Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Sep 22, 2014 8:52 am Hi guys, Just a quick question, first time builder here so I'm not sure. My slab has just been poured and it looks really really high to me. The ground surrounding it is substantially lower especially at the garage. Is it the builders responsibility to bring the surrounding natural ground up to a level so that the slab is not visible? Or is the onus on the owner to do this? From memory the engineer said slab thickness to be 385mm h2 waffle Here's the slab in question Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Is my slab too far out of the ground? 2Sep 22, 2014 11:00 am Your slab should be constructed at level shown on approved drawings. Without looking at your docs and site no one can tell you reliably. Has builder forgotten to excavate to required level? However purely from height point of view, higher is better than lower. Slabs that are set too low are always bigger problem. By the way I don't like water around slab edge. What did your inspector say? Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: Is my slab too far out of the ground? 3Sep 22, 2014 11:23 am As They say "a picture can say a thousand words...but engineers work with data and calculations" Some investigative work/data is required, here in WA Engineers only certify slabs. Concrete can not be poured until an engineers certificate has been issued. Designer,Engineer (Civil,Const & Envir),Builder,Concrete & Masonry Contract.Struct Repairs Re: Is my slab too far out of the ground? 4Sep 22, 2014 12:59 pm Thanks guys, Building expert, we were looking into getting inspection pre pour but they poured without telling us. We still have not been given a site start date but framers are starting today or tomorrow lol. The day I took the pic it was pouring rain and that water was on the concrete slurry left around the outside of the form work once it was removed, it look like its pooling up on the slab but it was away. If I put elevation pics up is that what you are talking about? They excavated down but I'm not sure if was to the level required as didn't have a tape on me, it looked right though. The SS said they will bring surrounding site level to the required height against the slab to AS so if they have to bring soil in then they will. What is the maximum allowable slab height above the ground Re: Is my slab too far out of the ground? 6Sep 22, 2014 2:33 pm hitman Thanks guys, Building expert, we were looking into getting inspection pre pour but they poured without telling us. We still have not been given a site start date but framers are starting today or tomorrow lol. The day I took the pic it was pouring rain and that water was on the concrete slurry left around the outside of the form work once it was removed, it look like its pooling up on the slab but it was away. If I put elevation pics up is that what you are talking about? They excavated down but I'm not sure if was to the level required as didn't have a tape on me, it looked right though. The SS said they will bring surrounding site level to the required height against the slab to AS so if they have to bring soil in then they will. What is the maximum allowable slab height above the ground Other things being OK I would not be unhappy about your slab level however builder should have informed you to give you opportunity for your own inspection. I would recommend you get your own independent inspector for the remaining stages. Just last week I found a major structural defect (during pre plaster inspection) that has been missed by: 1 framing carpenter 2 Building inspector 3 Builder's supervisor 4 Builder's QA (they say they have a system but I am not convinced) Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: Is my slab too far out of the ground? 9Sep 22, 2014 6:31 pm hitman Thanks guys, ...we were looking into getting inspection pre pour but they poured without telling us.... Unfortunately, there may be a reason why they poured the concrete without a site inspection and now that the reo is encased it's near impossible to check it. hitman The day I took the pic it was pouring rain and that water was on the concrete slurry left around the outside of the form work once it was removed, it look like its pooling up on the slab but it was away. If I put elevation pics up is that what you are talking about? What's required is pics before, during and after the concrete pour along with measurements & Plans etc hitman They excavated down but I'm not sure if was to the level required as didn't have a tape on me, it looked right though. Looking at what photo you have put up it looks messy... and am I to assume that the reo is all there in the correct location.. you get the gist hitman The SS said they will bring surrounding site level to the required height against the slab to AS so if they have to bring soil in then they will. What is the maximum allowable slab height above the ground That might fix the problem...but what is the soil like under the exposed ring beam..erroded by water runoff, its hard to tell from the photo. The Aust Standards (AS) have the bottom of the footings buried in the ground to the required depth. This is designed to minimize possible future problems under the footings Designer,Engineer (Civil,Const & Envir),Builder,Concrete & Masonry Contract.Struct Repairs Re: Is my slab too far out of the ground? 10Sep 22, 2014 7:23 pm Okay so went to site today and it's all been rectified and graded away from the slab. What's done is done and I can only hope they did the correct work, nothin can be done now. Anyway here's pics of the way it looks today Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Is my slab too far out of the ground? 11Sep 22, 2014 11:32 pm Slab height looks good, area around as well All good Cheers Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: Is my slab too far out of the ground? 12Sep 22, 2014 11:42 pm I think so too. Maybe living 5 minutes from site is a curse of its own lol. I visit about every 2-3 days sometimes more so I see stages of incompletion and freak like I did with the dirt next to the slab, my poor Site Supervisor getting emailed and phone calls about stuff and he just says "hey better to ask and make sure than not at all" Re: Is my slab too far out of the ground? 13Oct 10, 2014 11:57 am Slab looks good! All heights are predetermined by local council and the engineers siteworks & drainage plan. The plan will look a lot like a site plan only with a whole bunch of numbers all over it and maybe some squiggly lines through it. In the middle will be two bold numbers, more often than not BL & FFL for bench level & finished floor level. Generally councils require the FFL to be a minimum 2-300mm above the top of kerb which allows for falls for stormwater, sewer, etc. Slabs generally always look to high just like the rooms will look to small when the framing goes up! I'm actually surprised you didn't mention how small it looks as most people do. The OP has gone The latch and striker are definitely not aligned but there was no point trying to help the OP understand that. Hence the reason they are no longer with us. 12 3977 Hi everyone, Looking for some advise. We are about to build an above ground pool in our backyard. There is a private sewer line running under the pool at 1.6m… 0 7961 Hi, I'm new to this forum so I hope I'm doing this post correctly. Please advise if it's not. I've just bought my place. The inground pool has a marble lining that has… 0 12290 |