Expert: Lee Kilcup - 12/17/2008

Question
QUESTION: Is it possible to have a mostly slab foundation with a small cellar to house furnace, water heater, plumbing access, and emergency kits?

ANSWER: It is possible to have a slab foundation. Generally when we see this type of detail it involves a thickened edge. The footing must have sufficent size and reinforcing to support the wall above it so you will need to determine the soil bearing pressure and spread the load of the wall to the soil via an adequate size footing.
If you are in an area that is subject to freezing the bottom of the footing generally will be several feet below the surrounding grade so that the frost does not damage the concrete and cause it to heave.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: How do you go about estimating the cost for laying out the concrete.  I know how much I want, I just need to price it.

Answer
The way that we do it is to take all of the relevant activities:
Layout
Excavation
Fine Grading
Formwork
Templates (racks for reinforcing)
Rebar and Mesh
Placing of concrete
Finishing of concrete
Concrete patching (may not be req'd)
Curing and Sealing of Concrete
Backfilling Stucture
Landscaping
We identify appropriate units of measure for each activity and determine the material and labor costs by multiplying the quantities times the unit prices to get a total. The materials you can get a quote from your concrete supplier or local lumber yard. The labor is tougher to estimate and should be back checked with a total number of hours or days for your crew.
We then add a contingency factor for unforseen conditions and that is how much the job should cost. Hope I understood your question correctly.