Every chance I get, I love to learn about residential home construction. As a Realtor, I spend my time marketing my business, working with clients, talking to lenders, talking to other realtors, interacting with title companies but I don't have many opportunities to learn about the construction of a home. And don't you think it is important that a Realtor knows the most basic of information about homes if I am hired to help purchase or sell a home? I feel it is very important. Sometimes the most obvious things are not so obvious. Sometimes the things you see on a daily basis mean nothing to you or have no impact on you, until you understand the importance of why you see something so mundane as a simple phrase stamped on the garage floor in the cement of every home that was constructed beginning in the mid 1990's. "DO NOT DRILL OR CORE/POST TENSIONED SLAB" means absolutely nothing to most people. Beware! It has a very huge consequence if you drill the cement foundation of a home that bears that stamp. During the most recent home inspection I attended, the home inspector described what a post tensioned slab is to the home buyers. I knew so little about house construction that I never paid attention to what that stamp meant until I started selling homes. Each time that I help a client make a home purchase I take notes during the home inspection summary. The summary session takes place after the inspector has done his inspection and he goes through the house, room by room, electric outlet by electric outlet and shows the client what he found during his inspection. This inspection, there was a lot of conversation surrounding post tensioned slabs.
Don't worry if you don't know what a post tensioned slab is, I didn't either until I sat through enough home inspections with clients and inspectors that now it is almost common knowledge to me! You see this wording all the time on the floor of a garage in homes and probably don't think twice about what it means. Basically, if you drill a hole in the cement foundation (not just the floor of your garage, but don't drill in any part of your flooring in your home) you will ruin the entire home. Literally, the home will have to be torn down and be built again from the ground up.
So what is this post tensioned slab? Basically, before pouring a cement foundation, cables are tightly stretched the length of the home by the width of the home. These cables are what the concrete for the foundation is poured into. By pouring the concrete in these cables will reduce the amount of cracks that occur in a structure over time.
Here is what the Post Tension Institute says about post tensioned slabs:
"Post-tensioned slabs-on-ground provide a cost-efficient, high-performance solution for problems associated with ground-supported residential foundations on shrink-swell soils. The compressive stresses resist the anticipated tension stresses induced by the soil movements, enhancing the performance over a non-prestressed foundation. Cost benefits are achieved by reductions in quantities of concrete, steel and excavations, which in turn reduce labor costs.
In less expansive soils, a uniform thickness foundation is utilized. Typical thickness ranges from 7.5- to 12-inches and any increases in material quantities are compensated by reductions in labor and equipment costs. With the elimination of stiffening ribs, a post-tensioned foundation can be constructed rapidly eliminating labor and equipment to dig the ribs and dispose of excavations. This is a substantial benefit in sandy soils where trenches require shoring. Post-tensioned foundations are also used in areas with stable soils to reduce cracking, reduce or eliminate control joints, increase flexural capacity and improve constructability. Reducing the control joints also improves the serviceability and eliminates durability problems."
LINK to the source: http://www.post-tensioning.org/wpt-slab-on-ground.php
There is also great info as the advantages of a post tensioned slab:
Advantages of using post-tensioning for your next slab-on-ground project:
- Stronger/more efficient: Less concrete and steel are needed for the same structural capacity and the slab stiffness is increased so that the slab is better able to resist bending caused by differential soil movements.
- Minimizes and Controls Cracking: Post-tensioning will reduce cracking and keep any cracks that might form tight, preventing entry of insects and reducing possible water penetration, which can damage flooring and cause mold problems.
- Controls deflections: The strength and added stiffness of a post-tensioned foundation reduces the amount the slab will bend under load.
- Faster Installation: With fewer pieces to handle and less concrete to place, a post-tensioned slab can often be installed more quickly than a comparable rebar- or wire mesh-reinforced slab
- More Reliable: An engineered solution, post-tensioning is designed to exacting standards and code requirements, has an excellent performance record and offers increased reliability.
- Economical: Cost benefits are achieved by reductions in quantities of concrete, steel and excavation, which in turn reduce labor costs. Beams are smaller and slab thickness is less, therefore savings in excavation and site preparation are possible.
Isn't this cool information? I think so and know that secretly you do too!
Until next time peeps!
Camille
*Disclaimer: I do not claim to be a professional writer nor am I am proficient in where to place commas, when to italicize (or is it appropriate to italicize or use parenthesis?) and that my sentences are grammatically correct. I am merely releasing all the thoughts that are in my brain and sharing them with you. If you enjoy my posts GREAT but I know they are written with many errors. Taking a creative writing class or a grammar class is next on my “to do” list. I promise. I also like to use double exclamation points!!!! (sometimes more than 2!) I am also NOT a licensed contractor, home builder or anything of that nature. This is strictly "good info" to know regarding Real Estate as I learn it on the job!
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