having recently excavated for my new passive solar house project I'm now confronted with bedrock and forced to go back to the drawing board. I'd planned on a full basement.
The high point of the ledge is just about at grade and off center of the footprint by a little bit. The grade falls away in every direction from that point to a low of 56" below grade.
backfilling and compacting for a slab-on-grade isn't an option as it cuts too deeply into my budget and presents a difficult challenge of getting the compression to 95%.
So my option seems to be limited to pinning the foundation to the ledge and living with a crawl space . It doesn't seem too bad an idea as I can still have a place to route my wiring and plumbing as well as some cool storage. The foundation as well as the whole house up to the top plate will be icf construction.
My question is this: is the bedrock going to be heat sink drawing away from my house or will it benefit me by maintaining a stable year-round deep ground temperature below my floor. I'd think that my approach would be to insulate the floor very well. I'd have that 45-50 degree temp below the floor.
Am I thinking right on this? I don't think that moisture will much of an issue as the ground is well-drained gravel and sand, and the ledge and building site is a high point.
Thanks for any input
The high point of the ledge is just about at grade and off center of the footprint by a little bit. The grade falls away in every direction from that point to a low of 56" below grade.
backfilling and compacting for a slab-on-grade isn't an option as it cuts too deeply into my budget and presents a difficult challenge of getting the compression to 95%.
So my option seems to be limited to pinning the foundation to the ledge and living with a crawl space . It doesn't seem too bad an idea as I can still have a place to route my wiring and plumbing as well as some cool storage. The foundation as well as the whole house up to the top plate will be icf construction.
My question is this: is the bedrock going to be heat sink drawing away from my house or will it benefit me by maintaining a stable year-round deep ground temperature below my floor. I'd think that my approach would be to insulate the floor very well. I'd have that 45-50 degree temp below the floor.
Am I thinking right on this? I don't think that moisture will much of an issue as the ground is well-drained gravel and sand, and the ledge and building site is a high point.
Thanks for any input