Hello everyone,
I wish you a Merry Christmas and have a question right away.
We started building this month. It’s a single-family house with a concrete slab foundation and a garage, which we are having constructed by a local general contractor.
The concrete slab was poured on Thursday, and we inspected it today.
I’m wondering if there might be a mistake because I interpret the plans differently.
Maybe I’m completely wrong with my amateur observations, and I will speak with the general contractor in the new year. But at the moment, I’m pondering it, and maybe you can help put my concerns to rest.
Here’s the situation:
Our solid brick house is being built using a cavity wall construction and will be plastered on the outside (wall structure from inside to outside: 17.5cm (7 inches) Poroton brick, 18cm (7 inches) mineral wool insulation, 11.5cm (4.5 inches) Poroton brick). On the street side, the garage is set back by 25cm (10 inches).
However, the garage’s concrete slab extends slightly further forward than the house’s slab. To me, it looks like the slab is aligned with the load-bearing walls. That would make sense, but the facing wall also has to be built on the slab and cannot be “floating” in the air, right?!
Am I missing something here?
I’ve attached a drawing and a photo of the construction.
I’m very curious to hear your opinions.
By the way, our general contractor is responsible for the shell construction and the foundation slab.
Thank you ✌️
I wish you a Merry Christmas and have a question right away.
We started building this month. It’s a single-family house with a concrete slab foundation and a garage, which we are having constructed by a local general contractor.
The concrete slab was poured on Thursday, and we inspected it today.
I’m wondering if there might be a mistake because I interpret the plans differently.
Maybe I’m completely wrong with my amateur observations, and I will speak with the general contractor in the new year. But at the moment, I’m pondering it, and maybe you can help put my concerns to rest.
Here’s the situation:
Our solid brick house is being built using a cavity wall construction and will be plastered on the outside (wall structure from inside to outside: 17.5cm (7 inches) Poroton brick, 18cm (7 inches) mineral wool insulation, 11.5cm (4.5 inches) Poroton brick). On the street side, the garage is set back by 25cm (10 inches).
However, the garage’s concrete slab extends slightly further forward than the house’s slab. To me, it looks like the slab is aligned with the load-bearing walls. That would make sense, but the facing wall also has to be built on the slab and cannot be “floating” in the air, right?!
Am I missing something here?
I’ve attached a drawing and a photo of the construction.
I’m very curious to hear your opinions.
By the way, our general contractor is responsible for the shell construction and the foundation slab.
Thank you ✌️
Haven’t you hired an independent building expert (building savings contract), especially since the construction site is not nearby and you are construction novices? Otherwise, the general contractor might give you misleading information. My advice is to hire a building savings contract expert immediately and inform the general contractor accordingly.
F
fm-united25 Dec 2022 11:32Nida35a schrieb:
Haven’t you hired an independent building surveyor (building savings contract), especially since the construction site isn’t nearby and you are construction novices? Otherwise, the general contractor might tell you something unrealistic.
My advice is to hire a building savings contract immediately and inform the general contractor. Yes, we have. The first planned inspection is the structural frame check. That was the building savings contract’s suggestion. ♂️
fm-united schrieb:
Yes, we did. The first planned appointment is for the structural inspection. That was the suggestion from the building savings contract. ♂ OK, great.
So you also sent the pictures and questions to the building savings contract?
And the forum is being used as a backup?
What was the response from the building savings contract?
F
fm-united25 Dec 2022 11:58Nida35a schrieb:
OK, great.
So, did you also send the pictures and questions to the building savings contract?
And the forum is for double-checking?
What was the response from the building savings contract? Not yet. I only noticed the issue yesterday. The forum is meant to help me see whether I’m worrying unnecessarily or if something might actually have gone wrong. It’s holiday season anyway.
F
fm-united25 Dec 2022 19:13Zubi123 schrieb:
I can’t clearly see it in the photo, but the strip footing usually extends beyond the slab in this type of construction. The facing brick is then placed directly on the strip footing. By the way, I suspect you are right. The slab only extends to the inner edge of the foundation. You can see that quite clearly in this photo. Then the insulation / outer layer would be placed on the foundation. That probably also has advantages in terms of insulation if it is decoupled from the slab.
X
xMisterDx31 Dec 2022 00:55This is also supported by the surprising width of the "strips." Are those 80cm (31.5 inches)?
You wouldn’t leave it like that without adding brickwork or masonry. Primarily because concrete is expensive, and also because you wouldn’t get a proper drip edge where the water can drain away.
Is it really just a plaster facade, with brickwork prohibited? That would have been logical given the wall structure. This also explains the lack of a setback, since your plan section shows no offset between the interior house wall and the garage wall.
Therefore, the floor slabs should not have any offset either.
You wouldn’t leave it like that without adding brickwork or masonry. Primarily because concrete is expensive, and also because you wouldn’t get a proper drip edge where the water can drain away.
Is it really just a plaster facade, with brickwork prohibited? That would have been logical given the wall structure. This also explains the lack of a setback, since your plan section shows no offset between the interior house wall and the garage wall.
Therefore, the floor slabs should not have any offset either.
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