Custom Spec in Park Ridge, Columbia NE

After about four and a half months, we are almost complete on a "custom spec" home we are building in the Park Ridge subdivision of Northeast Columbia. Park Ridge is located at Hope Road off of Polo Road and this house is at 245 Polo Hill Road.

This two story house is 2,752 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 3 baths. Two bedrooms are down stairs and two are up. The finished room over the garage could be a 5th bedroom. The home features hardwoods in main living areas, tile in baths and laundry room, granite tops in the kitchen and baths, pot filler over stove, wood-stained cabinets, stainless steel appliances, gas log fireplace, custom tile shower and surround of jacuzzi tub in master bath, irrigation & sod on the front, side, and rear of the home, etc.

If you or someone you know would be interested in purchasing this home, contact Don Keever at 803-319-1818.

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In The Field

As Jon says, "we like to divide and conquer". But there are times when we will work side-by-side for the benefit of putting two sets of eyes on a project. For us, this usually happens at project proposal meetings, site location meetings, construction rough-in walk thrus, final walk thrus, etc. We feel this is a benefit of working with two licensed residential builders.

Last week we had the opportunity of investigating a lot for someone. This is often a great time to ask questions in preparation for breaking ground. Selecting a lot and envisioning your house on that lot can be a difficult task, but it's one that we like to participate in.

We are Jonathan (Jon) Foster and Salim (Slim) Khalil. We build in Lexington & Richland Counties. We are Master Plan Homes Inc.

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What is a Footing?

Many people that build a custom home find that the process is also an education. There are so many choices to make and things to consider that you end up learning a great deal.


One of the unseen components of a new home, and one of the most important, is the "footings" which are a part of the home's foundation. Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary defines a footing as:

"an enlargement at the lower end of a foundation wall, pier, or column to distribute the load."

The most typical footing is made of concrete supported on undisturbed natural soils or engineered fill. This concrete footing's purpose is to support the slab, crawl space foundation, or basement walls that sit on top of it.



Footings are usually dug out of the ground with an excavator. The International Residential Code for One- and Two-Family Dwellings specifies the minimum width and depth required based on the soil type and construction dwelling type.



Reinforcing bars (steel rods, also called rebar) are then placed inside the footing to reinforce the concrete.


Finally, concrete is poured into the excavated area.



Footings are so important in the construction of a new home, that both Richland and Lexington County require footing inspections before the concrete is poured to make sure that they are constructed properly.



At Master Plan Homes Inc., our footings exceed the minimum requirements for width and depth to ensure a solid foundation on which to build. If you have other questions relating to this post or about construction in general, contact us.

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