Foundation / Discussions

I am in the early stages of planning a new home build. Am I correct in assuming that slab on grade constuction with passive floor heating would rule out the use of a heat pump. Also I would question your depiction of crawl spaces as damp and moldy. In a previous house I built with ICF walls the crawlspace was warm and ...

...foundation is not as strong as a poured concrete foundation, so while many of them exist, including entire homes made from them, I imagine you would have a very difficult time getting a permit to build one new. You could of course ‘physically’ do it and it works (evidenced by the fact that so many exist a century or mo...

...foundation wall be enough? The porch is covered and has skirting so the rigid board is somewhat protected from the elements.  Any help/advice is appreciated Adding exterior foundation insulation is an excellent idea. It’s great to have on the inside of basements, but exterior insulation is even better as you keep the t...

...foundation which is 42" to 48" below grade; walls 30-32" above grade which slopes down and away from foundation/wall intersect.  Basement walls parged and painted with mold resistant paint; floor painted. Auto dehumidifier always on 24/7 year after year; fan oscillating at rear of basement; try to keep humidity around ...

...foundations are out of our competence range which is why on the home we're currently building on poor expansive clay soils in Wakefield, QC, we entrusted Legalett to supply a pre-engineered insulated slab form kit - (see details here)  

...foundation (PWF) would be an alternative to a concrete foundation, and a poor one at that. The end result of mixing wood and moisture will always be rot. So building a house on wood buried in the ground is not something we have or ever would recommend.  And a slab on grade is an alternative to a basement, PWF or concre...

...foundation walls in the basement.  We’ve got a minor crack in the grout, and we were advised to fill the block with concrete for strength, in addition to repairing the grout.   Thanks in advance  Hi Nina,  That's a structural question that we would be unable to answer unfortately, since a crack in a block foundation ma...

...Foundations Better - which is Better for Cost and Durability? Can a basement be a good option for your home? The downside of a slab is that all your plumbing is embedded in concrete so it’s not conducive to making kitchen or bathroom modifications in the future. But if you build it properly and anticipate your future n...

...foundation If you say you saw a foundation with parging flaking off in two years, that sounds like it wasn’t done well and I would hope that would fall under a warranty if it really was a reputable company. My basement foundation has exterior rigid EPS foam panels, and to finish it I attached a diamond lath to the foam...

...foundation had way too much sand in the mix I remember hearing, and so it was always crumbling. Insulating that and letting it freeze and thaw could have been a very big problem.  Is your foundation poured concrete, cinderblocks or stone? And what condition is it in? When the contractor gave you that advice, was it bas...

...foundation walls if that is a problem you experience.  Blocks are very porous so they will absorb ground moisture and try to dry to the inside, but are you directing stormwater away from the foundation? That may held reduce the amount as well if you don’t already have it graded away from the house.  If you don’t end up...

...foundation. Is there any way to stop this advantage for ICF construction from literally flowing away?    If you are looking to eliminate thermal bridging between the footing and foundation wall (as we all should), the best way to build a basement that we would suggest is to build a fully insulated raft slab first, then...

...foundation was originally on concrete blocks so we had it lifted and put on screw piles. When it was lifted the new crawl space was sheeted with plywood and poly was layed on the dirt floor. The contractor's then placed pink insulation on top of the poly. We have a lot of moisture down there as the temperatures reach -...

...foundation and how might I go about it?  Yes, you can convert a crawl space into a slab on grade foundation, it just isn’t a particularly cheap process. You would need to jack the building up, and depending on the situation either remove the existing foundation or fill it in, then pour a slab on grade and rest the hous...

...foundation is formed and ready for concrete at the same time then you should be able to pour it all at once as well. Often times slabs are poured in two shots (which is more expensive), so if you are adding a minor complication like wanting to do interior and exterior pours at the same time I would specify with the des...

I have an illustration of a top view looking down but still working on a side view but not quite sure on what section and how much reinforcement I would need to hold the structure I want to build.  Can you help? Where are you building? And are you talking about the air heated raft slab form kit from Legalett? 

...foundations, screw piles or slab on grade, so it really depends on the model. Currently we don’t have enough supply to  meet demand, so wee are looking to expand so we can supply prefab kit houses all of Canada and the US. So I would suggest you Join Ecohome as a free member (we don't spam or trade our members addresse...

...foundation in my house built in central east Ontario in 1983. In 1999 I finished the basement, with tar paper against the cement wall, then studs and four inches of batt insulation and then a vapour barrier and drywall. Two years ago I noticed cracking on the exterior of some of the foundation blocks, where the interio...