Hello all.
I post this as a caution to all prospective home buyers to thoroughly check your documentation to ensure your engineering drawings are created by reputable engineers that err on the side of caution when configuring your slab plans.
there is an eminent problem that is growing by the day where waffle pod slabs are heaving to the point where its creating a structural nightmare for clients, these numbers are in the hundreds and growing. The problem predominately exists where pods sit on filled sites with little or no additional blind concrete to bind the slab to the natural earth. The unforeseen problem is the drought conditions were unaccounted for, overlayed with an extremely wet period, this has caused filling to turn to slush thus cause the dwelling to move more that what it is engineered to do.
This is not a problem for all waffle pod users, but only where engineers have been pushing the envelope to achieve cost cutting measures without consequences for the 1% factor. My understanding is that its a growing problem and one which is a nightmare to rectify.
So my advice is simple. If you're using a waffle, and there's filling on your land on or greater than say 300mm....demand blinding concrete or an SR slab! you'll thank me for it as the few thousand you'll spend extra will save 20 times that, heavy litigation costs, and your family!
If you're one of the unlucky ones, get an independent engineers report from a REPUTABLE engineering firm with rectification procedures and have your builder conform
I post this as this is my good deed for the week
Cheers