Adding Concrete to the footers, creating the grade beam

Always put some extra money into the foundation of your home, instead of purchasing fancy expensive window treatments or a hot tub. Most home builders in Florida will build single family homes on monolithic slabs. This leaves your foundation extremely vulnerable to cracking and shifting. With a typical monolithic slab, homeowners have complained of drywall cracks and tile cracks. My house (shown) is built on a self-supporting slab or also known as a stem wall foundation. It utilizes a grade beam consisting of concrete and steel rebar (shown) to support the weight of the exterior walls and roof structure. Concrete blocks are placed on the exterior edge of the grade beam and then fill dirt is placed inside of the stem-walls. A concrete slab is then poured in the center of the stem wall blocks. This allows for all of the load to be transferred to the grade beam rather than the slab itself.