Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Concrete Slab vs Timber sub floor? 26Apr 16, 2010 3:53 pm That's a really good point (sloping ground) - having to get the site perfectly level for the slab can be a large cost If you have a sloping block, i'd definitely get stumps instead of a slab, also for the safety of being 'above' the waterline. No doubt about it, for renovating, adding services etc. stumps wins hands down. Particle board on the joists between the flooring means no squeaks, you're talking about 30-80 year old houses with no buffer (floorboards on joists). For me - all the extra space, inspection points, and ease of service additions means i'd much prefer stumps. Yep it will cost a bit more. Unless you're in a new development area and everything is pre-specified and the land is dead flat, go for stumps. Re: Concrete Slab vs Timber sub floor? 27Jan 11, 2013 2:58 pm Our house that we bought in the south eastern suburbs of Melbourne was built in 1955, the second extension in the 1970's. They got the timber stumps replaced with concrete ones in the 1970's. I prefer it. Easier to do alterations down the line, I also love having a raised porch above ground. The block is slight;y sloping towards the rear. They are all hardwood joists and bearers, the front ones being over 60 years old and they are fine condition. Who knows what the concrete stumps these days will look like in 60 years. It's noisier than a concrete slab, but yes you can insulate. We have tassy oak boards, and I wouldnt recommend any other type of flooring. It's a shame houses are built so cheaply these days, to meet the price point and the majority of them come with tiles. Re: Concrete Slab vs Timber sub floor? 28Dec 21, 2013 1:19 pm I'm resurrecting this thread as I have the same/similar question. We've had our first set of drawings back from Sekisui. Our land slopes down from the front to the rear and the garage was going to be 5 steps above the entry to the house and there was going to be a further step from the front of the house to the rear of the house. Since our house is a KDR and we have views to the rear we wanted to at least keep the rear of the house at the same FFL (finished floor level) but rather it has dropped down. The reasoning is apparently if we want a complying development we're at our max cut/fill point. Anyway we've asked them to come back with a single level (as the original plan!) using bearers and joists. I have no idea how much that will cost and suspect we won't find out to Mid Jan now. With the cost of the Drop Edge Beams (DEB) surely this will be comparable in costs? And this way we figure we'd have a better view in the rear as it's higher off the ground level. Has anyone else had this type of experience where it actually does work out comparable in price with a project home builder? Re: 29Dec 27, 2013 9:36 am Mel&Em I'd prefer to have heating vents in the ceilings anyways. Having them in the floors means that you are restricted when moving around or buying new furniture as you do not want to cover them. Besides, a 700mm fall only means 350 cut and 350 fill (hardly noticable) Em My in laws built a new house and put them on the floor... it makes more sense to have heating coming up from the bottom... if in the ceiling it has to heat the space that is above the area you feel before it heats up the air at a persons height. Timber stumps all the way. insulate the timber floor underneath.... and the noise goes away. Re: Concrete Slab vs Timber sub floor? 30Dec 29, 2013 9:15 pm Just a comment re the fall of your block. You mention there is a fall of 600mm over the block. However how much fall is there over the actual building envelope. Given you are going two storey chances are there may be less fall over the slab area. If this means there ends up with only 300mm then a slab is a no brainer and should even be the cheaper option. Building Standards; Getting It Right! 1. optional, you can but normally just use the earth from the main switch board 2. should be enough but the distance determines voltage drop - sparky should work it… 1 29187 Engineering timber is certainly a less fuss option, times cheaper to supply and install and better withstands humidity. 1 16403 The concreter will take and reuse. In my case I bought structural LVLs and scraped them back and used them as joists. 1 5438 |