[sixspeed]

Anyone else in the villages having problems with cracks in the concrete slab of the home which is under air. Cracks which can be seen thru the vinyl flooring or transmit thru tile.

[PJ]

Yes, I have one. My salesperson explained to me that cracks in the concrete foundation are very common, and (Duh!) I believed her. Maybe I was crazy to buy the house knowing there was a crack, but she said it was nothing to worry about. OK you all, feel free to criticize my judgement, as I've been doing that to myself anyway. If you really think about it though, all our houses here are built on sand, which we know has a tendency to shift. How silly is that?

I recently replaced all my carpet with wood laminate, so I had an opportunity to see how big my crack really is. It's narrow, but very long, and goes from the back corner of my kitchen, to the front foyer, then splits and runs to the back of the living room! It isn't very deep, because there was no moisture or mold under or in my carpet or padding. Anyway it is now filled completely with crack filler, and I'm going to try to not worry about it (I hope)...

I wonder if the builder reinforces the concrete foundations with rebar or other reinforcement? Have any of you seen this done here?

[bamafan]

These days concrete is reinforced with fiberglass fibers that are mixed in with the concrete.

[The Great Fumar]

Yes PJ I have seen it done and first they wet the sand with a salt solution that has a termite poisen in it and pack it down with tamping machines.....then they lay down a heavy layer of plastic (very thick) and build a grid of rebar and they are all wired together , This gives a very strong platform to set a house on .....this one of the reasons they say you don't have to worry about termites for the first five years .....After that you'll have to have it done by outside vendors.......You will have cracks but they shouldn't be serious.......They do build a very good house here so relax and enjoy.....
the layed back fumar

[another Linda]

Ok, so since our place was built in 1993, I can probably expect cracks, right? Now, if I pull up the carpeting and want to replace it with hardwood floors or engineered wood, what happens about termites? Are wood floors a bad idea?

[jjdees]

I once read that if all the termites in the world could be weighed, they'd outweigh the humans. Frightening huh?

[PJ]

Thanks Great Fumar for that informative description of how our foundations are built. I guess there's no need to be concerned about the cracks in the concrete. At least there aren't any cracks in the walls or ceilings (knock on wood!)...