basement-vs-slab / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

Is an insulated slab on grade the best foundation choice? Or is a basement better? Traditionally, home construction often starts with a concrete basement foundation - But is that the best choice?  The first factors to consider when designing the foundation system for a home are lot size and soil conditions. When space ...

Insulating below slab-on-grade foundations Why insulate under a slab on grade foundation? For comfort, and to save money, that's why! In many areas Building Code has fallen behind common sense on what specification of insulation to use under a slab, It is common to install as little as R5 insulation below slab floors, ...

  Insulating a basement is a great idea if it wasn't insulated when built, as before we began insulating foundation walls and below slabs (see slab on grade), it was generally estimated that basement heat loss accounted for about 1/3 of the total heat loss of a house. It is likely that such an abysmal starting place ma...

Slab-On-Grade Construction - Technical Guide   Deciding to build your home with a slab-on-grade foundation instead of a conventional basement or raised crawlspace foundation can greatly reduce your environmental impact during construction, and has the potential to offer significant financial savings as well. By replaci...

There are many ways to build a slab-on-grade (or frost-protected shallow foundation), the following is a step-by-step walk though of a thickened-edge slab floor we built. XPS or EPS rigid foam is typically used under concrete slab floors, in this case we used mineral fiber insulation. Note: our mineral wool was provide...

A frost protected shallow foundation (FPSF) is an interesting and well-proven alternative to deeper, more-costly foundations in cold regions with seasonal ground freezing and the potential for frost heave - and the simplest way to build a solid and dependable foundation is to use frost protected shallow foundation (FPS...

The most common practices currently employed for finishing basement interiors as living space rarely account for the impacts that come with the added moisture load below grade, or the amount of heat that will be lost to the ground. Existing basements are typically under-insulated or not insulated at all, and if they ar...

Slab on Grade foundation, detail design; the basics There are many different soil conditions and corresponding slab designs. This page is about how to build a thickened edge concrete slab on grade FPSF footing on soil with a high water table to prevent frost heave, by first installing drainage below the slab.  Related ...

There is some debate in performance building circles, particularly in the Passive House community as to whether or not you can add enough insulation below a concrete floor to eliminate the need for heating it. We have been on the fence about this and leaned to both sides at different times, but it seems we have now fa...

Radiant heating systems are very common in concrete floors now because they provide a very balanced and comfortable distribution of heat. Those systems are most commonly hydronic, meaning heated liquid is pumped through tubing in the concrete which then radiates that heat into the house. View the slab on grade foam for...

What is the difference between a slab on grade and a crawl space? A slab on grade, or ‘frost protected shallow foundation’ is exactly that, a slab of concrete on the ground. There’s more to it of course, but let’s start with a ‘win’ in the comprehension department shall we?  A slab on grade rests directly on the groun...