New code in Wichita for slab houses has board recommendation

The city's Board of Code Standards and Appeals recommended on Monday the adoption of tighter building codes for houses built on slab foundations, but not before a lengthy debate over the pros and cons of adding builder costs to home construction, including a controversial $150 charge for soil testing.

The codes now go to the Wichita City Council for action. They were developed by a city task force over the past seven months after an Eagle investigation uncovered significant structural failures in the Maple Shade subdivision in southeast Wichita near Webb Road and Harry.

Under the new codes, builders will be required to determine the moisture vulnerability of soils in order to obtain a building permit, and to use steel reinforcement in all slab foundations.

Wichita architect Tom Compton, who chaired the city task force impaneled in January, said the new codes provide a clear framework to correctly build houses directly on soil without a basement.

The task force determined that Maple Shade houses, while built to code, were built on unstable soil and plagued with a variety of drainage problems.

"This levels the playing field," Compton said.

Compton and Wess Galyon, president of the Wichita Area Builders Association, said the task force found that many slab house builders are already tailoring foundation techniques to soil quality.

"This just makes sure that everybody's playing the same game," Compton said.

However, both men acknowledged higher materials costs as a result of the tighter foundation requirements in the codes.

The requirement to take two core samples on site and have them analyzed for the potential to expand and contract with moisture — plasticity — didn't sit well with board member Francisco Banuelos, a contractor.

"How do we know the cost won't eventually be $200, $300?" he asked.

Banuelos asked that the testing requirement give way to city-produced soils maps outlining the kind of foundations mandatory for specific areas.

Compton said soils engineers on the task force pushed for "more conservative" building standards than the ones eventually approved.

Those engineers, Compton said, say the potential for varying soil conditions make such a general map difficult to rely upon.

Two other board members urged tight application of the codes. Richard Hartwell, a structural engineer, urged city staff to extend the new codes to cover garages built on slab foundations.

Board member Randy Coonrod, a contractor, observed that too many garages are built on fill dirt removed from basement sites, instead of the "virgin" soil that the new codes would require.

This story was originally published August 2, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "New code in Wichita for slab houses has board recommendation."