The foundation corners were laid out last Sunday. The stakes were set at 18' x 12' but they weren't square. I had a friend come over and help me square the foundation lines. This is the single most important step. Over a 18' x 12' area we were able to get the diagonal measureme
nts within 1/4 inch. Pretty impressive adjustment because one could go all day in tweaking the stakes 1/8 of an inch and never quite get it right.
My friend got it on the second adjustment. It really takes two people to square the foundation corners be
cause it involves constant measurement. We adjusted two stakes on the same line (The two red corners on the right were moved down). We moved the first stake, and then when we moved the second, I would measure it so we were moving its outer corners to exactly 12' and 18'. Then we measured the diagonals. We repeated this adjustment just one more time. The red line shows the slightly trapezoid shape from the initial stake layout. It was two minor adjustments of 6" that made it square. When you're looking at this from the ground and you have it perfectly measured out you can't see the slight non-square shape. It's impossible. And it would take too long to square it on your own. It can be done, but two people make it much more accur
ate and faster. The green line shows a squared foundation line. A perfectly square foundation means one will have square walls and a square roof.
