weather and if they are, they damn
well better cover it up with plastic so the concrete will properly hydrate and
cure.
So,
if you’re planning on buying a new home in Wylie, Texas, you have been warned.
Oh, the subdivision is located off County Line Road about three miles NE of
downtown.
If you have any questions, please leave a comment and I'll respond post-haste.
