house foundations

farmerpsv · May 6, 2004

Hey all,
am going to be building a house (panelized) and was looking for some feedback on basements. have been looking at "Superior Walls" and have some thoughts/questions/concerns about the precast system. on the positive side , it's virtually instant, waterproof, insulated and firred for finishing, all in one neat package. my concerns are the thinness of the actual wall, no dug in footer and the seams. the walls set on 4 to 6" of compacted gravel, the slab pour is higher than the "footer" on their system, am a little concerned about movement...but not too. my real concern is the seams where the walls butt up against each other. they use what i think is a poly seal between the joints, that just doesn't strike me as very permanent. would be interested in any input y'all have.
thanks
paul

TerryinMD · May 6, 2004

Go for it!!

My new neighbor is building a modular house and used the Superior Wall system. I am very impressed!!! The foundation was brought in and installed in less than one day. That was yesterday. The house will be set on the foundation in the next day or two.

From what I could see, site preparation is the key factor. The walls are set on a bed of crushed stone and are well built. All pre-stressed concrete with wooden nailers set either at the 16" standard stud or 24". All of the doors, cutouts, etc are done, the sections are locked together with bolts and pre-insulated. Each of the concrete studs have holes at intervals all the way up the studs for electrical or water lines.

While I was looking the foundation over the excavator showed up to look over the job. It was the third one he had done and had high praise for the system. He basically said you can kiss block or poured concrete walls bye-bye. It is the way to go.

It kinda wants me to build a new house just to try the system out!!!!!! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Terry

OBTW, you can get to the site going thru Superior Walls to get details. A very good read!!!!

Golfgar4 · May 6, 2004

I saw this system used on This Old House .

Hey, if Bob Vila uses it, well then it MUST be good! /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Seriously, I thought it was pretty slick. I guess I'd make sure that my local codes would allow it before I signed up for it though. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

moeh1 · May 7, 2004

I put in a superior foundation 4 years ago. It was that or the styrofoam forms for strength and energy efficiency. I was pleased with the system and still am! Crew arrived at 6:30am, truck at 8 am, crane and curious neighbors at 9am, they were all gon by 12:15pm - with everything level and square within 1/16". The one thing I had designed in my favor is that I am in a very good spot for drainage, so I don't have any water concerns. The other nice feature is the optional brick ledge for decks/porch addition.
Good luck.

BotaGuy · May 8, 2004

I have looked at the superior walls system...and it looks good. I am buildinga small cabin on a lake....about 24X36 footprint rectangle. What were the steps for getting one installed? Did you contract the excavation separately?

farmerpsv · May 8, 2004

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I agree with all the sentiments and comments. Still, no one is mentioning the primary concern, the seams and filling them with what looks like a form of caulk. I know there is a 15 year warranty, but I have restored 5 properties over the last 15 years. my experience is that caulk deteriorates over time. I'm thinking 20 years from now that may prove to be the achilles heel of this system... or is it a non issue? other than that, i have to agree it's a neat system. Botaguy, in my area (central VA), you do the slab, excavation, drainage separately, superior walls sets the gravel on which to set the walls, then cranes them in, then you pour the slab afterwords. the one example i saw was interesting in that the slab is higher than the wall footer, the wall is held in place at the footer by the slab on one side and the backfill on the other.
I will have a 8'x42' porch, so it's good to know they have something for that as well, didn't know that.
paul

kiphorn · May 8, 2004

I used Superior Walls on the house that I just built last year. My walls were set in about four hours just like Marty's.

I actually went to the plant near my house where the walls are made. Unfortunately, they weren't pouring any walls that day. But I did get to see how the process works.

There is some reinforcing rebar in the walls which provides additional strength. Plus the "studs" are reinforced and tied into the other reinforcing. I believe the concrete is 5,000 psi which provides the water resistance.

The company that I visited also had a branch in Florida and they told me that they were developing an above ground wall that would pass the Florida hurricane standards.

As far as the sealant in the joints. They use the large sausage tubes and apply the caulk liberally. The panels are then bolted together which compresses the sealant creating a gasket across most of the face of the panel joint. The panel joints are about 8" wide so thats a sizable gasket. They also apply sealant to the exterior joint. The sealant isn't exposed to UV rays or the atmosphere so I feel pretty comfortable with the joint.

We back filled with stone around our foundation which I imagine helps get the rain water to the foundation drain and away from the house. I still think grading and extending the downspouts away from the house are key to preventing water from getting into your basement.

I would definitely reccommend the walls. If you use Superior Walls and are considering finishing your basement get a price for 9' walls instead of 8'. The increase was under $500.00 for my basement. The bottom of my duct work is just over 8' above the floor so now when I finish the basement I'll end up with 8' ceilings instead of 7'. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Kip

moeh1 · May 10, 2004

Sorry,
I forgot to address the main question. The seam is actually a keyed joint, so the urethane is actually mostly to fill any small gaps inside the joint. I believe this would be enough all by itself. They then applied a good bead inside and out of the same stuff to cover the joint on both sides. Since I picked some high ground and have "daylight drains" and put alot of stone underneath, I wasn't particualrly worried about water, and I have had no problems.
I set up my transit and my neighbor and I were able to do the excavation ourselves with big backhoe - a little slower than a shovel, but alot cheaper. Superior gives you a good instruction kit about how to prep the site before they arrive. I had the hole dug, drainage and stone in before they came to verfiy the site was prepped and hole was actually big enough (Yes, they learned to do this the hard way, just like the rest of us) /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif Piece of cake after that....

farmerpsv · May 12, 2004

thanks Marty,
that's good to know. i thought the seams were butted flat. having a keyed joint would make a great deal of difference. again, thanks, that helps alot.
paul

deere_x475guy · Sep 7, 2004

Found this thread while doing a search for superior walls. Mine are being set today with a reverse walkout. I have a log home going on top of them. I was very pleased to see others comment on this system. I was torn between this any the wood foundation I currently have in my existing home. We are on a tight schedule and the superior walls will have us building today yet. I will be posting pics as things progress.

Here is the URL for the pics I have so far.

http://home.comcast.net/~boba198/pages/Property007.htm