We were honored to host John Minton’s visit today.  John is the Chief Engineer with Hanson Structural Precast, and supplied our hollow core concrete panels.  John is in the L.A. area and works in Hanson’s offices in Irwindale, California.

John Reviews Our Project

We have a tiny project with only 48 panels.  During our design and planning, John was always available to answer our questions and help resolve technical issues.  He starts working early so Bryan would call him between 6:00 and 6:30 am, knowing that John would probably answer on the first ring.

John and his wife, Lynanne, and son, Brian, were to attend a family event in Hillsborough and, since they were flying into SJC, they could all stop by our project site for a few minutes. 

His family was very patient while John and Bryan discussed the structural aspects ahead of us.

John Minton, and his wife, Lyanne, and son, Brian, visiting our project site.

Flattening the Camber in Our Hollow Core Concrete Panels

One of the issues that we needed to understand is how and when the camber would come out of the hollow core concrete panels.  John explained that, as soon as we put the 3 inches of structural concrete over the 6 inch hollow core concrete panels, one-half the camber would come out.  Then, the remaining camber would come out over a couple years.

We discussed various strategies to accelerate the flattening of the panels.  John explained that the fastest way to get the panels to flatten would be to put load on the panels.

The alternatives that we have include:

1. Pour the 3 inches of structural concrete then put the remaining posts/walls in place, and then the roof.  This would increase the load, and then pour the final 2-1/4 inches of concrete.

or

2.  Pour the 5-1/4 inches of concrete in one monolithic pour.

We’ll need to think this one through …

John Minton and Bryan.

We placed 48 hollow core concrete panels this morning.  The first panel was lifted from the truck at 8:10 am and the last panel was put in place less than 4 hours later at 12:01 pm.

Also, Bryan met with a neighbor that needs a home for some virgin dirt, located only a few blocks away.

Yes, another big day.

Preface

One of our stated objectives for this project is to use ‘innovative building materials’.  We are one of the first single family residential homes to use hollow core concrete panels in Northern California.  We engaged Bill Brown Construction Company to partner with us on 17509 Via Sereno because:

1. Bill Brown has extensive experience in all the areas that we need expertise (e.g., seasonal perched water tables, waterproofing, ‘green’ building design and construction, etc.).
2. Bill wants to innovate and be a leader with new building products and new construction practices.
3. Bill has a great team that can ‘do the hard stuff’ that he leads personally and, most importantly, has a passion for construction while having fun.

Preparation

We wanted to get in front of the day so our plan was to assemble at 7:15, have the crane arrive at 7:30 am and get into position, and have the first truckload of hollow core concrete panels arrive at 7:45 am so we could start working at 8:00 am as we unloaded the first panel.

Chad Sisson, Summit Cranes, and Bill Brown, Bill Brown Construction Company, preparing for the day at 7:35 am.

Korolath strips, which go between the concrete retaining walls and the hollow core concrete panels. These strips help to distribute the load evenly across the concrete retaining wall

The first truckload of hollowcore concrete panels arrived on time at 7:45 am,/

Bill Brown inspecting the first load of hollowcore concrete panels.

Chad extended the boom and confirmed the crane could reach everywhere in the site that was required. We're good to go!

The First ‘Bay’ of Panels

 Chad lifted the first hollowcore concrete panel from the truck at 8:10 am.  Bill and Bryan were on ladders so they could position the first panel at the far end of the house, in the first ‘bay’. (more…)