Long Post- sorry. Never thought much about masonry/concrete construction until I saw a major developer (120 homes/year) using it. I bought a lot in rural part of county that had already been graded, partially developed. Owner changed his mind and lot sat vacant for 2 years. I considered regrading-digging out for basement, but I didn't like the numbers. Considered crawl space, but spouse wanted 2 steps into the front of house, 1 step out the back, and I've seen a bunch of crawl space homes with standing swimming pools in the crawlspace. Decided to do masonry/concrete construction on foundation. (That is, we put in a conventional footing and masonry walls, put down gravel, poly, insulation and poured the concrete floor on top.) Good- don't have to worry about placement of interior walls. Always plenty of support from the concrete. Easy to use radiant floor heating in the concrete. Great floor for tile. You bolt the outside walls to the concrete, so with hurricane straps on the top of stud wall, and bolts in the bottom plate, that wall isn't going anywhere. Neutral-you have to be very exact when placing the plumbing/drain lines as it is under the concrete. Negative- if you miss with the plumbing, you have to either move the wall to match the plumbing or get the concrete saw, so you better have a plumber who can read a plan. If your concrete pour is a little off level, you have to use leveling compound in those places. You can't fix the problem by trimming the band joist to level the floor. The electrical is run through the stud wall or in the ceiling and dropped down stud wall instead of up through the floor into the stud wall, so no real difference there. We used engineered hardwood (floating floor) and tile. I can't tell any difference in the feel of the flooring when you walk across it, only there is no bounce to the floor. The floating floor sounds a "little klunky" when you walk on it, but the hardwood sounds exactly the same on my 2nd story floor, which is floor truss and subfloor as it does on the masonry/concrete 1st floor. Would I do it again? Yes sir. Do I think it will be standing 100 years from now? Yes sir, long after I'm gone. I am a huge supporter of remodel and renovate. I do not believe in "trashing" any worthy structure, and I really get my nose out of joint when I hear our leaders yelling for new schools, new city/county buildings, because they claim the old buildings have "outlived their economic usefulness". I say B$. I think it is absolutely foolish to not consider renovation first in any building. But,... I have seen some amazing house building products come to market in the last 40 years. Whoever thought we would be using cement siding? Benefits: Rigid construction, can't visually tell the difference between crawlspace or masonry/concrete except masonry/concrete allows you to build closer to the finished grade. August elec bill with both heat pumps cooling= $120. September elec bill $117. Everything electric except water heater. I would further respectfully point out that I used to know a man in England who lived in his family's masonry/concrete and stone house that was built in 1019. And, he thought we did't know anything about "real building because our oldest structures are only 300 years old". Go figure!
We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today. [ About Us ]
Today's Featured Article - The Nuts and Bolts of Fasteners - Part 2 - by Curtis Von Fange. In our previous article we discussed capscrews, bolts, and nuts along with their relative hardness and thread sizes. In this segment we will finish up on our fasteners and then work with ways to keep them from loosening up in the field. Capscrews, bolts and nuts are not the only means of holding two parts together. When dealing with thinner metals like sheet tin, a long bolt and
... [Read Article]
Latest Ad:
Oliver 550 Diesel runs like a watch three point hitch pto engine gone threw about two hundred hours ago nice clean tractor
[More Ads]
All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy
TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.
