Slab not square – where to compensate?
sgkern
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
Hi.
I building my own two-car garage, but had a contractor pour the slab. I ended up with the wrong contractor, but luckily it’s not a horror story, just a cautionary tale.
Anyway, the slab is out of square – it’s 20’x20′, and the diagonals differ by 4-1/4″.
Should I ignore this and just make sure each wall is square and plumb? Or are there adjustments I should make as I erect the walls to keep them square to each other?
Stuart Kern
Silver Spring, MD
Replies
Install your mudsills square regardless of the concrete. The diagonals are off by quite a bit, and if you just frame to the concrete you may not like the roof much.
David: Not to Hijack the thread, but looks like FH has power back on.
sqkern: See this was your 2nd post, so a big Welcome to BT>
When you square your mudsills, make sure you dont have a path for water to run under the sill from any pad sticking out into the weather.
you really need to fix the slab into square or it be bother you for years.
what are the diagonal measurements.
He said it's a 20'x20' "square" with diags that are out by something like 4.5". That should be enough info for you.
A diamond in the rough.
Is this an addition or a stand alone building?
Stu, set your mudsills square, but you will have one part that overhangs the slab and another area that is set in from the edge of the slab. If it's not a lot, you can chisel or jackhammer the edge back to just beyond flush, then put a parge coating over the rough surface, or just leave it if it's not to ugly.
What you don't want, is to leave any part of the slab exposed beyond the frame, since this will act as a shelf that will direct water back under the wall and into the garage. Your mudsill/plate wants to be flush to or hanging out beyond the slab, then your sheathing can run past the plate below the level of the slab to prevent water intrusion. Hopefully you have sufficient height to the top of your slab to maintain proper clearance from the finish grade as well.
It's important to start off with a square base, or by the time you get to the roof it will be a nightmare!
Geoff
Just use a come-along to square it up!
Actually, first thing you should do is measure the four sides as well, check the (supposed) righ-angle corners (use the 3/4/5 triangle scheme), and figure out what specifically is out of whack. You don't want to compensate on the west wall when the east wall is the problem.
And don't forget to double-check level as well.
Another approach is to use a 2" wider mudsill than the studs; let that extra 2" hang off the varying amount, then batter the lower few feet of the walls - adds a nice detail.
Forrest - nothing like making problems look like you planned them!
Outstanding idea.
Great minds and all.
Happy
Holidays
Instead of letting the sills hang off would it be reasonable to move them in enough that nothing hangs off and accept the slighly smaller garage that results? Then the excess concrete on the obtuse side could be jackhammered off?
Probably a dumb question... I'm visiting from the woodworking side, but planning a garage project myself pretty soon.
Edited 12/18/2006 12:56 pm ET by CStanford
Not an unreasonable solution given the limited information.
For myself I would want to know exactly how the slab is out of square and what is the cause of the difference in the diagonals before I offer solutions.
Did the contractor pour a Rhombus instead of a square?
Are there any square corners?
If this is an addition to an existing building did the contractor pull a line off one side of the existing building and it is possible that the existing building is out of square?
Are all sides really 20'?
Where are anchor bolts/hold downs located in relationship to slab edge? There are any number of ways to fudge a solution depending on the answers.
Ultimately the best solution is the one that requires the least effort and the one that allows you to build a square building.
Edited 12/18/2006 1:18 pm ET by dovetail97128
Man, you guys are great! I learned 90% of what I know from books, now I'm learning the other 90% from you!One question - as I square up the structure, how exact should I take my measurements - 1/4"? 1/16"?I think I've found some of the wiggle room for adjusting the mudsill. The slab top is 8" above grade, as required by code. I had the contractor insulate from grade to 24" below grade with 2" thick foam insulation. He applied the insulation inside the forms, so below grade the insulation is inset into the footer. I plan on applying additional foam on the outside of the slab from about 4" below grade to the mudsilll, so it overlaps the below-grade insulation. So if I use a 2x6" mudsill, it can overlap the insulation, with flashing between the slab and mudsill (as I see in my book on framing).That raises one question - can a 2x4 stud wall sit on the 2x6 mudsill, if the mudsill projects beyond the slab? What's the tolerance (1"? 25%?).I've probably got enough to proceed now, but I'll add some more detail. The garage is detached. It'll be my workshop and probably never see a car.The slab measures 20' 1-1/4" at the back, 19' 11-3/4" on the left side, 20' 1/4" on the right side, and 20' 2" on the front, so it is slightly rhomboid in shape.The diagonals measure 28' 2-1/4" from right-rear to left-front, and 28' 6-1/2" from left-rear to right-front, so the rear is skewed slightly to the left of where it should be relative to the front.I've run all the sides through a spreadsheet to see how the diagonal measurements differ from the calculated amounts.Stuart
"can a 2x4 stud wall sit on the 2x6 mudsill"
I did that once before on a garage slab that was out of square by about the same amount as yours. Worked out just fine.
The only downside I can think of was that you had to make sure you had the correct side turned up when you framed the wall on the slab. Don't ask me how I know.
(-:
One day I came home and was greeted DW dressed in a very sexy nightie. "Tie me up," she purred, "and you can do anything you want."
So I tied her up and went fishing.
Boss, I know how, learned it myself as well ;-)
you had to make sure you had the correct side turned up when you framed the wall on the slab
LOL - think I'been there 2, makes it a lot easier with the projection UP!.
Let us know what you end up doing as asolution to the problem.
Another option is to square up one end and one side and use those as your reference points for setting your trusses. You will only have to deal with the roof overhangs in this case.
This is not a Fine Homebuilding solution, but I would do it before I jackhammered the slab.
The slab measures 20' 1-1/4" at the back, 19' 11-3/4" on the left side, 20' 1/4" on the right side, and 20' 2" on the front, so it is slightly rhomboid in shape.
This is a garage right?
Remember, it's a garage, okay.
I'd run all the plates flush, and just stand the walls up as is. Yes the top plates would be out of whack, but the two important plates, the bearing walls for the commons would only be 1/2" out at the most if the sides are the bearing walls. That amounts to 1/4" per side when I split the difference with my common rafters. I'd keep that in mind when I was laying out the birdsmouth.
1/4" deviations wouldn't bother me enough to make me lose sleep. I wouldn't be cutting and jackhammerins slabs. I wouldn't be creating shelfs that took on water, I'd just be ignoring it and standing up the garage. In the end, the only one who'll know is you...and now us. Be smart....don't talk about it to anyone in the real world and they'll never know the difference.
Incidentally, without finding two square lines, you cant begin to explain how much and where this thing is out of square, nor do you really need to know.
Years ago, in my earlier apprentice, anal days, I used to agonize over every garage foundation. I used my newfound "carpenter intelligence" to determine that almost every attached garage foundation was out of square. Consequently, I'd spend a couple of extra hours resnapping lines and hanging the garage off the block that had been laid 1/2" out of square...or and 1" out of paralell. Later the new home buyers would see the out of alignment blockwork and/or walls and think something was wrong. Since I wasn't there to explain, I'm sure some of them thought my framing was off.
In my more experience journeyman years, I came to understand that no one really cared if the front wall of their garage was out of paralell by 1/2". Only the drywallers could ever begin to notice that if they could see each cut running out of paralell by 1//16" which we all know is impossible. At some point in time, I realized that I was serving no one with my stubborn attitute about placing my framing "perfect" on imperfect foundations. Even though the framing was "better", the homeowners "felt" that something was wrong. Realistically, who's interests were served?
There is a limit to my line of thinking but the numbers in your situation sgkem are well within working distance, depending on the complexity of your cornice system. If it's a typical garage cornice, don't worry 'bout a thing.
blue
Brilliantly put blue.
I have the same experiance as you. Homeowners asking why this framing doesnt line up with the concrete here or there. I always felt chintzy putting it off on the concrete guys,even though it was their fault. The h.o. gives ya this look and an "uh huh" like they know you f#cked up but you wont admit it. Drives me nuts.
I just took five minutes and plugged your numbers into CAD, and came up with this.
First of all, I could not close the polygon given your numbers. By that I mean that I triangulated to get the corners at FL, FB, and RB, then did the same using RB, LB, to get the point for FR, and the frontline distance was less than your measurement of 20-2.
So, your roundoffs to the nearest 1/4 are messing me up, but only slightly. My 2D model is real close to what you have.
Superimposing a perfect 20x20 square on your polygon, and getting it so the cornerpoints are all about the same distance from the ones you have for the slab, I get this.
The front right FR build-to corner for framing is into the slab corner by 1-3/4, and the RB right back build-to corner is in by 1-1/2. Those figures are not in the x or y direction, they are axial from the concrete corner.
Your other two framing corners are overhanging the slab corners. RB right back is out by 1-1/2 and the one at FL front left is hanging in the breeze by 1-3/4.
I would not do what these pros are saying and build the walls on the slab as-is. They know how to compensate and fudge and get their roofs right and all, but I don't. I like to precut everything as if it is a kit, and slap it up clean.
If it were mine, I would build with a bottom plate that is 1.5 wider than my walls, the 1.5 hanging out, and fir with a 3/4" fir strip 12" up from the plate, then bend my sheathing so it has a nifty flareout at the base. It might in fact be easier to use a 2x bottom plate same as your framing, then add on a P.T. 2x2 at the base outside, and the furstrip up as described. Same result, to get the base of the walls all outside the slab.
My top plates would measure 20x20 and be level and square, and my roof frame would be on before lunch. No more head scratching.
> First of all, I could not close the polygon given your numbers.
That could be because you're trying to make a 2D model of this, and in 3D it could also be somewhat out of level.
-- J.S.
1/4" deviations wouldn't bother me enough to make me lose sleep. I wouldn't be cutting and jackhammerins slabs. I wouldn't be creating shelfs that took on water, I'd just be ignoring it and standing up the garage. In the end, the only one who'll know is you...and now us. Be smart....don't talk about it to anyone in the real world and they'll never know the difference.
There is a limit to my line of thinking but the numbers in your situation sgkem are well within working distance
Exactly.
My shop slab, ~30'x30', was/is off by 3½ feet on diagonals. The building's nowhere close to square. Learned a lot about the guy I'd hired, but other than having an interesting time getting the roof on, it works fine. Doesn't bother me or anyone else.
The next building I ran into problems digging footers. I intentionally built it out of square. No problem at all, but I finally wised up and went with easier roofing, traditional standing seam. PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
""Incidentally, without finding two square lines, you cant begin to explain how much and where this thing is out of square, nor do you really need to know.""
I took his dimension off his post, did a quick pencil sketch , (he told us where it was off) and was able to come to a solution and post it in less than 20. minutes.
Now I could build it without another thought to the problem. No having to rip sheathing to fit out of square trusses or rafters, everything fits, no concrete cutting.
Now I could build it without another thought to the problem. No having to rip sheathing to fit out of square trusses or rafters, everything fits, no concrete cutting
Me too. After meauring the paralells that the bearing walls would sit on, I never would have pulled another measurement. After, those thirty seconds, I'd have determined that everything was in order, nothing drastic needed to be thought of and in the next five minutes would have had all the plates layed out on one of the walls and been framing.
I'm just trying to say, there aint a problem, where there is no problem.
Did you calculate the amount of "ripping sheathing to fit out of square trusses? That idea is a stretch on something like this where the paralell dimensions are less than 1" out of parallell.
I think this entire thought process gets bigger in the minds of those that don't understand that roughing a building isn't finishing a building. Roughers learn that a good finisher can make a building beutiful, without asking the rougher to be a finisher. A lot of guys might like to make their foundations for a detached garage perfect, just because they can, but when a guy comes in seeking solutions, I think he's better served to understand when it's really not a problem, but could be perceived as a problem by perfectionists who refuse to face the realities of the situation. I"ve lived the life as a perfectionist, but fortunatly, I"m reformed and can see things for what they are from both perspectives. Can you?
There wouldn't be one piece of plywood that I'd have to recut because of out of square conditions on a roof like this. I can say this with 100% confidence because I wouldn't put a tape on a single sheet of plywood for sheathing purposes. Every sheet would be cut in place, by eye, on the roof where it was dropped. In 75% of the situations, the ply would be started at a roof rafter and hung over an edge and cut to fit. There wouldn't be any chance in he LL that I'd be squaring cuts on plywood and finding that they didn't fit an "out of square" rafter.
For fun, please tell me how much out of square a cut of plywood would be on this situation. I highly doubt that it would wander more than 3/4" and run off the rafter, which is what you are implying.
Dovetail, we don't dovetail our plywood. That's why we get the roofs done in a couple of hours, instead of a couple of days.
blue
""The diagonals measure 28' 2-1/4" from right-rear to left-front, and 28' 6-1/2" from left-rear to right-front,""
From the OP's post .
How do you get 1" out of sq. from this?
I get 4 1/4" (Or 2 1/8" if you use the corrctive dimension) assume a 4/12 pitch roof. Rafter length wall plate to ridge is 10'6 1/2", or just over 2 1/2 sheets of ply. Start a sheet square in a low corner and over the 4' width of the sheet you will have 13/16 run out to your rafter.
If the slab was out 1" as you imply I would have said build on it. I also don't understand your statement :"After measuring the paralells that the bearing walls would sit on,"
OP has no paralells.
I guess I missed something in the OP's post.
Course I am, among other things, a finish carp so that must explain it.
Dovetail, I ignored the diagonals measurements and concentrated my thought process on the parallel meaurements. They were less than an 1" off.
The diagonals aren't that critical, especially because he already indicated that it was a garage and workshop. I'm envisioning something that will never get a patterned floor, which would show up in the finish and look bad.
blue
I didn't read yoour whole post carefully, or even the whole thread, but here's a question. Would the roof you built per this method be square or not? Reason I ask, we do a lot of standing seam metal roofing here and if the roof is not square (and I mean VERY square) it sticks out like a sore thumb--the space between the first rib and the gable trim is tapered. You can get away with murder using shingles but metal will give you away.
Maybe it's hard to see and tell what is going on, but I have attached a print of my little 2D CAD study of the situation.
The solid lines are the slab outline, the dotted lines are a perfect 20-0 square. Rather than try to align one side of the new square to the asbuilt slab dims, I tried to fudge it into the field, so that nothing was in or out more than 1-3/4".
David,
A few yrs back I had to rebuild a pole barn , nothing fancy cept it sat on the drive way to a very nice house and farm .Owner had eyes like an eagle for details. Roofing was a version of corrugated, the barn was 6" shorter across the front then the back. Span was maybe 15' (Contractor had pulled a line to the inside of a front corner pole not the outside when squaring it up near as I could figure.)
I went to the center of the front of the roof, and then measured both at the ridge and eaves, marked out what I needed to "spread" and "compress" the roofing material so that the rakes lined up with the valleys of the metal. Repeated that on the backside, I was just glad it was not standing seam.
What a pain, always makes me wonder : What does someone mean when they say "close enough"? 12", 6", 3", 1", 1/2", 1/4"
>>>What does someone mean when they say "close enough"? 12", 6", 3", 1", 1/2", 1/4"
Close enough means "If I remember to bring this up with you later, after it's finished, then you're F'd!"
LOL, Yep , thought so .
excavator says "close enough" leave something for the " ---- -- " to do
repeated by the concrete crew
repeated by the framer
repeated by the drywaller
repeated by the finish carp
repeated by the painter
repeated by the plumber
repeated by the electrician and ... repeated by the home owner when he cashes his settlement check after the lawsuit for shoddy construction.
I am guilty of the same thing at times.
cant see it from my house
Passes inspection.
People never lie so much as before an election, during a war, or after a hunt. --Otto von Bismarck
Once again Dovetail, I agree, the roofing materials might cause you to see something that is not pleasant to look at.
I'd suggest dimensional shingles for this roof. The three tabbed style might not look so great.
blue
Heck, go with the flow -- use prow-shaped gable ends so that any out of square is totally swamped.
People never lie so much as before an election, during a war, or after a hunt. --Otto von Bismarck
Build the roof, crane in place, add walls between the mudsill and roof.SamT
Now if I could just remember that I am a businessman with a hammer and not a craftsman with a business....."anonymous". . .segundo <!----><!---->
David, a standing seam roof might indeed require some more thought, in order to prevent a disaster on the gable ends. If it was a hip, it wouldn't matter though, would it?
So, it might be very critical to square up the walls, but there might be other methods to deal with it too.
blue
I don’t think you’ve gotten enough advice…Lol. And without being there and knowing more it is just hard to say exactly what I’d do. But too add to some of the previous replies, Here’s Johnny!
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If you’re putting a metal roof on it then by all means cheat the top of the building to be perfectly square. There is too much grief in trying to use metal on a skewed up simple gable roof.<!----><!---->
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From your posted dimensions I would adjust the size to 20’ by 20’ 1-1/2”, if the trusses were spanning the 20’ dim. And if you are using standard fiberglass 3-tab shingles then you can keep the walls parallel, but slightly out of square. This will fit the slab the best and the minor skew will be constant everywhere. I grew up hearing an old saying that is appropriate for your garage. “If it’s all wrong, it’s all right!” Meaning “At least it’s all the same”, constant. <!----><!---->
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The 20’1-1/2” length works out nice for your truss layout too since all the trusses will be o.c., even the gables.<!----><!---->
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One last bit of info for you. Most garages have a curbed slab w/sloping floor to the door opening, which is curb-less. This means that the finished ceiling in the garage is usually 5 to 6-1/2” higher than the call-out dimension of the plate height. A 7’ tall garage door does not fit comfortably in an 8’1” ceiling (using 92-5/8” studs/no curbs). It has to be made to fit. (pita) Also getting the right size header over the door is difficult, especially with 16’ doors. Many times the header will actually be less than 7’ tall. The same thing happens with an 8’ tall door using precut studs for a 9’ 1” wall/plate height (using 104-5/8” studs/no curbs). Since you didn’t mention any curbs I’m assuming they don’t exist. Build your walls at least 16” to 18” taller than the RO height of your garage door. You’ll be so glad you did.<!----><!---->
First of all, I would not pay that hack contractor one cent until he makes it right. No self respecting builder I know would leave such a mess. Back up a rock dumpster and have your hired hack haul it away at his expense. Then make him do it right. DO NOT ACCEPT HIS WORK AS IS. Bad contractors like him/ her should be driven out of business. He should have liability insurance.
If you must build on that abortion then the sides of the front to back should be 20' 2". Make sure they are parallel. The front and back will have to be the larger dimension of 20' .25". The diagonal dimension should be 28' 6-7/16". Your mudsill will not protrude more that 3/4" at the most. If you do this, then at least you will have a rectangle with square sides. (Is that redundant?) If all is square then your roof framing will go much smoother.Mike Callahan, Lake Tahoe, Ca.
I guess you know 180% more now.
Oh, and the anchor bolts are 1-3/4" from the edge, spaced according to Code.Stuart
I'd square up the mudsill with 2x6's with a new outside dimension of 20' - 2 1/4" and plan your roof framing accordingly. That's a diagonal of 28' - 6 9/16" which will cover the longest diagonal of the botched slab. Place your 2x4 wall flush with the outside of the sill.
Your bolts will be fine, unless they are placed to fall directly under the studs. (It happens).
I would start by increasing the left side by 1/4" (added to the front), then decrease the right side 1/4" (deducted from the front). Front and back are now parallel.
Next decrease the front by 3/8 (deducted from the right front corner),
Add 3/8 to the back (added to the right rear corner)
You now have a Rhomboid. Now move the back to the right 1/2 the difference between your new diagonals, move the front 1/2 the difference to the left. You are square.
I am guessing your shift will be about 7/8". (Working without a calc. here)
Which would leave you an overhang of 1 1/8 " on your right rear corner,7/8" on the left front, probably miss the anchor bolts with a plate at that point.
So shorten the building (move each side in an equal amount)just a bit until you get good anchor bolt location on both sides.
I have built (engineered design ) an entire house with the PT sill overhanging foundation insulation, studs were planed to outside of the PT. BUT it was a 2x6 wall
Edited 12/18/2006 5:08 pm ET by dovetail97128
I'd sell my right gonad to know one-tenth of what you guys know about building.
Do Not SAY That , it cost me mine in a fall on a job site.
Ouch...
Bad things happen to good people. Do they call you Ace?
Nope , but they don't call me "Nuts" any more either... ;-)
Might I add taking some time to snap a line down the center of the slab and the snapping a line perpendicular to the first line. Then use those lines to adjust the plate lines. It's usually good to have a second hand. I never allow the mason to proceed without checking his work. I've had to fix too many of their poor calculations.
Definitely seems makes sense to snap a set of lines that are square before proceeding with the 'fix.' But I know enough to be dangerous.
Edited 12/18/2006 6:44 pm ET by CStanford
Being a real outa dah box kinda guy, I'ld build the top plates square and modular, then frame the walls in between.SamT
Now if I could just remember that I am a businessman with a hammer and not a craftsman with a business....."anonymous". . .segundo <!----><!---->
LOL, you are right . The OP never did mention plumb or square walls, just the slab.
I'd sell my right gonad to know one-tenth of what you guys know about building.
What'd your right gonad ever do to you to deserve that ? lo l=)
Good one...
Is the garage freestanding? What type of roof? If it is freestanding you will never see that it is out of square as long as it stays as a garage. However you will always know it is out of square! Is it a big deal? That is up to you!
You got a lot of good replies here but..............no one is thinking outside the box.
I would run a course of 6 or 8 inch block around it, squared up and ready to put mudsills on. Fill them solid after drilling some rebar into your slab at choice locations.
Done.
[email protected]
It's Never Too Late To Become What You Might Have Been
The block is good advice - one or two courses are always a great idea. Then the fill can cover the "overslab" 8' ceilings are miserable in a garage, but 9'6" is decent.
If you do square the slab, stay away from jackhammers - just rent a diamond bladed saw and cut it cleanly.
Treat every person you meet like you will know them the rest of your life - you just might!
I saw one with that situation once. The cure was partially as you are discussing. That is a 2x6 mud sill with 2x4 walls set to the inside. Then they trimmed the lower part of the siding with a something that looked like an over thick water table that was built out far enough to cover the 2x6. It really looked as though it had been planned.
FWIW, my figures, assuming that the entire 4-1/4 inches is due to lack of square (not odd-sized sides), works out to about 1.5 inches in each direction, meaning 0.75 inches on a side, and, if you split the difference between "over" and "under" along the length of a side, 0.375" (3/8") away from being perfectly lined up on the foundation edge. If you decide to line up two sides and do all the fudging on the other two then double the numbers.
If this arithmetic is right (no guarantees), it's well within "fudging" distance.
The "difference of diagonals" technique is very sensitive, and exaggerates how bad things are.
(Also, make sure that the measurements aren't being thrown off by a corner that a little blunter in one direction vs the other, or some other localized problem.)
I would build to the foundation. It is not that hard.
One thing worth $pending a little time on is making sure no sheathed dimensions are a few inches over 4X'.
It $ux to buy plywood and have 90% of a sheet wasted.SamT
Now if I could just remember that I am a businessman with a hammer and not a craftsman with a business....."anonymous". . .segundo <!----><!---->
Without my construction master handy this is a bit of a guess, but you don't sound to be all that far out.
Your right-rear to front left measurement for those unequal length walls is 28' 2-1/4" and should be 28' 4-1/8". 1-7/8" off along the diagnal, which only moves the corner of the wall over (roughly) 1-1/4" to have a nice 90 degree back left corner.
Now, the left rear to right front diagnal should be 28' 5-1/4", so the difference there is 1-1/4". That only moves the corner of the wall over 7/8" to have a 90 degree corner.
Since the two front corners need to come over in the same direction lets split the difference between the front and back which means the right rear sticks out 5/8", the left rear is 5/8" in from the edge. The right front corner is now only moving 1/4" towards the inside of the slab. The left front corner is moving 5/8" further left and gaining 1/2".
On no side are you out more than 5/8". Once your sheathing is on it will flush up with the one corner, which won't be bad once siding is on.
What you have doesn't sound that bad. Am I missing something as to why you'll need 2x12 plates to fudge it?
Happy holidays!
Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.
Measuring the diagonals won't tell you anything if you haven't measured the perimeter first. If the opposing outside perimeter dimensions are equal and the diagonals differ by 4 1/4" you are out of square half that amount. The diagonal for 20' x 20' should be 28' 3 3/8" plus a dight. You may be able to use a combination of hanging out and keeping in on two or more walls, to correct the problem. If you are using sheathing under the siding, you can hold the shoe plate in, the thickness of the sheathing. You could also get by with allowing the shoe to hang over the edge. An anchor bolted 2x6 could hang out 1" maybe 1 1/4" if it was just for a short distance.
Everything will depend on just where the slab is out. Could be that you just have to hang out from 1" to 0" on one wall and 1/4" in, to 1/2" out, on the other. I had one that was so bad, I had to cut triangular slivers off three walls. I called a concrete cutting outfit. They zipped it off with a diamond wet saw. Build it square, straight, plumb and level and it will go together like it should, especially the roof.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
An engineer and I spend the best part of the day trying to figure this, assuming the dimension was right. There just wasnt enough information, then later he posted all the dimesnion. All I can say, the foundation was done by a hatch that does not know what he was doing. Proberly no batter boards, no string lines. Yes it diffucult but just time consumion.
So this evening my wife and I had this conversation:
"How is your bill of materials coming?"
"Haven't gotten to work on it. But I've gotten a lot of really great advice and perspective from the Fine Homebuilding forum about how to build on a slab that's not square."
"What do you mean it's not square?"
"Umm, well, it's not."
"How long have you known that?"
"Umm, since last week."
"You never tell me anything."
"ummm."
etc.
And I've gotta add, it may be out of square, but the kids love riding their bikes on it anyway.
Anyway, thank you all!
Stuart
Heck, in the long run they (the kids)are whats important anyway!!
Good luck with the project.
Now you've got REAL problems!
People never lie so much as before an election, during a war, or after a hunt. --Otto von Bismarck