What is flotation?
In one of the Sunday Home Sections a reader wrote in to the Ask the Inspector column with a question in regards to a flotation sunroom versus a piled sunroom. The author of the column went on to provide some good points about sunrooms built on a piled structure as well as sunrooms built on ground augers or on a telepost and pad system.
While ground augers or teleposts are adjustable which implies "flotation" the applications are a little different. Ground augers are considered a substitute for piles and any system, including actual additions, can be built on them (providing they meet loading requirements for the weight of the structure). The telepost and pad system can only have an engineered flotation system built on them that will compensate for ground movement without causing stress to the system and the structure it is attached to.
To obtain a building permit only an engineered system like the Glastar sunroom can be used on a pad and telepost stucture as there are no waivers required and the system is guaranteed. Without this you cannot get a building permit - period (even by signing a waiver that says you promise to adjust or moniter the teleposts).
If you would like more information on this made in Manitoba innovation (proven for over 38 years) contact Glastar Sunrooms at 204-940-3030 or call for a tour of the factory.