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Wanted to get thoughts on building a house foundation using 10″ concrete blocks laid up dry, then filling cores with concrete. I’ve heard of it done from a couple of people over the years and wondered about the wisdom of such a method. Thanks.
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blue.. works great.. there is also a method where they parge on a fiber reinforced finish that binds the blocks together..
of course the strength will be superior and the water resistance superior with the filled blocks..
the downside is you have to get your starter course dead level and square and it's hard to keep them plumb, level and square without the mortar joints...
*Rebar, don't forget the rebar. I filled my existing block foundation due to cracks and bowed in walls. The architect I used spaced #4 rebar vertically every 2 feet. Also he specified a grout mix as it has smaller aggregate to flow into all the holes. My contractor that laid the block left the head joints on the outside open to accept the parging (required by code in my city on the exterior of block foundations) All the water in the mix (used a concrete pump) flowed out of the head joints. I don't know what this does to the strength of the mix, plus if it can make a mess.Another thing that I don't like about what you propose is that there is no lateral reinforcement. I think I would chip a channel down a row of blocks every 4 or so courses to give a grid of rebar (goes with the vertical rebar every 2 feet).Why not look into one of the insulated foam systems. It's the same thing you are talking about with provisions for rebar, added insulation and a whole lot lighter. If I had my foundation to do over again, I think I would use one of these systems.
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Wanted to get thoughts on building a house foundation using 10" concrete blocks laid up dry, then filling cores with concrete. I've heard of it done from a couple of people over the years and wondered about the wisdom of such a method. Thanks.