concrete poured over asphalt ok for living area?

[effi]

can concrete be poured over existing asphalt and result be used as slab for house/living area?

any outgassing problems from the asphalt into the living area?

[HaHaHa]

Slab on grade living space requires that the slab have a perimeter and any other necessary footing, as well as a vapor barrier.

[e-mail]

[William Deans]

Greetings,

My house contains an addition which is a slab poured over asphalt. The asphalt eventually "biodegraded" and another slab had to be poured over the fist slab.

Hope this helps, William

[Roger Shoaf]

Sounds to me like this would be pennywise and pound foolish. asphalt is a mixture of tar,sand and gravel used in a thin layer as pavement to keep your car out of the mud. If you are pouring a slab over this and building a house on top of it the weight might very well cause the asphalt to deform and your concrete to crack.

Seems to me you would be better off to properly grade and prepare the substrate to support the slab to try and avoid the problems.