How to make a foundation on clay for home

Most of us at least once had to engage in arranging the foundation foundation for buildings in our suburban area. At the same time, many of the private traders had to face the problem of preparing the foundation on clay soil, which is quite common in our regions.

It is for this reason that we would like to acquaint all interested readers with how to make a foundation on clay for the house with their own hands. Immediately warn that all attempts to save on materials in the preparation of such grounds can lead to disastrous results. The fact is that, with seeming solidity, clay soils can conceal a lot of trouble, so that when building support structures on clay, it is necessary to strictly fulfill all technological requirements.

Ways to protect the foundation from deformation

Even to a non-professional it is clear that the difficulties of preparing foundations on clayey soil are connected, first of all, with the possibility of its subsidence and the so-called “heaving”. In order to avoid such troubles, it is necessary with all responsibility to approach the choice of the type of supporting structure that can become a reliable basis for the future structure. When choosing a foundation suitable for clay soil, it is necessary to proceed from the following conditions:

• the inadmissibility of the use of block-type structures, precluding the possibility of organizing a circular ligament (the use of a reinforcing frame around the entire perimeter of the base);
• the base of the foundation should be wider than its upper part, which increases the footprint and bearing capacity of the structure;
• availability of reliable waterproofing soles provided by any of the known methods.

Selection of foundation

Immediately before choosing the type of support base, you will need to decide on the following parameters:

• a variety of clay soil (clay, sandy loam or loam);
• its freezing depth;
• the absence or presence of groundwater.

For most varieties of clay soil can be used the most common types of foundation bases - pile or belt. In this case, the tape base is best to choose in the case of a homogeneous soil, while pile foundations are more suitable for clayey soils with a small content of hard (stony) inclusions.

When choosing a foundation, one should take into account the magnitude of the load on the soil, which is proportional to the working mass of the erected structure. For lightweight constructions (greenhouses or sheds, for example), a pile foundation or a shallow strip foundation is quite suitable. For a massive brick house you will need to prepare a block or reinforced monolithic support structure.

Recommendations of specialists

When organizing foundation work on clay soils, the following points should be taken into account:

1. If there is groundwater in the developed area, the latter should be located at a sufficient distance from the ground surface. At their close location, it makes no sense to use even a reinforced strip foundation; in this case, it is better to focus on the use of pile supports.
2. The peculiarity of working with clay soils is the need to prepare high-quality bedding made of crushed stone, sand or gravel (the so-called “cushion”) for strip and block foundations.
3. In addition, care must be taken to ensure that the lower part of the foundation base (“sole”) is somewhat wider than its upper cut.

An example of laying a foundation on clay

Before you make a foundation on clay for your home, it will not be superfluous to familiarize yourself with an exemplary plan for preparing a strip base for a small country house. The complete cycle of the workings performed during this is usually described by the following sequence:

1. First, the layout of the location of the foundation is made.
2. Then a trench is dug out with the excavation of a layer of fertile soil and a depression in the clay by about half a meter. The width of the resulting trench should be at least 3 times the transverse size of the foundation base.
3. During concrete pouring, it is thoroughly compacted using a special electric vibrator or a manual tamper.
4. After complete drying of the concrete base, it is necessary to produce its heat treatment. For these purposes, the foundation is covered with wood combustible materials, which are then ignited. To increase the efficiency of the operation, it is recommended to close the trench with metal sheets from above, which will allow you to significantly increase the firing temperature.

You have got acquainted with various types of foundations and basic requirements for their construction. Now it will be easy to choose a suitable foundation for your building and start building it.

Video

We recommend watching the video on possible errors during the construction of foundations, in order to avoid them during the work yourself.