Regardless of the material from which the house is built, its foundation must comply with all the rules. Each building has its own optimal base design. As practice has shown, a pile foundation for a house made of timber is the most suitable option.
The main enemy of the building is the accumulation of soil during freezing, the volume of which can increase by 12%. The load on the foundation increases significantly and can exceed the design. In addition, it is affected by groundwater. All these factors are taken into account when choosing the type of foundation. If the load from the load-bearing walls is small, it can be lightened.
Benefits of Using Piles
The pile foundation for a house made of timber, log house or panelboard has the following main advantages.
- Creation on any ground.
- Minimum earthwork.
- Independence of construction from the time of year.
- High bearing capacity.
- Profitability. For the construction of a pile foundation, the price will be about 3 thousand rubles per square meter (together with grillage). Tape, with similar characteristics, will cost more than 5 thousand rubles / m.
How to build a pile foundation
The foundation process begins with marking and drilling. The distances between them and the diameter depend on the design load. In this case, wells should be placed at the corners of the future home and at the intersections of the bearing walls. They can be made manually (up to 6 m deep) and mechanized drill (electric or diesel).
Then the wells are filled with concrete. It is advisable to install pipes from a triple layer of roofing material in them, connected by a wire from above and protruding above the ground to a height of 30 cm. Asbestos-cement pipes can be used as formwork. The smooth outer surface of the piles reduces loads during heaving. In addition, cement milk does not go into the ground, and the strength of the piles becomes higher.
A reinforcing cage is installed inside. He should be at the height of the future grillage.
Concrete is poured into the well and compacted using a vibrator. After solidification, the piles are combined into one solid structure using a grillage. It can be placed on the ground, transferring part of the load to the soil (low). A high grillage is located above the ground, and the entire load is perceived by piles. It can be monolithic or prefabricated. Since the grillage between piles perceives tensile loads, it is reinforced.
Errors in laying the foundation
It happens that a pile foundation for a house from a bar is erected with the following errors.
- If there is no connection between the pillars and the grillage, the expansion of the soil in winter can displace them and cause damage to the house. Often this happens with light buildings.
- No gap between grillage and soil. Clustering can tear off piles and destroy the foundation. You can put insulation on the bottom of the formwork.
- Shallow foundation piling. As a result, the foundation may shift, and the cavity between the soil and the grillage will disappear.
- The lack of an accurate calculation of the bearing capacity can lead to constant immersion of the foundation in the ground.
Screw piles and their advantages
Concrete work takes a lot of time, money and effort. Modern technologies can do without them. The advantages of a house on a pile-screw foundation are as follows.
- Quick and easy installation.
- After installation of piles, you can immediately continue construction work.
- Widespread use for many soils, with the exception of stony and deep peat bogs.
- Durability.
- Applicability to difficult terrain.
- Possibility of mounting and dismounting at any time of the year.
If you take up the construction of the pile foundation, the price for it will be 40% lower compared to the strip, despite the fact that the construction together with the grillage is more complicated.
Construction of houses on screw piles
The pile is a pipe with a pointed end and a welded blade in the form of a spiral. It is used for building a house on a pile-screw foundation.
One standard pile can withstand a load of 3-5 tons for clay soil and 5-8 for sand.
Screwing in is carried out using a tractor or excavator. Then the pile is cut to a predetermined level and poured with concrete. As a result, it serves as external reinforcement. With a pipe wall thickness of 6-8 mm, concrete can not be poured.
When a screw pile foundation is built for a wooden house, there is no need for a reinforced concrete grillage. It can be made from a metal profile welded around the perimeter, or from wood.
The base of the pile foundation of a house made of timber is easiest to make mounted. To do this, guides are attached or welded to the piles, and then sheathed with sheet material. It can be made double, with placement inside the insulation, or install thermal panels.
Then the underground space will be warm, which significantly affects the microclimate of the first floor. The place of contact of the casing with the soil is poured with sand to a depth of 400-700 mm.
A screw foundation for timber houses is the best solution.
Conclusion
In the construction of the foundation should be guided by the general principles of work. Mistakes cannot be made even when creating the foundation for light houses. It is advisable to build a pile foundation for a house from a bar or a log house. Screw piles are finding wider application, the advantages of which are confirmed by practice.