ᐅ Screw foundations as an affordable alternative to concrete slabs?

Created on: 25 Jun 2021 20:19
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Schwabe23
Hello everyone,

Our architect has proposed a screw foundation for our wooden house. The house will be supported on a wooden floor resting on screwed-in sleeves, similar to a pile foundation. The supply lines will be placed inside a small, frost-protected enclosure. This solution was mainly suggested to save costs, but for us, it is also an advantage that the area remains completely removable. We have no special conditions on the plot—gravelly soil with a slight slope and no groundwater. Does anyone have experience with this type of foundation? What are the advantages and disadvantages?

I’m surprised that there is hardly any information available about this. Why isn’t it used more often in timber construction since it is apparently much more cost-effective?

Greetings from the south
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kbt09
26 Jun 2021 22:46
@andimann .. hanghaus2000 has already replied to that
hanghaus2000 schrieb:

These concerns are unfounded. Houses built on stilts are state of the art. Such concerns can be addressed with a so-called "crawl space" that is constructed as a sealed space.
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evelinoz
27 Jun 2021 06:24
Try looking up Staudenschreiner; they specialize in this type of work, are well-known, and have a good reputation. They built Climbee's house, but I believe it was with a slab foundation.
manohara27 Jun 2021 06:41
Schwabe23 schrieb:

our wooden house

Will this be a proper residential house, or more of a garden shed?
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Schwabe23
27 Jun 2021 09:15
manohara schrieb:

Is this going to be a proper residential house, or more of a garden shed?

Yes, it will be a proper residential house with 180m2 (1,938 sqft). Our architect seems to have done this several times before.
manohara27 Jun 2021 09:50
I think the method using screws is really clever, but I don’t have any experience with it.
What I don’t understand:
"Screw foundation as a cost-effective alternative to the slab foundation"
What is being replaced here are the deep-reaching concrete posts.
You still need a slab foundation in any case, don’t you?
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Schwabe23
27 Jun 2021 10:09
evelinoz schrieb:

try searching for Staudenschreiner, they do this kind of work, are well-known and have a good reputation, built Climbee's house, but I think with a slab foundation

Thanks for the tip. Their website explains everything very clearly, including a time-lapse video. Now I can better imagine how the pipes are frost-protected when entering the house. Unfortunately, we are outside their service area, but there are providers in our region with whom our architect has had good experiences. So far, I don’t see any disadvantages, especially considering the current price trends for reinforced concrete.