On Mon, 26 Dec 2016 21:12:00 -0500, wrote:

On Mon, 26 Dec 2016 16:54:05 -0500, wrote:

They just do mono slab here (or slab over stem wall). There is a 16"
deep (total) ring around the house with 2 #5s in it and a 4" slab
across the floor with 6 over wire in it. If the ground was properly
compacted, that ends up being plenty stable. I have terrazzo over than
and there are no cracks here after 53 years.
The stucco over plywood is far more troubling, particularly around
penetrations like windows and doors. A couple companies in Atlanta got
their ass sued off over that.
Here it is usually stucco over block. By the time you buy all of the
hurricane clips for stick built, block ends up cheaper or at least
comparable. You basically have to clip every joint where the sticks
meet on every load bearing wall and post and anchor that to the
footer. In block construction you just dowel the cells every 4' and
pour them solid, then you pour a tie beam on top (with 4 #5s) and
embed clips for the trusses. It goes a lot faster.
The 2400 sq foot house they are building around the corner went from
pouring the slab to truss in less than 2 weeks. They lost some days
for concrete set and inspections too. The block crew was at tie beam
in a day after the slab set.
If you are stuccoing, ICF is the way to go. Great in Hurricaine
country too.

ICF looks interesting but I have only seen one building using them
here. They just tore it down. I would have liked to see how hard that
was to do but it was gone in a day. (Commercial property going another
way)
I have seen a few strange things over the years here. When I was
working I inspected a Y-Tong concrete building. It was tilt up
construction with all of the walls coming in on a truck. (A kiddie
jail). The stuff was so soft I asked if they were worried a kid would
tunnel his way out with a spoon. They said they were putting mesh and
stucco over it on both sides and hoping the little *******s didn't
figure out it was not solid concrete.
They built a single family up the street that was foam panels encased
in sheet steel. It was put together with a screw gun and angle.