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jcluddite,
I would be annoyed about a difference of 1/4", and would be calling them back about anything over 1/2". Four inches! Something must have gone terribly wrong. I've never heard of anything that bad.
The problem with taking up the difference in your knee walls is what to do with your cladding, which needs to start level.
It is critically important on any job site to ensure that the crew goes out for beer AFTER the job, never BEFORE!! :-D
I agree with Malcolm here. The foundation needs to be reasonably square and level so the the framing above will work out. A little deviation (1/4-1/2” or so as Malcolm said) is pretty typical, and isn’t likely to result in any visible error once everything goes together. 4” is crazy town stuff. You may be able to drill in pins and pour some additional on top of what you have to “fix” things, but that will leave a cold joint which is certainly not ideal.
BTW, keep in mind that in the commercial world, concrete goes in well enough that the iron workers can get their bolt holes to align with just a little prying. There is no reason the residential guys can’t do the same. I’ve always found that it pays to spend a bit of time to get the form dialed in before pouring too.
Bill
Look online and you'll typically see the following:
Within 1/4" of level over 10', and no more than 1/2" variance total.
However, as I recall from my engineering days (2 decades back) we used to specify half that amount. No more than 1/8" over 10' and no more than 1/4" overall.
jcluddite,
Thank God you checked it before starting to frame!
Seems like the real question is there a viable repairable option or must it be demolished?
Should they excepted a repair patch without new drawing carrying an engineer’s stamp?
Seems like the best repair would lift the building 6 inches or so above the current high point?
Walta
How did you determine the height? I assume you mean elevation--i.e., how level the top of the walls are, and not the distance from the footing to the top of wall. Vermont isn't seismically active; I think they should cut the walls down and pour a new top, at least 4" high, with reinforcing to connect it to the wall below.
I'm hoping the question was deleted because it tuned out out to be better than he thought.
I wish posters would leave the question up though and just post a comment like "Turns out my level was just broken! Yay!" or some such, so that the Q+A thread remains for future readers to reference. When the question gets deleted, it gets more difficult to use the archives as a resource for others.
Bill