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Need to put bathroom addition near mature oak tree, don’t want to lose tree. In lieu of cutting through roots to put typical block foundation (with crawl space), is there any way we can do it post-and-beam style, and be able to insulate plumbing under slab, as well as resist heaving of whole structure (resulting in breakage of pipes?) in the winter?
Or is it bye-bye tree?
Kate
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Not knowing the dimensions involved, but here a possibility: Have concrete piers on the end away from the tree and about 2/3 of addition's dimension towards the tree. Place steel beams between the piers. Then cantilever the floor over the beam nearest the tree. It would allow you to place the addition much closer to the tree without disturbing the subsurface near the tree. Obviously it must be engineered for you particular site.
You can run piping under the slab, in the slab, in the walls, or in the attic. In the slab is probably riskiest if you think the slab might crack badly. But you shouldn't be installing a slab that will likely crack. It either should be strong enough to resist the forces on it (more concrete and reinforcing steel) or those forces should be minimized. Such as cutting out tree roots. Or eliminating frost heaves by eliminating water, freezing temperatures and/or fine-grained soils.
Going with a below-grade rated insulation around the pipes would give buried pipe a little more leeway for movement. But it doesn't eliminate concerns about freezing the pipe. Insulation only buys you a little more time. If the ground around the pipe is frozen, the pipe will freeze the first time you aren't using it for a length of time. -David
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Need to put bathroom addition near mature oak tree, don't want to lose tree. In lieu of cutting through roots to put typical block foundation (with crawl space), is there any way we can do it post-and-beam style, and be able to insulate plumbing under slab, as well as resist heaving of whole structure (resulting in breakage of pipes?) in the winter?
Or is it bye-bye tree?
Kate