Building on Sandy Soil

[CurlyQue]

I'm looking at a piece of property for a building site in Western Wisconsin.

The soil survey maps defines it as 'tarr sand'

" The Tarr series consists of very deep, excessively drained soils formed in siliceous sandy pedisediment over siliceous sandy residuum from sandstone on stream terraces, hills, and pediments. 90% quartz. Permeability is rapid."

Plans are for a full basement built with ICFs. I'm a little concerned about the stability of this type of this sandy material for what I have in mind.

Any help would be appreciated.

Curly

[jloomis]

Hi Curly, I built a house about 12 years ago for a fellow here in Northern Calif. on a "Sand Dune" It is a large 2 story, with 3 car garage. I do have pictures of the house, and have been there recently. The house seems to be fine.

The engineer architect designed a footing that was quite large and wide. It had additional rebar in the footing and more than a regular 2 story design. I actually had to build 2 forms for the concrete footing construction. One to keep the sand from filling the footing made out of inert material to be left in the pour.

As for a basement, there was none, and I suspect you would not have any problem with moisture since you will have good drainage being "sandy"

I believe the "Large Footprint" of the footing and the steel in the engineering of the footing made for a stable construction.

[CurlyQue]

Thanks. I'll keep what you said in mind when I speak to a contractor.

Curly

[jloomis]

As for the garage I would make sure that the walls were adequately water proofed, and there are many applications that will solve this. Moisture will "wick" in.......regardless of drainage, and like a sponge will absorb moisture and keep it there unless driven out by heat. So, a good water vapor barrier on the outside would be in line. jloomis

[tbasc]

Was the structure designed by an engineer? Have you considered retaining an engineer to review the foundation? T

[CurlyQue]

No.

Whatever it takes. I'm not looking to cut corners.

Curly

[TonyG]

Ya know they make engineers for this stuff. T

[Jonathan Wye]

Your safest bet would be to look around for a local civil engineer who will be familiar with the soils in your area. He or she can easily design/specify a footing and wall which will adequately support your structure, and take all the guesswork off your shoulders, a cheap investment with good return.

Good luck,

Jonathan

[Anthony]