PreCast Foundation Review - Is it worth the Savings on MONEY and TIME?

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[doublezmtnman]

I have a Superior Walls out of Pittsburg basement and I am totally pleased with the whole system but especially the employees. They were excellent to deal with and so professional. I prepped and compacted the footers to their specs and when they arrived it only took them 1 hour to set my 30x40 basement walls plus it was cheaper and way quicker than onsite poured walls or block. As an HVAC service tech I have crawled under houses for years and I swore to myself that when I built my own home there would be NO CRAWLSPACE! Love my Superior Walls.

[michaelmaas]

Used them for the first time about 25 years ago I’ve never had any issues, I’ve probably built at least 100 homes with them highly recommended!

[TunafishSmoothie]

My inlaws built a house a few years ago. The walk out basement with 9' ceilings is superior walls, with a two-story house from SMI sitting on top. It was amazing to watch: The excavation and placing of superior walls was done in a few days. There was no need to wait, so the house was craned in to place in pieces over the next few days. Basically one week from beginning excavation, to a dried in building. Another few weeks to finish (flooring, garage was stick built, hooking up water/sewer, hvac, etc). The house is well built, I definitely checked it out. They have been there for over 4 years now, with no problems at all. The basement was originally unfinished, which had 9' superior walls. They have finished and insulated it since moving in. It was easy to finish. The basement is warm in the winter, cool in the summer, and quiet. I'm impressed, and am considering them for an upcoming project in my area.

[thenaughto]

I see these walls all time here in the Midwest as a home inspector. Have never seen any settling issues, water leaks or stress cracks in any of them.

Tend to find them in higher end custom homes and subdivisions. I think its a great product!

[alexanderaprill]

As someone that did excavation in the Michigan for a lot of years. I have helped set 40+ and never had any issues. They seem to be a wonderful product and usually are cheaper than pored walls. Biggest part of this system from a excavation stand point is the footer drain. we usually dug it into the sand under the stone. Needs to be deep and fast to open air otherwise you have water sitting in the stone.

[johnnyhimburg]

Man its nice to see a Alabama builder on and building the modern ways. Thank you for having them on the show!

[ads]

I've seen these installed in my area outside NYC for over 20 years. I have not used them myself but, I have spoken to one builder in the area that likes them and also told me it was a cost savings as well as a time savings. I did hear about one house many years ago that the walls moved when pouring the slab and it was a big problem.

[scottstephenson]

Builders love these (Superior Walls) here in NC. I talked with my excavator about them. They can be susceptible to penetration or displacement (before the slab is in) by an excavator because they're strong but not very thick. They drain really well because they sit on pea gravel. My excavator told me he was doing an addition once, and the pea gravel started pouring out as he dug. You can't backfill until you've poured the slab and put on the subfloor, to avoid lateral movement. And the backfill has to sort of delicate and the right material. The sections are bolted together and sealed. I kind of like these in theory, but I'm a bit leery in practice. The corner studs aren't included - you have to custom fab those to spec.

Not trying to dump on Superior Walls. Just sharing what I've researched (a million videos out there on these). I may end up using Superior Walls in my spring build. Because they're fast and kind of a known quantity (high PSI concrete poured in a controlled environment), and because my builder loves them. Maybe. If I can't afford or I can't wait for poured.

[TouristTrophyDetroit]

I just got my estimate from these guys for my 1320 square foot rectangle foundation and these guys will save me thousands on my initial budget for full concrete. They do the install and they can do the 8 inch floor foundation. Can't wait to get my house going.

[NSResponder]

But what if I love setting and stripping basement wall forms, cleaning up blowouts, and the smell of form oil all over my clothes? Also, I crave the drama of getting the wrong mix delivered, and having to worry about weather on the pour day!

[raycadwallader]

I am currently building my new house in Tennessee using the Superior wall system. It is a great product! Love the channel Matt! I've learned so much!

[nathankischel]

Love it! Site forming cast on site is a challenging process especially when the weather hits. The other plus is this product is probably pre-engineered which could mean no third party structural review which can add 2-3 days to a pour schedule

[leonjames]

I just used them on my new home and I’m happy so far.

[AaronHope_Sow]

Not a ton of basements here in Central North Carolina but the few we have are built with Superior Walls 3/4 of the time even with builders like Pulte, Taylor Morrison, and Stanley Martin.

[cdagwyo]

Another great video from The Build Show. I’m very familiar with this precast foundation from 15+ years ago and can attest to the benefits.
I found the podcast and hopefully I’ll be able to see y’all in Florida.

[dwstrong]

Currently building a stacked wall Superior Wall house. Great product to build a durable and tight house

[WVdavidB]

They do a lot of these in WV where I'm from. But what you need to do is a video on foundation penetrations. Those wires coming through in the intro looked horrendous! A hydraulic cemented in PC pipe would look so much better! And I really wish people used a core drill the correct size with a diamond hole saw instead of chiseling holes through walls.

[mylifeintexas]

They do make an above grade wall system also that I’ve thought about.

[gibsonbuilds]

Good video. I used them one time. Great system but my experience it did cost more than the other standard foundations. Maybe 20% more. You can go from nothing but a dug hole...then install stone... install a full basement...and be framing in about 12 hrs. It was sweet!

[douglasgloff]

When I built my house we priced block and superior walls. In the end it was cheaper to do superior walls, plus you are getting 5000 psi consistent through out the concrete.