Are therequality construction practices in Madison Co? (Birmingham, Huntsville: real estate market, houses)

[pastelartist]

After visiting NE AL recently we found we loved the area but have questions about construction practices? Any Builders or Customers out there that could answer some questions?
In Marshall County it seems there are no inspections and the quality of concrete work is fairly poor. Are Madison and surrounding counties the same? My husband has a concrete construction business and does beautiful work. We would like to relocate, but it seemed he wouldn't be appreciated or paid well for his work. What do you think?
Should we concentrate on Madison Co and Huntsville?

Also, why are so many homes built on concrete blocks vs poured walls or footings?

Another question, is brick predominate because it is cheaper here? or because of the energy efficiency?

Please help? Thanks!

[Bravo35223]

I do not know why the concrete work in Marshall County is of low quality.

If you are interested in moving to Alabama and your husband does high end work, I would recommend that you move to either the Huntsville or Birmingham metro areas. These areas are growing and new housing communities are continuing to go up despite the soft real estate market.

Both the Huntsville and Birmingham metro areas have strong financial demographics, especially in their suburban areas. (Check this site for both Madison County and Shelby County in terms of household income etc).

Alabama's rural areas (such as Marshall County) have decidely lower average household incomes and higher poverty rates than prosperous suburbs of Birmingham and Huntsville....this is not to put them down...there are many fine smaller communities in the state, but from a purely economic and business opportunity standpoint, you'd do better in either Madison or Shelby counties given his line of work.

[pastelartist]

Thanks Bravo for your reply.
Yes, I think we should have investigated Huntsville area more thoroughly.

I still have a question for Madison, Morgan and Shelby Co. builders: Do you build your homes on concrete blocks vs poured foundations? And is there any concern for quality concrete work? I would imagine so in the higher prices home areas, although some of what we saw left a lot to be desired. Any info please?

[rnc76]

I'm not a builder, but code mandates a poured footer regardless of the structure I believe. I think the city inspector told me anything over like 400sqft had to have a poured footer. Even if it is a slab home there is a perimeter footer that is deeper. The concrete block is just put on top of the footer to create the crawlspace.

[harry chickpea]

A lot of Alabama has chert underneath the topsoil. Chert is incredibly strong and the frostline is less than a foot down even in the northern tier of the state. Under such conditions, minimal site work is needed. A common practice is to use the 24" wide bucket of a backhoe to dig a trench in place, add rebar to the hole if needed, backfill the trench with the required depth of concrete, and roughly screed the surface. Simple, easy, inexpensive footers. Above that, concrete block goes for about $1.25/block retail. Labor and mortar might double the cost, providing foundation walls at a considerably lower cost than installing forms and rebar, pouring concrete at $100/yd, removing the forms, and having to delay construction for that process and curing. If extra strength is required, rebar can be inserted in the block and the blocks filled. If Alabama was subject to major earthquakes, or the soil was more swampy, or the frost line was deeper, then monolithic concrete would make more sense.

There are other cost concessions that are rampant in Alabama. I was surprised at the amount of vinyl siding in use compared to other materials. Vinyl provides a cheap cover that can be power washed to remove mold and dirt, and the esthetics of it are accepted as the standard, even on houses of historical age. Metal outbuildings are common. It is impossible to construct a decent outbuilding for the cost of some of the metal ones, and they resist bug infestations and rot. In fact, we've decided to have one built for storage and a shop. Total cost for the 24' x 26' x 8' building with two extra large garage doors, four windows, and a side entrance, all built on a concrete slab, labor included, will be less than $7,500. A shell like that of conventional construction would be at least twice that cost, and more likely in the $25,000 range.

[pastelartist]

Thanks Harry, for the info.

I guess it's just climate and soil differences that we are just not accustomed to.

[Southlander]

Originally Posted by harry chickpea

Vinyl provides a cheap cover that can be power washed to remove mold and dirt, and the esthetics of it are accepted as the standard, even on houses of historical age.

This depends on the area. In Decatur, we have a board that has to approve any exterior changes, and I don't think they like vinyl unless the width of the original boards can be duplicated.