Got a lead today on another home. I have yet to price a home to date on a crawl space so I am looking for tips or idea’s.
I usually do poured full foundations on all my homes. My first home build was done on superior walls. Not a big fan of the joints myself.But seeing how I would want to insulate the foundation it might make sense to use them here. They come in 4′ height and preinsulated . Any thoughts on that idea? An issue that they would raise is they don’t like the slab poured before backfill and no backfill till home is set. I was thinking of using turnbuckes to keep the walls from spreading when I pour 4″ of concrete.
Second I was thinking of insulating the ground and pouring concrete slab under home with plastic to help keep moisture at bay . Any thoughts there?
First thing I will do in my next meeting with her is try to talk her into full foundation but I need to be ready with ideas if she sticks to her guns.
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Greetings All,
This post, in response to your question, will bump the thread through the 'recent discussion' listing again which will increase it's viewing.
Perhaps it will catch someone's attention that can help you with advice.
Cheers
every court needs a jester
I guess I'm old fashioned. I don't believe in Superior Walls. The local dealer here even folded after a year or so. If you do poured wall stick with it on the crawl. Or around here, block is still big for crawl foundations. On crawls we typically do 4 courses block with spray foam insulation (your frost line may be different). On basements we do poured wall with spray foam insulation.
John
J.R. Lazaro Builders, Inc.
Indianapolis, In.
Ty, yes I am not a great fan of the walls myself. Looking back I actually used them on first two projects. I don't like the finished look of seams.
Do you usually pour slabs in the crawl space? Before house is up of course,lol.
No, our crawls are 4" pea gravel with vapor barrier over gravel. Slab is a nice idea for future work. Leave a creeper in there and roll around.John
J.R. Lazaro Builders, Inc.
Indianapolis, In.
Here are my thoughts, if she wants to stay with a crawl space:
1) A concrete slab in a crawl can be a nice thing, but not very cost effective - especially 4". Let's say it's a 2 story 2000 sq ft house. So the 4" concrete slab might be an extra $4000, and for what? BTW - I have a slab in part of my crawl, but it's a walk in with a 6; high door.
2) Although I have never built with Superior Walls, a good friend of mine sells them and therefore I have had a number of conversations about them with someone who knows quite a bit about them. He readily admits that he sells very few crawl space foundations because they are too costly for that application. And then you have to make the exterior of the foundation walls look acceptable.
I too always wondered about the seams on the Superior Walls systems - and when I ask my buddy, he just puts on his salesmen hat and talks about the 50 year polyurethane (or whatever it is).
Generally speaking though, if you start throwing in unnecessary expenses, you will get underbid on the project. BTW - what is the topology of the lot?