To give some balance to the "poured concrete is the best crowd". I have had 3 homes built for my personal use over the years. All of the basements were poured concrete done by reputable contractors. 3 of the 3 basements had cracks in them within the first week of drying. One of them was extremely bad. Of course those were sealed with tar on the outside before backfilling and didn't leak. Later, 2 of the 3 foundations developed a crack/ leak within the first 10 years of ownership that I had to dig out on the outside and repair. I have no affiliation with Superior walls, but am considering them for my next build. What I do know from experience is that: 1) While poured concrete walls are the standard, they DO NOT guarantee a leak free basement. 2) The best way to keep water from leaking into your basement is to keep the outside of your wall moisture free. Do this by contouring the backfill away from the house and checking it again after it settles. As important is a good eavestrough system to get all the roof water well away from the foundation. Bottom line is that if there isn't moisture outside the wall, you will never have moisture inside the wall!

The biggest issue with using precast walls for foundation is the joint sealing. The joints are caulked, and could potentially leak over time. They should really be doing comprehensive waterproofing at the joints, similar to what people do for ICF foundation --> this will include a waterproof membrane (like Blueskin) at the corners and joints. Superior wall should really be redesigned to at least have ship-lapped joints to reduce probability of leak, similar to precast underground culverts.

Thank you for including the Cons.

My dad and his company have been using superior walls over precast for 20 years. Cost is no longer a real drawback. You forgot to include info like it is brought to site with a 5000 PSI rating or better which is way better than poured. Additionally, it is already waterproofed and has no issues with cracks in foundation. It’s a cleaner look and you can have brick ledges put anywhere on wall to further assist with where you start siding. The stone is not a difficult part and is not an exorbitant cost. You also can set steel the same day and put the deck on the house the next day rather than take a week plus to do old ways of setting basements. Truly our cost (especially when finishing a basement) is better now than poured walls and an immensely better product. The only real difficult part is you have to do a little bit of admin work on the front end to make sure the wall they are proposing to make for you is what you’re going to want.

talking to the company, there is an issue with installing hold downs. They were not clear but stated extra work would be involved.

I just today looked at Superior Walls for our home we're building this spring in Minnesota. The issue I have is no poured footings and the caulk that's underground on the exterior of the panels, in between the cast panels and on the interior seams that will be hidden behind drywall. After maybe 20 years, when the caulk deteriorates, it would be very expensive and messy to re-caulk for keeping water out. I think it would be better to have a poured foundation that you never have to worry about, assuming the concrete used is good with little cracking. I haven't found why the panels are not placed on concrete footings since it sounds like the crushed stone is expensive. Also why exterior water proofing isn't used in case of caulk failure. There are many testimonials that there are few issues and then more that have had leaking issues. I'm not sure what to believe.

I think when you look at the whole package, insulation, framing, and predrilled for electrical, it is less expensive than a poured foundation.

Good video other than contracting a brain injury from the music

Hey Bryan please tell Jack great job on the photos they turned out very well.

So in laymens terms what is the exact difference between Superior Walls, Precast Walls, and Poured Walls. I am new to construction and considering building a studio structure with a basement. Sound resonation is an important factor, due to the way materials reflect sound and the damage they can get from loud low frequencies constantly being played in the room. Any advice would be super appreciated!! Sorry if I sound like Idk what I'm talking about in advance lol

Seems to me that time is money, and this is a one-day job. I'd take that over setting, oiling, pumping, and stripping forms any day. Not to mention, you'll never get a blowout, the strength of the concrete is consistent, etc, etc.

Up here in the north i seen the walls added to a frost wall footing. The Frost wall footing is poured like a normal foundation. I am thinking it depends on location for what footing can be used or what is able to be used.

Cool video bro

could do without that stupid music

I have used ICF which is typically a R50 wall with 6 inch concrete fill. What do these walls use in the joints to keep water seepage away?

I am building a pit greenhouse. It will be 6’Hx12’wx24’L with a diy greenhouse sitting on top. We get extra hot here and winters have been getting colder. Hoping to be able to grow fruits and veggies year round as well as keep my citrus trees from dying. I am trying to figure out if I should use cinder blocks, precast walls, or poured concrete. I would love some suggestions or ideas.

Oliver 🌳

You should never use clay as backfill, no matter what kind of wall you use.

I just bought a new house with a superior wall foundation. Basement and garage are finished out so the walls are behind drywall. If I want to hang shelves and such in the garage, 1) will a stud finder find the studs just like stick studs and 2) is mounting things to them the same?

so you're saying the two disadvantages are cost and the fact that you can't backfill right away I don't see those as disadvantages I see those as advantages for starters costs is relative. The higher cost offsets time and labor of doing a standard foundation. Now not being able to backfill can be an advantage. If you want to put in a rain water collection system, which you could install when the gutter system is installed, which would require the house to already be built and dry in. Even if you don't want to put a rainwater collection, system in. backfilling after the house is built will lower you to hook up gutter system to your weeping tiles. and make sure your drainage is working properly.

So the biggest Pro seems to be the insulation, but what are the differences between this system vs a poured concrete wall that then has the same kind of foam board attached?

Is there a way to buck these windows without wood?

what is special about the clear crush? we fill the excavation with 3/4 clear for traditional footings here, and add even more under the slab. do you guys not do that?

is speed also a factor?

Those might work ok somewhere in the south, but you would have to be crazy to use those here in PA. I have heard numerous horror stories about those walls. It is unbelievable that a company that has to fix so many problems with their product can manage to stay in business. Some people do have good luck with them but you don't save enough money to be worth the risk.

Can this be built in Texas?

Any experience with the walls made of metal studs with styrofoam cast around them? Same idea, but you can use it for the floor, outside walls and roof if I remember right.

Who is in charge of doing the floor

Not a fan of those walls, done about a dozen foundations with them and there always seems to be a problem!

"footing"

Envirocast out of Loudon, TN makes a better wall system

Who cares about R value in basements. Heat loss comes from windows and ceilings. The whole building process is ridiculous. Framer shows up, caps it, then has to wait for the job to be backfilled. Superior walls had to turn the comments off on their KZfaq page 😂😂😂. Need I say more. Thankfully we haven’t had to frame on one of those silly foundations in over 20 years. People in the twin cities completely stopped using them.

I prefer do a good pouring a strong base concrete with rebar . ALSO I WILL ASK FOR WARRANTY OF HOUSE LEVEL 100% FOR 20 YEARS.

Pour walls it’s the best way … Pour walls it’s one Solid pour and has rebar horizontal continuous than will keep your foundation strong. They precast walls its just building in sections put it together with 4 bolts /: 😢 no thanks

Not the best