Superior Walls, foundations

Inspected a home yesterday with a pre-cast concrete foundation wall system.
Superior Walls
I have never seen this type of system in residential construction up here in the Northland. The only real problem I see is the butt joints and corners, that will need periodic maintenance on the exterior.

Reminds me of a PWF, only on steroids!

Ron,

They recommend polyurethane caulk, which is the proper caulk, however most literature I have read indicates polyurethane caulk has a maximum 20 year life span. As with any system the devil is in the details. All the engineering and cost of building this foundation can be wiped out if the person assigned to caulk the joints is not properly trained in the preparation of the joint and application of the caulk material. One other potential issue is the effect of UV light on the exposed caulking above ground. IMO the backfill material, drainage details along with proper surface water management will be more important than ever with this system.

Wow, so does that mean they need to dig down to the footer at the corners every 20 years to re-seal the walls, and possibly sooner at UV exposed areas?

Not to mention having to hire someone with experience with this system and how to properly re-caulk it.

If so, not a system I would want.

Thanks for the post Randy.

I have attached a sample of their 15 year warranty. It would be reasonable to expect the concrete panels to last 50+ years, however I suspect the 15 year warranty has to do more with the life of the sealant.

I like it.

http://www.superiorwallspa.com/index2.html

BTW- Good luck getting a 15 year waterproof warranty with other foundation types.

It looked pretty sloppy compared to the stuff I have worked on in palm beach.

They made all panels off direct site moved to site and set in place. They used a combination of different materials to fill the void. I was just doing the stucco so I do not remember exactly the process they used but I have not heard of any problems with them yet. The newer super high quality paints would surely help stop the cracking that will happen at the joints with most systems.

Superior is a bit more common around here and when I was a builder I used to see their reps all of the time. I have inspected two homes with their foundations - both had water intrusion at the outside and inside corners only (sealant failure). Quotes on both for repairs were below $5,000 including excavation (one home was $600,000 and the other was almost $900,000). So if after 20 or so years if there is work to be done how is it any different than any other foundation or house that’s built in a simple or inexpensive quality.

Ron, I inspected this type of foundation a few months ago. It was a lot neater than what I am seeing in your photos.

At the house I inspected, the penetrations were wrong. They will filled them with expanding foam instead of proper poly sealant.

They also drilled through the rebar in the bond beams and the holes were too big.

I just recommended having a superior wall rep come out and look at it. I am not sure what happened after that.

My basement foundation is 47 years old and dry as a bone. No warranty to worry about.
It is constructed of Concrete with no caulk joints. :wink:

Yep. Who wants a foundation that is only good for 15 years? :shock:

Misses the point.

Try getting a 15 year warranty against leaking with any other foundation.

I don’t have to. My house is 1 year older than me (1953) and still does not leak.

Again, just my opinion. Construction techniques vary from place to place.

I bet it did not come with a warranty.

One year if you are lucky, but that is all you need.

Hmmm…what would I want?..a house with a pre-cast concrete foundation that needs to be caulked every 15-20 years or, a poured in place concrete foundation with water proofing applied to the exterior and sand/pea gravel backfill?..hmmm…I like the latter… :smiley:

:roll:

Can you provide proof that these guaranteed 15 year foundations will leak after 15 years?

And more importantly

What guarantee do you get with the foundation of your choice?

PWF have even longer guarantees but as with ALL foundation systems there are many factors to consider as to their ability to maintain a water proof barrier for the long term.

I fail to understand all the hate on these systems.

Maybe you really can’t teach old dogs new tricks;-)

That my foundation was built best for the soil conditions present on my site.

I don’t hate the other system. I just like mine, as described for our conditions, better.

Could be…:slight_smile:

No guarantee. I get it. :roll:

:slight_smile:

That is the only point I am making.