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Monolithic slab in a cold climate

William Ritke-Jones| Posted inGreen Building Techniqueson

I’ve been talking to an excavator who says that he has done quite a few monolithic slabs up here in Vermont, including one for his own home. I’m wondering if anyone else has used a monolithic slab in a cold climate and if so, how did they do it? I’m thinking that 4″ of foam insulation under the slab and another 4″ around the slab would work, but I wonder how far out it should go. I also wonder about what kind of vertical insulation to use around the slab perimeter. Any advice?

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Replies

  1. GBA Editor
    Martin Holladay||#1

    William,
    Yes, you can install a frost-protected shallow foundation in a cold climate.

    Here's a link to an article with more information:Frost-Protected Shallow Foundations.

  2. William Ritke-Jones||#2

    Thanks!

  3. John Klingel||#3

    You can also go tohttp://cchrc.org/and read their information on FPSF's. Do a search of "frost protected shallow foundations."

  4. Dan Kolbert||#4

    Alan Gibson wrote a good piece on his techniques in the April 2010 JLC.http://www.jlconline.com/cgi-bin/jlconline.storefront/4f80c30e091c174427190a323cb4061d/Product/View/1004sup

  5. William Ritke-Jones||#5

    thanks for the resources!

  6. Tommy Hakomaki||#6

    Frost-proctected shallow foundations are pretty much standard when building a house here in sweden. Here is an example of a type of foundation called supergrund:http://www.aerobord.ie/images/stories/multimedia/Supergrund_flyer_Newstyle.pdf. this on have a U value of 0.11 w/mk2 down to as low as 0.07 w/mk2.

  7. John Klingel||#7

    Tommy H: Very nice. For those of us wanting an edge beam, these would work real well. Does anyone know if these are available in the States? At one time, a builder here was tinkering w/ the idea of having these made here, but then changed his slab design.

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