Slab-on-Ground Construction for Homes

Houses with slab-on-ground floors are gaining in popularity, mainly because of lower cost. Foundations for such houses may be of the common continuous -footer type, with walls of either concrete or block to which sills are bolted. A newer and cheaper system is the grade-beam foundation, which uses shallow walls of reinforced poured concrete resting on piers. The piers are made by simply boring holes in the ground and filling them with concrete.

A suitable site and correct grading are necessary. A satisfactory floor slab requires reinforcement to prevent cracking, a vapor barrier to protect it from ground moisture, and sufficient insulation around the edges to ensure that the house will be comfortable and economical to heat. Plumbing and heating installations are quite different from those in houses with basements.

Floor coverings should be carefully chosen and applied to avoid undesirable effects of moisture from the ground and from the air above. Asphalt tile is widely used; other types of flooring require more attention to moisture control.

An analysis of costs from actual jobs is presented. Adjusted for local rates, these figures should enable the builder to make good estimates.

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Work Title Slab-on-Ground Construction for Homes
Subtitle Better Building Report No. 1
Access
Open Access
Creators
  1. Joy, F. A.
  2. Stout, G. J.
Keyword
  1. architecture
  2. engineering
License Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States
Work Type Report
Acknowledgments
  1. Institute for Building Research
Publisher
  1. Pennsylvania. State University. College of Engineering and Architecture
Publication Date 1959
Language
  1. English
Deposited September 18, 2016

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