Cable coming from foundation...What is it?

[David Nasser]

Southern Calif. home built 2005 on a slab foundations.

[Marcel R. Cyr]

Looks like an unbonded Post tension cable, severed.
Jeff Pope probably knows more.

[Jeffrey R. Pope]

That is a failed tendon, which is a structural deficiency. For a house buit in 2005, the builder is responsible for repair, unless the owner severed the cable.

As Marcel stated, this is an "unbonded" type cable, which means that it is always live. When they break/fail, they can cause property damage and/or personal injury.

If the occupants were home when this failed, they would have known something happened. The failure will shake the entire house.

[Brian E. Kelly]

That is a great Picture

[David Nasser]

Originally Posted by jpope

That is a failed tendon, which is a structural deficiency. For a house buit in 2005, the builder is responsible for repair, unless the owner severed the cable.

As Marcel stated, this is an "unbonded" type cable, which means that it is always live. When they break/fail, they can cause property damage and/or personal injury.

If the occupants were home when this failed, they would have known something happened. The failure will shake the entire house.

Thanks...

[Daren J. Wright]

usually happens when the framers drill holes to install wedge anchors. As a superintendent I saw this all the time. Those cables are pulled to 15k psi or more. When they let go they can shoot out completly or it can be fairly quiet and unnoticeable, just a slight pop in the side of the slab.

[Jeffrey R. Pope]

Actually, in PT slabs, the cables are normally stressed between 2250 and 2750 psi. . .

[Tim Spargo]

PT slabs are neat.... especially when they tile the slab right away, while it's still green and under tension....ugh. Even tile showers become kinda neat when installed on the PT slab floor. I think I can write a report on a newer home before I walk in the home for some of the defects in there. I say "neat" because it gives me something to look at

Slip sheets for the tile...."we don't need 'em!!!" Would add at least a hundred bucks to the cost of a new home...

Construct the mop/membrane system for the stall shower and drypack floor within a couple weeks after the slab is poured.... "why not?"

I looked at 3 in the last couple days with tile at entry/halls and a tiled floor with PT slabs..... all were nicely cracked on floor tiles. Corners of tiled showers??? cracked.

[Joe Funderburk, CMI]

Interesting. A PT slab is something I have yet to see in the Carolinas.

[Sean Fogarty]

We don't have them fancy houses here in the hills of TN

[David Nasser]

Originally Posted by sfogarty

We don't have them fancy houses here in the hills of TN

I love any foundation that I doesnt have a crawl space.