In the construction of houses, concrete piles for the foundation are increasingly used. With the help of concrete piles, it turns out to convey the building greater stability and strength. And most importantly, the cost of such a structure is quite low. In the article, we will consider what is the foundation on concrete piles, as well as the possibility of building it with your own hands. Believe me, this is real.
Pluses of the foundation
Concrete piles for the foundation have both advantages and certain disadvantages. It can be distinguished in such positive characteristics:
- Such foundation designs can be installed independently without any problems at any time of the year, in almost any climate, regardless of weather conditions.
- Piles of concrete can be installed both on the plain, and on steep slopes, hilly areas.
- Among the advantages, you can also highlight the quick installation. It can be done in just 2-3 days.
- The cost of building this type of foundation is quite low, there is no need to spend money on the purchase of various additional tools and materials.
- And most importantly - if you have enough experience and tools, you can mount concrete piles for the foundation with your own hands.
Disadvantages of concrete piles
But there are several negative aspects that will affect the scope of this type of foundation. Concrete piles under the foundation are a fairly popular solution, but you need to highlight the following disadvantages:
- When building a house on stilts, it will not work to make a basement or basement.
- Such an option is not suitable for the construction of a multi-storey building, as well as other massive structures. The foundation will simply not be able to withstand the mass of the structure. In addition, when carrying out the construction of any object with a pile foundation, it is necessary to carefully calculate the load on the foundation.
Concrete use
Installation of concrete piles for the foundation is a fairly simple matter, but much depends on the quality and brand of concrete. Quite often, when pouring the base under the house, M 500 brand concrete is used.
The type of mortar that is used in the foundation depends on the type of pile :
- Bored and driven reinforced concrete are made from concrete mix B 15.
- In reinforced reinforced concrete piles with reinforcement, there must be concrete of grade 22.5.
If we are talking about the construction of bridge supports and various hydraulic structures, it is recommended to use concrete, the grade of which is slightly higher than that of the mortar, which is used when connecting all prefabricated elements. Next, we will consider the types of concrete piles for the foundation.
Deepening Method
If you separate all the designs of piles by the method of deepening in the soil, then the following types can be distinguished:
- Hammered - can be either steel or reinforced concrete, wooden. Such supports are deepened into the soil with the help of special hammers or other devices of shock type.
- Reinforced concrete sheath piles with or without concrete filling. They are immersed in the soil using a special device called a vibration absorber.
- Stuffed supports - are mounted quite simply. First, a well breaks out, then it is poured with concrete mortar. When replacing the foundation, concrete piles can be mounted according to this scheme.
- Screw supports are metal trunks having a tubular shape and blades in the form of screws. They are immersed in the ground by screwing in, like a self-tapping screw.
- Reinforced concrete drilling supports - are made by making niches in the ground with subsequent placement of reinforced concrete structures inside them.
Stuffed piles
There are several types of designs. So, there are simple designs of a stuffed type. Pipes in which the lower holes are closed are clogged into the ground, screwed in or pressed in. After that, a solution is gradually laid in the wells with pipes. The pipes themselves after solidification of the solution are removed.
Vibro-stamped stuffed piles are mounted inside pre-made wells using a special device, which has a vibrator at its end. There is also a separate type of rammed piles located inside the stamped well. Before installing them, it is necessary to dig wells, their shape must be pyramidal or conical. And then these wells are filled with a solution of concrete.
Drill piles
And now let's talk about how else you can separate driven concrete foundation piles by type of construction. So, you can divide them into the following types:
- Bored with a solid section. For them, you must make a hole in advance. If the soil is clay, then you need to punch the well slightly higher than the boundary of the groundwater. At the same time, the walls of the well do not need to be fixed. Other types of soils allow you to make a well with a drill that goes beyond the line of groundwater. Pile walls must be fixed with a mixture of clay or pipes. After strengthening, these pipes must be removed. After the well you can pour concrete.
- Borates - they can be created using a special cutter for working with soil.
- If you make a well with the help of explosions and a drill, then you can install a support with a camouflage heel.
Reinforced concrete piles
This type of concrete piles for the foundation of houses can be divided into:
- Cast supports made of reinforced concrete. They are produced by a section of a rectangular or square shape. Square can be with rounded grooves. A steel rod is installed inside the monolithic supports, which is equal in length to the corresponding size of the pile. In the event that reinforcement is made in the transverse direction of the support, a wire of low-carbon materials is used. Instead, it is allowed to use a wire rod with a diameter of 5 mm.
- Tubular shaped stacked bearings. Made of reinforced concrete from several elements. Installation is complete.
Reinforced concrete supports are installed only in the presence of auxiliary equipment. These are vibration hammers, copra, mobile cranes with special hammers.
Mounting Features
Before installing the piles, you need to carefully study all the characteristics of the soil, to find out if there are any underground currents in it. Only after this can the required number of supports and maximum load be calculated. Once you do this, you can proceed to marking the site and drilling wells in the ground. Next, you need to pour a small amount of sand into the well, and then mount the frame sheet.
In fact, you will make a well in which there will be a sand cushion below. The walls of this well should be limited by a sheet of metal or roofing material so that the concrete solution does not have contact with the soil. As soon as you install the mesh from the reinforcement, you can pour the concrete mortar inside. The solution will harden in about three weeks, only after this period it is allowed to continue the construction.
Based on the foregoing, we can draw certain conclusions. Making piles with your own hands is quite possible, but it is advisable to use the help and tips of competent specialists. Carefully study all the intricacies of the work, consult with specialists to make the foundation as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Operation Nuances
In that case, if you will be adding fill on the site on which the construction is planned, it is best to erect only the pile foundation. Pay attention to the fact that the supports must be carried out all over the ball of bedding so that they reach dense soil. If you have done backfill, then it is recommended to use jellied type supports. In the same case, if the embankment has impassable thicknesses, it is best to use bored type structures.
If rocky or low-lying terrain is near the construction site, it is best to use hammered supports. And if the soil is dry, there are clay impurities, then the design of the bored type is ideal. For “walking” lands, in which the soil sags, swells, it is best to use driven piles. It is recommended that an unstable layer of soil pass through and go deep into a hard surface as much as possible.
If you are building a house near a pond, keep in mind that in this place there are a lot of groundwater and currents. If you lay the usual foundation, then take measures to pump out the liquid during construction. Judging by the reviews of the builders, this work is very difficult - you have to not only mount piles, but also quickly, timely pump water from the wells.
As for the foundation on concrete piles with grillage, in this case it is not necessary to deepen it. If landslides often occur at the construction site, then all slopes will need to be strengthened as much as possible with the help of bored supports. Their diameter should be more than 1 m. In the event that landslides occur very often, it will be more reasonable to use pile piles with established rigid reinforcement.
On heaving soils, support foundations during operation are far superior to simple foundation designs. If you leave the space between the ground and the bottom of the grillage, you can prevent the negative impact of training due to lower temperatures. But do not forget that the same teaching can pass tangentially and damage the foundation. If you started construction on rocky ground, uneven, going down, without installing concrete piles under the foundation, all the work is simply unrealistic.