New Tractor Home - Construction

Hoeman00 · Dec 10, 2002

I don't know if u want to leave like that
for winter and spring.
I would wrap w/ tyvek or a building wrap,
this will stop water from soaking into
the osb.
This stuff also stop drafts too.

cpicton1 · Dec 10, 2002

Very nice. /w3tcompact/icons/cool.gif
Leaving the OSB exposed for extended periods can shorten its overall life. When OSB gets wet the ends swell and will cause you some problems. I would make an effort to cover it with something. After all that work and expense you don't want to have to tear the siding off in 5 years or so to redo the walls.

Knight9 · Dec 10, 2002

Right you both are. I have two rolls of Tyvek in the garage. Just need to find a couple of hours of daylight to put it on. I'm not very concerned about moisture. We don't get rain in the winter here, and snow hasn't been an issue lately at all (unfortunately) but the air infiltration is the main reason I bought the house wrap.

Kevin

Mosey · Dec 12, 2002

Could you explain what is meant by a "floating slab"? Does that mean there are no footers going below the frost line, so it's a slab of concrete that's all 5" thick? Do you still have bolts in the concrete that stick up for the walls to attach to?

Bird · Dec 12, 2002

Danny, <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.howstuffworks.com/house4.htm>this link</A> may be about as good a description as you'll find. Frequently, in addition to the "beams" they show around the perimeter, there is one or more running from side to side, but no piers. And while they only show using a "mesh", I think using rebar is more common, at least in my part of the country. And I think sand is much more commonly used than gravel.

Knight9 · Dec 12, 2002

Mosey,

Yes, the floating slab is just that....a 5" thick hunk of concrete. There is rebar in an 18" grid throughout the entire slab to give it strength. Bird is quite right for our area also, in that they use sand (with a very small amount of stone in it) as the sub base and compact it very firmly. They then set up the forms, add the rebar in the grid held off the sand about 1/2 way up in the 5" slab and pour the concrete.

If I had gone bigger, it would have required an engineered drawing for the footing/foundation and a full frost wall with piles etc. In other words...big $$$$.

Kevin