With the weather on our side, another foundation is coming along.
Inspection today.......
jloomis

"jloomis" wrote

With the weather on our side, another foundation is coming along.
Inspection today.......
jloomis

LOL ... here's another that just went in, and passed inspection yesterday.



--
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Last update: 10/22/08
KarlC@ (the obvious)

"Swingman" wrote in message
...
"jloomis" wrote

With the weather on our side, another foundation is coming along.
Inspection today.......
jloomis

LOL ... here's another that just went in, and passed inspection yesterday.



That is interesting. We don't see that type of post and column foundations
around here. Must be a Texas thing. Any idea why?

Is it to keep the insects out? Flood waters? Etc????

Swingman wrote:

"jloomis" wrote

With the weather on our side, another foundation is coming along.
Inspection today.......
jloomis

LOL ... here's another that just went in, and passed inspection yesterday.




That's quite different than the foundations that went in when we lived in
Dallas. There, it was floating slabs to accommodate the expansion and
contraction of the clay soils. Is that a residential foundation, or
commercial?


--
If you're going to be dumb, you better be tough

"Mark & Juanita" wrote

Lee and Mark,

Residential ... it's a "crawlspace" foundation with void space under the
grade beams.

And you're right, the void space is for "heaving" soils, typical of the clay
in this specific area (east Travis County, Texas), said soil type being
particularly destructive when a rainy period follows drought conditions, the
latter being the case the past few years.

Many of the homes in this area, built on slabs and without taking the soil
conditions into account in the design, have had to be torn down recently. I
usually build "structural slab with void space" foundations in this part of
the country, but they are usually "slab on grade" and not crawlspace. We
felt that a "structural slab with void space" foundation would have
followed suit with the others, thus this design.

Thirty 16" piers, with 36" bell bottoms drilled, to 21', with 40 yards of
3500 psi concrete in just the grade beams, and probably enough wood in the
forms to build a small house.

$$,$$$,$$ ...

We start framing in two weeks ... there was a potential problem/possibility
with a bad batch of concrete delivered to someone on the day we poured the
grade beans, so I'm waiting on the 28 day break test to see how the
compressive strength turns out, although the 14 day break, just two days
ago, finally exceeded the design mix.

On top of that, it's a "straw bale" house, very similar to the "Straw Bale
Residence" he

http://www.strawbale.com/straw-bale-photos/

I'm well versed in traditional construction (which is why I was hired for
the job), but it's my first rodeo with straw bale wall construction ... I'm
enjoying the challenge!

Now, I just need to figure out how to hang kitchen wall cabinets on a straw
bale wall ...

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Last update: 10/22/08
KarlC@ (the obvious)

Swingman wrote:

.... snip
On top of that, it's a "straw bale" house, very similar to the "Straw Bale
Residence" he

http://www.strawbale.com/straw-bale-photos/

I'm well versed in traditional construction (which is why I was hired for
the job), but it's my first rodeo with straw bale wall construction ...
I'm
enjoying the challenge!

Now, I just need to figure out how to hang kitchen wall cabinets on a
straw bale wall ...


While this sounds great as far as insulation value, it seems like a
virtual banquet for termites and other vermin.


--
If you're going to be dumb, you better be tough

"Mark & Juanita" wrote

While this sounds great as far as insulation value, it seems like a
virtual banquet for termites and other vermin.

R-48, mas or menas.

That's what I originally thought. However, bugs are not a problem in the
vast majority of these homes in this climate. Plaster seals the bales,
allowing them to "breathe" and keeps the bugs out effectively. They are
surprisingly fire resistant as well.

Some older (100 years +) recently torn down to make way for tract homes and
the neighboring horses and cattle went right to work eating the 150 year old
hay.

We just don't know much about the method in our recent "age of
enlightenment":

http://www.sutton.com/articles/20/28/view-699

That said, it's not my house, I don't have to live in it, I'll try my hand
at building any type of home, and I'll make damn sure that it's done
"right", from top to bottom.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 10/22/08
KarlC@ (the obvious)

"Swingman" wrote in message
...
"Mark & Juanita" wrote

Lee and Mark,

Residential ... it's a "crawlspace" foundation with void space under the
grade beams.

And you're right, the void space is for "heaving" soils, typical of the
clay in this specific area (east Travis County, Texas), said soil type
being particularly destructive when a rainy period follows drought
conditions, the latter being the case the past few years.

Many of the homes in this area, built on slabs and without taking the soil
conditions into account in the design, have had to be torn down recently.
I usually build "structural slab with void space" foundations in this part
of the country, but they are usually "slab on grade" and not crawlspace.
We felt that a "structural slab with void space" foundation would have
followed suit with the others, thus this design.

Thirty 16" piers, with 36" bell bottoms drilled, to 21', with 40 yards of
3500 psi concrete in just the grade beams, and probably enough wood in the
forms to build a small house.

$$,$$$,$$ ...

We start framing in two weeks ... there was a potential
problem/possibility with a bad batch of concrete delivered to someone on
the day we poured the grade beans, so I'm waiting on the 28 day break test
to see how the compressive strength turns out, although the 14 day break,
just two days ago, finally exceeded the design mix.

On top of that, it's a "straw bale" house, very similar to the "Straw Bale
Residence" he

http://www.strawbale.com/straw-bale-photos/

I'm well versed in traditional construction (which is why I was hired for
the job), but it's my first rodeo with straw bale wall construction ...
I'm enjoying the challenge!

Now, I just need to figure out how to hang kitchen wall cabinets on a
straw bale wall ...

Reminds me of that old biblical wisdom of not building your house on sand.
You are going in the opposite direction. Building it on piers. Building it
solid.

It is sort of like the way that they are now building tall buildings on
glacial till. Since the ground liquifies during earthquakes, they need to
go deeper, to bedrock, to make the building's foundation solid.

This has got to be expensive. Any idea on how the costs breakdown in terms
of a conventional foundation? Is this twice as expensive?

Swingman wrote:



"Mark & Juanita" wrote

While this sounds great as far as insulation value, it seems like a
virtual banquet for termites and other vermin.

R-48, mas or menas.

That's what I originally thought. However, bugs are not a problem in the
vast majority of these homes in this climate. Plaster seals the bales,
allowing them to "breathe" and keeps the bugs out effectively. They are
surprisingly fire resistant as well.

Some older (100 years +) recently torn down to make way for tract homes
and the neighboring horses and cattle went right to work eating the 150
year old hay.

We just don't know much about the method in our recent "age of
enlightenment":

http://www.sutton.com/articles/20/28/view-699

That said, it's not my house, I don't have to live in it, I'll try my hand
at building any type of home, and I'll make damn sure that it's done
"right", from top to bottom.


Having seen examples of your work, I'm sure this will be a quality
building. Looking at the link, since there are examples of these types of
buildings having survived more than a century, one can't say they will fare
any worse than some of the "engineered" material based housed using
particle board & termite puke and built by slip-shod carpenters.


--
If you're going to be dumb, you better be tough

Nice looking job. I like the post and beam aspect.
Straw bale is a big deal in a few places these days.
Some are doing those here. I am afraid of insect and or moisture problems
in the bales......
I would love to build one.
jloomis
"Swingman" wrote in message
...
"jloomis" wrote

With the weather on our side, another foundation is coming along.
Inspection today.......
jloomis

LOL ... here's another that just went in, and passed inspection yesterday.



--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 10/22/08
KarlC@ (the obvious)

"Lee Michaels" wrote

This has got to be expensive. Any idea on how the costs breakdown in
terms of a conventional foundation? Is this twice as expensive?

At least twice ... $46,720.00.

Do it right now, or fix it later ... at twice the price, or more.

.... and, part of the price you pay for location ... this is on a slope,
overlooking a pond. Putting it on a slab on flat ground a couple of hundred
yards to the north would have probably shaved $15K off the above.

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KarlC@ (the obvious)

"jloomis" wrote
Nice looking job. I like the post and beam aspect.

Bingo! ... you instinctively zeroed in on the main reason I took on the
project - the post and beam "infill" method, which puts no compression
whatsoever on the straw bale walls. Until I saw this one aspect in the
preliminary plans, I was skeptical about my participation.

Straw bale is a big deal in a few places these days.
Some are doing those here. I am afraid of insect and or moisture problems
in the bales......

By all accounts the walls are quite easy to repair (usually by the
homeowner, who more than likely participated in the original plastering) if
there should be the rare breach, and, as stated previously, insects to not
seem to be a problem historically.

I would love to build one.

I'm definitely enjoying the non traditional aspect of this project.

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KarlC@ (the obvious)