Do-it-yourself columnar foundation: a step-by-step process of work

Wooden paneling, installation of beacons

A brick bath must be sheathed with wood from the inside. This layer has an insulating and aesthetic function. The best way to decorate a brick bath is cladding with wooden planks, clapboard, block house or imitation timber.

If the sheathing is thin, for example lining, then only moisture-resistant species are suitable, for example: aspen, linden and larch. Pine lining is not suitable for a steam room. Insulation is placed between the wood layer and the brick.

Regardless of the type of lumber used for cladding, beacons are placed vertically. They play the role of a connecting knot between the brick and the wooden sheathing board. A lighthouse is a wooden block that is attached to a brick wall, and sheathing boards are nailed to its outside.

Fastening the lighthouse to the brick is carried out using dowels and corners. In combination with the dowel, you can use various specialized fasteners. It is convenient to purchase it as a kit. Calculate by the number of lighthouses. On average, they are located every 0.5 m of the walls.

The section of the lighthouse bar is usually chosen equal to the thickness of the insulation layer.

The outer edge should not be narrower than 3 cm. Then it will be convenient to attach the skin to it.

In addition to its direct function, the lighthouse serves as a guide for attaching boards. It must be installed strictly on a plumb line. This guarantees a neat appearance of the cladding.

Foundation "monolithic slab"

This type of foundation is one of the most reliable and durable, suitable for installation on any soil. Heavy and light buildings can be erected on it, but it is especially popular for frame-modular construction.

Such a monolithic foundation has a thickness of 15 to 50 cm, depending on the weight of the house, its number of storeys and requires preliminary preparation of a pit, at the bottom of which a sand and gravel cushion is arranged.

Before pouring the foundation with your own hands, you need to prepare reinforcement with a cross section of 12 to 25 mm, depending on the planned loads on the base of the house, in addition, you will need to prepare cement of a grade not lower than M400.

In this case, the uniform distribution of both vertical and horizontal loads on the ground will be guaranteed, which will ensure the stability of the building and protect it from deformations.

It is possible to make the mortar at the construction site, but this will require a powerful concrete mixer, since the continuity of the pouring process is required. Therefore, it is more rational from a production and economic point of view to place an order for a concrete plant with an exact indication of the delivery time to the object.

In this case, you can be sure that all the necessary proportions of concrete on the foundation will be observed and then there will be no problems with the house erected on it. For slab foundations, only branded concrete should be used, a class of at least B15.

In the case when the question of which foundation is better for a house made of aerated concrete is being decided, then this option can be considered, but, given that its cost is quite high, it is mainly used when the construction of another type is simply impossible.

It should be noted that a monolithic foundation can be:

• solid;
• ribbed, coffered type, lightweight construction with stiffening ribs for load-bearing walls and, filled with sand and gravel mixture, the gaps between them;
• Swedish, which is a combined structure with the laying of communications and a thermal insulation device, most often in the form of water floor heating.

Insulated slab construction technology

In order to protect the house from heat loss, you can create insulated slab foundations with your own hands - step-by-step instructions and drawings will help to implement such a task in a short time.Any reinforced concrete monolithic slab includes several layers, and in the presence of insulating elements, their number increases

To get the required quality, it is important to create each level correctly.

Preparation of the base

At the initial stage, the foundation is prepared. The parameters of the pit should correspond to the size of the building and be 1 m larger. A layer of fertile soil is removed on the selected area, and drainage pipes are fixed at the edges of the pit, which will divert surface water.

The bottom is carefully leveled, the pits are filled up, and the hills are removed. A layer of geotextile is laid on the treated surface - it should cover the bottom and walls of the pit.

Then clean sand of the middle fraction is poured out in a layer of 20-30 cm. A vibrating plate is used for its ramming. Crushed stone is poured on top in an even layer, followed by tamping. Even at the preparatory stage, all engineering systems should be installed.

Concrete preparation

Around the perimeter of the recess, formwork is installed from boards with a thickness of 40 mm or plywood with parameters of 18-21 mm. The height of the structure is determined taking into account the thickness of the remaining layers. At the edges of the formwork, it is convenient to monitor the level of the concrete solution, so it is better to use an edged board. A 100 mm layer of concrete is placed on the gravel pad.

A low grade material is suitable for this work - B7.5 or B10. The presence of a concrete layer will provide a reliable base for waterproofing and thermal insulation.

Waterproofing

Since the monolithic foundation slab for a private house is buried in the soil, it must be covered with a layer of waterproofing. For these purposes, coating and roll insulation are used. The base must be cleaned of dust, and then impregnated with kerosene or solvent. When fixing the roll, it can be released beyond the range of 10-15 cm.

Warming

Extruded polystyrene foam with increased density is used as an insulating material for the foundation. This layer should be 10-15 cm thick. The exact parameters depend on the operating conditions.

Reinforcement

The role of the reinforcing element is performed by ribbed reinforcement of class AIII with a diameter of 12-14 mm. It is laid along and across, observing a step of 15-30 cm. Reinforcement parameters are determined by separate calculations. In the process of reinforcement, a cage is created.

Pouring with concrete

The parameters of the slab can vary depending on various factors and vary from 20 to 50 cm. It must be poured with concrete solution of the B30 grade in 1 step, excluding the appearance of vertical seams.

It is better to order concrete with delivery and distribute its portions in advance. It is necessary to compact the material with deep vibrators with high-frequency vibrations.

Curing

The construction of a slab foundation requires correct after pouring it. In order for the raw material to harden well, it is necessary to maintain humidity within 90-100% and a temperature of + 5 ° C. Filling is best done in warm weather at + 20 ° C.

Subsequent care consists in careful handling of the hob to protect it from damage. After laying, the concrete is covered with a diaper or a layer of tarpaulin, which is necessary to protect it from direct sunlight and wind.

When to remove the formwork

Dismantling of the formwork for the FBS is carried out after the concrete has set 70% of the factory strength. The exact term is determined by the ambient temperature.

For what buildings is it suitable

The construction of a strip foundation allows you to build a house of any shape and size. It can be used to mount structures made of wood, brick, aerated concrete blocks, concrete slabs and other materials.

The maximum number of floors in a building depends on the configuration and type of base chosen. For multi-storey buildings, a deeply buried monolithic strip foundation is suitable.Small summer houses, gazebos and outbuildings can be placed on shallowly recessed structures.

Prefabricated foundations are increasingly used today in mass development. They easily and quickly manage to put a solid cottage with a height of up to three floors. It will withstand massive walls made of bricks or concrete slabs.

Scope of use of the tape base

Tape-type foundations are used in the construction of many buildings and structures.

Tape-type foundations are used in the construction of the following buildings and structures:

• It is suitable for a house with massive load-bearing walls made of stone, brick or monolithic concrete.
• If the composition of the soil on the site is not the same and there is a likelihood of shrinkage of building structures, then the installation of a strip base under the house will help protect the entire structure from cracks and uneven subsidence.
• Pouring strip foundations is often used when building a house with a basement or basement.
• A shallow strip base can be used when building a house made of wood, foam blocks, or when erecting a frame structure.

Step-by-step instructions - DIY foundation

The thickness and height of the tape of the base under consideration, as well as the depth of its laying, are selected based on the analysis of the soil, climatic conditions of the area and the number of storeys of the house being built. Without knowledge in this area, it is better to entrust this design stage to a professional. There are many nuances and requirements of GOSTs that must be observed.

But it is quite possible to create a support for your house according to a ready-made project on your own. But in order to avoid mistakes, it is best to make the strip foundation yourself with step-by-step instructions, which are given below. It describes all the subtleties of building a similar design for a typical one-story cottage.

Stages of work

The first stage is marking and earthwork. Regardless of the depth, the sole must rest on solid layers of soil. It can be clay, sandy loam, stony layers or loam. They are usually hidden under turf and layers of ordinary earth. All this will have to be torn down and removed before starting to build the foundation of the house.

To mark the site, you will need pegs, a tape measure and twine. If the soil is dense, then an excellent formwork will be obtained from the walls of the dug trench. It will only be necessary to build it up later from above. If the soil is loose and constantly crumbling, then the trench will have to be dug a little wider in width so that the formwork boards can be placed inside the pit.

The second stage is the preparation of the pillow. The bottom of the excavated trench is leveled with sand and fine gravel. This sand and gravel layer should be carefully tamped, sprinkling with water as it is poured. In height, it should be in the range of 10-30 cm. This pillow serves to redistribute and reduce point loads on the strip foundation from below during seasonal swelling of the soil.

The third stage is the placement of the formwork. Here you will need bars with a cross section of 30 to 40 mm and boards 15–20 mm thick or laminated chipboard. The formwork created for the concrete base of the house will subsequently have to withstand a considerable mass of concrete poured into it. It should be made strong and reliable. If, after filling with concrete mixture, it collapses, then everything will have to start over.

If the groundwater at the construction site is high, then the reinforced concrete will need waterproofing. From above, at the level of the basement of the house, it is usually done with a coating. And to protect that part of the base that remains in the ground, roofing material should be laid in the trench on the sides and on the bottom. It will reliably protect concrete from excess moisture in the soil at the stage of hardening and after.

The fourth stage is the laying of reinforcement.For reinforcement, steel rods of 14-16 mm cross-section and a thin binding wire are usually used. You can also fasten the fittings with electric welding. But in this case, experience with the welding machine and he himself is required. Plus, when performing welding, one must be prepared for the appearance of metal corrosion in the future.

As a result, a frame of reinforcement with cells of 25-30 cm should be formed inside the trench. Moreover, it is laid so that the steel is covered with concrete poured on all sides. Otherwise, the metal will inevitably begin to rust, then the house will definitely not stand for a long time.

The fifth stage is concrete pouring or FBS laying. If it is decided to equip the foundation for the house being built using block technology, then this greatly speeds up the process of its construction. Here you do not have to do the formwork and wait almost a month before the completion of the concrete setting.
However, support on foundation blocks will cost more than a monolithic counterpart. Plus, they will have to dig a trench of a larger size in width. To distribute loads for the lower row of masonry, FBS are made with an expanding base.
If a monolithic option is chosen for the support device, concrete should be poured immediately over the entire surface. No gaps in length and no layers in height. A monolith is a monolith. The house must be on a solid foundation.

When self-preparation of the concrete mixture, it is necessary to mix cement, sand and crushed stone in proportions of 1: 3: 3

But it is better to initially order a ready-made solution with the M300 brand and above.

When pouring concrete, it is extremely important to ensure that no voids form inside it. There are special vibrators for compaction.

However, you can also use a piece of reinforcement to pierce the filled mass and release air from it.

The sixth stage is waterproofing and blind area. It is allowed to start waterproofing works 3-4 days after the concrete is poured. It takes about three weeks to fully set. But you can already start to process the mastic, even if not completely frozen strip foundation for the house.

Also, around the entire perimeter of the structure, you will need to make a blind area to drain rainwater away from its walls.

Brick foundation laying (step by step instructions)

In construction practice, the technology of a strip brick foundation is most often used. Therefore, we will dwell on this method in detail:

1. First of all, it is necessary to mark the place where the foundation will be built, and to carry out earthworks. The trench should be about 20 cm deeper than the level of soil freezing, but not lower than 50–70 cm from the ground surface. With increasing soil moisture, the width of the belt increases.

2. At the bottom of the trench, a 20 cm thick sand cushion is made, moistened and well rammed. The pillow is poured from coarse sand.

3. A concrete base is being built. For this, formwork is made. The height of the concrete base is approximately 10 cm. The formwork is made accordingly. The width of the base should be 50% greater than the thickness of the tape. Waterproofing from roofing material is made between the sand cushion and concrete.

4. Laying is done in 3-4 days. Masonry mortar is made of cement and sand, mixed in a 1: 3 ratio with the addition of waterproofing additives. The foundation is usually two bricks thick.

5. The foundation is reinforced with reinforcement between the first and second row, as well as in front of the last. It is recommended to use steel or composite reinforcement with a diameter of 6–8 mm or reinforcing mesh with a diameter of 4–6 mm.

6. Further, approximately in two weeks, waterproofing is performed. For brick foundations, it is mandatory and is done both outside and inside. The easiest and most affordable way of waterproofing is the brick walls of the foundation are coated with bitumen mastic and pasted over with roofing material:
   • a layer of soft bituminous mastic is applied. If it is in bars, then the gas burner is heated to a liquid state. The mastic layer should be at least 2 mm. When thickened, it is diluted with toluene, gasoline or white alcohol.It is necessary to prevent drying out, as this loses the adhesive properties of the material;

   • Roofing material is heated by a burner to make it elastic. When laying, an overlap of 10 to 15 cm is observed. After gluing, the sheets must be heated again and additionally coated with bitumen. Roofing material is laid in one or two layers. If a two-layer installation is used, then the already strengthened roofing material should be smeared again with a layer of mastic and all operations must be repeated again.

7. The brick foundation is insulated from the outside with polystyrene, polystyrene foam or polystyrene plates. After that, the trench is covered with sand and gravel, which helps to protect the foundation from moisture.

8. In very humid areas, drainage should be done. For this, geotextiles are used. It must be laid in a trench at a distance of 0.5–1 meters from the outer wall of the foundation. Next comes a layer of rubble. Perforated pipes are also used to improve drainage. They are laid with a slight slope, covered with rubble and wrapped around the remaining ends of the geotextile. Then everything is covered with sand layer by layer with compaction of each layer. Moisture is removed through pipes into wells or drainage channels.

The technology of erecting a brick foundation today is quite relevant in summer cottage and backyard construction. Its correct application allows you to build a reliable foundation for many types of lightweight structures on your own.

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Most often, a monolithic concrete foundation is poured under suburban low-rise buildings. However, sometimes brick is also used to assemble the base of the house. The choice of this material in most cases is determined by the fact that a very attractive, from the point of view of aesthetics, construction can be erected from it.

How to cover a brick in a bath, and why is it needed

The inside of the brick is coated for waterproofing. The most reasonable thing here is to use vapor barrier membranes specially designed for this.

In some cases, the brick in the bath is left open. If a high quality brick is chosen for the walls, then it will look very decorative not only outside, but also inside.

At the same time, it is impossible to leave brick walls inside the bath unlined due to the requirements for thermal insulation. As a last resort, according to design requirements, you can leave such walls in the dressing room. Basically, if a brick is visible in the bath, it is either on the stove or on the partitions.

Both ordinary sauna heaters and complex heating ones are laid out of bricks. The dimensions of the heating panels can be up to half a wall. Also, brick is laid out to protect the wall from heating by the stove. All these elements are usually not plastered. Inside, they can be coated with various interior varnishes, but this is far from always advisable.

The coating of bricks with varnish is carried out in order to protect the ceramic surface that is not resistant to dirt. In the interior, especially if you grab the wall with your hands, the brick will get dirty very quickly. This situation can be corrected by applying varnish.

Important! Use only certified interior varnishes for covering bricks. All their components must be approved for internal work

Apply on the cleaned surface and according to the instructions.

Choosing the right brick

Today, the most popular materials are silicate and ceramic bricks.

Today, the most popular materials are silicate and ceramic bricks. The first type is characterized by a low level of resistance to moisture, which leads to dampness and cracking in frost. It is for this reason that you should not choose this type for a wet area, as deformation or damage to the material may occur.This problem can of course be corrected by your own efforts, but these actions will be expensive and difficult to perform.

For construction tasks for the construction of the foundation, red ceramic bricks are best suited. But, I would like to note right away that this does not apply to all types of such material. Some manufacturers of such bricks save money on the firing process. It is worth noting that it is almost impossible to notice such a flaw with the eye - this will become possible only during operation.

You can also look for a clinker type of brick that lends itself to firing at a high temperature level of about 1200 degrees. It is for this reason that the material is very high quality and durable. Its main advantage is the ability to tolerate moisture and frost. This type is also called sidewalk brick, because it is used for laying out sidewalks and bridges.

Application area

Insulated Swedish plate - the best option for cold regions and moisture-saturated soils

Insulated structures are universal foundations; different types of buildings are erected on them. Monolithic slabs on a layer of insulation work well on unstable soils.

Types of soils for the construction of slab bases with insulation:

• sandy, sandy loam soils;
• rocky views;
• clay soils, loams;
• water-saturated areas;
• swampy areas;
• weakly bearing layers, for example, peat bogs;
• permafrost area.

The type of soil is taken into account before starting installation. The vegetative layer of the soil is completely removed and replaced with sand and crushed stone bedding. In areas with a slope of the earth, it is necessary to build a pit or level the ground on a lowered part, the work is fixed with a retaining reliable wall. The Swedish foundation will serve as a support for one-story and two-story buildings.

Cost effective slabs work well under buildings made of:

• logs and glued or rounded timber;
• timber lumber, SIP panels;
• shields (frame construction);
• brick, concrete;
• aerated concrete, foam concrete, cinder block.

Parameters and scope of application of the brick foundation

Structural rigidity sufficient to withstand the weight of any low-rise building, average strength, low resistance to negative temperatures and low moisture resistance - these are the parameters that can be used to characterize all brick foundations of buildings.

Based on these data, it is recommended to build a brick foundation on solid and dry soil, non-porous, and with a deep occurrence of subsoil groundwater. This is the main requirement, subject to which the foundation will stand longer than the house itself - the time of maintenance-free operation of such a foundation can be declared within 50-70 years.

Structures of different foundations

Advantages of a brick strip base:

1. The red brick for the foundation is small in size, it is convenient and quick to work with it, so the use of special equipment (truck cranes, autocars) is not necessary. The foundation can be laid independently, without involving additional working hands, and you can also tile the surface yourself;
2. The flexibility of a foundation made of small elements (bricks) allows you to avoid large cracks and destruction during ground movements;
3. Local destruction of the brick foundation can be easily eliminated by restoring brickwork in damaged areas;
4. Brick foundations for facing bricks can be built in any shape, besides, it is not necessary to use formwork, which reduces costs and minimizes construction time.

The device of a brick base of a private house

Negative points:

1. Hygroscopicity of brick products - water and condensation get inside the building block, and in winter, the frozen water, when expanding, can destroy the foundation, especially at masonry joints, which are an ideal example of "cold bridges";
2. A red brick foundation will last less than a concrete foundation;
3. It is not possible to build a brick strip under the foundation on all soils - it is recommended to do this on dry, non-porous and stable soils with deep groundwater. If there is no choice, and the foundation will be built on heaving or unstable soil, the strength of the tape is increased by additional reinforcement.

Comparison of different types of foundations

Pile foundation

The foundation of a house on stilts looks like a columnar foundation, but it is not. The main difference is the depth of the supports. Due to its small diameter, in comparison with the pillars, the holes for the piles are not dug, but drilled. This allows the supports to be installed at greater depths and dug into more stable rocks.

Otherwise, the technology for placing and strapping the supports is identical to the columnar foundation.

The main disadvantage of this foundation is the use of special equipment. Recently, however, piles with a screw at the end began to appear, which allows them to be screwed, like a self-tapping screw, into the rock. This is what made the piles accessible to the layman.

Step by step instructions

1. Before making a columnar foundation with a grillage, it is necessary to prepare a site at the site of its construction, for which all vegetation is removed from the designated area and sod is removed (25-30 cm and 45-50 cm for clay soil). Then all the depressions and irregularities are covered with sand and gravel.
2. After laying the sand and gravel cushion, mark the dimensions according to which the supporting columnar foundation will be poured with their own hands. At this stage, you will need pegs and a cord. With their help, it is necessary, strictly according to the scheme, to mark the distance between the future pillars (no more than 2 m). The main rule of this step is accuracy, and it must be observed strictly.
3. In order for the columnar foundation of blocks to securely anchor in the ground, it is necessary to dig holes for the piles. Depending on the type of soil and base material, the depth can vary from 30 cm or more in relation to the limits of the base (gap for a cushion of sand and gravel). Deep wells (from 1 m) are recommended to be strengthened with special wooden supports.

Further, the step-by-step instructions, according to which a shallow supporting columnar foundation is installed, will differ depending on what design features need to be implemented, as well as on the material of the supporting pillars.

A grillage is called a structure that is arranged on the surface of the pillars and connects their upper parts to each other. It also serves as the basis for the load-bearing walls of the building.

Monolithic columnar foundation

Reinforced concrete columnar foundation with a grillage is the most popular among developers, because it is reliable and strong. Here, the pits for the supports should exceed the width of the similar parameters of the columns (the difference between them will be at least 15 cm). It is necessary to install a wooden formwork in these recesses, which must be reinforced with reinforcement and concreted. After the solution has solidified, the pillars are connected by a grillage - reinforced concrete, metal or wood. This method has its drawbacks, since the technology of its manufacture is rather laborious.

Prefabricated columnar foundation

A shallow columnar foundation made of blocks (20x20x40 cm) has its advantages, but it also has its disadvantages. The advantages of such structures include the availability and ease of installation, and the disadvantages are lower strength in comparison with the previous version, which is why it is categorically not recommended to tinker on moving soils. Their installation technology looks like this:

• the width of the recesses is 40 cm;
• gravel and sand are poured into the pits in layers;
• 4 blocks are installed (one on top of the other), fastened together with a cement mass.

The grillage columnar foundation of blocks can be installed on a reinforced concrete slab, which serves as an additional support.The advantage of this solution is that it prevents soil subsidence.

Brick columnar foundation

The brick support-column foundation, as the name implies, is assembled from bricks and reinforced with a metal mesh. Such structures are necessarily supplied with roofing felt or bituminous waterproofing. The base of asbestos pipes implies a permanent formwork. By the same principle, a shallow foundation is assembled from steel pipes or screw piles.

Columnar bases are assembled according to the following scheme:

1. Wells are drilled in the ground, 5 cm larger in diameter than the piles themselves. If you plan to build a lightweight house, you can limit yourself to supports with a diameter of 20 cm. Before the vertical installation of the pillars, the bottom of the wells must be tamped tightly, and the pillars themselves are compacted with sand and earth.
2. Concrete is poured a third of the depth of the piles, then they are raised so that the mortar evenly covers the bottom and gives the support additional strength.
3. A reinforced frame is placed inside all pipes with the condition that the rods peep out of the hole by 20 cm. The rest of the mortar is laid in layers to the zero mark, while it will correctly subject the base to periodic vibration pressing.

It is not recommended to leave the grillage foundation made of pipes unloaded for a long time, otherwise the soil can push out the piles and their deepening will be uneven. Between the installation of the supports and further construction, no more than 3 days should elapse from the moment the solution hardens.

Wooden shallow columnar foundation is assembled from beams pre-treated with antiseptic agents. The diameter of the supports must be at least 20 cm, otherwise the house will tilt and quickly collapse. Choosing wood is between oak and conifers. In this case, the deepening depth will be at least half a meter.

Wooden columnar foundation

Wall cladding process - what to look for?

Brick baths are finished only inside. It is better not to finish the brick outside with anything. It already looks very good and is very resistant to all climatic influences. The exceptions are baths built of low-grade bricks with external defects and baths made of white silicate bricks. White is not always appropriate, but it can also be used correctly in design.

The interior decoration of a brick bath has two main tasks: improving the appearance and warming.

Brick, even if you used the warmest hollow version, is very thermally conductive.

In comparison with traditional wood for baths, it loses to it more than twice. The interior decoration of a brick bath is almost always made of wood. This is the best option.

For a washing and steam room, there are no other options. The rest room can be finished with other materials, in addition to wood. It is only necessary to ensure that all this decoration has an appropriate "bath" look.