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  1. #1
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    Ganesh's Avatar
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    Filling in between foundation beams

    Hi,

    I was visiting my in-laws this weekend and decided to go for a walk in their moobahn. Came across a home being built, and it being Sunday and nobody around I poked my head in for a look. Place looked fine, quite big, but I noticed that they had begun putting the concrete slabs down across the beams, but they didn't put anything underneath it. I thought I had read on here before that sand was usually put between the floor and the earth below.

  2. #2
    Thailand Expat Pragmatic's Avatar
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    Not a problem, the concrete slabs will do their job and the space will act as a water barrier.

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    Thailand Expat Fondles's Avatar
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    When they lay slabs on the second floor beams they do not under fill with sand so I cannot see why it would be needed on the first floor.

  4. #4
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    There are advantages and disadvantages to back-fill under the ground floor
    one advantage is that you dont need to make forms for the slab when you back-fill, an other way to not use forms is of-course to use pre-stressed slabs.
    an other advantage is that you dont have a void under your house that you might not have access to, or have limited access where critters might take residence.

    a disadvantage to back filling under the ground slab is that you do not have access to your drain pipes and other mechanical. and since the slab is in contact with the ground the possibility of dampness. and of course as mentioned before who knows what will live in that void.
    The sooner you fall behind, the more time you have to catch up.

  5. #5
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    Allowing that air pocket helps to keep the house cool,to infill it would be pointless.

    All your doing is basically putting the first floor on stilts!

    I would not worry about what might take up residence under there,as most leave enough crawl space to evict any unwelcome pests.

    That is exactly how our house was going to be,but the slippery builder talked my wife into half a meter ground clearance where as I had told him one meter.

  6. #6
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    Not a real problem

  7. #7
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    Another advantage: imagine you don't fill up the space under your beams but you do fill up everything around your house. When it rains, all of the soil around your house will wash away under your house leaving gaping holes in your garden. This can be very dangerous when you've got tiles or concrete in your garden so you don't see the holes before you fall in.


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    Quote Originally Posted by Koetjeka View Post
    Another advantage: imagine you don't fill up the space under your beams but you do fill up everything around your house. When it rains, all of the soil around your house will wash away under your house leaving gaping holes in your garden. This can be very dangerous when you've got tiles or concrete in your garden so you don't see the holes before you fall in.

    You do not fill ground around your house if it is raised!

    For instance if you build one meter above the ground level your footing will still be in the ground.
    Most block up around the bottom of the house with steps leading up to the house ground floor.

    I'm not being rude but only an idiot would build a raised house to only then fill the land around it.

  9. #9
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    You do not fill ground around your house if it is raised!
    But if it's raised, why would you fill the space under your house with sand anyway? Then it wouldn't be raised anymore right? I thought we were talking about a non-raised house here

  10. #10
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    Yes lots of confusion

    If you do not intend to leave an air space under the floor then their is no heed for the concrete precast slabs.

    You would just lay a concrete base straight down!

  11. #11
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    whats the size of these concrete slabs? do they come in different sizes?

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    Quote Originally Posted by poorfalang View Post
    whats the size of these concrete slabs? do they come in different sizes?
    They are actually more of a precast concrete plank laid across the horizontal beams which has about a six inch thick base laid on top.

    I can not remember the size that we used but know that a a lot of companies will make what size you want to order.

  13. #13
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    I think the confusion is on the height that the ground floor is usual raised,
    If you raise the ground floor high enough where you could crawl under the beams then you have what is commonly called a crawl space and it is not necessary, and in my opinion would be undesirable to back-fill that space,
    provided that there is enough ventilation to prevent dampness.Such space could be useful for access to mechanical systems, and storage
    But in the cases where there is insufficient space under the beams for access , as is in most cases with ground floors, then back-fill is desirable, it secures that area, and provides for a less expensive monolithic concrete pour.

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