What is The Best Foundation For a House?

The most durable load-bearing support of a house is its foundation. This is the most important structure responsible for the reliability and safety of living or working in the house. The foundation protects the building from skewing, tilting, distortion, and other unwanted deformations caused by the operation of the house. While your future house is still in the design, you have to think about what kind of foundation is best for the house? In this article, we will look into this issue.

Types of foundations based on soil properties

The optimal choice of foundation type is determined by several important factors. First of all, it is worth understanding what type of soil prevails in your area, whether there are any features of the soil properties. It is also important to take into account the depth to which the soil under the foundation freezes during cold seasons. Features characteristic of the local relief, features of the site designated for new construction also play a role. 

Weak soil

First, let's look at the types of soil that may be encountered. Weak soils include silt, sand, clay soils, and peat bogs. Such soil is easily subject to deformation and has low bearing capacity. In this case, you will have to install a pile foundation with a grillage, or use monolithic foundations.

Separately, we will mention sandy soil, where it will be correct to build a columnar foundation. It is formed by concrete blocks, which are fastened with reinforcement rods, and then filled with concrete mixture.

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If the soil is clayey, it is necessary to foresee its quite possible heaving. This process is especially pronounced in the spring months, when the snow melts. Heaving is dangerous because the probability of the foundation base being pushed out increases. It can also cause deforming changes in it.

Rocky soils

The second large group of soils includes rocky soils. This is the complete opposite of weak soils - compacted rocky soils are the most reliable option. You can choose such types of foundation as strip, prefabricated or columnar with grillage.

When constructing a columnar foundation, support columns are placed in the drilled holes, and an extension is made at the ends of the supports. This gives the structure additional strength. Rocks themselves have excellent bearing capacity, so the foundation can be deeply buried.

Dense soil

If you plan to build a house on dense soil, any type of foundation will do. Such soil can withstand significant loads, and heaving processes do not occur in it. A strip foundation will be able to distribute pressure along the entire area under the house in the best possible way. But even dense soil can be heterogeneous, in such a situation it is better to deepen the foundation to a distance of 70 to 80 centimeters (as on rocky soil). This procedure causes a binding process - the rock is collected into a single base, which is distinguished by its high strength. Attention: if you decide to put concrete slabs in the foundation, you should not pour them.

Types of foundation for construction material

Building a house involves choosing the material for its main structures. Let's look at several options:

Foundation for a house made of aerated concrete

So, what is the best foundation for a house made of aerated concrete? The best would be to install a monolithic slab. It will be cheaper, because it will also become the floor of the first floor. Although, perhaps you want the house to have a basement or a cellar. Then any option will do, except for FBS blocks (solid foundation blocks), which do not "get along" well with aerated concrete.

Foundation for a house made of timber

What if your house is made of timber? What kind of foundation is better for a house made of timber? Historically, a pile-grillage or pile foundation is more suitable for glued timber. This is a very reliable type of foundation support structure, thanks to screw piles, which are also quite easy to install.

Foundation for a brick house

If the house is laid out with brickwork, it is quite possible to lay the foundation out of the same brick. Only it should be a solid red ceramic brick, and well-fired. Such material is absolutely not subject to deformations associated with changes in weather and climate. Attention: you cannot use hollow and sand-lime bricks for laying the foundation!

Also, in the future brick house there may be a deepened strip, slab foundation or pile, but reinforced concrete. In no case do not assemble a columnar metal, as well as a shallow strip foundation. The loads will be significant, such options are not suitable, because the listed types of foundations will not withstand it!

Foundation for a house made of foam blocks

What foundation is best for a house made of foam blocks? There are three possible answers to the question: columnar, slab or strip. When choosing, you need to take into account the values ​​of soil heaving, how deep the groundwater lies. It is almost obvious that if this depth reaches three meters or more, then a universal strip foundation, and shallow, is quite suitable.

However, the pile foundation will be universal for foam block houses. Well, if the house does not have underground floors. It will be relatively inexpensive, the house structure is light. Pile foundations come in three types: bored, bored injection and screw.

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Types of foundation for the type of house 

The main rule for choosing a foundation for a monolith is to deepen the foundation only to a level below the soil freezing boundary. Construction of the foundation of such a house can be very expensive if the soil freezes thoroughly. Therefore, the best option is a slab foundation. This type of foundation has proven itself well on problematic soils, even when groundwater rises quite high.

And if the house is of a frame type, then what foundation is better for the house? You will have to choose from three possible options again. Between support-column, strip and pile-screw. In principle, it is difficult to give preference to any one of the three options. Rely on the option where the cost of building materials is lower, because all frame houses are quite light.

One-story houses also weigh relatively little. Strip, slab or pile-and-column foundations are suitable for them. If the house is very light, then the strip foundation does not need to be deepened very much or a columnar foundation can be made. However, if the soil exhibits heaving, slab and pile foundations are better suited.

Well, when building a multi-story building, a well-founded and approved choice of a suitable type of foundation is included in the project. If an industrial facility is planned, the choice is often made on columnar foundations. If the house is low-rise - on strip foundations. When planning industrial and civil buildings, slab foundations are increasingly rarely indicated in projects. It used to be very popular. But today it is not - this is due to the fact that a significant amount of concrete mix will be used during its construction.