The foundation of your home is crucial to its structure. Foundation building is one of the most important parts of construction when building a custom home. At Cogdill Home Builders, our custom home builders in Tampa understand foundations.  There are two different types of foundations that we specialize in. To understand the process behind creating a foundation, there are a few things you need to know about this essential platform for your home.

Foundation Information From Custom Home Builders in Tampa 

Monolithic Slabs

Monolithic slabs are constructed by using one concrete pour. Typically, this is a four inch thick slab of concrete. It is thicker where there are load-bearing walls or on the perimeter edges. Monolithic slabs have a number of benefits. For one thing, they are faster to build. For another, they are strong. Proper construction includes reinforcement of steel and fiber mesh. This makes them even stronger. They can be reinforced even further with post-tensioning.

Post Tensioning

Post tensioning is typically used in circumstances where there are poor soil conditions. Since soil is a main support of foundations, the behavior of underlying soils can be significant to the foundation system. In order to strengthen the slab so that soil conditions do not cause moisture fluctuations or settlement, a waffle like system is constructed. This system is made up of stiffening ribs with reinforcing steel and post tension cables constructed from high strength steel surrounded in plastic sheathing. The process called post-tensioning greatly increases the strength of the slab.

Stem-Wall Foundations

There are actually three components to the Stem-Wall Foundation system. The first component is a spread footing which transfers the load onto the underlying soil. The second component is a masonry foundation wall.  Finally, a poured slab is added as the top component.  These foundations also are very strong and have many benefits for home foundations. For one, there is less fill required for sloped lots. This is because the foundation wall can be built at different heights, easily accommodating a sloped lot and reducing the need to level the ground. There is also less movement of the slab edge, and more accurate location of items subject through the slab when using a stem-wall foundation system. Finally, a greater free-board distance from the top of the slab to the surrounding grade of the lot can be accomplished. This gives the home a more pronounced appearance and is visually appealing for the exterior of the home.
Both of these foundation techniques with custom home builders in Tampa and are used at Cogdill Builders of Florida.

Sources:

Better Homes and Gardens