In this article we will talk about how to make the foundation for your own home, barn or bath. Keep in mind that the foundation is the foundation of the entire structure, so how long it will last depends on its quality. During installation, it is necessary to comply with the technology in order to provide an acceptable degree of security for the house for its inhabitants. If you decide to erect the foundation yourself, then carefully consider its arrangement. Be sure to consider all the features and aspects, try to strictly follow all the rules. Only in this case the house will turn out to be beautiful, reliable, durable, it will stand for more than a dozen years.
Foundation planning
The very first stage is the layout. Before you make a foundation with your own hands, you need to correctly calculate it and analyze any, even the most insignificant details.
Pay attention to such moments:
- Determination of soil features - it depends on what type of foundation will have to be used. Tape and pile are not suitable for every type of soil.
- Competent selection and implementation of the correct calculation of all the materials necessary for the construction.
- Determination of ways and means of arranging the insulation of the foundation from moisture. If necessary, determine the type of thermal insulation.
In order to get the highest quality foundation, you need to choose the right technology that will meet all conditions. Each step of the construction of the foundation must be carefully thought out, they must be coordinated with all available requirements. This will allow in case of any circumstances not to interrupt the construction.
Features of the strip foundation
For central Russia, the most acceptable option for the foundation is tape. It is he who we will consider as the main type of construction. The use of a tape base is relevant in such cases:
- Very easy installation - even on your own with a minimum set of tools, it can be built.
- Large investments of money and physical strength are not required. No need to use expensive heavy equipment.
- No problem you can make a basement.
- The design has very high reliability. This is achieved by the fact that under all the supporting structures are concrete strips.
- Since this type of foundation has been used for more than one decade, we can talk about its durability.
Even for heaving soils and with a high risk of flooding, the strip type of foundation is the most suitable. To determine the type of soil, it is best to contact a specialized company. Qualified specialists will perform geological surveys and you will be provided with all the data about the site. And, based on this data, it is necessary to choose the foundation.
It should be noted that the data obtained during geological surveys can be used not only in the construction of the foundation. They will prove to be useful when conducting water supply to the territory of the household. They will also be useful in the manufacture of wells or wells. And now let's look in more detail how to make a strip foundation for a home with your own hands.
Materials and fixtures
When constructing a strip foundation, you need to acquire such materials:
- Cement.
- Gravel.
- Adequate amount of water (it is possible that you will first have to spend water on the site).
- Unedged board for the manufacture of formwork.
- Wire frame.
- Armature.
- Spacer bars.
- Brick.
- Waterproofing materials.
- And, of course, nails.
Of the tools you need:
- Shovels.
- Roulette.
- Level.
- Hammer.
- Level.
- Master OK.
It is advisable to have the entire tool in several copies. If the scope of work is large enough, it is recommended not to prepare the solution yourself, but to order the finished one. Alternatively, you can purchase or rent a deep vibrator. Before making a foundation for a bathhouse or for a home, be sure to stock up with all the necessary tools so that you do not subsequently look for an "extra" shovel from your neighbors.
Start: cleaning and marking the soil under the base
At the first stage, it is necessary to take into account all the features of the future structure. Since making the foundation for a home with your own hands is quite simple, you can not resort to the help of specialists. But if something doesn’t work out for you or you don’t understand something, it’s better to pay experienced designers. The first and most important task that needs to be solved is the markup. As a basis, it is necessary to use the data specified in the design of the facility.
First determine the corners of the building, then mark the intermediate points. In certain places it is necessary to install pegs. Let's find out what these places are. Between the stakes there should be a distance equal to the width of the foundation tape. It is also necessary to take into account the fact that the width of the tape should be greater than that of the load-bearing wall. After installing all the stakes, you need to connect them using laces.
With the help of the level, the evenness of the marking is checked. First, the diagonals of the rectangle are measured - connect the stakes with a cord and count its length. Two diagonals should be the same. In the event that they are not equal for you, re-markup. The main thing is to ensure that the diagonals are equal. Deviation of a couple of centimeters will greatly affect the result of all the work.
Foundation foundation trench
After marking on the outer perimeter, you can implement the inner. The width should be 30-40 cm. A trench is dug inside the area bounded by shoelaces. The depth of this trench should be below the freezing point of the soil. All walls must be made as even as possible. Be sure to consider the presence of groundwater and the depth of their occurrence. The bottom of the foundation should be above the water.
The average depth of the trench is about 1.2-1.5 meters. This value can be safely chosen in cases where the soil is not porous and there is no risk of flooding. After making the trench, it is necessary to install the formwork - these are boards that are connected using nails. It should be noted that all earthworks in the article are described in passing - this is a simple matter, you only need to be able to wave a shovel.
After completing all excavation work and installing the formwork, you can begin to manufacture pillows from gravel. It is laid at the bottom of the trench. If there is no way to get gravel, you can use a mixture of stones and sand. The pillow is carefully packed and moistened. It is advisable to make a kind of "pie" - first lay the rubble and carefully ram it, then sand and carry out similar operations.
It is recommended to make the height of the pillow no more than 15-20 cm. It protects the foundation from various negative phenomena that are caused by temperature extremes. The denser the foundation will be at the foundation, the less influence the expansion of the soil will have on it.
The next step: moisture protection and frame construction
Quality is everything - don't forget about it. When building a house, try not to facilitate the work and not save due to quality deterioration. Remember that your efforts will surely pay off. It is absolutely necessary to make a frame from reinforcement - without it, simply nowhere. In order to make such a frame, you need to install several bricks at the bottom of the trench. On top of the installation of mesh reinforcement. Please note that it is undesirable to weld the reinforcement, it is better to bind it with a special wire.
The entire stage of manufacturing cells from reinforcement must be done manually. Before you make the foundation for the house yourself, you need to pay attention to one more detail - waterproofing. The material must be laid on top of the frame. An ordinary ruberoid is ideal - it is inexpensive and has proven itself on the good side. Laying roofing material is overlapped, the joints are connected using tape - so you can protect the foundation from moisture.
The third step: how to make concrete
You can buy ready-made concrete to facilitate the work. But it is only important that the concrete is delivered without interruptions - the foundation must be monolithic. And now about how to make a foundation with your own hands on the basis of various brands of cement. You can focus on such indicators:
- When using cement grade M-100 on one part it is necessary to add 4.6 parts of sand and 7 gravel. The ratio of sand to gravel per 10 liters of water is 41/61.
- M-150 brand: cement / sand / crushed stone ratio - 1 / 3,5 / 5,7.
- Brand M-200: ratio of components 1 / 2,8 / 4,8.
- M-250: 1 / 2.1 / 3.9 ratio.
- Cement brand M-300 is the most popular, many recommend building foundations from it. The ratio is 1 / 1.9 / 3.7.
- M-400: 1 / 1.2 / 2.7.
The higher the grade of cement, the faster the mortar will solidify. But the strength at the foundation is higher. Pay particular attention to pouring water into the mixture. To determine if the solution is ready, you need to pick up a small amount with the tip of a shovel. A good mixture should not spill and drain. If fine fractions are used, more water is added.
Pouring concrete
To make the foundation as strong as possible, it is necessary to use concrete with a high degree of rigidity. It is this parameter that allows you to determine in advance not only the durability of the foundation itself, but also the building as a whole. And now about how to make the foundation for the construction - be it a bathhouse or a residential building. Filling is done in several layers to make the foundation as dense as possible. Each layer must be pierced and leveled so that there are no air bubbles inside.
It is allowed to use both simple shovels and deep vibrators. But when using the latter, be careful not to damage the frame. To increase the strength you need to make bayonet.
It takes at least one month to solidify the solution. Only after this period, the foundation will become strong and you can build walls on it. But in the process of curing in dry and clear weather, you need to cover the entire structure with a film and sometimes wet it so that cracks do not form. If the weather is rainy, then you need to cover the entire structure so that excess moisture does not get on it. After the foundation has gained enough strength, you can remove the formwork.
Features of the column foundation
One of the popular designs is columnar. But it is necessary to erect such a foundation wisely - the slightest errors can ruin the structure. Typically, a columnar foundation is installed on heaving soils in which the freezing depth is very far away. Tape constructions can not cope with deformations, and poles can last several decades.
For the manufacture you need the presence of such material:
- Pipes made of asbestos or metal.
- Fittings.
- Concrete.
And, of course, you need a standard set of tools - trowels, mortar or concrete mixer, shovels, levels, tape measures, wire, laces and stakes.
Land marking and excavation
At this stage, you can do exactly the same as in the previous case, which we described. If you look closely, you can understand how to make a pile foundation for the building. The essence of the manufacture of pillars and piles is the same (an exception, of course, screw). First, mark the position of the corners of the future structure - put the stakes and connect them with a rope. Then measure the diagonals of the resulting rectangle - they should be equal.
Please note that it is advisable to install poles not only in corners, but also in places with increased load - under stairs, supporting structures. It is necessary to maintain a distance of 1.5-2 meters between the posts.
Then do excavation work. They are somewhat different from those discussed above - you do not need to dig trenches. You clear the places for installing the posts and prepare the pits - their diameter should be the same as that of the pipes. First, a sand pillow is poured at the bottom of the pit - a thickness of about 15 cm. Then it is compacted and moistened. The strength of the foundation will depend on how dense the pillow is.
Pillar Installation
If you understand the essence of the whole process, you will learn how to make a foundation for a bathhouse or shed from pillars. In fact, there is nothing complicated in this matter. Immediately prepare the solution - it should have a consistency, as if homemade sour cream (not very liquid, but not dry). After this, the columns are installed:
- The pipe is installed in a hole.
- A little solution is laid inside to slightly fix the position.
- The pipe rises a little so that the solution spreads over a pillow of sand.
- The pipe is installed in level - vertically and horizontally.
Other pipes are installed similarly. Only after the installation is completed can reinforcement be made. 3-5 rods are laid in each pipe. Be sure to insert them into the sand cushion, on top they should protrude by about 30 cm. Only after installing the reinforcement can concrete be filled. All pits that are near the pipes, be sure to fill up with soil, level it and condense.
The foundation will reach its maximum degree of strength after a couple of weeks. Then the grillage is installed and the gaps between the posts, which are located at the corners, are filled. This grillage will serve as an additional support for the walls.
Features of the pile foundation
If you do not know how to properly make the foundation for the house, contact experienced builders - they will be able to give some practical advice that will definitely come in handy. One of the types of foundation is pile. It is the best solution for unstable soil types. It has a high degree of reliability, durability, a long resource, and it withstands enormous loads. When implementing such a foundation, you do not need to dig trenches or pits - this greatly facilitates the work. The base is piles that are either driven into the ground or “screwed” into it, like screws.
And now in more detail about how to properly make a foundation with your own hands on piles. For work, fittings, cement mortar, roofing material and steel wire are needed. Of course, reinforced concrete piles do not need to be hammered - they will be installed in pre-made wells. Wells are drilled at a distance of up to 2.5 meters from each other. If water starts to appear, pump it out using pumps.
As a formwork, roofing material is used - it is folded into a tube and installed in wells. The construction procedure is approximately the same as in the case of a columnar foundation. Now you know how to properly make the foundation for a bathhouse or home. The hardest part is excavation work. But if you are not the only one involved in construction, they will be completed as quickly as possible.