Finally being able to finance the construction of one's residential premises is no mean feat. Often, the hustle and bustle involved in sourcing funds and the number of decisions to be made for this project takes a toll on prospective new homeowners.
This makes it easy for prospective homeowners to overlook significant aspects of the construction process, thereby making wrong choices and costly mistakes. This article provides a comparison between foundations made of slab concrete and two of the most common alternatives for residential foundation-building. This information would be helpful for prospective new homeowners looking to invest in a slab-concrete foundation.
Slab Concrete vs Screw Piles
The use of screw piles is becoming increasingly common for foundation building in the modern construction industry. This is attributed to the various advantages associated with screw-pile foundations. Top on the list of these advantages is that the use of screw piles reduces the need to excavate large sections of land for the foundation building exercise. Thus, there's minimal site disturbance and this is good for the environment.
A major advantage that slab concrete foundations have over their screw-piled counterparts is that concrete has better weight-distribution properties than the steel used in the fabrication of screw piles. Consequently, slab-on-grade foundations provide a greater degree of stability and they're better suited to bear the weight of larger residential structures. Who wouldn't love a bigger, more stable house?
Slab Concrete vs Crawlspace Foundations
Both of these have their good side. For example, concrete slabs used in foundation building are immune to attacks from termites and other residential pests. In contrast, a crawl space foundation easily attracts rodents and pests that wish to make a home out of the available space.
Crawlspace foundations are advantageous in the sense that they're able to provide additional storage space for the homeowner. More useable space within and around residential buildings is known to increase the market value of such property.
On the downside, slab concrete foundations have a certain degree of permanency. The installation of slabs prevents access to utility lines running underneath the residential premises. When the time comes for maintenance of utility lines, at least one slab has to be removed in order to provide access.
In contrast, a crawl space foundation will allow for the installation of underground utility lines. It will also allow easy access to the utility lines when the time comes for maintenance-related activities. For more information, contact a concrete contractor in your area, such as Ellcon.
