This project is a tear-down and rebuild. The old house
was in bad condition including the foundation, and it
was best to tear it down and build a new custom home.

This was the original house, a poorly built ranch house
on a beautiful lot in Ann Arbor Hills.

The new design drawing shows a Tudor styled home, brick and
stucco. More stately and a better fit for the neighborhood.

Demolition has begun.

Step 1: Put the garage in the dumpster.

Step 2: Demolish the rest of the house.

Step 3: Clean up the mess.

The foundation has now been completely removed. The concrete
walls were broken-up on-site and used as a base for the new driveway.

After digging we found a very high water table
on the property. Here we are excavating into the
street to tap into the main storm drain line.

The new storm drain is run into the property,
under the water main.

The drain tile is bedded in peastone, and a perforated
drain tile is set alongside at the bottom of the trench,
all to help drain the water away from the house.

Further excavation in the basement. Poor soil conditions
were found under the basement– evidence of an
ancient swamp/small lakebed in this area– we found
gray ‘marl’ type soils with small shells in it.

We are undercutting the basement footings here, digging
down to soil that can bear the house’s weight and
then backfilling with stone, some areas as much as 6 feet.

Finally the bottom of the basement is being set– a level grade of stone.

Loading the final layer of crushed limestone,
compacting the stone every 12 inches.

Concrete footings have been poured. Insulating blankets have been
removed with the temperatures hitting 50 degrees yesterday and
today. Formwork for the basement walls are ready to be unloaded.

Form work for the basement walls being set up.
Nine foot tall basement walls are planned.

Foundation walls are all set. The perimeter drain tile is
set at the outside of the footing, to drain away any
water that collects on the basement walls

The wood frame is a block-out for a basement egress
window. The step-down at the top of the wall
is a ledge for the exterior brick to bear on.

Now the waterproofing membrane is
seen on the outside of the foundation walls.