Just after the Labour Day weekend holiday Eric's team began setting up the forms that would hold the concrete in place around the reinforcing rods . Firstly Kurt examined the plans to determine where the driveway would end up . Now that the basement footings were in place he first calculated how high the ground floor surface would be . Then he took off 21 inches for the final height of the garage screed . This would give three steps down from the kitchen to the garage . From this he knew the height of the driveway at the garage . He then set up a string line from here heading to the driveway stub . This was to be the ground height across the building and determined where the basement concrete walls could step down . By code here the walls must either be full height so they are supported by the floor joists or can be a maximum of five feet to support a maximum of four feet of soil . Any more soil and the wall could bow out where the concrete attaches to the wooden section . The n...