Owner Builder: Crawlspace Foundation

We take a look at crawlspace foundations from footing through completion.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• Crawlspace
• Foundation
• owner
• builder
• construction
• ownerbuilderonline
• build
• your
• own
• home

[MonkeySpecs301]

If you have radiant floor heating, it probably not a good idea to have a crawspace is it? Since the heat will travel down into the space where as if your foundation was concrete with earth under, the thermal mass is higher to plus you can add a high Rvalue insulation to further prevent heat from going downward.

[arossona]

@MonkeySpecs301 Actually I would say it depends on the area you are building in. Sometimes, particularly in colder climates, a crawlspace that had a well insulated floor assembly would be preferrable to putting a radiant floor system in the slab right next to the ground. heat escapes into the ground very quickly. This is evidenced by tile floored homes on slab in cold climates. I would think however if it is a fairly mild climate that slab is a good way to go.

[LleviathanzZ]

Can this type of foundation suppory more than two storey, , ,ground floor,1st floor + another floor , ,ie , ,2nd floor?

[arossona]

Absolutely. The foundation will have to be designed for the neccessary loads ( this may mean deeper, wider footings, additional reinforcement, larger beams and/or larger floor trusses) but the crawlspace foundation can be used for multi-story projects no problem. Its important to remember that with any foundation, the weight of the structure should bear directly on or be transferred to the footings-whether crawlspace or slab.

[TheReturnOfStephan1]

@arossona Thanks for posting this video.

It's helping to clarify a lot for me, but, I do have a question regarding the piers.

Can galvanized i-beams, or something as strong, be encased into poured concrete or masonry forms as piers?

Will that make everything stronger, or will there be moisture issues, etc?

Thanks, in advance, for responding.

[arossona]

@TheReturnOfStephan1 - Steel reinforcement is used almost universally in foundational piers. I don't think an I-Beam would be used, however, large rebar tied together into networks are often used. See the Building process video on slab reinforcement. The project we worked on had a number of piers in it because there were steel columns put in. You will see a lot of reinforcement in those piers.

[TheReturnOfStephan1]

@arossona

Thanks, I'll be sure to check them out.:)

[elghian]

Just digressing..dont slip near the rods.you'll get skewered!

[signupsigma]

@arossona i'm unfamiliar wih some of your terminology.

[buildingourhome]

Great videos. I've been looking through a bunch of them while I am building my house. Thanks.

[fenceoil1212]

be guided

[LleviathanzZ]

Thanks.