The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #59418 Message #3155855
Posted By: gnu
17-May-11 - 03:08 PM
Thread Name: BS: The Mother of all BS threads
Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads
SRS... a difficult question... it all depends on what's underneath. Usually, a building with a small footprint doesn't have a problem with an even distribution of additional weight regardless of the soil conditions. An uneven distribution can be a problem if the underlying soil conditions are such that bearing capacity is an issue.
Of course, I can't see your place and the surrounding area from here so even an educated guess is ruled out. Perhaps a call to the local building authority or any engineering schools nearby (although, engineers are VERY reluctant to make any comment as they are liable even for verbal "advice" even when given freely) may yield some info about soil conditions. There may even be some info on the net.
In a nutshell, when you build "evenly" on "uneven conditions" or when you "build unevenly" on even conditions, yer going against the first rule of soils engineering.
As for rebar, it can't hurt... except in the wallet if it isn't installed properly and I've seen many a contractor not install it properly. That is, it's not supported properly so that it doesn't stay at the right height in the slab. Anyway, I shant get into too much detail unless you want me to do so.