We are building a modular L shaped ranch of approx 1900 sq”. Our builder raves about using a precast foundation (from Superior Wall) vs a conventional poured foundation. Looking for all comments to help decide which way to go. The site location is not an issue for either kind.
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Are you looking to make the basement a living space or what?
eventually I was hoping to finish it in some fashion as the foundation would be about 3 to 4 ft exposed with a six ft dble door as a walkout
Compare the cost vs. a poured or ICF foundation. You don't indicate where you are, but I believe the walls are shipped from PA - what's the cost for that?
I watched a local house go up with Superior Walls and wasn't at all impressed with how well they fit together and the amount of caulking required to seal them - but it was a complicated foundation with many different angles.
Solar & Super-Insulated Healthy Homes
Edited 2/16/2008 5:35 pm ET by Riversong
It would be in Delaware County New York. Another excavating contractor said that the cost would be approx. the same . But I'm concerned with the long term how will it stand up over the years vs poured?
I've never used Superior walls but a good friend of mine is a salesmen for SW and believe you me I've heard the spiel - again and again :-) One thing about a true salesmen is that he is always doing his job. :-)
The reason I asked about finishing the basement is that that is part of the SW edge. Since, as John described above, the thing is already mostly framed and insulated the finishing is more economical and therefore you are recouping some (most?) of the additional cost over a poured basement.
For what it's worth I've never heard of any problems with them - and we have discussed them a number of times here at BT over the past 10 years or so.
Once you hook up with a salesmen, they have some pretty good literature and installation instructions (a booklet) so the process will become clearer to you.
Bob,
We've built a few houses using SW and so far I've been pleased with the results.
As with any foundation you might encounter some defects but with SW they were minor and easily dealt with.
Vince Carbone
Edited 2/17/2008 9:03 pm ET by VinceCarbone
You should try doing a search here on the site, there has been much discussion of and on in the past.
There are also other companies doing similiar prodcucts.
I have seenthem, never used one myself. Looks like the real deal.
In the meanwhile I will try to get Gene Davis on the line here. I believe that he has some experience with them.
Eric
[email protected]
Gene, your help here?[email protected]
Bob:
I've never used the precast walls, but I did try to get a quote from Superior Walls for a project not long ago, and all I got was excuses. I guess the salesman thought he wouldn't be competitive with block walls, even though I was willing to pay a little more for the time savings. Maybe you should ask for a rough estimate first to see how far you get before committing to that direction.
John
Used Superior Walls on three projects.
If the basement is even going to be partially finished, it is well worth it.
Of the three, the worst the precast cost above a poured wall was just less then 10% additional foundation cost.
Also, the upgrade to 9' tall walls was a bargin compared to the additional height on poured walls.
I don't primarily build full houses, but when I do, I push for the Superior wall system.
Terry
I recently completed my home and I used Superior Walls for the basement and garage stem walls. There is a plant located less that 5 miles from my building site, so planning and delivery were no problem. I found the salesman to be very helpful and knowledgable about the product. I supplied a complete set of plans and received working drawings from Superior Walls in 10 days. There was one discrepancy in the drawing, which was rectified to my satisfaction within 48 hrs. The walls were ordered and were ready for delivery in six weeks as promised. The advantages from my view point, in no particular order were:
1. Time savings on site. I was using vacation time to frame and dry in the house. I did not want any delays due to weather, etc. The basement walls were delivered to the site on Monday afternoon. The crew arrived promptly at 8:00 AM on Tuesday morning and had the basement walls set by 4:30 PM. They returned on Wednesday morning, set the stem walls for the garage, tied them into the basement and cleaned up the job site by noon.
2. The top beam of the walls is pre-drilled for the sill plates. I clamped the sills in place and walked the basement with a drill, drilling up from the bottom, using galvanized carriage bolts to secure the sill plates.
3. Incredible accuracy. I checked the walls for square, level and plumb after the crew departed. There was a 3/16" discrepancy in square measurements over a distance of 52 feet. My laser level could not detect any out of level or plumb.
4. This is the one possible con. The cost of the basement was approx. 15% higher than quotes received for block basements. The one estimate I received for a poured foundation came in around 3% cheaper. If the basement is ever going to be finished as living space, the pre-drilled studs for electrical wiring, the insulation (R12.5 in my case) and metal studs for drywall are already in place. This mitigates the price differential compared to block or poured foundations.
5. The 5000 psi mix used for the walls required no further waterproofing. The local building inspector accepted the walls as supplied and even suggested that further measures would be an unnecessary expense. The house was dried in for approx. one year while interior work was completed. We are located in South Jersey and I have not had any water intrusion at all, even with no gutters installed. Superior Walls did require a perimeter drain and sump pit to meet their warranty requirements, I have checked the sump pit after every significant storm and it is as dry as the day it was installed.
6. No footing required. This saved labor in building forms, setting re-bar, setting up delivery of concrete, etc.
7. I bought the pre-cast stair unit for exterior access. It is sized to fit Bilco and similar doors. This was well worth the added expense, they are very easy to keep clean and are very comfortable to walk.
Thank you for the detailed response you gave to my question . I'm beginning to get a more comfortable feeling about using the system . I do intend to finish the basement and the time and savings that you pointed out should probably zero out any costs differences between the precast vs poured. Thank you again for your time in answering my question
We've used Superior Walls on one new home project. I liked them. You get a quality job (from what I've seen) and you pay for it.
They will prep and set very quickly. Less time lost to muddy conditions, curing time, sub-freezing conditions, etc.
The insulation is good, especially since we opted for the XI panels and got R12.5 (2.5" of XPS).
We went ahead and waterproofed the wall with asphalt. Maybe completely unnecessary, I don't know.
A nice benefit was our client opted to finish about 600 SF of the basement not originally planned. All we had to do was install electric in the walls and then continue with GWB. No framing necessary (well, very little blocking for GWB) for interior finish so the change order for the additional SF was much smaller for them.
I would use them again.
Jon Blakemore
RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA
One other thing I forgot to mention, which may or may not be a big thing.
Basement walls in our area are typically insulated with a fiberglass blanket rolls covered in perforated vinyl. When we are finishing a basement, our rough wall thickness is typically 7", measured from the concrete face.
With Superior walls, the studs are cast in the foundation, so the rough thickness is effectively 0". This may or may not be a big deal, but sometimes that extra 7" can make a difference (Seeyou will be around soon to comment on that last sentence). On the basement we recently did, we saved 80 SF. That may not be much, but if you had to choose between having a basement that was 1900 SF or 1820 SF, which would be better?
Jon Blakemore
RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA