City Council favors tighter rules for slab foundations

The city appears a month away from tightening regulations on how slab houses are built in Wichita.

Council members reacted favorably Tuesday to a report from a task force put together to recommend changes to regulations. The task force was created in December after an Eagle investigation uncovered a half-dozen newer slab houses in the Maple Shade subdivision at Harry and Webb Road that were cracking apart due to unstable soil, drainage problems and a lack of foundation reinforcement.

"I like the direction of these codes, very detailed," council member Jeff Longwell said. "I think this very much takes care of the issue."

The council is expected to vote on the changes in September.

What the report doesn't address is the tens of thousands of dollars in damage already caused to houses in Maple Shade by what the task force determined was a combination of soil, drainage and poor construction issues.

"Where do those people stand? At a loss?" vice mayor Lavonta Williams asked.

"This isn't a guarantee that this won't happen again," said Tom Compton, who chaired a technical subcommittee of the task force.

"If you don't get the pieces together, you can get a very bad situation."

Compton described the task force's work as "a lot of give and take on both sides." The city's board of code standards and appeals endorsed the report — after a debate over the $200 price for soil testing.

"But what we got was a good middle ground that will address the major issues," Compton said. "We have some compromises here.

"What we've done is address the major issues, and I think we got a pretty good document that is pretty realistic."

The tighter codes include a variety of changes, all designed to avoid a repeat of the Maple Shade problems.

They include:

A new requirement for soil testing, with two samples gathered from each site and tested for moisture content. The test will be required to obtain a building permit.

Plasticity index testing, a test that determines the potential for expansion and movement of soil over time based on the moisture content of the soil and soil type.

The severity of new codes that homebuilders are required to meet will be determined by results of those tests.

If tests determine the soil is too moist, the footings, foundation and slab systems must be designed by a Kansas-licensed structural engineer to obtain a building permit.

Steel reinforcement bars and wire mesh, or both, will be required in all slabs. Fiber reinforcing material — such as the type that broke apart in some Maple Shade homes — may still be used, but only in addition to required steel reinforcement.

Specific materials and criteria are established for the fill dirt directly beneath slabs, as are appropriate depths, depending on soil analysis plus required minimum footing and foundation design.

Foundation and surface drainage design and maintenance are emphasized, minimizing the potential for foundation/slab damage from water.

An additional city inspection in the building process. Inspectors will check and verify required steel reinforcement and under-slab material placement before the concrete is poured for the slab foundation.

Compton, a Wichita architect, told the council that slab houses are viable in Wichita and Sedgwick County — if built correctly.

"Basically, our findings are that if you build it correctly, you reduce this possibility (the Maple Shade housing failures) by a major factor," Compton said.

Wess Galyon, president of the Wichita Area Builders Association, said his group endorses the tighter regulations.

"Not everyone builds to these standards, but the majority of them do and we felt the rest should be," he said.

Mayor Carl Brewer asked whether city inspectors would take a more detailed role in slab preparation.

"We've always done inspections of the foundation footings," said Kurt Schroeder, the city's central inspection superintendent.

"We've not done an inspection of the slab core itself. That would be a new inspection to make sure they do... have the right reinforcement, the right subgrades.

"It's a good step forward to make sure the final piece of the puzzle is done right."

This story was originally published August 16, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "City Council favors tighter rules for slab foundations."