TechWife Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 Has anyone had experience with owning a home on a slab foundation? Did you have any foundation or plumbing issues? If so, how were they addressed? We have only had homes on a crawl space, but are considering building a home on a slab foundation - it's a great floor plan. I'm not sure why they aren't doing crawl spaces in the neighborhood, but they aren't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4everHis Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 We spent 2 years in a house on a slab foundation. My knees & back took 2 years to recover. Good flooring with give is a must. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jann in TX Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 We have built 2 homes on slab foundation (pretty standard here). In the last 25 or so years we have only had one plumbing issue with a line breaking in the slab. It was an 'easy fix' for the plumber-- he inserted a new slightly smaller line directly into the old one (threaded it in) and all was well. One benefit of a slab is that we have stained concrete floors so we walk on the foundation slab all the time! We also wear shoes or house shoes all the time... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrincessMommy Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 We had a home on 1/2 slab foundation (split level). I loved it but Conni is right - you need good flooring. I never remember any issues with plumbing (kitchen was on the slab). We're now on a crawl space after having lived with a basement for 20+ yrs. Please tell me your experience. Ours is not well insulated and we're slowly working on that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Strawberry Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 I love having a nice solid floor under us. We have glazed concrete in the kitchen and 1970s linoleum floors that I am working on tiling over, slowly. Our last was on piers and our floors rotted, so this is SOOOO much better. Our master shower is rusted through. We will have to have the whole thing torn out and that part of the slab chiseled out, and then pipes replaced, and shower put back in. It's going to be a big project, and a few thousand dollars. So that part isn't great. Funny that my joint pain is pretty much gone since we've been here. I guess the lack of dampness is a bigger factor than the hard floors. We don't wear shoes in the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmilyGF Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 We have a slab. It saved the builders a *lot*. We have had no issues at all, though we aren't allowed to have wood on the slab. Most houses here have tile or laminate. We have a toilet but no shower in the area with a slab. Emily Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corraleno Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 We had a slab foundation in our last house, in the Southwest. Most of the floor was travertine, with Pergo in the kitchen (I'll never do that again) and the kids' bedrooms (worked great). We had underfloor heating built into the slab, which was AWESOME. I would love to have underfloor heating again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 Our last house (built new and we lived in it for ten years) was on a slab. It had a mixture of tile, carpet and laminate flooring. We bought this (existing) house two years ago and it's on a slab. It has engineered hardwood and LVT. I have absolutely horrible ankles and not so good knees, but being on a slab has never caused any issues at all that I can tell. Although I never go barefoot, so that might make a difference. Knock on wood, the only plumbing issues we've ever had have been leaky toilets and faucets, so nothing that involved the foundation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuvToRead Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 10 hours ago, TechWife said: Has anyone had experience with owning a home on a slab foundation? Did you have any foundation or plumbing issues? If so, how were they addressed? We have only had homes on a crawl space, but are considering building a home on a slab foundation - it's a great floor plan. I'm not sure why they aren't doing crawl spaces in the neighborhood, but they aren't. I can tell you from experience! If you have a water leak under the house, you must pull up the flooring, jackhammer the concrete until you find the leak, fix leak, pour new concrete, fix the floor. That is if you know there is a leak. Luckily, our leak was from the water heater, and we knew it would leaking because there were hot spots in the floor. Floors are cold, so any pockets of heat are noticeable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bambam Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 We have only had slab foundations here on houses in TX. We've never had foundation (need to water around foundation during dry spells in summer as ground does tend to crack if dry) problems nor plumbing problems. We've lived in TX for 30 years now in four concrete slab foundation homes. One was older, two were new constructions, last one was ~5 years old when we moved in 6 years ago. We did have some friends with plumbing problems - they had to jack hammer/tear up the concrete, fix it, and replace everything again. Those are the only people we've known with any issues with plumbing that required such drastic measures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 Never had anything except slab foundation here in Florida. No issues. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeachyDoodle Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 We had a slab-foundation house which sprung a plumbing leak while we were away on vacation. Because there was nowhere for the water to go, it spread throughout the house and caused a lot more damage than it might have if we'd had a crawl space. We lost pretty much all our furniture because it was sitting in 2 inches of water for days. And we had to replace flooring in the entire house. But that was kind of a freak thing. It would have been a mess no matter what kind of foundation we had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmandaVT Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 We have a slab with radiant heat built into the slab, which is lovely in the winter. We have tile downstairs. Our plumbing isn't inside the concrete (except for the floor heat), so that hasn't been a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 12 hours ago, Desert Strawberry said: I love having a nice solid floor under us. We have glazed concrete in the kitchen and 1970s linoleum floors that I am working on tiling over, slowly. Our last was on piers and our floors rotted, so this is SOOOO much better. Our master shower is rusted through. We will have to have the whole thing torn out and that part of the slab chiseled out, and then pipes replaced, and shower put back in. It's going to be a big project, and a few thousand dollars. So that part isn't great. Funny that my joint pain is pretty much gone since we've been here. I guess the lack of dampness is a bigger factor than the hard floors. We don't wear shoes in the house. When you have your shower re done consider a zero entrance and built so that no shower curtain or door is required. My dh did this in our bathroom and it is my favorite part of our house. He sledge hammered down to dirt (slab foundation)....at the time I thought he was nuts, but I love it. Also I have a very small bathroom but he made it work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 12 hours ago, EmilyGF said: We have a slab. It saved the builders a *lot*. We have had no issues at all, though we aren't allowed to have wood on the slab. Most houses here have tile or laminate. We have a toilet but no shower in the area with a slab. Emily What do you mean you aren't allowed to have wood? By whom? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 1 hour ago, Amanda Pugliese said: We have a slab with radiant heat built into the slab, which is lovely in the winter. We have tile downstairs. Our plumbing isn't inside the concrete (except for the floor heat), so that hasn't been a problem. How can your plumbing not be in the concrete? Where is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmandaVT Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 3 minutes ago, Scarlett said: How can your plumbing not be in the concrete? Where is it? I've been trying to figure out how it can be in the concrete. :-) Um, let me think. The water heater is in a utility closet off of the kitchen downstairs. Pipes leave that and go upstairs through the walls to the bathroom. They also go in the back of the kitchen cabinets to get to the downstairs sink and bathroom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 We have had one, in Oklahoma. My advice is to ask local realtors for advice. Everywhere else we've lived we were told to keep water away from the foundation, but in Oklahoma we were told when the weather went above 90 we should WATER our foundation. Something about the heat causing heaving and then we'd need to add piers under the slab, but water prevented that. Which is absolutely the opposite of any advice I ever heard anywhere else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 1 minute ago, Amanda Pugliese said: I've been trying to figure out how it can be in the concrete. :-) Um, let me think. The water heater is in a utility closet off of the kitchen downstairs. Pipes leave that and go upstairs through the walls to the bathroom. They also go in the back of the kitchen cabinets to get to the downstairs sink and bathroom. Where do your drains go? Your sewage? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 1 minute ago, Katy said: We have had one, in Oklahoma. My advice is to ask local realtors for advice. Everywhere else we've lived we were told to keep water away from the foundation, but in Oklahoma we were told when the weather went above 90 we should WATER our foundation. Something about the heat causing heaving and then we'd need to add piers under the slab, but water prevented that. Which is absolutely the opposite of any advice I ever heard anywhere else. Hmmmm......never heard of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 No troubles here, but the floors are COLD in the winter. We have glue down hardwood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 1 minute ago, Scarlett said: Hmmmm......never heard of that. We only got in the conversation because one house we looked at had an automatic sprinkler system with nozzles turned away from the plants and towards the slab. It was the weirdest thing we'd ever heard, but we confirmed with other people we knew in the area that it really was recommended for that area due to clay soils. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 7 minutes ago, Katy said: We only got in the conversation because one house we looked at had an automatic sprinkler system with nozzles turned away from the plants and towards the slab. It was the weirdest thing we'd ever heard, but we confirmed with other people we knew in the area that it really was recommended for that area due to clay soils. Do you mind saying what part of OK? Maybe I need to water my slab!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 15 minutes ago, Scarlett said: Do you mind saying what part of OK? Maybe I need to water my slab!! I sent you a PM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scbusf Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 Slab here. No issues - knock on wood!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 14 hours ago, Jann in TX said: We have built 2 homes on slab foundation (pretty standard here). In the last 25 or so years we have only had one plumbing issue with a line breaking in the slab. It was an 'easy fix' for the plumber-- he inserted a new slightly smaller line directly into the old one (threaded it in) and all was well. One benefit of a slab is that we have stained concrete floors so we walk on the foundation slab all the time! We also wear shoes or house shoes all the time... We had stained concrete floors as well but we did not live there long enough to know what plumbing issues could have popped up. If you do have knee or back issues, runners or mats might help. It did not exacerbate my back issue and I don't have knee problems as another poster mentioned. I have heard that people say slabs are generally colder than raised floor - which may be okay depending on where you live. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CT Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 In our area (lots of sudden freeze-and-thaws) builders recommend against plumbing in the slab, so our heat & tank is in a large closet and the pipes run through the walls. Ditto pp on beware of tree roots. We have wood on ours with no issues (but then, no plumbing in the slab, so perhaps that's the difference?) Other than that... I don't see a functional difference than cellared floors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
extendedforecast Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 15 hours ago, EmilyGF said: We have a slab. It saved the builders a *lot*. We have had no issues at all, though we aren't allowed to have wood on the slab. Most houses here have tile or laminate. We have a toilet but no shower in the area with a slab. Emily That’s interesting. Every house we’ve lived in has a slab foundation. Three have had wood floors. Also, we had showers in all those houses as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
extendedforecast Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 I’ve only lived in homes on a slab foundation. We bought our first home in 2004, and since then we have never had problems with plumbing. Now I feel like I need to knock on wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Strawberry Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 6 hours ago, Scarlett said: When you have your shower re done consider a zero entrance and built so that no shower curtain or door is required. My dh did this in our bathroom and it is my favorite part of our house. He sledge hammered down to dirt (slab foundation)....at the time I thought he was nuts, but I love it. Also I have a very small bathroom but he made it work. I already suggested it to, but he said no ? We haven't gotten formal estimates yet, so I have no idea what we'll end up with. We have two other expensive projects before we get to this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 28 minutes ago, Desert Strawberry said: I already suggested it to, but he said no ? We haven't gotten formal estimates yet, so I have no idea what we'll end up with. We have two other expensive projects before we get to this one. Why no? Just curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheres Toto Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 We have a concrete slab in our house built in the 1940's. We have padding and carpeting over it now. It doesn't give us any problems, none of our pipes are under the slab (all plumbing is at the outer edge of the house). I don't like our carpeting and want to replace it with Pergo of some sort, which I understand has to be done differently if directly over a concrete slab, but the slab itself has never given us trouble. We don't ever wear shoes in the house and haven't had problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 36 minutes ago, Where's Toto? said: I don't like our carpeting and want to replace it with Pergo of some sort, which I understand has to be done differently if directly over a concrete slab, but the slab itself has never given us trouble. We don't ever wear shoes in the house and haven't had problems. It probably just needs some sort of vapor barrier put down between it and the slab? If so that's no big deal. Usually the "vapor barrier" called for is just 5 mil plastic. We're getting ready to put LVT in our bedroom and will use a vapor barrier between it and the concrete slab. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted April 5, 2018 Author Share Posted April 5, 2018 10 hours ago, Scarlett said: When you have your shower re done consider a zero entrance and built so that no shower curtain or door is required. My dh did this in our bathroom and it is my favorite part of our house. He sledge hammered down to dirt (slab foundation)....at the time I thought he was nuts, but I love it. Also I have a very small bathroom but he made it work. That's already on my list! I'm glad you like it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted April 5, 2018 Author Share Posted April 5, 2018 12 hours ago, Amanda Pugliese said: Our plumbing isn't inside the concrete (except for the floor heat), so that hasn't been a problem. 10 hours ago, Scarlett said: How can your plumbing not be in the concrete? Where is it? 9 hours ago, Scarlett said: Where do your drains go? Your sewage? This! 7 hours ago, Pam in CT said: I (but then, no plumbing in the slab, so perhaps that's the difference?) How can your plumbing not be in the slab? What about the drains for the shower, tub and toilet? I can see how sink drains might exit out the side sheet rock, but there are drains that are already level to the floor. Where do they go if not down into the slab? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmandaVT Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 10 hours ago, Scarlett said: Where do your drains go? Your sewage? Probably through the slab, hmm, hadn't thought of that until just now! :-) I'll have to check. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CT Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 LOL, yes, the waste drains of course go... down, through the slab into the septic pipes. The tanks are in the utility closet, the fresh water pipes run through the walls, and the heating ducts go UP into the space between the ceiling and the roof, and the heat is blown down through ceiling vents. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 Here is a picture of a freshly poured concrete slab showing the plumbing roughed in. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 On 4/3/2018 at 9:01 PM, TechWife said: Has anyone had experience with owning a home on a slab foundation? Did you have any foundation or plumbing issues? If so, how were they addressed? We have only had homes on a crawl space, but are considering building a home on a slab foundation - it's a great floor plan. I'm not sure why they aren't doing crawl spaces in the neighborhood, but they aren't. I've lived most of my adult life in homes on a slab. In California we never had problems, but here in Central Texas, in the specific area where I live, foundation problems are the norm. We did not know this when we bought the house. :-( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzanne in ABQ Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 I've spent most of my life in homes with slab floors, and at least 90% of all homes (probably closer to 95%) here in NM are built on slabs, and really, I've never heard of anyone having plumbing problems in their floors. It's really not a thing. Now, that may have to do with the warm winters, or the dry soil, or just the experience of the builders and plumbers who build all these slab foundation homes, but it's just not an issue around here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Governess Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 We had a leak under/ in the slab once. The plumber just closed the pipe off and rerouted it through our attic. It wasn't a big deal. We haven't had any other problems and have had several different floor surfaces over the years - they have all worked fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted April 5, 2018 Author Share Posted April 5, 2018 15 hours ago, Ellie said: I've lived most of my adult life in homes on a slab. In California we never had problems, but here in Central Texas, in the specific area where I live, foundation problems are the norm. We did not know this when we bought the house. :-( What kinds of foundation problems? Can you elaborate? Do you know what causes them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Strawberry Posted April 8, 2018 Share Posted April 8, 2018 On 4/4/2018 at 3:06 PM, Scarlett said: Why no? Just curious. "I just don't like them." i didn't press it because we have more important things do argue about right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.