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Hi Guys and Gals,
Just curious…anyone ever use this system? Walls are preformed and poured at a manufacturing site. Concrete is rated for 5,000 PSI and is supposedly therefore waterproof. Manufacturer claims no parging, tarring, or membrane treatmentments necessary. Walls lowered into position by crane and bolted together in sections…caulking in joints to seal out water. They are formed with wood furring strips attached on interior side for finishing basements. Dow blue-board ridged insulation is also part of wall mix.
Supposedly 35,000 units have been built on top of these foundations without a failure.
Never been done in my area. Although there is a firm supposedly in my region that claims to do these walls…which is who my friend intends to use for this job. This friend of mine wants this done for his new home he is going to build. Normally, we use concrete block for 98% of all basement foundations here…the rest are reinforced poured concrete walls. We don’t use the treated wall stud basements around here either, though that does interest me…but I doubt I would build a basement that way.
Anyhoo, anybody use this prefabbed system? Care to share any experiences, pros & cons?
And cost comparisions? Example, for block foundations, after footer is poured, block cost for 8X16 is $1.15 Labor cost is another $1.25 plus cost of mortar….just to give you an idea. Rebar is cheap…few bucks per #4 rod…but concrete is around $68 to $75 per yard with a 3 yard minimum…some places now a 5 yard minimum. This is in Pittsburgh, Pa region.
Thanks
Davo
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Davo,
I haven't used one yet but I'm going to.We'll be doing an addition this spring with one.There have been some done around here and I don't see any problem with them.
The addition is 20'x30' three walls and the cost without excavating is just about four grand.That doesn't include a slab.
Vince
*Try searching the archives. This has been brought up several times.
*Hi,My father uses the system on some of the homes he builds in upstate New York. Don't have the cost per foot on the top of my head. He's never done block foundations. Formed his own for 50 years, but now loves the pre-fabricated concrete wall system.It sounds like a strange setup - thin walls with studs that sit on a compacted gravel footing. One would think it wouldn't work well, but it does. To put it in perspective - wood foundations have been built on gravel footings forever. These folks have taken the same concept and replaced a pre-fabricated wood stud foundation panel with a pre-fabricated concrete foundation panel.Big advantage is speed. You do the site work and prep. The foundation arrives on-site with a crane, crew and supervisor. The foundation is complete and ready for the floor slab to be poured about five hours later. No curing times involved. Dad has gone from stick framing to modulars, so this means with careful planning he can have the house arrive just after the foundation is in, set the boxes do the rest of the umbilicals and the house is complete and ready for the CO in weeks instead of months.Something to think about.ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!Mike O'HandleyBuilding Science ModeratorJLC Online (Okay Andy?)
*Hi Vince, Thanks for the response. I take it then the wall is 80 lin ft? (20 + 30 + 30) If so, and at $4000, that would mean the cost is approx. $50 per lin. ft. Does this price include installation, or will you be doing the installation and they supply you with a tech rep to supervise. Also, is cost of crane included or is this extra too? How high will these walls be...4ft...8ft?I knew slabs weren't included ( would have been nice if it was though, huh?) because slabs are a seperate element when it comes to perimeter foundation (footer) work. I appreciate the info. Let us know how your project turns out.Now...Michael O, You sure you're not a salesman for this sysytem? I ask this because you almost virtually repeated the sales literature that I've read on the subject matter. Two (2) things the literature didn't mention, nor did you...was : 1.) What is overall wall thickness? 2.)How many stories can this foundation support?Literature I saw mentioned that outside (exterior) face had a wall thickness of 1-3/4 inches. It mentions rebar placement in slab but not the OC spacing dimension. It also said that wall face is reinforced with monolithically poured vertical concrete studs...but did not mention their thickness nor spacings either...least I couldn't find them...they may have been listed somewhere.Literature mentioned that they have been very successful for single story dwellings, but again, no mention if you could build more than one story on them.Just curious...any other info you could add would be most helpful. If not, that's OK too. I'm not trying to "flame" you Mike, so please don't get wrong idea. Thanks for posting.Davo
*Davo,The walls are 20x30x20 70 lin ft crane and install included.Walls are 8'4" I think I'll have to check,but you end up with 8' ceiling hight when slab is done.Vince
*davo I cant believe you've never heard of these, here in central pa. they are by far the dominant foundation system. Advanced Concrete is the supplier is that who your friend is using ?
*Nope,I'm not a salesman for them. I just repeated to you what my father told me about the system. In fact, though they actually are a sponsor of my forum on the JLC site, until this morning I'd never even visited their site. Did so a few minutes ago. Saw the same info you did. Top and bottom bond beam are reinforced with #3 rebar as are the studs. They don't give stud spacing. My father builds almost exclusively two-story modular homes, so my guess is they are more than adequate since these are supposed to be a stronger wall system than conventional block.ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!Mike O'HandleyBuilding Science Moderator, JLCOnline
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Hi Guys and Gals,
Just curious...anyone ever use this system? Walls are preformed and poured at a manufacturing site. Concrete is rated for 5,000 PSI and is supposedly therefore waterproof. Manufacturer claims no parging, tarring, or membrane treatmentments necessary. Walls lowered into position by crane and bolted together in sections...caulking in joints to seal out water. They are formed with wood furring strips attached on interior side for finishing basements. Dow blue-board ridged insulation is also part of wall mix.
Supposedly 35,000 units have been built on top of these foundations without a failure.
Never been done in my area. Although there is a firm supposedly in my region that claims to do these walls...which is who my friend intends to use for this job. This friend of mine wants this done for his new home he is going to build. Normally, we use concrete block for 98% of all basement foundations here...the rest are reinforced poured concrete walls. We don't use the treated wall stud basements around here either, though that does interest me...but I doubt I would build a basement that way.
Anyhoo, anybody use this prefabbed system? Care to share any experiences, pros & cons?
And cost comparisions? Example, for block foundations, after footer is poured, block cost for 8X16 is $1.15 Labor cost is another $1.25 plus cost of mortar....just to give you an idea. Rebar is cheap...few bucks per #4 rod...but concrete is around $68 to $75 per yard with a 3 yard minimum...some places now a 5 yard minimum. This is in Pittsburgh, Pa region.
Thanks
Davo