Two ways to build a foundation from tires with your own hands

Building even a small garage with your own hands seems to many to be an expensive and overwhelming task.

In reality, everything is not so scary.

To create a foundation, all you need is to get used tires.

They are made of high-quality rubber, so they can withstand heavy loads, insulate from moisture, and are reliable and durable.

They are easy to get - there are plenty of car tires at any service station. Wheel tires often have no price at all at service stations - they will give you free or sell them for pennies .

Don’t forget your friends and neighbors who have a set or two of old tires in their garage that they can’t get around to throwing away.

Construction options: bathhouse, barn, house

If you believe the reviews of experts, a foundation made of tires will be just right for small buildings .

On it you can build:

• a barn or garage for several cars (if you cover the tires with broken bricks, screenings or loam, they will not bend even under the weight of the truck);
• terrace and summer veranda;
• gazebo and garden house;
• small bathhouse.

It is also possible to build a small residential building on a tire foundation, such as a one-story dacha or an outbuilding of a cottage. In this case, the tires should be laid not in one layer, but in several. Before building a house, you need to dig a foundation pit .

For block or brick buildings above one floor, are not suitable as the basis of a building .

They should be used for the foundations of light residential structures only.

The neighbors laugh

The instigators of the unusual construction are three women: a mother and two daughters. They laugh from the start, saying that they built, built, and finally built, although the construction is still at least two years away from completion. The future owner of the house, Irina, plans to finish building it for retirement. However, even now the house looks like a house, and it’s okay that on the first floor there are piles of boards and window openings filled with tires, and on the second floor an adult can fall through the holes between the floorboards.

“When they just started building, everyone laughed at us,” says Irina. “They also built houses and cottages in the area, and builders came to us and asked: “What kind of nonsense are you doing?” The three of us started. Me, Ksyusha and eldest daughter Natasha. Natasha’s husband openly laughed and twirled his finger at his temple. My husband also did not support me in any way - now he is bragging to his relatives. While the first floor was being built, they crawled home on all fours - try swinging a four-kilogram sledgehammer all day!

— Gradually, friends and friends of friends began to get involved in the construction; whole groups of students from the institute, technical schools, and cadets came. We had refugees from Ukraine living here, in an old house, and they also helped us build. Everyone reacted positively: firstly, it’s interesting to see, and secondly, why not help? Moreover, it’s not just somewhere to go, but to nature, with a river nearby. In the morning you can help, and in the evening you can fry sausages, kebabs...

Backfilling on heaving soils

Loams and other types of heaving soils have a high water content. When it freezes and expands, such soils begin to rise and swell. Therefore, you can’t just build anything on them.

However, you can:

1. Remove all raised soil and replace it with coarse, well-compacted sand. Water “does not linger” in it, it does not freeze and does not swell.
2. “Heat” the soil. Put a layer of some kind of insulation between it and the house.
3. Drain water using a special drainage system.

A tire foundation for heaving soils is a good choice because:

• rubber is a material that can withstand extreme cold and does not deteriorate for many decades;
• a tire foundation, unlike many other foundations, can easily withstand soil vibrations that are characteristic of heaving soils;
• rubber does not absorb moisture, it has excellent waterproofing properties, so the tire base will not expand or move much under the influence of frozen water.

Advantages of car tire supports and their disadvantages

The possibility of constructing a foundation from car tires was considered by scientists back in 2000. Over time, this idea became popular due to the presence of a number of undeniable advantages:

• Significant reduction in costs for building materials.
• Reducing time costs as well as labor.
• Durability of the structure. If properly installed, a tire foundation can last for many years.
• Old tires additionally serve as a waterproofing layer, which protects the foundation and main structure from moisture.
• The foundation on tires is not affected by temperature changes, since tires are able to eliminate the resulting deformations.
• High seismic resistance. Tires absorb ground vibrations caused by seismic activity well. This type of base can be used even in areas of increased seismic activity.
• Increased elasticity and excellent shock-absorbing properties.
• Ease of foundation construction.

The disadvantages of a tire foundation are few. The disadvantage is the release of harmful substances from tires. For this reason, when constructing a foundation, it is necessary to create special conditions that will allow the foundation to be used safely and harmlessly. As a rule, so that the base does not harm the environment and people in any way, the tires are left underground, without being brought out.

Another disadvantage is the width of the tires, which may extend beyond the intended boundaries of the base. To hide and transform the appearance of such a foundation, you will need a considerable amount of cladding, as well as additional design ideas.

Construction options

You can create several types of foundations from rubber tires. The most reliable of them, developed by specialists, are columnar and solid.

No hard-to-find tools or materials are needed to create a columnar or solid base.

But in any case, you can’t do without:

• rake or pipes for compaction;
• bricks (whole and broken);
• sand, roofing felt or linoleum;
• formwork boards;
• building levels;
• metal fittings;
• shovel

Columnar

A columnar foundation made of tires is especially needed for buildings that are being built in an area with increased seismic activity.

When it shakes, the tires will become a kind of soft buffer , capable of absorbing even strong tremors.

They will protect the building from cracks.

Tires from trucks, agricultural and special equipment such as tractors or large snowblowers are best suited for building foundations.

They have a larger diameter, so the weight of the building is distributed more evenly . The foundation of large tires is stronger and more reliable.

At first:

1. “We clean the soil”, get rid of roots and stones.
2. We remove the top 20-30 cm of soil saturated with moisture and dig a pit to lay the foundation. We do the installation only in two layers, then it will be much stronger and more reliable.
3. We mark the boundaries using pegs . We put the tires on the pegs. We place the first tire exactly in the middle. Using a special tool (called a level), we perform horizontal alignment. It is very important that the tires are placed on the same plane to each other , otherwise they will not form a normal reliable base.
4. We fill all the voids between the tires with broken bricks.
5. Cover it with crushed stone and compact it.
6. We moisten the crushed stone.
7. Pour the concrete solution (into the inside of the tires).
8. The concrete will set in 4-5 days. Then it will be possible to begin installing the formwork (the height of its sides should be at least 10-12 cm). You can remove it in at least a week and a half.

Solid

You can create a foundation with a continuous layer in different ways. The most common is the tiled option.

Such a foundation is a two-layer, evenly laid base made of tires.

We create a tiled base from tires like this:

1. We clean the area , remove the moisture-rich layer of soil. There is no need to make a pit deeper than the freezing point of the soil.
2. We lay down the tires. Tires should be the same, preferably with a larger diameter . These tires are more durable.
3. the voids between the tires with fine gravel or broken bricks. Sand is not suitable for this. If they fill voids, the foundation can quickly sink.
4. We put roofing felt on . Thanks to it, the surface intended for pouring concrete will become more even, and there will be no need to spend money on expensive waterproofing.
5. Along the perimeter of the bus base of the building we build formwork with wooden sides at least 10 cm high.
6. Within the territory outlined by the formwork, we lay reinforcement .
7. Cover with concrete mortar.

Without soil removal

A foundation made from car tires can be built without removing the soil at all. There is nothing complicated about it. We do this:

1. We lay tires around the entire perimeter of the building.
2. Fill with concrete mortar.
3. We tie the tires with channels.

At the end, we bind the lower part of the building.

We invite you to read reviews from forum members about building a foundation from tires with your own hands for a barn, for a bathhouse or for a house on the Forum House website.

Why do people choose tire foundations?

Among the main advantages of tires, it is worth highlighting their durability. These products are made of several layers of rubber and can withstand enormous loads. Since they are mostly hidden from direct sunlight, there is no fear that they will deteriorate and crumble. The average car tire has a service life of more than 80 years.

Such a foundation also has many other advantages. For example,:

• Low cost. By and large, you only need to pay the most for the tires themselves (it’s cheaper to buy used ones) and for cement. When compared with a strip foundation, for which you will have to build formwork and purchase expensive reinforcement, a tire foundation becomes the most budget option.
• Low labor intensity. Yes, of course, you will have to wave a shovel and thoroughly compact such a foundation, but it is still faster than digging a trench and tying up reinforcement. True, in this case the pile foundation still wins. It is being built the fastest.

• No need to use heavy construction equipment. For a strip foundation you will have to hire an excavator, and for a pile foundation you will have to pay for the services of a pile driving machine. For a foundation made of tires, you will generally need a shovel and a regular car jack.
• Resistant to deformation over time. Thanks to their material, tires do not lose their integrity throughout the entire period of operation. They withstand seasonal ground movement. For the same reason, such a foundation is optimal for areas in areas with low seismic resistance.

It is also worth highlighting the large area of ​​the resulting support. This type of foundation is suitable for a bathhouse, gazebo, small house, terrace, summer veranda, garage and many other buildings.

Are there any disadvantages

There really aren't many downsides to a tire foundation. The most important of them is that tires are completely unsuitable for load-bearing walls. In this case, difficulties will arise in the process of cladding the building.

The second minus is rather not a minus, but a necessity. To build such a foundation (even though the tires are made of moisture-resistant material) you will need a layer of waterproofing. You should not lay the wheels directly on the ground. In summer, during the heat, the soil becomes very hot. Because of this, tires begin to emit not the most beneficial fumes.

Therefore, all that remains is to choose a specific type of this simple foundation and get to work.

Building a house from tires

From tires you can build not only a foundation, but also real strong and reliable walls of a house :

• We place the tire foundation on a belt (made of reinforced concrete);
• we build tire walls, doing mutual dressing (similar to the one that is used when laying bricks);
• we fill the voids between the tires with a clay solution (an alternative is plastic clay);
• We cover the “yard” and the inner sides of the walls with wood and plasterboard;
• so that the tires cannot catch fire, we must plaster the walls;
• We reinforce the walls with reinforcement to make them stronger and more stable.

A house with walls made of tires, built with your own hands, is characterized by a high level of thermal insulation. This advantage allows you to significantly save on heating .

Where tire bases have proven themselves best

The ratio of height to diameter for car tires is on average 1:3, respectively, each segment of the foundation is stable under the influence of uneven settlement factors. This important feature solves the problem of the absence of foundation deformation on complex heaving soils prone to crumbling and in seismically active zones. Accordingly, buildings can be placed on tires:

• On heaving soils that greatly increase in volume at sub-zero temperatures;
• In areas where it is impossible to prepare a level base for the foundation;
• In places where groundwater lies close to the surface;
• In climatic zones characterized by sharp temperature changes with large amplitudes of seasonal indicators.

Construction of a columnar foundation

A foundation made of automobile rubber in the form of pillars is relevant for the construction of lightweight frame buildings, be it a bathhouse, a country house, a garage or an outbuilding.

Such a foundation is resistant to soil mobility, so it is recommended to build it in seismically active regions.

A columnar foundation made of tires for a gazebo or bathhouse is erected as follows:

1. Preparing a foundation pit at a construction site. Leveling the bottom, filling with sand or fine crushed stone. Carefully compact the waterproofing pad.
2. Marking the area around the perimeter of the base in accordance with the construction plan using pegs.
3. Installing car tires so that the peg is located in the center of each element.
4. Leveling the height of the supports using a building level.
5. Filling the formed voids with fractional material - crushed stone or broken bricks.
6. Moistening and filling each element with concrete mixture.
7. Installation of the timber frame after the concrete has completely hardened.

A foundation made from old car tires is an affordable and reliable way for the construction of lightweight buildings - residential buildings and outbuildings in areas with moving soils.

Every owner of a plot of land who decides to build a house or other structure thinks about saving money on the work. It is no secret that most of the money is spent on building the foundation - about 35% of the cost of the building. Modern technologies make it possible not only to save on construction, but also to ensure long-term operation of the structure without loss of quality.

Tire foundations are an inexpensive, environmentally friendly, reliable solution for the construction of yard structures. To build such a foundation, you need tires from cars, a minimum of tools and materials, which makes it possible to reduce the cost of funds while obtaining a high-quality, reliable foundation for the building.

In modern construction, much attention is paid to structures that use recycled materials. Using used tires reduces the cost of building a foundation, because tires are practically free material.