Craftbuilt, Inc.

Taking a trip to my favorite island... Japan! This is on the fast train from Narita International Airport to Ueno, Tokyo. That little device up there is none other than an air purifier.

Air purifiers were already pretty common in Japan, but the country went hard on air purifiers during Covid. It's really fascinating how different cultures react to things.

Last shot of this footing. And another helical. Bring on the concrete...

New rebar doweled into the old slab. You can also see the head of a helical pier peeking out of the dirt, and the footing rebar at the base.

A step down in the slab where we go from finished space to patio space. This kind of detailing is easy to overlook, but critically important in the finished work.

A slab formed up and rebar laid. We're ready for concrete. What you can't see is the numerous helical piers under the rebar - required thanks to poor soil conditions.

A construction entrance! The gravel supposedly cleans mud off tires. The bottoms of my shoes don't ever seem to agree with that assessment, though.

Clean. Ready for the next phase of construction.

Framing is just about done. You can see a window well prepared for future casement window. There is also lathe strips laid on top of the v***r barrier as something to nail drywall into. Later on, XPS Foam insulation will be layered on to the framing and drywall on top of that.

Beams going up! LVL beams are used in places where dimensional lumber wouldn't be strong enough for use. Getting big, heavy beams into place requires a lot of careful attention to detail... not to mention manpower.

It's no secret that framing is just about my favorite part of any job. This project is a special challenge, as we're working against old floor framing that's been worked on by others, an old foundation wall, and years and years of renovation Cruft.

Last view. Next up, it's time to start framing.

Another view of the v***r barrier and foam insulation.

Waterproofing! In a project like the basement, waterproofing is paramount. What we see here is closed cell foam sprayed onto the exterior block walls, and heavy plastic liner wrapped across the front of the new block walls. This creates a great v***r barrier to keep the space dry.

Basement project is taking shape. We're about done with the block walls and ready to start framing.

One of my favorite inventions... the laser tape measure. This one is cool, it has a bunch of features, including a digital level. It also fits nicely on my belt.

Like my shoes? I like to keep old running shoes around and use them on muddy days. Also, this is a sump pump that needs to get cleaned out. It's connected to a bunch of pipes in the basement job. I think of sump-pumps as a final boss of water damage prevention... if the sump pump ever gets used, it means a lot of other water proofing has failed, but we'll sure be glad it's there!

Back to the basement. This picture shows where the old pier supports for the house will interact with the new rebar-reinforced block walls. What you can't see is the absolutely massive footings we have holding back the lateral forces on the block wall.

Back to the basement. This picture shows where the old pier supports for the house will interact with the new rebar-reinforced block walls. What you can't see is the absolutely massive footings we have holding back the lateral forces on the block wall.

Cutting a new sewer pipe into the backyard of our Buckhead project. It's not much to look at, but it sure is an important step.

Cutting out an old slab for new pipe in a basement. Step 1 of many in getting a leaky, stuffy old basement to be something magical.

Last angle for now. You can see the dirt barriers in place that will hold the dirt up until we get the block walls in place.

Another angle on the basement project. The amount of rebar, concrete, and sweat that's gone into getting this basement to this point is beyond belief. It's a tremendous technical challenge to put a new space under a 100+ year old house.

Back to the basement dig out. The dirt is moved away, and we have a slab down. Block walls are going up to reinforce the old foundation walls, and temporary supports hold up the floor framing until we can put new beams in.

Dinner time! Ginya Izakaya in Midtown is one of my favorite places to scratch the itch for some legitimate Japanese cuisine.

It's always fascinating what we find when we dig out an old foundation. Grandpa waterproofed with old school tar - 70 or 80 years later, the tar is just about gone. Needless to say, we'll do a bit better this time around.

Digging out around an existing foundation. We'll be adding modern waterproofing, and dropping helical piers in to reinforce it.

Down, down down. Dig, I say!

Back to reality! This basement dig-out is coming along. The house is in a historic district, so we can't go up... and it's on a postage stamp-sized lot, so we can't go out. Down was the only option.

Yes, still in Pittsburgh. I went a bit crazy taking pictures, but I love the detailing here. I'm a sucker for this kind of roofwork and detailed siding interactions.

"An observation platform in Pittsburgh. I've often thought that it'd be fun to try and build a structure with a single supporting column, and apparently some architect agrees with me!"