Foundation Options for Modular Homes

There are a lot of decisions to be made when designing your dream home. Choosing a foundation for your modular home should be done carefully. You will want to consider the price, construction time, and land when selecting a foundation. Modular homes can be placed on a slab, basement, or crawl space, depending on your preference and budget.

The foundation of home is necessary to support the considerable weight of the house and to provide a level surface in which to place the home. A strong, well-built foundation is essential for a sturdy and secure home. This is true whether you are building a traditional or modular home.

Slabs, basements, and crawl spaces are the three main foundation systems used for most houses. Each system has its own unique benefits that make it attractive to homebuilders and homebuyers. When choosing a foundation for your home, you should take time to consider each of your choices.

Slab: A concrete slab is simply a flat, concrete pad that is poured directly on the ground. It usually consists of three to five inches of concrete. Because it takes little labor, site preparation, or formwork, a slab is typically the easiest foundation to build. While it is ideal in warmer climates, it has issues in places where the ground freezes in the winter. The freezing may cause the slab to shift, which could be detrimental to the stability of your home. Slab foundations are the most affordable option as compared to crawl spaces and basements.

Basement: Once a modular home is complete, it can be lifted by a crane and placed on a basement foundation. While a basement is more expensive than a slab, it is a good investment. Many homebuyers appreciate the added living space that can be used for a variety of purposes. Well-constructed basements are usually considered a positive selling point for most buyers. Using durable materials means that your basement will stay comfortable and dry, no matter what the weather is like outside. There are basement options for modular homes that are highly energy efficient. The strong walls are well insulated to maximize energy conservation and prevent unnecessary energy loss through the basement walls. Saving energy is good for your wallet as well as the environment.

Crawl Space: A crawl space is the area between the ground and the bottom of a house. It is much lower than basement and usually does not allow enough room for an adult to stand upright. While it does not provide livable space like a basement, a crawl space provides support for the house, allowing it to get off of the ground. This is especially important in areas that have damp soil or are prone to termite infestations. With a crawl space, plumbing and ductwork is more easily serviced than with a slab.

Some modular homebuilders offer controlled crawl spaces that are completely sealed and insulated from the outside environment. They are designed to protect the area from the elements, including damaging moisture. These systems are popular because they offer the following benefits:

Improved energy efficiency
Improved structural longevity
Floor protection
Helps to regulate temperature
Adds value

Determining which foundation system is best for your home may largely depend on your budget and lifestyle. Talk with you builder about the different options available to you.

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Concrete Foundation Repairs

Concrete foundation repair can come about due to the slabs settling and moving as a result of what is below them. Clay and soil have to be carefully prepared before any building work can be undertaken upon the surface. So if this work was carried out badly, or not enough research was undertaken before building, the concrete can only fail.

Most ground foundations move slightly with time. They may be clay, or filled in with soil, and the builder will take this into account, when designing the structure, which is going to stand on it.

But even the best planned projects run into trouble, and concrete foundations can move or sink. Underpinning is the commonest method provided by engineering firms when it comes to repairing a foundation with problems.

At first this can be a traumatic time for anyone facing the problem of repairing a building with a failing foundation. As it strike at the heart of why the building was put there in the first place, and many contractors could be facing ruin.

The good news is, that modern technology has come so far, the solutions are not impossible.

The two commonest methods of tackling this problem, are Slabjacking and Piering.

Slabjacking is the process of pumping grout beneath the beam or slab, to produce a lifting force, restoring the desired levelling. This is often used when the concrete slab has simply sunk into the earth. But can be used, when engineers find a structure to be uneven. One of the commonest uses can be found in stabalizing, when cracks start to appear in a pavement or driveway.

Filling with pressure grout is one of the best methods of stabalizing a structure, when a void has been found beneath the site. These voids often occur due to water running beneath the surface. So cement slurry can be pumped in to fill the gap and divert away any unwanted water.

Piering is the method of driving steel pipe pilings into the ground to counter-act the results of a failing structure. A hydraulic ram will drive a section of Galvanised or epoxy-coated steel pipe into the soil. They can also be screwed into the ground with Helical Piers via a torque motor.

The idea of this is to find a stratum suitable enough to bear the weight above.

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Why Choose a Pier and Beam Foundation?

Building a home is an exciting venture. Homeowners get to choose wall coverings, flooring materials, up-to-date appliances, room size variances, and windows and doors. But, what most homeowners do not realize is that building a home starts from the ground up, from the foundation.

The most important step to building a new home is choosing the most efficient and safe foundation for your property location. Researching foundation bases is essential in securing the structure of your new home. Some contractors are knowledgeable about foundations and will help you choose which is best for your home. But, there are many who will pour a foundation of their choosing without discussing the choice with you, the homeowner.

Two foundation choices that a new homeowner should be aware of are slab-on-grade foundations and pier and beam foundations. The two are quite different when it comes to construction, cost, and longevity.

Slab-on-grade foundations are constructed with reinforced concrete and are usually shallow, quickly built, and inexpensive. For a builder that doesn't have to live in the homes that he builds, slab foundations are a dream. Slab foundations are used with homes that do not have basements. A major disadvantage to slab-on-grade foundations is that they are not resistant to seasonal movement changes and moisture disbursement due to root growth. In other words, slab foundations are not a long-term option for homes in North Texas. Another disadvantage is that generally all piping is placed under the slab foundation causing a very costly procedure should a water pipe burst.

Pier and beam foundations, on the other hand, rate a few steps above a slab-on-grade foundation. Pier and beam foundations incorporate a crawl space (usually at least 18 inches) beneath the home and footings filled with concrete to support the slab. This type of foundation is not considered a time saver, but it is safer and more convenient. The crawl space allows access to heating and plumbing utilities without having to break through the concrete slab. The piers mean foundations are less susceptible to damage due to ground shifting, a problem many North Texas homes with slab foundations experience. If extreme ground shifting does occur, the foundation is easily adjusted, a process that is much less expensive than slab foundation repairs, a process most homes in North Texas will have to undergo.

Since pier and beam foundations leave homeowners walking on a suspended wood platform, they are much easier on the body's joints. Pier and beam foundations are preferred by back pain suffers over slab foundations.

Pier and beam foundations are generally used for homes built in the Northern part of the country because the climate consists of the freeze and thaw conditions. This condition requires that the foundation be built deeply in to the ground. The safety feature here is that deep foundations are very rarely affected by climate changes. But, the shifting grounds of North Texas make pier and beam foundations the best, longest-lasting choice for foundations in the area.

Monster Constructors is professionally known for laying pier and beam foundations in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. They will test the ground on which the home is to be built to decipher the best foundation for that particular area.

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The Slab: A Great Foundation (Part 1)

www.facebook.com Mike Blake demonstrates the importance of a well-engineered foundation before the concrete arrives.

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Building a Light Duty Shed Foundation

If you plan on putting a light-duty shed on top of a concrete foundation, there's no need for any footings and you might even be able to get away without installing any structural reinforcement.

Here is an example of an extremely light duty shed foundation. Let's say that the shed is going to be 10' x 10' square, I would suggest that you make the concrete foundation at least 2 inches longer, just to make sure that the shed has plenty of room to rest on.

In other words make sure that you build the light-duty sheds foundation at least 10 foot 2 inches, by 10 foot 2 inches square and you shouldn't have any problems installing your new shed on this concrete slab.

Now here's something that you need to consider, you could probably get away with a minimum slab thickness of 4 inches, if you have good soil conditions. If you're not sure, what your soil conditions are, it would suggest that you increase the sheds foundation slab thickness to 6 inches.

If you would like to reinforce the light-duty shed foundation, you could install some 6 x 6 wire mesh. This is usually a common building material, used for concrete foundations and most lumberyards or building supply warehouses, should carry this product.

I don't recommend making the light-duty sheds foundation any thicker than 6 inches. But if you would like to add some more structural support and really have a solid shed foundation, you can forget about the 6 x 6 wire mesh and install number 4 rebar, 16 inches on center, in both directions of the shed foundation.

In other words the rebar will crisscross each other, forming a grid like pattern. If you use the rebar, and the six-inch concrete foundation slab, you're going to have one heavy duty light-duty shed foundation.

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Home Foundation - Hidden Foundation Problems That Could Cost You Thousands in Your Next Home

Homes are built on a number of different support systems; the standard well known types on footings are slab, crawlspace, and basements. There are others that deal with particular soils conditions such as piers, grade beams, driven piles and engineered post tension slabs.

1. Your problems with a slab foundation are pretty straight forward. Slab foundations are built in one variation as one pour of concrete including the footing, walls, and floor system. The tendency of single pour solid concrete slabs is to crack because the concrete cures at different rates based on the thickness or mass. The floor system is normally 4" thick and cures at one rate, the walls and footing maybe 12" thick and 30" deep will cure at a different rate this can cause cracks in the floor system. These cracks will cause an opening to the soil below which is the big problem. The crack will cause moisture to wick into your carpet, the crack may split the hardwood floors, crack your ceramic tiles, and stain the vinyl tiles or sheet flooring.

Slab foundations are also built on footing with block or brick walls and floor system. The chance of cracking is less likely to occur with this system. The footing is poured separately cures, the foundation walls are erected and the floor system is poured and cures. The chance of cracking is lessened because of three separate stages of work. The cracks can occur but are at a minimum as compared a single pour system.

2. Crawlspace problems are cause by the poorly finished or unfinished areas below the first floor decking. The dirt floor of a crawlspace can be covered with different materials according to local and state building codes. Some required a concrete slab over a 6 mil plastic vapor barrier others require only 100% coverage of a 6 mil plastic vapor barrier. Both can cause serious moisture problems because of the unfinished walls and unconditioned area of the crawlspace. The unconditioned (no heat or air conditioning) space can cause mold, mildew in the crawlspace and moisture to wick up into the home through the wood joist and deck floor system. This is causes odors in carpet, cupping or warping hardwoods, wet ceramic tiles, and stains in vinyl floor backing.

Worst yet is that in some cases the heating system and the water heater are located in the damp wet crawlspace causing corrosion on the pipes, fittings, valves, and any metal parts in the crawlspace over time it will be a huge problem for any future homeowner. The better builders today are providing a completely conditioned crawlspace where the dirt floor is sealed the walls are sealed and insulated which keeps out the moisture and allows your mechanical systems to operate properly for years. What did your builder do or what are the plans for your new home?

3. Basement problems can be the same as crawlspaces with the unconditioned areas except the basement is deeper in the ground, closer to any water level or water table which can be a more serious problem. Basements have always had the reputation for being damp and smelly they still can be if the builder is not using modern waterproofing materials and designs. The possibility of floor system cracks exists in basement homes. Using proper water proofing techniques and exterior grading basements have become very desirable. The walk-out condition where the rear wall is actually open to ground level (the lot sloping down from front to rear) has offered some excellent opportunities for homeowners to add usable heated square footage to the home and become a much better alternate to the finished bonus room on the third floor.

Your choice of foundation system is governed more by the site and soil conditions. Most builders would rather build what pleases you at a profitable cost than to chance losing a sale. Some home builders you may find are stuck or set in their building techniques and may not offer you choices that are evidently available or possible.

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Mudjacking at Pro Foundation Technology

Mudjacking is a proven, practical, and inexpensive alternative to concrete slab replacement. It lifts and fills voids in garages, driveways, steps, stoops, patios, pool decks, basement floors, sidewalks, streets and curbs.

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Cracked foundation and bad parquet flooring

www.homeinspectioncarolina.com While at a Charlotte home inspection, Patrick Waddell finds a cracked slab and some bad parquet flooring. You will often get a small minor crack in a slab home. Concrete is an imperfect product. When cracks get to be larger than 1 inch or longer than 4 feet you should really look into having a structural engineer look at them. Often you are not lucky enough at an inspection to physically see cracks like these. You may feel the floor uneven, raise or lower in an area but never get to pull the carpet back like thise. At least in this video you get a chance to see what is possibly under that area you have questioned in your own home. askthecharlotteinspector.com



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Slab-on-grade concrete foundation

slab on grade foundations are concrete poured directly on the ground with no space between the floor and the concrete. This occurs most frequently in areas where the ground is not freezing, and therefore likely to increase. There are derivations of this, where frost is the structure with foam insulation or hydraulic (water) heating systems integrated into the plate to prevent the land under the control of freezing. Butusually is not usually the most economically advantageous for the slab-on-grade in very cold climates. This is a guy named frost protected slab in Sweden and will accept standard here.

Die Vorteile der Tafel-on-Klasse sind, dass es ein relativ Kostengünstige Form der Wohn-Stiftung ist, sie sind sehr stabil gebaut und wenn sie richtig ausgelegt ist und hilft vom behindern Termiten Betreten des Hauses. If properly designed, offering only a few placesthe foundation of termites, which enter into the structure from below. This requires that all pipe penetrations properly sealed with stainless steel wool or caulk are such as to prevent their path. It also reduces the amount of crack perimeter, the treatment of mild infections makes the case that the termites into the house is vulnerable.

You must plan carefully in order to collect the drops of supplies by the plate for water, electricity, gas, telecommunications and allother utilities. This is often overlooked, especially because it does not take account of changes in technology.

When planning a slab-on-grade foundation, you must obtain a line from the bottom in a public place outside the waters. Most installers bury the direct line of beds or directly into the copper plate. This is not a good practice because it is expensive and difficult to repair when something goes wrong with the water line. If you have a 2 "PVC pipethe water line, a new one may be revoked if you later need. This also prevents the water line from galvanized or copper degrading from contact with the bare concrete.

The same procedure must be followed by cable and telephone. You can both services in the same line, in this case make it a 2 "pipe should be sufficient enough in this case. Electrical services to separate one on the outside of the house, so it is not usual that you must provide aHead under the covers for it. In all these cases, the line should terminate in a central location in the house, like a closet or garage.

Structural features

Invite slab-on-grade design to a depth of at least 4 "thickening to a minimum of 6" under pressure within about 16 "of the perimeter of further reinforcement steel outer wall. If there is a load-bearing interior walls, the engineer will call for this presentationArea to strengthen and thicken to compensate for these burdens.

Perimeter and interior footers footers or rafts are usually reinforced with steel bars called re-bar. This adds enormous strength to the concrete to compensate for the "real" poor tensile strength. By combining steel with concrete, you can combine two incredibly strong materials so that compensates for the characteristic weaknesses of each.

You also get what is called the WWF (welded wireTissue) as reinforcement in concrete, but his real goal is to distribute more evenly the temperature changes in concrete to prevent cracking is called, is the correct term to control cracking. I tell them not to jump, but you still have cracks in the concrete, the kind of broken concrete, so a further step to minimize the effect of cracking, is the process of placing control joints at specific time intervals, the leaks, leadership lesscrack, where you do not see and to minimize the journey of a split. If you see small cracks in the bottom of joint control, not panic, it's normal. The design and layout is very important to discuss the integrity of the plate. About this in detail with particular sub chosen so that proper control joints are located on the plate.

construction is just proper care

The key to a good-on-grade foundation, haswas designed to allow time to wet cure concrete. concrete is poured as a liquid, but begins to harden immediately. Normally it is difficult enough for a walk a day. Should not be created for at least seven days and must be done so that the temperature not too cold or too hot when you pour. The benefits of proper curing are:

Become stronger

Increased resistance to abrasion on the surface

Less permeable concrete withgreater resistance to chloride penetration and freeze / thaw damage

Greater resistance to cracking the top - to gain strength from drying plates and have a greater resistance to forces of contraction.

So what is the right method to heal. Now, running in hot climates, keep the wet concrete for at least 7 days. This is by spraying with water on the plate every day (twice a day made, if necessary) the spraying of concrete and covered with plastic sheeting forretain water into or through another medium (kept moist) like sand, straw or blankets to this feature, at least 7 days, the longer the better. With the proper planning of this will be possible, even if you use a builder, he will probably want to start framing as soon as possible cast for the cover. Do yourself a favor and allow 7 days for proper curing and ensure that appropriate methods are used to retain moisture in the pot during theTrial.

The last 2 important considerations are the temperature during the casting. Cement generates heat during the great care. If you are at very high temperatures (above 95 'F), you must make special arrangements to talk about the heat, it reduces the contractor if you suspect that you ensure this condition is to ensure that he is willing to make the right to adopt to protect the concrete to be paid. At the same time must not be poured concrete when the temperature is lower20 'F, if you are ready, heat will be stored on disk until it is completely healed. Which will be very expensive to do so, shall not be paid at best when temperatures are below freezing over a longer period. You can do it, but be sure to keep the internal temperature of the concrete not less than 55 "F.

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Concrete Foundation Crack Repair

Can crack concrete foundations as a natural process to heal. These cracks are called shrinkage cracks. As the name suggests, is reduced in reality as concrete cures. This contraction reduces the tension and the concrete needs to go to relieve stress. While in a normal condition for a house foundation, foundation cracks leak water, it can in the basement.

Water damage, which can enter the basement carpet, insulation, plasterboard andHomeowners possessions. So before you start an expensive renovation to the basement, you must ensure that the cracks in the foundation, which are not dense.

Homeowners always ask a professional waterproofing contractor, Chisel a V-shaped wall of one and refill it with hydraulic cement. The hydraulic cement would temporarily solve the problem that loses. Unfortunately, as the water evaporates into the cracks in the basement, salts dissolved inwater on the roadside. Finally, these salts accumulate and cause the binding of hydraulic cement, and concrete foundation to fail. Cracks allow water hydraulic cement in the basement.

Now, homeowners and professionals can use leak repair concrete foundation with a process of injecting liquid urethane. The urethane is injected directly into the column in liquid form. The urethane foam and begins to expand into the gap. This extension fills the gap from the topdown and the front to rear. When completed, the cracks of the Foundation may be water in the basement. The repair requires a long life, since water can penetrate the crack and climb the deposit activity and cause a failure of the bond between the foam and concrete foundations.

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