How to make a foundation for a gazebo with your own hands

Foundation selection

For the construction of gazebos, you can use the following types of foundations - slab, tape, columnar.

Before deciding on the choice of foundation, you need to determine what type of soil in your area, as well as the depth of soil freezing and the level of groundwater.

The most favorable for construction are sandy and rocky soils, on such soils you can use any type of foundation, but the most practical would be a columnar or strip type of foundation.

If the site is located on clay, subsiding soils, the so-called quicksand, then it is better to use a slab foundation under the gazebo.

It is very important to know the depth of soil freezing, the moisture in the soil during freezing causes swelling of the upper layers of the soil, and if the depth of the foundation is not lower than the freezing level, then deformation of the foundation and the entire building is possible

How to make calculations

It is very important to calculate the consumption of materials. This will help not only not to be mistaken in the number of tools purchased for work, but also will provide an opportunity to save money when buying everything you need.

We recommend using special online calculators. Modern programs have simplified the calculation process to automatism.

There are many ways to build a base for outbuildings. The foundations presented in the material gave you the opportunity to get acquainted in detail not only with their varieties, specifics, advantages and disadvantages, but also with the methods of erecting each of them.

Block foundation

This type requires minimal labor costs. This is the simplest foundation. To install the gazebo, rectangular blocks without holes should be used. It is best to use products measuring 20x20x40 cm. They are easier to transport and install.

An example of a block foundation

Step-by-step instructions for the foundation

First step. Markup

There are a number of special techniques for making foundation markings. You should carefully study them before starting work. For marking, twine is used, which is then attached using metal or wooden pegs.

Foundation markings

Second phase. Excavation

The area of ​​the pit for the installation of a concrete block is 1.5-2 times larger than the area of ​​its base. The depth of the pit depends on the type of soil on which the building is being erected. Typically, the depth is between 150 and 300 millimeters.

Stage three. Preparation of the base

The resulting shallow pits are filled with rubble or sand. Then they are tamped. It is recommended to fill the sand with water to maximize its shrinkage.

Stage four. Styling

First, the blocks are installed strictly in the corners. Then they are placed at a distance of 1.5-2 meters from each other over the entire area of ​​the building.

Fifth stage. Waterproofing

During the operation of the structure, water rises and moistens the supporting structure. This is due to the capillary effect. To protect the lower part of the building from destruction, it is necessary to put several layers of roofing material. Or grease with bituminous mastic or liquid rubber.

When all the work is completed, you can place a gazebo or install a harness - the frame of the base of the building.

Strip foundation for the house: laying depth

This question should become the most important in the design of the structure. The deepened strip foundation is supported so that its sole is 20-30 cm below the freezing mark. This is the only way to protect the building from uneven deformations during frost heaving.

The height of the strip foundation in this case depends on the climatic features of the area. The freezing depth is determined by the formulas. But with a simplified calculation of the dimensions of the support part, you can use ready-made tables developed for different cities of the country.

The depth of soil freezing in cities

The shallow design of the strip foundation assumes its laying at a distance of 70-100 cm from the surface level

It is important to remember that this option has a lower bearing capacity and is not resistant to the forces of frost heaving.

Before you start concreting for your house, you need to carefully choose the depth of support of the sole. At the same time, not only freezing is controlled, but also groundwater level. General rule: water should not be closer than 20 cm to the base of the building.

Low-rise building foundations usually do not need detailed calculations. All values ​​are assigned by eye. In this case, there is a high probability of cost overruns. But if possible, it is better to turn to specialists who will accurately select the foundation, width and reinforcement. If this is not possible, use the minimum values:

• height depending on soil freezing;
• width, depending on what width is at the wall (the value for the foundation is taken not less, but preferably a couple of centimeters more);
• working reinforcement with a diameter of 12 mm;
• clamps with a diameter of 6-8 mm.

Types of foundations for gazebos

The foundations of these summer cottages can differ both in design and in the type of material used. The main thing is to ensure that the foundation is solid, reliable and durable.

Strip foundation

This type is usually poured under rather heavy brick and concrete structures. Sometimes a similar foundation is erected under chopped and cobbled pavilions. It is advisable to use a strip foundation for light shield buildings only if the soil on the site is very weak.

A strip base is usually poured under brick arbors.

It is not necessary to make a filler strip foundation. For a gazebo, such a base can also be assembled from ready-made narrow concrete blocks. When using them, the foundation will be erected much faster.

Video on how to fill the tape support under the gazebo:

Column foundation

Such a base is usually erected under light wooden panel or metal arbors. On stable semi-rocky or sandy soils, this type of foundation can also be used for log or cobbled structures. Sometimes small brick arbors are also placed on the pillars. In this case, a solid concrete tape is poured over them - a grillage.

It is easiest to fill in an inexpensive columnar foundation with your own hands.

The material for the construction of such a base can be used in different ways. Columnar foundations are usually made of concrete. Brick is often used for their construction.

Important: You can not assemble the foundation for the gazebo from white bricks (silicate), foam or aerated concrete blocks. These materials do not tolerate high humidity very well.

Within a few years, such columns will crack and warp.

Pillars are most often erected by the "brick" method. Concrete supports are poured into the formwork.

Brick pillar supports will be quite reliable

Sometimes they also arrange a foundation for a gazebo made of timber. It is also quite reliable, but not very durable option. It is suitable only for a wooden gazebo. Before installation, that part of the pillars that will be in the ground must be treated with bituminous mastic or drying oil. For greater reliability, a cross is nailed to the wooden supports at the bottom.

Simple columnar foundation from a bar

Pergola on screw piles

Such supports are one of the most reliable and at the same time inexpensive types of foundations. Screw piles are screwed into the ground at the corners of the building and along its walls using a lever. Of course, they can be installed only if the land on the site is not rocky. The gazebo will stand on piles even on unreliable ground for a very long time.

The base on piles is very good to use when erecting a street "house" for recreation, for example, on the side of a mountain.

At the final stage, the piles are tied from above with a rigid wooden or metal horizontal frame.

A gazebo on screw piles will stand for a very long time

Slab base

The slab foundation is placed under structures made of wood, brick and concrete on very unstable soils. When moving, the site moves as a single monolith, and with it the structure itself.

The filling of the structure in this case is usually carried out with the involvement of special equipment. However, for a very small gazebo, you can also make a stove manually, calling for help, for example, neighbors or relatives.

Slab foundation is the most reliable foundation

Advantages and disadvantages

Strip foundations

Shallow strip foundation, used in the construction of buildings made of wood and brick. It can be called the optimal solution for soft soil.

A traditional strip foundation can be used as a foundation, in fact, for any structure, regardless of the materials used in the construction or the number of floors.

A strip foundation, regardless of the depth of occurrence, has several specific disadvantages:

1. For its arrangement, it is necessary to perform a fairly large amount of earthwork, which may require the use of rented special equipment, for example, an excavator.
2. High consumption of materials - cement, sand, reinforcement. For the construction of one medium-sized foundation, up to 3 tons of reinforcing bar can be consumed.

Column foundation

The foundation of this class is distinguished by its reliability and during its construction there is no need to perform hydraulic isolation. But they try to use it only for relatively light structures, for example, frame or wooden houses. Such a foundation does not allow for the possibility of building a basement. It can only be used on soils that are not subject to heaving and movement.

Monolithic foundation

Slab structures are quite often used for the construction of wooden structures with a small mass. During their construction, you can do without the use of special equipment. For the support of this class there is no limitation in the layout of the building. But this support is distinguished by high material consumption and, accordingly, cost. The slab foundation of the gazebo can be up to 20% of the cost of the house as a whole.

Pile foundation

Pile structures are sometimes the only way out when construction is carried out on unstable soils. Moreover, pile supports are widely used in the construction of objects with large dimensions. A pile foundation can be called a type of columnar foundation, but it is often used when the soil cannot withstand high pressure or groundwater approaches the earth's surface at a distance of 100 mm. Pile supports behave well when quicksands appear at the construction site.

Screw foundation

This type of foundation structure is becoming more widespread. It can be installed on almost all soils, with the exception of rocky ones. One of the main advantages of screw piles is the high construction speed.For a medium-sized home, a pile field can be completed in a few working days. In addition, the construction of a house can be started immediately after the completion of the installation of the piles.

Piles of this type are distinguished by good bearing capacity, which can be explained by the fact that when screwing it into the soil, the latter is compacted. In addition, when arranging a screw foundation, there is no need to perform any excavation work.

Column foundation

The most economical and practical option for a gazebo is considered to be a columnar foundation - a minimum of earthworks, an insignificant consumption of materials, and minimal costs. The construction of a columnar foundation will cost about half the price of a strip foundation.

Columnar foundation is of several types:

• Buried (1m below the level of soil freezing).
• Shallow (0.5 m below the level of soil freezing).
• Shallow (depth up to 0.5 m).

For gazebos, shallow and shallow columnar foundations are used.

The columnar foundation consists of a certain number of pillars, which are installed at the corners of the building and at the most loaded points along the perimeter of the building at a distance of 1.2 m to 2.5 m between the pillars.

Tools and materials for the construction of a columnar foundation:

• Manual drill.
• Shovel.
• Pegs, tape measure and line for marking.
• Rammer.
• Asbestos or plastic pipes with a diameter of about 30 cm.
• Reinforcement and knitting wire for reinforcement.
• Bulgarian.
• Waterproofing material (roofing material).
• Sand, crushed stone, cement, water.
• Capacity for mixing the solution.

We mark the site for the future foundation and determine the locations for the installation of the support pillars.

You need to dig holes under the pillars, you can use a hand drill. The depth of the wells should be at least 0.5 m greater than the level of soil freezing.

At the bottom of each well, a layer of sand of about 15 cm should be poured, filled with water and tamped. Then the second layer of a mixture of sand and gravel 10 cm thick is poured, the mixture is also compacted.

For pouring concrete, boards, pieces of sheet steel can be used as formwork, but asbestos or plastic pipes are the best option. In this case, the pipes will be permanent formwork. The pipes are cut into uniform pieces of the desired length.

Pipes are installed in the wells, and leveled strictly vertically using a building level. The space between the pipes and the borehole walls is filled with sand and compacted.

A metal frame made of reinforcement rods tied with knitting wire or welding should be placed inside the pipe.

The concrete solution is mixed (3 parts of crushed stone, 1 part of sand, 1 part of cement) and poured into pipes with installed fittings.

Each portion of the solution must be tamped with a pin so that the solution evenly fills the space inside the pipe. In the solution, you can install a metal mount for future strapping under the gazebo.

Column foundations can also be made from concrete blocks.

The blocks are placed in pits on a cave cushion and fixed to each other with concrete mortar.

The mortar gains final strength within a month, after which waterproofing is laid on the concrete and the horizontal strapping for the gazebo is mounted.

We recommend watching a video of the step-by-step production of a columnar foundation for a gazebo.

Column foundation

Columnar

To complete the work, you cannot do without such materials and tools:

• rope and pegs for marking;
• drill of the required diameter for digging wells;
• hammer;
• scrap for stony ground;
• gravel and sand;
• roulette;
• ready-made concrete solution (cement, sand, crushed stone, water);
• concrete mixer or manual mixing container;
• Bulgarian;
• shovel;
• fittings Ø10 or 12 mm;
• manual rammer;
• level and line;
• asbestos-cement or metal pipes, bricks or blocks - the material of choice from which the support pillars will be made;
• waterproofing material (roofing material, waterproofing, aquaizol);
• wooden beams or metal channel, which will serve as a grillage for strapping the foundation.

After everything is prepared, get to work. To simplify the task, we will divide the work on the construction of a columnar foundation into several stages:

1. First you need to complete the preparatory work. The site needs to be removed and cleaned of debris and everything that will interfere. Based on the size of the future gazebo, make a markup on the ground. In the right places, mark the places where you need to dig holes for the pillars (if these are concrete blocks or brick pillars, then the holes can be square).
2. Now you need to dig holes of the required depth, which depends on the mass of the gazebo, the type of soil and the depth of the groundwater. Wells can be made with a hand or power drill or a conventional shovel. Their width should be slightly larger than the width of the posts to be installed.
3. Pour a 100–150 mm layer of sand on the bottom of the dug hole, moisten it and tamp it tightly. Then fill in a 50–100 cm layer of a mixture of gravel and sand, also compacting it well. To determine the thickness of the layer, use a wooden stick, which must first be marked. Or make the necessary notes in the pit itself.
4. Further, the procedure will be different, depending on the material from which the foundation will be made. For example, when using asbestos-cement pipes, they must be installed evenly in the wells. To achieve perfect vertical evenness between all the posts, use a line to serve as a guide. After that, the space outside the pipe must be covered with soil in order to fix the pipe. Now it remains to fill the pipes from the inside with concrete mixture, but not completely, but a little more than half. All pipes must be raised slightly to form a concrete pad. Then pour the concrete all the way. To give the base more reliability, a mesh of Ø10 or 12 mm reinforcement must be placed in the pipe before pouring.
5. If the pillars will be erected from concrete blocks or bricks, then first you need to fill in the concrete layer, on which the blocks or bricks will be laid to the desired height.
6. The last stage is the strapping of the support pillars (grillage). But before that, you need to lay on them 1 or 2 layers of waterproofing material, for example, roofing material, waterproofing or aquaizol.

The concrete will dry for about a month. On this basis, your gazebo will stand for a long time. The subsidence for such a foundation is minimal, since cushions of sand, gravel and concrete were poured into the bottom. Now you can carry out work on the construction of the future structure.

Car tire

Increasingly, the owners of country houses began to use car tires for the construction of the foundation. This is an inexpensive and easy way to make a good base for a gazebo. This method has several advantages:

1. Durability. It's no secret that rubber is a durable material that is not exposed to various external influences. She is not afraid of moisture, frost and heat. You will have a reliable base with a long service life.
2. Reducing loads. The advantage of rubber is that it can deform without losing its integrity and properties. Therefore, under heavy load, car tires will be able to soften the pressure by evenly distributing all the weight over the surface.
3. Significant savings. Other materials mentioned above (pipes, blocks, concrete, etc.) cost a lot, especially since it is not enough to get by with only the material, you need to purchase a whole complex. But everyone will be able to get tires practically for nothing. Thanks to this, much less effort and expense will be spent on the arrangement of the foundation, which, if desired, it is better to additionally invest in the building itself and its design.
4. Car tires have their own waterproofing.

Solid

Everyone can make such a base out of tires. All you need is tires and knowledge that you can draw from this article. You should know that there are two types of tire foundations:

1. Columnar.
2. Plated (solid).

If you want the gazebo to stand on such a basis for a long time, you should adhere to the following rules when installing:

1. Do not deepen the base below the freezing point of the soil. It is better to make a shallow foundation that will show itself perfectly in winter.
2. When installing the bottom layer of tires, be sure to check with a level, whether the surface is even. If you miss such an important moment at this stage, then it will be very difficult to fix something later. Your task is to install the tires so that their top edges are in the same plane.
3. When choosing tires, it is better to stick to those with a larger diameter, as these tires are much stronger.
4. When the foundation is ready, its protruding parts are covered with decorative material.

It is clear that not everyone is capable of immediately deciding to build such a structure out of tires. But it should be said that this technology has been used for a long time and there are examples that prove the success of this method. Moreover, it is appropriate to erect a tire base on problem soil with a high degree of heaving. If you decide to build such a foundation, let's consider the technology for its construction.

How to fill the foundation under the gazebo with your own hands

So, we have already figured out how to choose the right foundation. depending on the type of construction and geodetic features of the site. The base for the gazebo with barbecue: tape, on poles, or on piles.

Foundation construction rules:

1. Pillars and piles should be located at a distance of no more than 2-2.5 m from each other.
2. The width of the strip base cannot be greater than its height. The optimal belt width is 300-400 mm.
3. Non-buried strip foundation is suitable for regions with a mild climate, for the device only a soft fertile soil layer is removed, a depth of 300-500 mm.
4. To fill the shallow strip foundation under the gazebo, a trench 700 mm deep is required.
5. If the gazebo provides supporting elements - pillars, then it is better to fill in a columnar or pile foundation below the level of soil freezing, with an unburied monolithic-concrete grillage strip.
6. Piles are always arranged below the level of soil freezing by 200-300 mm. Indicators vary by region.

Basic rules to help you choose the foundation for the gazebo correctly

The beginning of time

Before laying the foundation for the gazebo with your own hands, you should clear the site for construction, make markings, hammer stakes in the corners and pull a rope between them.

Layout of the site for the gazebo

Next, you need to check the geometry of the perimeter: with a square or measure the diagonals, which should be equal. For a more accurate check, use the Pythagorean theorem: the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the legs. Then remove the fertile soil layer on the site.

For the device of a strip, slab or columnar foundation, pits, a foundation pit or a trench of the appropriate depth are dug under the gazebo, the bottom is carefully leveled and rammed, it is better to cover it with geotextiles to avoid silting.

Next, a pillow is arranged: 100-200 mm of crushed stone of the middle fraction, 100-200 mm of sandstone, the pillow is compacted, after which the foundation can be poured.

Important: For the construction of a stove, barbecue, barbecue in the gazebo, you should provide your own, independent foundation, not tied to the main one. Usually it is a monolithic concrete slab

If the strip foundation for the gazebo is poured with your own hands and immediately the base for the furnace, then in some cases the foundation platform for the furnace is tied to the tape and poured at once, but it is recommended to make a double horizontal reinforcing belt in the slab.

The optimum thickness of the slab for the oven is not less than 400 mm

Formwork and reinforcement

When the sand-crushed stone pillow is prepared, a layer of roofing material is lined on it, it will serve as the lower horizontal waterproofing.Further, a crate is installed in the trench, usually it is knocked out of a board with a thickness of 50 mm or from plywood with special impregnation. The lathing is reinforced with struts, and pulled together with bars from above to maintain the geometry of the foundation when poured with concrete.

Diagram of how to make a crate for a foundation

A reinforcing cage is mounted in the crate. For a shallow strip foundation, it consists of 2 horizontal layers, in one layer there are 2-3 corrugated rods with a section of 8-12 mm, vertical, supporting, racks can be of smooth reinforcement. It is better to fasten the frame with knitting wire or plastic clamps, the structure weakens from welding.

How to make a frame from reinforcement for a strip foundation

Before installing the frame, stones or supports should be placed on the bottom of the trench so that a gap of 50 mm is formed below. The fact is that the reinforcement should be deepened into concrete from all sides, not less than 50 mm. The solution can be poured into the prepared base.

In the photo, the formwork with the reinforced frame installed

Fresh concrete is bayonetted or processed with a submersible vibrator so that no bubbles remain inside, voids can subsequently lead to the destruction of the foundation.

Scheme of how to equip a strip foundation in a gazebo

On the 7th day, you can remove the formwork, the sides of the tape should be pasted over with roofing material or treated with a coating-type waterproofing. If necessary, the foundation can be insulated. A month later, when the concrete has completely risen, backfilling with soil is done, and the base can be loaded with the walls of the gazebo.