|
‘Dragon House’ Basement Scorches the Competition
 |
|
The Balmer Brothers finished basement, winner of the 2006 Basement of the Year competition.
| The “Dragon House,” a 5,964-square-foot complex basement with garden walls, curved walls, stone ledges, jumps, a multitude of corners ― and very few right angles — won the Concrete Foundations Association’s (CFA) 2006 Basement of the Year competition.
Alternately known as “The Spaceship,” the basement of the Hattersley residence in Eastown Township, Pa. was built by foundation contractor Balmer Brothers Concrete Work, Inc., of Akron, Pa.
While not the largest foundation the company has completed, Jerry Balmer, president of Balmer Brothers, said it was the most complex basement that they probably ever constructed. Many corners went from straight to curved walls with a multitude of corners, T-walls and Y-sections coming in at various angles. One of the jumps, from nine feet to a three-foot wall, occurs in the middle of a curved wall.
“It seemed like every corner we came to brought on a new challenge, especially the Y areas, where we used various sized ties as the two walls turned into one,” said Balmer. “Most of the time crews were transitioning curved into straight walls and sometimes curved-to-curved.”
Stone ledges surrounding the house and ranging from 1-foot to 3-feet deep by 6-inches wide added to the complexity. Much of the ledge was on curved walls and was required to be constructed of multiple pieces to allow for flexibility.
 |
|
A dragon of a basement begins to take shape. |
The Hattersley residence has 995 total linear feet of wall, wall heights ranging from 3 to 9 feet and wall thicknesses of both 12 and 16 inches. Radius measurements range from 4 feet, 2 inches to 91 feet, 8.5 inches ― with many different sizes in between.
The project required 345 yards of concrete in the walls and 27,680 linear feet of No. 4 matt steel at 2 feet on center. Hundreds of vice grips were needed to hold in ledges, spreaders and props. Hinged corners were used to ensure that corners and shapes were correct. Hundreds of fillers were used to create smooth, curved angles and offsets. Forms were double-stacked for height. A roller bender was used to bend rebar to match the radii of the curved walls.
Balmer Brothers is a third-time winner of CFA’s Basement of the Year award. In 2001, the firm won the competition with a 29,000-square-foot basement located in Philadelphia. Last year, the firm won again with a 34,000-square-foot basement in Gladwyne, Pa.
This year’s second-place winner is the Briarcliff West project located in Kansas City, Mo. and submitted by Louisburg Foundation of Bucyrus, Kan.
Third place went to the Cahn residence project in Cherry Hill, N.J. by Marone Contractors, Inc., of Thorofare, N.J.
Contractors voted for the “Basement of the Year” at the 2006 World of Concrete trade show in Las Vegas. The awards will be presented during CFA’s annual summer meeting in Wisconsin Dells, Wis. in July.
For more information about the Concrete Foundation Association, visit www.cfawalls.com.
 Building with Concrete: The Basics and Beyond
The 2006 Concrete Technologies Tour will be held June 11-13 in Phoenix. Learn about and profit from one of the fastest-growing segments of the construction industry — concrete building systems and cement-based products.
The registration deadline is May 26. To register and for more information, visit www.nahb.org/concretetour.
Don't Miss the 2006 Modular & Panel Plant Tour This Month
There is still time to register for the 2006 Modular & Panel Plant Tour to be held May 21-23 in Appleton, Wis. The tour will include stops of modular and panel plants and related products. Register today at www.nahb.org/PlantTour.
|
