I should has elusidated... 1.5 inch versus 6 to 8 inches. I would rather have 8 inches.

I bet you will find that Superior Walls of Toledo isnt really SUPERIOR WALLS CORP. There is a BIG difference

Truewbil, as you well know the integrity of the superior wall system is based on the 1.75" skin AND the studs that are 5" thick - together AND the steel reinforcing. The walls and andy concrete can flex but do NOT stretch (to the point that your claims could be true). The bowing that you have been whining about exceeds the properties of concrete. You have been crying and spewing hatred for months about something that has absolutely no effect (negative or positive) on your home. What qualifications do you have to support your assumed expertise; your statements show that you do not understand the concept of the system which the science of engineering continues to validate. To get some understanding, answer this question: what does the poured wall footing sit on? The answer may wake you up. You sound like a bitter old woman who has buyers remorse. Have some intellectual honesty and find something productive to do.

Chris
Any building project cannot be better than the people that produce it, no matter what the system used is. All the common systems (block with reinforcing, poured, superior, general precast)will work well in your case if the proper measures are taken to account for the out of the ordinary forces that may be present in YOUR scenario. Garage door width openings require reinforced headers, fluid ground or high wind load areas require lateral resistence when most foundations only consider compressive resistence (vertical), etc.

The superior walls system is a clever feat of engineering - it needs to be produced by competent and conscientious people; and the installation has to be by the book.

In your case, since you want to rise up ten feet off the ground, and subject to horizontal wind load and accidental collision, you should have the any system engineered for your specific application (500.00 - 1000.00 dollars). Then you must make sure you get good people to follow the engineer's spec. Keep in mind that the taller a wall gets, the less inherent stability it will have.

If it was my property, I would look to use a 10' superior wall bolted to a 4' superior wall burried underneath it. A good superior wall dealer can do the engineering for your specific needs.

I hold a professional degree in architecture, have been building for 22 years, I have used the superior wall system in two large homes - 10' tall on slopes, and one standard 8' tall. There are no problems with any. I evaluated all factors before building. For example, both homes that are on slopes are over 100' wide and I placed the 4 foot wall under the 10 foot wall in the back to anchor it and to frost protect it. All my systems have the bulges in places (it is not a problem). Look at the bulged sections before the back fill and you will see that the skin side is not bulged.

I hope this helps

I have asked many people about superior walls in my area and all say it is a great product. My next question does it matter who i get superior in nc or sc. is there a difference between plant that make the superior walls or should I get the best product for any one plant. We are thinking about going down 3 or 4 feet down and the front side to the river will be down 3 to 4 feet but the side to the drive way will be full 10 feet exposed but the 3 sides will be under. What would you suggest in this case. Thanks Chris

EXCELLENT POST!

I have 2 engineering Degrees myself. Regis College of Denver and From Trenton State. The problems I have seen are absolutely install and concrete company related. The "System" is great in theory

I believe a bad installer of a block wall can still mak wall that wont collapse but a bad installer of a superior wall can cause much more serious damage.

When the superior wall installer made the garage wall system, he had no extra reinforcement between garage door bays. The garage door headers send all their weight down between the doors. The entire weight of the building sat on a sill plate and 1.5 inch of concrete wall. I had to dig it out, scratch out the foam and fill the area with concrete or risk a collapse. I was not involved until a fews weeks after the walls were installed so I never saw the plans...

I heartily recommend you have an engineer carefully look over the plans and wall design unless you have experience with building stress. Garage door openings, corners, basement openings, window lentils and seams are all potentially dangerous areas in a structure because of the down and sideways loads. The installer often has no idea what home or building is going to sit on their basement walls so the engineer has to follow the building pressure points down through the basement walls to the earth to make sure everything is safe for the homeowner.

I did not ever buy or have a superior wall personally. I know of them because of problems individuals encountered and then asked me to investigate. The things I have seen led me to believe that in numerous cases (especially southern NJ)there is a disconnect between superior wall producer, wall installer, home contractor and archetect. And the homeowners have no idea that "Superior Walls" does not warranty the product. EXAMPLE I have seen: The homeowner and Archetect change a section of their home from a truss to stick built roof AFTER the original plans went to the superior walls fabricator. The archetect changes the forces but he/she does not realise the superior wall may now collapse. ...and the installer/fabricator responsible simply closes his business and reopens another name leaving a homeowner stuck with no recourse. I hope it never happens to you.
Please behave professionally going forward.

Chris

I know that some of the regions are protected territories, if not all. You may not have a choice of which dealer to use. No matter though, because the most reputable people can blunder and you can't afford a blunder ton the part of your home that every other part depends. to make sure that your foundation of any type goes well:
Have the engineering double checked at least for reasonability.
Hire a consultant who can and will objectively monitor the installation to make sure the specification is realized. a very good builder will do this for you as part of the service, but unfortunately most will not unless they are specifically required to. You should be able to hire an expert consultant or project manager for two days (1 day if the foundation is not large) for approx. $1000.00

As for the second part of your question about what to do in your case, I cannot make an intelligent response. Your written explanation is not clear to me and if I thought it was clear, the chances are too great that I could mislead you because of an unknown miscommunication. My recommendation is for you to go with the dealer if you know them to be reputable and buy some insurance with a professional who has allegiance to you. Your mind and body will thank you.

Have a look at the superior walls home that I built.

In my line of work (Public Construction) if the engineer changes the design after the contract is awarded and the orginal shop drawings are approved. Then the owner is held responsible of the cost overrun and or failure of the design. Not the Producer of the product or the contractor.
Secondly the superior wall system is design with Concrete having a Min compressive strength of 5000 PSI. Where as the min.concrete conpressive strength in building code standard for structural concrete in residential home is 3000 PSI.
The design compressive strength of the superior wall system being higher, superior walls system can build the wall thinner wall thickness.
But It also goes back to the builder or owner not informed on the building systems used or checking in the subcontractors.

Nothing is concrete.... but I think that when job changes result in an inadequate foundation (even if the homeowner signs off) it is the responsibility of the engineer to pick up on the impact of the changes to protect the customer. And it is the responsibility of the new builder to look at the foundation below any spots where severe load will rest. (Just for rule-of-thumb obvious stuff)

Almost every contractor seems to think he can place a big load anywhere on a Superior wall.

I have found that sill plate installers, modular home installers and construction crews are mostly oblivious to the Superior wall requirements and limitations(example: a garage attached after the co). They see a 8 inch wide concrete top on a "Superior wall" basement wall and assume they can lay anything they want on it because thats how they have been doing it for years.

Either that or they just really do not care...they get their money and run. I think the concept is great and I would personnaly use it because it will save money and I believe they work but I feel especially terrible for many young couples who try to do things themselves to save money and end up with nightmares