Basement Construction Question

I'm nearing the point of specifying the type of basement construction that I want to use in a 36x70 home that we hope to build sometime around August. The area where the home is to be built is almost devoid of poured basements due to the fact that not too many builders in the area have the forms or experience in working with poured basements. That said I am still considering Poured walls as an option. Another option I am considering is the use of pre-cast and pre-cured Panels brought to the site on truck and lifted into place by crane. I have heard that there are two types of these. One that uses the typical concrete outside and the other that is a wood form. Last is to go with the Cement Block and work to waterproof it as best I can by preparation of the area around the home to route water away from the foundation and then coat the exterior of the blocks very well.

Being on disability I do have a cost concern to think about but I'd much rather pay up front to get quality than to have to face very expensive work several years after the job has been completed.

Any comments on Basement construction techniques, poured vs. cement block and thoughts about the newer technology of panels formed off site and trucked to the site (either wood or a masonry product).

Reply to
Gary KW4Z
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Instead of concrete forms, which are usually steel shutters and resuable. The otherway to get a poured concrete basement is to use ICF, Insulated Concrete Forms.

In a nutshell these are polystyrene blocks which are hollow in the middle. These blocks are stacked to form a hollow wall. Steel reinforcement bars are placed in side the wall. Finally concrete is poured in. The polystyrene blocks are never removed and form part of your wall and act as insulation.

See Web site

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Best, Mike.

Reply to
hobbes

I would stay away from all forms of cement block...EVERY one I've ever seen has cracks in it eventually....that's not to say concrete won't crack...but I like solid walls better.

When I built my house last year, I was all set to use Superior wall, a pre-cast wall brought in on a truck. Ultimately we chose to build with ICF's, because the whole house is built with them. One thing that I found interesting was that MOST builders that aren't familiar with the product you choose are not always willing accept responsibility for the end product...that's why I did my house my self. Proceed carefully and you might want to talk with your builder to bring them on board as you work through the design building process...it's best to know up front if they will be there for the long haul.

Good luck!

Reply to
DAC

I have to second the ICF, Insulated Concrete Forms method, it works really well and the insulating value is great. My Dad did a modified version of this on his own to save money but it took a lot of man power and hours of work that could have been saved by just using the blocks.

Reply to
HotRdd

Consider using ICF's (insulating concrete forms) and you will have a well insulated basement, no plywood forms to set up, and a solid concrete wall.

Check out

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You may want to consider making a 9' basement also. That allows plenty of headroom under the piping.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

Several others have mentioned ICF's - great product IF there are enough experienced contractors in your area. We were planning on going that route, til I found that there are only two experienced contractors in our area, and the lack of competition made ICF's very pricey. We have decided on

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for our foundation/basement. pre-cast, pre-insulated wall system that uses their own trained crew to install, and is very cost effective.

Reply to
v8z

Regardless of the type of construction, you'll want to keep the water away. No type of material will keep it dry if there's water pressure against the outside.

-rev

Reply to
The Reverend Natural Light

We did a poured basement last year for a 28x56 house and attached 26x30 garage. The walls are 8" think. The basement, front porch stoop, and garage foundation wall were all done in one, single, monolithic pour. It's built like a tank, and I like it that way. If you use ICF's you'll have ugly Styrofoam visible on any portions of the basement that are above grade.

Reply to
J.A. Michel

Codes in my area require exposed foam to be covered. Most people use some type of stucco. There are synthetic stucco products that go directly on the ICF's. Poured foundations (non ICF) have the problem of not having insulation. Many ICF's have 5" of polystyrene--pretty hard to get that with conventional poured.

Reply to
marson

True. A poured basement such as mine will suffer a greater heat loss in the Winter than one done with ICF's I would also think that (as you already mentioned) the exposed foam would need to be covered somehow to protect it from damage. I added 1" extruded foam to the insides of my walls and insulated the rim joist to help it a little.

As a 3rd option, if the OP doesn't like ICF's or pre-cast walls, a guy could do a regular poured basement, and add foam to the outside of the walls after the forms are stripped, but before the basement is backfilled.

Reply to
J.A. Michel

If you have a long heating season Foam core that is filled with concrete is wise as is radiant floor heat with foam under the slab.

Reply to
ransley

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