After this perimeter wall has cured, a separate concrete floor, 4" thick, is poured inside it. After the floor has set, the garage walls are built upon and bolted to the foundation wall.

The attached garage was poured on grade. If you were to cut the house in half now to look at it, you would clearly see that the footer under the foundation was at three distinct levels.

The garage is normally a simple, lightweight, wood-frame structure with wood planks on the exterior that are also exposed on the interior. What I often found was that the foundation was cracked ...

Diagnosing this can be tricky, but once you’ve got a bead on it, sealing the foundation wall on the outside of the garage with an appropriate water-repelling caulk can often cure the leak for good.

The average foundation wall is usually only 8 inches thick (wide). When you calculate the total weight of a completed house plus everything in it, you’d be stunned by the total tonnage.

If you notice problems with your garage, you might have a foundation issue. From misaligned doors to uneven floors, learn how to know it’s time for repairs.

Q: I stopped by my home construction site to take photos the night before the foundation footer was going to be poured. I saw several white pipes inside the forms and wondered what they were for.