[Greenbuilding] Redoing all floors

Ktot (g) ktottotc at gmail.com
Thu Jul 28 16:47:15 CDT 2011


I'm really not concerned about the cracking. It certainly could be due in part to the thickness of the concrete. The concrete was originally going to be only 1.5 in. but was increased to 2 in. to hopefully minimize cracking. I believe any thicker concrete would have required building a much stronger floor (which is strong already, i.e., quality was not skimped on at all in this house). A lot of thinking went into the concrete as it had to 1) serve as thermal mass, 2) be as optimal as possible for radiant heat (gypcrete would have been better for that--gains and loses heat more quickly), and 3) was optimal for staining. Two inches of real portland cement ended up being the agreed upon best solution for all those requirements.

Again, though, it's a brand new house and the concrete floor is not on ground level (the ground level slab hasn't cracked at all). Ground settles. New homes settle.

You asked about basement walls. Nothing in the house shows any signs of settling except the concrete that was stained. Who knows--the excessively large (I feel) cracks could be tied directly to the lack of cure time, the moisture being trapped in. Regardless, when the floor is redone the cracks will likely disappear from view.
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Sacie Lambertson 
  To: Green Building 
  Sent: Thursday, July 28, 2011 10:53 AM
  Subject: Re: [Greenbuilding] Redoing all floors


  Aside from normal settling, wonder how much rebar went into that floor and whether the only 2" slab had anything to do with the cracking?  We have 3" concrete over foam (heat in floor too), that over steel joists, lots of joints cut, with minimal and acceptable hairline cracks.  Maybe more than normal settling too--how are the basement walls?  Sacie





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