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I am building a new house. Architect recommends 10″ thick poured walls (9′ tall), builder A recommends 8″ thick poured walls (9′ tall) and builder I recommends 8″ block 12 courses high(of course won’t be 9′). House will be in Columbus, Ohio. any suggestions as to who is correct? footing to be 8″ deep.
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I like 8" poured 9' tall
*musta been a typo. that footer better be more deep than 8" in Columbus. And definitely go with a taller wall. The thickness is engineering I know nothing about. I do know that how it's constructed is important.....right down the the footer drain. It's an important detail often forgotten. Best of luck on your project.
*Definately go with an ICF. Check out http://www.icfweb.comEco Block makes an adjustable ICF so check them out at http://www.eco-block.comGo with the thicker wall. The price difference will be so little, even if you don't need it.
*here in RI it would either be 10 inch with a reinforced footing (10x20) or a 12 inch wall with no footing..at 9' there would also be verticals at 4 ft. OC & 2 horizontals in the wall...either of the poured walls will be superior to the block.. and the 9 ft. is a great cost effective extra....
*Go with the 8" poured concrete wall but make sure you have proper re-bar (4 bars mim.check with an eng.) We pour alot of 8'-11" high walls in Ottawa and they are almost always 8" unless brick veneer is called for as the wall finish. Just watch your back-fill, DO NOT backfill to soon or without proper bracing, I've seen to many new pours destroyed by backfilling to early or backfilling with no bracing in place. If your wall const. allows for an 8" wall there is really no reason to spend the extra money for the 10" wall, and stay away from block. One more thing, give the foundation work out to the outfit with the best reputation for great work, your framers will thank-you Good Luck
*b WBA At Your ServiceConcrete all the way. Here's a good one. A builder is doing a custom home designed by a local architect very close to where I live. I like to watch the progress and noticed that the concrete sub poured 8' walls and left rebar sticking out of the top of the 12" thick wallsin most areas. A blocklayer came in afterwards and laid 2 or 3 courses on top of most of the walls and then put the anchor bolts on the wrong side of the block. When I ran into the architect (he is a friend of mine) I asked him what was up with the different products for the foundation. He said he thinks that the builder can get the extra high foundation walls done cheaper by finishing them with block rather than pay a premium for concrete. This is a $ 1M houseof 7000 to 8000 sqft. Does this offend anyone else's common sense ?
*I thought 8" walls were only good to 7' of unsupported fill. Wouldn't a 9' wall need 10"?Jerry
*Go with the architect. At least he has had some training in engineering mechanics. I just built a filled 12" block wall 9' tall with #5 rebar spaced 16" OC. Footer was 2' wide and 1' deep. No problems. I did not consider a poured wall which leads to another question. Has anyone compared the total costs of a filled block wall to a poured concrete wall?
*I just built a filled 12" block wall 9' tall with #5 rebar spaced 16" OC. Footer was 2' wide and 1' deep. I lve in SC. I did not consider a poured wall. Has anyone compared the total costs of a filled block wall to a poured concrete wall?
*I do that all the time Andy. Filling my block walls costs about the same as poured and the walls are square and level- strength nearly the same
*I agree with Jerry & Andy, go with what the Architect spec's out. After all it is your foundation, I believe it never hurts to build on the side of caution, and spend a little more on something as important as your foundation.
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I am building a new house. Architect recommends 10" thick poured walls (9' tall), builder A recommends 8" thick poured walls (9' tall) and builder I recommends 8" block 12 courses high(of course won't be 9'). House will be in Columbus, Ohio. any suggestions as to who is correct? footing to be 8" deep.