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J

jjwv_mu_rivals

Redshirt
Feb 20, 2002
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So the rain forest season has killed my construction with numerous delays. But, we have gotten the poured basement walls finished, basement slab finished, and rough in plumbing in the basement. We are working on the garage now.

HOWEVER, we have now hit a different snag......starting to flip on our floor plan design. We started out with a 1.5 story home with 3 dormers in the front, one 28 foot shed dormer in the back with a bonus over the garage (picture of the style of house below). Now we are thinking why not just do a complete 2 story home? The first floor design would stay the same, but would allow for more room upstairs for my girls and their rooms than a 1.5 story would (picture of that style below as well).

I guess my main question is: I went with an 8" poured wall because a 1.5 story home is considered a 1 story. My concrete guy told me a 2-story would require a 10" poured wall (but my local building codes do not require this). Could a 2-story home be on an 8" poured wall? I've answered this by rationally considering that 2-story homes are built on 8x8x16 concrete block everywhere, why would an 8" poured wall be the same. But I have no real knowledge about it.



 
W

WVUCOOPER

Redshirt
Dec 10, 2002
55,556
40
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jjwv_mu said:
So the rain forest season has killed my construction with numerous delays. But, we have gotten the poured basement walls finished, basement slab finished, and rough in plumbing in the basement. We are working on the garage now.

HOWEVER, we have now hit a different snag......starting to flip on our floor plan design. We started out with a 1.5 story home with 3 dormers in the front, one 28 foot shed dormer in the back with a bonus over the garage (picture of the style of house below). Now we are thinking why not just do a complete 2 story home? The first floor design would stay the same, but would allow for more room upstairs for my girls and their rooms than a 1.5 story would (picture of that style below as well).

I guess my main question is: I went with an 8" poured wall because a 1.5 story home is considered a 1 story. My concrete guy told me a 2-story would require a 10" poured wall (but my local building codes do not require this). Could a 2-story home be on an 8" poured wall? I've answered this by rationally considering that 2-story homes are built on 8x8x16 concrete block everywhere, why would an 8" poured wall be the same. But I have no real knowledge about it.



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**I don't know **** about building a home, architecture, engineering, etc. Nothing. **

How much would it cost to change the poured walls? I would generally side with your concrete guy being the expert. I'd rather spend the money up front than dump it down a hole later.

Of course, it's possible I'm a sucker when it comes to this.
 
M

MichiganHerd

All-American
Aug 17, 2011
44,277
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I'm not an engineer, but did spend some time at one of the best engineering schools, WV Tech.

The rule of thumb is generally 1" thickness for every 1 foot depth of your basement walls, obviously with a minimum of 6". I've seen hotels constructed with only 6", but Red Roof Inn doesn't give a **** about your well being. You could probably get by with 8", but if cash isn't a concern, it would make sense to do 10" walls. I would solicit a 2nd opinion, if you don't know your concrete guy well enough. Obviously, he would like the additional business, but if you feel it's legit, I would go ahead and do it.
 
DvlDog4WVU

DvlDog4WVU

All-Conference
Feb 2, 2008
47,231
3,298
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jjwv_mu said:
So the rain forest season has killed my construction with numerous delays. But, we have gotten the poured basement walls finished, basement slab finished, and rough in plumbing in the basement. We are working on the garage now.

HOWEVER, we have now hit a different snag......starting to flip on our floor plan design. We started out with a 1.5 story home with 3 dormers in the front, one 28 foot shed dormer in the back with a bonus over the garage (picture of the style of house below). Now we are thinking why not just do a complete 2 story home? The first floor design would stay the same, but would allow for more room upstairs for my girls and their rooms than a 1.5 story would (picture of that style below as well).

I guess my main question is: I went with an 8" poured wall because a 1.5 story home is considered a 1 story. My concrete guy told me a 2-story would require a 10" poured wall (but my local building codes do not require this). Could a 2-story home be on an 8" poured wall? I've answered this by rationally considering that 2-story homes are built on 8x8x16 concrete block everywhere, why would an 8" poured wall be the same. But I have no real knowledge about it.



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Nothing to add on your actual technical question. My neighbor has the exact house pictured in the second one. Same color and landscaping, even. I’m half of the belief that the picture is his house.

He recently reno’d the garage to build it up for a large bonus room on the second floor. The reason I bring that up, is if expansion is something you might think of for the future, seems like an easy way to grab some extra sq footage.

Good luck.
 
M

Mntneer

Sophomore
Oct 7, 2001
10,192
196
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jjwv_mu said:
So the rain forest season has killed my construction with numerous delays. But, we have gotten the poured basement walls finished, basement slab finished, and rough in plumbing in the basement. We are working on the garage now.

HOWEVER, we have now hit a different snag......starting to flip on our floor plan design. We started out with a 1.5 story home with 3 dormers in the front, one 28 foot shed dormer in the back with a bonus over the garage (picture of the style of house below). Now we are thinking why not just do a complete 2 story home? The first floor design would stay the same, but would allow for more room upstairs for my girls and their rooms than a 1.5 story would (picture of that style below as well).

I guess my main question is: I went with an 8" poured wall because a 1.5 story home is considered a 1 story. My concrete guy told me a 2-story would require a 10" poured wall (but my local building codes do not require this). Could a 2-story home be on an 8" poured wall? I've answered this by rationally considering that 2-story homes are built on 8x8x16 concrete block everywhere, why would an 8" poured wall be the same. But I have no real knowledge about it.



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You should have a review by a structural engineer performed. An 8" poured foundation wall may be sufficient depending on concrete and rebar used, as well as your footer design, but it's best to get that signed off on. You'll probably also need to modified any structural steel you have.

You're going to be adding a load to the foundation and therefore a structural engineer should review what that additional load is going to do with the foundation you currently have. Also, most localities will require a plan change for the permit, and a change of this nature would more than likely require you to provide the inspector stamped drawings, or at least a letter from an engineer stating that the additional load would not be a problem.
 
dave

dave

Senior
May 29, 2001
60,601
818
113
jjwv_mu said:
I have a basement. I'll have a support wall running length of the house to carry the weight of the I-joists.
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I think if you get your concrete and suppirt walls OKd to carry the extra live and dead loading of the 2nd floor it should be Ok. Not sure if your insurance will require that to be signed off by an engineer.
 
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