Slab foundation question
Hey y’all – I’m planning a new house build here in SC, Zone 3.
Question 1: We’re planning on having a 4-course block wall, raised slab. We have some very large exterior facing slider doors that will be installed in a 2×6 wall and normally these would sit directly on the slab, but I’m wondering if it is worthwhile to drop the slab height for the exterior doors 2 – 4″ thereby creating a sill pan for the door itself to sit in?
Question 2: In addition to dropping the slab for exterior doors, I’ve been considering dropping the slab in the bathrooms to make sure I can get flush transitions between flooring materials with different thicknesses (i.e hardwood vs. tile). In order to give myself a bit more wiggle room, I’ve been considering dropping the slab by 1/2″ or 1″ in the bathrooms so that I can build them up to the same thickness as my 3/4″ hardwood.
Any thoughts greatly appreciated!
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Any thoughts appreciated!
Rainbirdd,
Both ideas would be useful. Both add a lot of complexity to the slab pour. To drop the bathroom slabs you would probably need two pours.
The best way to protect exterior doors is to provide them with a cover limiting the amount of moisture they get. That makes a sill-pan much less important.
This makes sense to me. All my exterior doors will be covered with wide overhangs - anywhere from 6-10' so that's good.
The dual slab pour is what I worry about from a labor cost perspective.
I suppose an alternative is to have a standard slab, and then go back and grind the slab as necessary for the flush thresholds based on material thickness.
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