Concrete strip foundation: its properties and technology

The construction of any building begins with the laying of its foundation, which in turn can be of several types. The most rational for the construction of a private house is tape. We will consider its features in this article.

General provisions

What is this type of foundation? In fact, it is pouring reinforced concrete all the perimeter of the building. Thus, each wall will have a solid support.

First, let's look at the advantages of this type of foundation:

• The optimal price. Tape foundations are cheaper than monolithic, the power of which is necessary only for multi-storey buildings, and stronger than less costly pile that is more suitable for small buildings, like greenhouses, baths and gazebos.
• High reliability. As we have already noted above, all the parts of the house that bear the greatest load will be equipped with a solid foundation.
• Additional heat insulation. The greatest cold and damp emanate from the ground, and continuous protection from them increases the comfort of the whole house.
• The possibility of building an underground cellar or even a basement. Such a foundation performs well for them the role of walls.

• The ability to create your own hands. The technology is not very complex and is quite feasible by non-professionals.

Phased description of work required

Information about all the necessary technical data can be prompted by GOST 13580 85 for reinforced concrete slab strip foundations. We will analyze all the main points, starting from the markup and ending with the pouring of the solution.

Markup

From the correct application of the markup it depends on what form your house will be, or rather the presence or absence of curvature of the walls. Therefore, this should be taken seriously.

The instruction is as follows:

• Choose a place where one of the outer corners of the building will be located.
• Thrust a peg into the ground at that place and tie a clothesline to it.
• Measure out the desired distance and set the next reference point, tying the second end of the cord to it.
• We retreat from them inside the future building of 40 cm and insert two more wedges into the ground, after which we also join them. This will be the inside of the wall.
• Similarly, from the first corner we measure the second wall. And so we move around the perimeter of the house.

Tip: To ensure that the angle is even, use the Pythagorean theorem known from school, which says that the square of the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of its two legs. That is, in our case, we have to build the values ​​of the deposited walls into a square, add them together and compare them with the squared distance between the far edges of the same walls. A positive result will mean that the angle you marked is 90 degrees.

Excavation

With the markup, you simply dig the appropriate trench over it.

It is necessary to take into account:

• Its thickness was ten centimeters more than the width of the walls.
• Depth was seventy centimeters. But this parameter may vary depending on the type of soil: loose soil will require a greater deepening, and in solid, on the contrary, it can be limited to less. The material used for the construction of the building is also a determining factor. For example, a strip foundation for a house of aerated concrete does not need a large trench, since it will not carry a large load.

Pillow

This element is necessary to mitigate and evenly distribute the load of the future construction on the ground.

It is done like this:

• We fall asleep ten centimeter layer of sand.
• We wet and tamp it.
• Fall asleep next. You can alternate layers with gravel, again, depending on the type of soil.
• Again wetted and ramming. We continue until the sand belt grows to thirty centimeters.
• Then we pour a thin layer of liquid cement mortar on top, thus forming a kind of durable concrete pad under the strip foundation.

Formwork

Got out of the boards and other suitable materials at hand. The resulting shields should rise above the ground by at least 20 cm.

Tip: assemble the structure so that the nails are directed from the inside to the outside. This will greatly facilitate the subsequent dismantling of the formwork.

Reinforcement

If you want to have a solid tape monolithic reinforced concrete foundation, you must correctly install the frame of metal rods:

• We lay bricks on a pillow to isolate iron from groundwater.
• From above, we assemble a structure from vertical and horizontal reinforcement, twisting them with soft wire. Each cell should be about thirty-five centimeters in size.

Tip: It is not recommended for welding rods to use welding, as it deprives them of elasticity.

• The top of the cage should end five centimeters from the intended height of the foundation. As a result, its surface should be smooth and smooth without steel protrusions. Otherwise, you need to cut the concrete with diamond circles to eliminate them.

Fill

Which concrete is better for strip foundations? Brand M400 factory production ensures durability and high strength characteristics of concrete. To calculate the required amount of it, you will always be helped by online calculators that are available in large quantities on the Internet.

If you prefer to save, you should use the following composition of concrete for strip foundations:

• One conventional unit of cement brand M400.
• 1.2 units of sand.
• 2.7 units of rubble.
• 0.5 units of water.

Adhere to the following rules:

• Take care of the smoothness of the fill to prevent the occurrence of “cold joints”.
• Watch out for the semi-liquid state of the solution, diluting it in time with water in case of formation of thick.
• From time to time punch a layer of concrete with a steel bar and tamp it. So you eliminate the occurrence of air "pockets" that violate the density of the concrete foundation.

As a result, only diamond drilling of holes in concrete can damage the resulting structure.

Conclusion

Concrete strip foundation - the best solution for laying a private house. Created in several stages. The final is the mixing of a suitable solution and its uniform filling.

The video in this article will provide additional information.

A quality foundation is a guarantee of the durability of the entire building.