After: Sunroom Opening
We began by digging the footings for the deck and sunroom; however, we immediately ran into a problem. The back of the lot was built on fill dirt, which meant the structure would need extra support. Fortunately for the customer, with over 20 years of experience in the industry and having dealt with this type of problem before, we were able to contact our structural engineer who devised a plan to take care of the issue. Therefore, what would have been a large problem turned into a simple time delay with some additional cost requirements.
To fix the situation, we would up having to dig 12-foot-deep footings with an excavator before adding some additional helical piers for the deck posts and sunroom foundation (FYI – typical footing depth is two feet). Since the customer understood that this was an unexpected situation, we created a change order to cover the extra cost. Still, it’s important to note that the very nature of construction means that hidden situations may occur, so it’s always wise for customers to have contingency plans in place before work on the home begins.
In the end, we finished on time and within the homeowners budget, and they were thrilled with the quality of our work.