Excavation went quickly. Foundations are relatively shallow in Florida, especially in the southern end of the state. Up north (say, in Georgia), foundations need to extend below the frost line - the deepest level freezing temperatures penetrate below the ground's surface - in order to avoid the damage caused when the frozen earth pushes the building upward. Down here, that's not a problem, so foundations are often only a few inches below the ground (compared to four feet in Boston).What is a problem is wind. 150 miles per hour worth of wind, pushing against the walls of the house or lifting the house by its eaves, could potentially lift the house out of the ground or cause it to move sideways, given how light the steel structure is. The footings also need to spread out the load of the house, which is carried by just 23 steel columns, onto the soil and stone below. And so our foundations will serve to anchor the house in place with large pads of concrete (anywhere from four to six feet square) set about 30 inches deep.
The next step is wood formwork, into which the concrete will get poured later this week.
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