These are gaining a toe-hold in my area. The latest went in on a site two lots up from mine. Million dollar house expected to sit atop. Does anyone wish to weigh in on the pros and cons? The manufacturer of the ones I am seeing is Superior Walls. What I am wondering is this: if code requires that my 8″ formed-and-poured walls sit on footings, then why do these just go on a bed of gravel (and they are a lot less than 8″ thick)?
Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story
Learn how to plan, fabricate, and install a chute to conveniently send your dirty clothes from an upstairs bathroom or hallway to your laundry room below.
Featured Video
Builder’s Advocate: An Interview With ViewrailHighlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Replies
This has been discussed a bunch of times. You might try searching the archives on "precast" or "superior walls" and see what turns up.
My friend has a baby. I'm recording all the noises he makes so later I can ask him what he meant.
To Micro,
Try a google search on them and check out their website. That will give you all the information you want. Including code compliance.
(p.s. my house is built on a superior wall.)
pro- dry and warm, installed in the middle of December in illinois climate.
con- they flex a little when backfilled. Additional bracing is required to support the wall.
Mr. M-
I recently looked into the Superior Wall system for a project here in NJ. Don't ask me how they can sit on a bed of stone, but they can per the code complance reports.
Anyway, I got a price from the rep, and it worked out to about $7/SF of wall area. That's only about $.50 more than a block foundation here, but it's well worth it for a number of reasons:
1. R rating is much higher than a standard CMU or concrete system
2. The walls are ready for wiring and drywall
3. The new codes are going to require insulation on the inside of basement walls, so the costs for a CMU basement are going to increase
4. The entire foundation can be set in less than a day, ready for framing and basement slab- try doing that with a CMU or concrete foundation. As we all know, time = money.
Cons? I haven't been able to find any, with the possible exception of customers being wary of them becasue they don't understand the system. But that was the case with TJI's, PEX and a bunch of other things in the past too. They'll get over it.
Bob