Economical strip foundation for light buildings

What to hope for?

Some say that there is no point in thinking about building your own home if you don’t have at least a million rubles in assets. Others, however, are ready to argue: by resorting to the latest technologies and choosing the cheapest strip foundation, you can reduce this amount by a third, and sometimes even more. To achieve maximum savings during construction, you need to clearly plan every step, think through all the stages of building a house, find out in advance the prices for the work of craftsmen and the necessary goods. Many people advise immediately preparing for a long construction project. From year to year, a person will invest a certain amount available to him in the project, the house will grow, while still having the opportunity to use the latest developments that appear on the market literally every year.

When choosing how to build and how to pour the foundation cheaper (by yourself or with a mixer - there is practically no difference, although the first option may cost a slightly smaller amount), from what to build the base of the house, you should turn to the experience of professionals who are well versed in modern techniques and materials. Some practical options for implementing ideas are not allowed for use in multi-story construction, but are used to build private houses with your own hands - they help to significantly save on construction. This is especially true if the house is built frame, made of wood. Such buildings do not require a capital foundation, there is no need to install screw piles, you can do without concrete reinforced with expensive reinforcement, which means that costs are significantly reduced. You can build a gazebo, bathhouse, technical or storage room even cheaper.

TYPES OF LIGHT FOUNDATIONS

1. STRIP FOUNDATION

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It is a concrete structure in the form of a closed contour of a rectangular (sometimes curved) configuration. It is laid around the perimeter of the entire house and under internal load-bearing walls. A prefabricated strip foundation made from ready-made factory blocks can hardly be considered lightweight: a crane is required for its installation.

Another thing is a shallow-buried strip of monolithic concrete, which is erected for small wooden buildings, as well as for frame-type houses. Such a foundation can be quickly built with your own hands without the use of heavy construction equipment. The main disadvantages are the high material consumption and the difficulty of preparing a large amount of solution. In addition, of all types of lightweight foundations, this is the most expensive.

2. COLUMNAR FOUNDATION

As the name suggests, this type of foundation consists of a set of support pillars. The materials most often used for their manufacture are concrete, bricks or asbestos-cement pipes. Poles are installed in the corners of the house, under the intersection of load-bearing structures and in other places with the highest load.

A column foundation does not require much time or material costs; even one person can install it. It is not surprising that this solution is one of the most popular for the construction of lightweight buildings made of wood or porous concrete. At the same time, due to the short service life (30-50 years), it is not recommended to install a columnar foundation for the construction of permanent housing.

3. PILE (SCREW) FOUNDATION

A pile (screw) foundation is another way to quickly and inexpensively build reliable support for a light building. In appearance, these are the same pillars, but not made of concrete, but of steel pipes.

Such pipes are produced with a pointed end or screw thread. The piles are quickly screwed into the ground to a certain depth, after which a grillage is laid on top of them - a foundation that will evenly distribute the load across all supporting elements of the house.

This work of installing a pile foundation is not very labor intensive and does not require the use of expensive equipment. The only exceptions are those cases in which, due to weak soil, it is necessary to use supports with a height of more than 3 m.

Blocks and their alternatives

Houses of one, two, and sometimes three floors, for the walls of which blocks and bricks are used, are often built on foundation blocks. These are ready-made building materials that can be purchased in almost any market or ordered at the factory in the required quantity. Currently, this is one of the cheapest types of foundation. They produce many standard sizes, which allows everyone to choose an option to suit their taste and budget. The blocks were developed as a basis for massive buildings, so there is no need to worry about unreliability. True, it is necessary to select a quality product and choose a responsible supplier.

Our country has standards that all production sites that offer foundation blocks to customers are subject to. This allows you not to worry about the quality of the cheapest foundation for a house. The standards are designed so that even the smallest dimensions and lightest options can cope with the load of a small structure. Blocks are often chosen for the construction of objects with a body made of steel, wood, as well as for timber and log one-story buildings. However, you need to buy them in stores that can provide quality certificates.

How to work?

It is important not only to choose the cheapest foundation for the house, but also to take a responsible approach to all stages of creating the base of the structure. First you need to prepare the base, remove the top layer of soil until the root layer is exposed, then pour a cushion of sand, spill it and compact it.

The next stage is laying the blocks and connecting them together in accordance with the technology provided by the manufacturer (the description will be contained in the instructions for the specific product). Next, a metal or wooden grillage is installed. Reinforced concrete is not used as redundant, unnecessarily burdening the estimate without any real benefit to the result. When the grillage is completed, you can mount the lower trim and lay the first crown. It is secured with studs and insulated, strictly following the building construction technology.

As can be seen from the description of the process, blocks are not only the cheapest foundation for a house, but also allow you to avoid long-term work with water. Therefore, it can be used at any time of the year.

Columnar base

In most situations, the foundation for light construction is done on your own. The optimal type of construction here is a columnar base - in terms of technical characteristics and speed of construction.

The cost of materials and work during the construction of a columnar foundation is significantly lower than that of other foundations.

The technology of work is simple and does not require specialized equipment. In addition, the columnar foundation is universal and suitable for use on various soils. Also, there is no need for complex heat and waterproofing work.

The key parameter that determines the features of the work during the construction of a columnar foundation is the material for the supports. The following materials can be used:

Brick. Concrete mixture. Concrete blocks of various brands. Rubble concrete. Natural stone.

It is not difficult to build a simple foundation with your own hands - it is important to have a correctly drawn up project, created taking into account the individual characteristics of the construction site. If the foundation is intended for a small outbuilding, then you can do without a project.

Pillar foundation

Initially, the building site should be prepared for subsequent work. To do this, the site is cleared of debris and excess vegetation is removed. If necessary, the area is leveled to a certain slope.

After this, they proceed to marking the site. This is done either with a tape measure or with special geodetic tools, depending on the complexity of the structure. It is extremely important to maintain the accuracy of the geometric shapes on the site.

At the initial stage, it is important to ensure the availability of all necessary materials and tools to complete the work. This will allow you to carry out work without delays or stops, ensuring strict compliance with the technology.

The choice of material for the construction of supports determines the size of the wells for installing the supports. If the brick or blocks will be mounted on mortar, then a place should be provided for the masonry work. After creating the pillars, they are covered with waterproofing material.

In general terms, the construction of a foundation made of brick, blocks and rubble stone occurs according to the standard scheme. Some differences are due only to the shape and size of the materials.

Support-column base

To give additional strength to the structure, several reinforcements are installed in the central part of the support. After installing the support, the protruding part of the rod is cut off with a grinder.

If the soil has sufficient strength, then you can make a hole exactly in accordance with the dimensions of the future support.

Thus, there is no need to design and install formwork. The role of guide planes is performed by the soil itself. The disadvantage of this technique is the absence of a waterproofing coating for the supports, which significantly reduces the durability of the structure.

After the support reaches the ground surface, the support can be brought out with blocks or bricks.

Tested for centuries: wood

When choosing the cheapest foundation for a gazebo, bathhouse or other small building, you should take a closer look at the tree. It has been used since ancient times to create the foundations of small buildings in areas where the population did not have suitable stone material. These days, concrete has almost replaced wood, but some still prefer it. Sometimes this building material is used when it is necessary to create a foundation for a lightweight residential building. New opportunities have opened up with the creation of durable and reliable preparations for wood processing: they eliminate the harm of insects, rot and mold, and make the material impervious to moisture and fire. Some manufacturers of antiseptics guarantee that a tree treated according to all the rules can remain on the ground for a quarter of a century - and no harm will befall it.

Having decided for yourself that the most suitable and cheapest foundation for a barn, sauna, or house is wooden, you will have to take a responsible approach to following the technology. Only then will the tree live long when the material is treated with special compounds using the immersion method.

A narrow hole half a meter deep, up to six meters in length, is made on the site, the inside is covered with moisture-proof material, an antiseptic is poured into a kind of “container” and the timber from which the foundation is supposed to be built is immersed in it. Each specimen will have to be processed for half an hour or longer (the specific time is specified by the manufacturer of the composition) in warm weather conditions. During periods of sub-zero temperatures, it will not be possible to protect the material.

Wood: advice from professionals

Although wood is perhaps the cheapest foundation for a bathhouse, shed and small house, it pays for itself only if installed correctly. Sand is compacted for the pillow, and the perimeter is decorated with ditches that will help remove excess moisture. Without these protective measures, no antiseptic will save the tree.

If it is necessary to erect a temporary structure, wood is considered the most suitable option. Builders recommend choosing it if you plan to use the facility from a year to a quarter of a century.

It's all in

The answer to the question of what is the cheapest foundation for a house may surprise you. According to experts, one of the most affordable options is to build the base of the structure from car tires. What may surprise the average person will not be news to professionals: tires have been used in the construction industry for a decade now. Work begins with creating suitable sized recesses in the ground, into which rubber products are placed, then filled with sand, spilled with water, and compacted. Sand can be replaced with fine crushed stone, a mixture of gravel and sand.

If we turn to the official terminology, such the cheapest foundation created by ourselves can easily be called a dry concreting system. A mixture of sand and crushed stone is used as rubble. Rubber products become formwork. The strength of the finished object and the stability of its base are determined by the quality of compaction of the material and the thickness of the tires chosen for construction.

Ready-made slabs as a base

When considering the cheapest foundations, it is worth paying attention to hollow-core slabs previously used in other objects. Of course, this option is not applicable for a residential building, but it is perfect for warehouses, utility rooms, and enclosures. The main difficulty is to obtain high-quality used reinforced concrete slabs. The strength parameters of such objects are high enough that even after some time of service in a different role, the slabs would become a good foundation for a structure. A base layer is made from them, then the frame is tied or the first crown of timber or logs is laid.

Slabs previously used to create floors or build roads are used as subfloors in the construction of buildings for which an extremely limited budget has been allocated. As a rule, this trick is used when working on courtyards, additional buildings, and sheds.

About prices: how important is the foundation?

It is not for nothing that many people who are thinking about creating their own home, but are limited in funds, begin their acquaintance with the issue by searching for the cheapest foundation for a frame house, block, or timber. On average, the price of the frame is at least a third of the total cost of the building, and specific costs consist of several factors. If you plan to resort to the help of a designer, his work will have to be assessed separately. On the other hand, the investment will be worth it: a professional will analyze the features of the site and suggest which construction solution will be optimal. The next cost item is geological research, which will prevent emergency situations in the future.

Further, the price of even the cheapest foundation includes the cost of materials and work on arranging the foundation. It is necessary to calculate the formwork and reinforcement layer. It is necessary to take into account the expected weight of the building: this determines which materials can be used for construction and which are absolutely not suitable. The most economical options are available to those who plan to build a residential building from wood and wooden panels. Inexpensive foundations are available to those choosing Canadian frame houses.

Types of foundations for a frame house.

Frame houses from foundation to roof.

Which foundation is best for a frame house is a question that arises among many individual developers who decide to build such a lightweight building on their site. Frame technologies are a new word in low-rise residential construction; these ideas have become increasingly popular in recent years.

Due to their differences from ordinary timber or brick buildings, the choice of foundation for a frame house has a number of its own characteristics.

Wooden house

For such a structure, one of the cheapest foundations is a shallow frame foundation with a grillage made of wood. You don’t have to make a large pit, and the main building materials for supports are wood, blocks, and bricks that are accessible to everyone. Installation requires little effort, which means you won’t have to spend money on workers at all, or it will be enough to hire several people who can finish the installation in a few days. The specific price will be determined by the dimensions of the building, the number of pillars depends on them. This option is only suitable for areas with sandy soil.

House made of bricks or blocks

The cheapest foundation for a house made of foam blocks will be heavier compared to a wooden one, which means the load-bearing capacity of the foundation should be greater. Builders recommend choosing medium or shallow depth options and giving preference to monolithic foundations with a grillage made of beams or reinforced concrete. If the house is supposed to be made of stone, it is recommended to make a strip frame. If the initial conditions are not only a heavy structure, but also complex soil, it is practically impossible to do without such a foundation.

By choosing the cheapest foundation for a house made of foam blocks or bricks, people save on building materials. This is possible if there is nearby access to natural deposits of stone suitable for construction. Such a base will have good load-bearing capacity. It is important to remember about weight: if a cubic meter of blocks is on average no heavier than seven centners, the same volume of brick weighs about one and a half tons.

Service life of strip foundations

Blocks for a lightweight foundation
Strip foundation supports are built not only from monolithic reinforced concrete or prefabricated blocks. It is allowed to make strip foundations from clay bricks or rubble stones with cement mortar.

There are service lifes for each type of strip foundation:

• Clay brick foundations last from 50 to 70 years.
• Belts assembled from reinforced concrete blocks can be used for up to 75 years.
• Monolithic strip supports and rubble concrete foundations last up to 150 years.

Monolithic structure

No matter how much you would like to use the cheapest foundation and save a lot of money on this, by choosing a monolith, you will have to remember that it requires a full-fledged foundation, that is, a strip type of base is required. An alternative is a concrete monolith; this is more often chosen if the soil is mobile and the groundwater is high. In such conditions, tape requires a supporting sole. Due to the substrate, the pressure of the building on the base will be reduced, which means that the load-bearing capacity will be significantly higher.

To reduce the costs associated with the construction of a strip foundation, you can use concrete blocks for its manufacture. This way you can reduce expenses by almost a third.

Which foundation to choose?

Tape

A shallow strip foundation is equally well suited for the construction of a frame house, a tan and a light one-story structure made of timber, logs or cellular concrete. Nevertheless, such a foundation is rarely used for the construction of housing from prefabricated panels due to its high cost. When choosing this type of foundation, in addition to expediency, the type of soil on the site is also of no small importance: a strip-type foundation with a slight depth can only be installed on solid, slightly heaving soil.

Columnar

If we are talking about the construction of a frame or frame-panel house, then supports in the form of pillars in this case will be the best option for the foundation. No special equipment is required for its construction. The poles can be installed in just a couple of days. However, the columnar structure will have to be abandoned if the house is planned to be equipped with a basement or the groundwater on the site is located too high. You should not build this type of foundation when building houses whose design includes more than two levels (two floors plus an attic).

Pile

Recommended for construction in areas with large elevation changes or on very moving soils. Perfect for any light low-rise buildings. It can be used as the most budget-friendly type of foundation for the construction of prefabricated country houses: installation of pile supports will cost 40% less than a strip monolith. It is clear that piles, like pillars, do not imply the presence of a base or basement. Ideally, a house on a pile foundation should be one-story: the supports of two-story buildings are less durable.

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Piles as a base

It is reasonable to choose metal piles for the foundation if construction is planned on moving soil of increased complexity. With relatively small financial investments, the foundation of the building will be quite strong. Screw piles are often chosen for construction on rocks or very high water levels in the ground. True, when determining for yourself which foundation is the cheapest and most suitable, you need to remember that the piles will not support much weight, which means the structure must be light and compact. Stilts are often used when it is necessary to build a house from panels or panels. Such a foundation is suitable for constructing a garage, shed or other auxiliary premises.

The main savings of this option are due to the absence of earthworks that require the involvement of heavy equipment and specialists. All elements can be installed by hand, and the materials are relatively inexpensive.

Rapid concrete foundation for light buildings

Not a single suburban area is complete without auxiliary buildings. And it doesn’t matter whether you are building a cozy gazebo for a family holiday, setting up a children’s playground, or simply building a utility unit for storing garden tools - any structure requires reliable support.

Fulcrum

Any building or structure needs a reliable foundation. Of course, sometimes you can do without an intermediate link - small, lightweight gazebos are sometimes installed directly on the ground. However, this is a temporary, literally seasonal solution. If the structure is intended to serve for at least several years, it cannot be done without a reliable foundation.

The most common method of constructing a foundation for outbuildings is to lay support pillars. The depth level and design of such a columnar foundation are selected based on the expected weight and “capitality” of the building.

To build a spacious summer kitchen with a multifunctional barbecue complex or a spacious closed gazebo, a columnar foundation will most likely have to be laid, focusing on the depth of soil freezing. Because the consequences of possible frost movements can be catastrophic for such buildings. But any other buildings are usually erected on non-buried foundations.

Often, such low support columns are laid out from solid brick or cast from concrete. In any case, this process requires some time and effort.

Even if you do not mix the mortar yourself, but someone else does this for you, any further construction work will only be possible when the time required for the concrete to set (and this is at least a week) has been met.

And absolutely nothing can be done about it. Of course, there are special additives to concrete that speed up the process. A solution can always be found, the only question is time and money.

The question is: do you need it? Delve into all these technological subtleties if you just need to install a gazebo or build a terrace and start using them. Moreover, our warm season is fleeting. After all, there are much simpler and faster solutions.

Special foundation blocks allow you to build reliable foundations for lightweight buildings almost instantly.

In fact, such products represent ready-made elements of a kind of “constructor” for assembling a foundation. They are optimally suited for constructing a porch, terrace, gazebo, frame bathhouse, canopy, barn, animal enclosure, outbuilding or seasonal flooring for a summer cafe.

Concrete foundation blocks have a special configuration of the upper part (grooves and recesses), which allows you to quickly and reliably fix the supporting elements of prefabricated wooden buildings in both horizontal and vertical positions. And the expanded lower support plane guarantees the stability of the building on any soil foundation. Even when building on a slope or on soft ground. In fact, the slope or quality of the soil layer for such a foundation does not matter much.

ArtBlock is the fastest foundation for:

• gazebos,
• verandas,
• terraces,
• utility block,
• aviary,
• frame bath,
• garden house.

But the most important advantage when choosing such a foundation block is time.

Saving the most precious resource, which will no longer need to be spent on finding and implementing a solution on how and from what materials to make a strong and durable foundation.

See also:

Modern country houses

How long does a screw foundation last?

Popular foundation mistakes

More on the topic FOUNDATIONS

Simple and effective solution

In fact, all the work comes down to installing foundation blocks at key support points for the future building.
As a rule, they are located under the supporting connections of the floor frame, under load-bearing beams and in the corners of the building. In this case, the blocks can be placed both on a sand and gravel cushion and on open ground. The main thing is to maintain the required level and installation interval - on average, one block is required per square meter of building area.

Constructor "ArtBlock" for building a foundation:

• Delivery and unloading without special equipment.
• Building the foundation yourself.
• Installation without cement or other “wet” processes.
• Compatible with many building materials.
• Dozens of options for fixing materials.
• Minimal site preparation.
• Simple installation using the tongue and groove principle.
• Half an hour for a foundation measuring 3x3 m.
• Immediately ready to continue construction.
• Not afraid of frost, rain or sun.
• Can be used many times.

ArtBlock parameters

For the construction of long-term buildings, such supporting elements must be installed in accordance with all the rules.

First, the construction site is marked, then vegetation and loose soil are removed from the construction site, and the soil in the places where the columns are located is removed to the depth of the soil layer. Usually a shovel bayonet is enough for this.

A sand or gravel cushion is poured into the prepared recesses and compacted, and the blocks are placed directly on it. The blocks located along the perimeter of the building should not be installed too close to its edge, since in the future they will interfere with the covering of the “base” of the supporting frame.

It is important that the support blocks are positioned vertically even if construction is carried out on a slope and that a horizontal plane is maintained when installing the corresponding transverse rows of several blocks.

Compensation for the soil slope is carried out by the supporting elements of the building itself. The height of the blocks can be adjusted by adding or removing gravel from under the support. After aligning the rows of blocks, you can begin constructing a prefabricated building or installing a finished structure on this foundation.

The prepared timber is simply laid in the grooves without any additional fastening to the block. The stability of the structure is achieved due to the rigid perimeter of the building frame or the transverse fixation of the frame beams in the grooves and recesses of the block.

Thus, on an unprepared site, a foundation for a light structure can be built in literally half an hour. Moreover, such foundation blocks can be reused many times. What is relevant, say, for organizing one-time events, including outdoor events, or seasonal buildings like summer cafes.

TISE

Opinions differ among professionals regarding which foundation is the cheapest. Some argue that TISE is the optimal choice. The abbreviation hides the foundation on pillars or piles with supports with a cross-section of 25 cm. Under the pillars it is necessary to make 60-centimeter extensions, called soles. They significantly reduce the pressure of the weight of the structure, that is, they minimize the risk of land subsidence.

TISE is suitable for building a house from blocks, bricks, stones, and is suitable for frame buildings. The base can be placed on sand, clay and other soils. The reliability of the finished building will largely be determined by the quality of the grillage. Often, rolled metal is used for its production. An alternative is a concrete monolith.

Which house foundation is best to choose for a private house?

In terms of price, such a foundation is not considered budget. It is suitable for many types of soil.

A slab foundation is a very expensive type of foundation and requires precise engineering calculations.

If you incorrectly determine the center of gravity even slightly, then cracks in the walls cannot be avoided.

This type of foundation is the last thing people pay attention to and is used only if other options are not suitable at all.

Slab foundation for a frame house.

Screw piles.

What kind of foundation for a frame house?
The foundation on screw piles cannot be called quite popular, but there are conversations about it quite often. The price for a pile foundation is quite attractive.

This is a very quickly erected foundation option and is not picky about soils.

But make no mistake, there is also a minus in this foundation, it lies in what material you choose the piles from. If you choose metal piles, they may corrode.

When choosing piles, make sure of their quality, since among pile products there are very often defects. After all, the durability of the future structure depends on the quality of the foundation. That is, a foundation on screw piles turns out to be quite expensive and it is rational to use it only in rare cases.

It is better to use such a foundation when it is necessary to prepare it in a short time or when it is necessary to build a foundation on difficult terrain.

Pile foundation for a frame house.

In other cases, a strip foundation is erected or bored piles are installed.

Bored piles.

Such a foundation is often forgotten and in vain!

The foundation on bored piles is reliable; it is used both in private and multi-story construction. These types of piles are applicable on all types of soils and in various terrains. The only difficulty is drilling a well, the cost of the work will depend on this.

Bored piles are generally more expensive than screw piles. If you are faced with a choice between bored piles and screw piles, and the price does not matter to you, then it is better to make a choice in favor of bored piles.

Plate

Although this is not the cheapest option, it is the only one applicable on highly complex soil. The basis of the house with this construction technology is a concrete monolith up to 170 cm deep. Builders often call it a floating foundation. To reinforce concrete, a frame of increased rigidity is used. The finished base can easily cope with strong pressure and significant load. And to save money, you can choose the cheapest way to finish the foundation of a house - for example, simply plaster.

The advantage of a slab as a foundation is that the structure will not be affected by seasonal changes in the soil or high water levels. Uneven terrain or moving layers will not become an obstacle to the long service life of the building.

So technology

First we mark the site. If it is a frame house, then all the work comes down to marking the installation points of the piles along the axes of the building in increments of 120 cm.

The fact is that when designing a frame house, it is advantageous to make all horizontal dimensions of the structure in the axes multiples of 60 cm.

This is primarily due to both the dimensions of the timber itself, from which the frame is assembled, and the dimensions of the sheathing panels and insulation slabs (mats). Thus, with a pile spacing of 120 cm, every second frame node (the location of the vertical frame post on the bottom frame beam} will rest on one of the piles of our foundation. This is quite enough.

If we are going to build something more “frivolous”, say, a barn or a chicken coop, then the choice of step size can be arbitrary. Of course, you always want to save money by installing as few piles as possible.

This will make the foundation less expensive. But at the same time it will be necessary to increase the cross-section of the bottom trim beam, which in turn will increase the cost of the entire building. In this case, it seems to me that the optimal solution is to increase the installation step of the drilled piles, but not more than 150 cm.

In the nodes of our marking, we use a crowbar to make small notches that allow the drill to go deep exactly at the marked point.

Eternal classic: strip foundation

This method benefits from ease of implementation, but requires considerable effort. A non-professional can create the base of the structure, but he must be a strong and resilient person. The finished base will be quite reliable under reasonable load conditions. The budget version of the foundation built using this method involves saving on size - the width is made no more than 40 cm, and the height is up to one and a half meters. It should be remembered: the foundation must be above the water in the ground and below the freezing point. Additional costs may be due to difficult soil conditions. For the work you will need concrete and reinforcement, materials for insulation from water, concrete additives to improve the quality of the finished result.

To create a foundation, a trench is first prepared where it is planned to make load-bearing walls, then everything is completely filled with concrete - a closed figure is obtained. Construction requires preparation of formwork. The reinforcement is poured directly on the construction site, due to which the object becomes solid. In order for the finished structure to be durable and reliable, it is necessary to responsibly strengthen the corners - these are the parts of the building base that will be the weakest.

USEFUL TIPS FOR CONSTRUCTING A FOUNDATION

PIT WIDTH

to lay a strip support it should be slightly larger than the design width of the foundation itself. This will allow waterproofing of the concrete strip from its outer side - in those places where it will come into contact with the ground.

Molten bitumen is usually used as a waterproofing material, which is used to cover the outer walls of the foundation in two layers. After the work is completed, the gap between the concrete and the edge of the trench is covered with earth.

BEFORE EARTHWORK

To lay a foundation of any type, it is necessary to carry out geological surveys. This will help you understand what kind of soil you will encounter and at what depth you will have to lay the support for the house. Otherwise

the foundation of an already constructed building can be severely deformed by frost heaving or begin to be eroded by groundwater.

LAYING THE FOUNDATION into an already dug trench (pit) cannot be postponed until later, for example, until the end of winter. Further work should begin immediately. If this is not done, the pit will begin to crumble, be washed away by rain or freeze, which in the future will have a very bad effect on the strength of the entire structure.

If there is any doubt that the foundation will be installed on time, it is better not to begin construction until a more appropriate time arrives.

Frame house: features

The most affordable and reliable option for country house construction is frame houses. Such buildings are undemanding to the base and weigh little. When choosing a base, perhaps the most important factors are the terrain and soil. You can install pillars, make a monolithic base, choose piles, TISE or a combined option.

Having determined the boundaries of the building, pillars are placed under the areas of maximum load - they will act as a support. The pitch of the pillars should not exceed 2.5 m; the cross-section is calculated for each object individually, taking into account the weight of the finished building, the number of floors and the material from which the supports will be made.

A columnar foundation for a frame house will be reliable only if it is made half a meter or taller. The depth is determined by soil and climate parameters. For the bottom trim, use concrete with reinforcement, timber, and pipes. The space under the building can be left open or a barrier made of brick, plywood, or slate can be created.

Pile and columnar foundations.

Do-it-yourself columnar foundation for a frame house.
The photo shows a columnar base.

Of course, the cheapest foundation for a house is columnar or pile.

Columnar base.

It is optimal for wooden and other light buildings built on sandy soils. This is the most common type of such foundations (also find out how to make a columnar foundation with a grillage with your own hands).

The main element of this design is the support pillar. It can be made from concrete, brick, asbestos-cement pipes and even logs.

The columnar base is quite easy to install. If you answer the question, “which foundation is the cheapest?”, then this is it. The cost of one pillar (material plus labor) is about 2.5 thousand rubles.

TISE technology.

Do-it-yourself pile foundation for a frame house.
TISE pile foundation.

Such structures are suitable for all types of houses: wooden, brick, stone, located on heaving, sandy, clay and loamy soils.

Below are the main advantages of the structures.

1. The design of such foundations is based on TISE pile supports, as well as a grillage. It plays the role of a beam that connects the pillars and evenly distributes the load.
2. The cross-section of the piles is 25 cm, at the bottom they have an expansion of 60 cm. Thanks to this, their load-bearing capacity increases several times.
3. The grillage, supported by pillars, does not touch the ground. Therefore, it is not subject to stress from frost heaving.
4. This foundation is suitable for the most difficult and weak soils.

Its cost is about 4,000 rubles per linear meter, including labor.

Construction on bored piles.

Such foundations are best suited for brick and wooden buildings located on sandy soils. They are laid below the freezing depth of the soil, and are perfect for areas with uneven terrain.

One of the main advantages of a bored base is that it can be installed close to bodies of water and even in the water itself. The price of the structure (per linear meter) is 3500/3800 rubles.

Columnar foundation: technical aspects

Iron and rubble concrete are used to make supports. You can use building blocks, bricks and special building stone. Sometimes logs play the role of supports, some use round profile pipes. The base is made monolithic or prefabricated, focusing on the characteristics of the material of the supports. If you plan to erect a building on heaving soil, it is necessary to bury the pillars below the freezing point. If the soil is stable, half this value will suffice. A cushion of sand or a mixture of sand and gravel is made at half the height of the pit. If the posts do not require deepening, the level of the base corresponds to the soil.

The grillage is placed above the foundations, ties them together, preventing them from tipping over, distributing the load as evenly as possible. If the soil belongs to the category of increased stability, you can abandon reinforced concrete beams, making do with only the bottom trim laid on top of building materials that insulate from water. The easiest way is to build such a foundation from rectangular pillars, and use plywood for formwork. You can refuse it if the soil density is above average.

Foundation installation

Tape

A shallow strip foundation should be installed at a depth of 50-70 cm. In this case, the lower part of the concrete contour should not reach the level of soil freezing. To install a subfloor, the outer part of the foundation can be raised to a height of up to 40 cm.

First of all, we will mark the territory in accordance with the plan, remove the vegetation layer and level the site. Next, we will dig a trench 400-500 mm wide. The depth of the trench should be the same everywhere, which is easy to check with a building level. We will install the formwork. We will compact the bottom of the trench with a compacted sand cushion 20-30 cm thick, which will make the foundation more stable. Now we will lay the waterproofing film so that it extends to the edges of the formwork. At the final stage, we will install a reinforcing mesh with rods with a diameter of 8-16 mm, after which we will fill the trench with concrete.

Columnar

The easiest way is to install a shallow columnar foundation from ready-made concrete blocks. Such a decision will be completely justified if it is necessary to build a bathhouse, a gazebo or a small one-story frame house. To form the supports, we use D blocks with standard dimensions: 400 x 400 x 200 mm. We will place a sand and gravel cushion under each pillar and compact it properly. We will install the assembled supports around the entire perimeter of the house, placing them at a distance of 2-2.5 m from each other. We will mount another 2-3 pillars inside the perimeter under the internal supporting structure. Using a level, make sure that all supports are at the same height. All that remains is to lay a sheet of roofing material on top of each support and assemble the lower trim.

For a more massive structure, it is better to use monolithic concrete pillars. They must be installed at the depth of soil freezing.

Cheap and cheerful: what do we save on?

When choosing among all possible options for inexpensive construction, you need to clearly understand what exactly allows you to save in each specific case. The foundation of the building should be simple, requiring a small amount of materials and earthworks. Therefore, it is reasonable to analyze each option of interest according to the specified parameters. You can create a table for yourself that will record the scores on these points, and then compare the amounts.

The smaller the volume of material needed to form the base of the structure, the less money you will have to spend on it - this is obvious to everyone. If the installation technology is quite simple, the likelihood of successfully doing everything yourself increases, without spending a limited budget on paying the labor of strangers. Analyzing market offers will also help you save money. When purchasing in bulk, prices from different suppliers may vary greatly. Therefore, you need to familiarize yourself with all possible offers in advance.

At the same time, you need to realize: construction with minimal costs, and even on your own, is a considerable risk. If you make serious mistakes at the very beginning, the venture will end in failure and the money will be wasted. We will have to build everything anew, and investing much more money: as they say, when you get burned with milk, you blow with water.

Technology for constructing a strip monolithic base

The construction of a lightweight version of the foundation is the construction of a monolithic strip foundation, which is easy to do with your own hands in a short summer period. Monolithic structures should be erected in the warm season so that the structure is not exposed to low temperatures at the time of pouring the concrete mixture and gaining strength.

Preparation and marking of the site

Marking the area for laying a light foundation
The first stage of work is preparatory measures that must be carried out very carefully:

• Clear the construction site of various debris, grass, bushes, and trees. If necessary, old stumps should be uprooted.
• All holes and recesses on the building site should be filled with soil, and raised mounds should be leveled.
• Carry out leveling work on the site, storing the fertile topsoil separately.
• Mark the building on the planned territory, for which you should determine the perimeter by driving in pegs. You can make the pegs yourself from wood, or use scraps of reinforcing rod. If the building has a complex shape, pegs are driven in all corners and in places of protrusions.
• A cord is pulled over the driven pegs, which will help more accurately determine the location of the future foundation.

Excavation and formwork construction

Trenches for pouring the foundation (belt type) can be dug with your own hands or using earth-moving equipment. It should be remembered that the walls and bottom of the trenches must have a flat surface, so after working with the excavator you will have to level the trench manually.

Sand cushion for the foundation

Trenches will have to be made not only around the perimeter of the building, internal load-bearing walls and partitions must also be supported on the foundation. The bottom and walls of the trench for the strip foundation are compared and compacted.

At the bottom of the trench under the strip foundation, a sand cushion is placed in a layer of about 10 cm; the sand must be thoroughly compacted, pouring water over the layers. A layer of fine gravel is laid on top of the sand bedding, constantly compacting the bedding. The construction of the sand and gravel cushion must be done with special care; to increase the density, the backfill layers must be watered.

The formwork is installed in the trench very carefully, propping up the panels with supports and braces. It is very important that the strip foundation made of monolithic reinforced concrete has perfectly even shapes. You can make formwork yourself from wooden boards, plywood sheets or chipboard.

It is allowed to use reusable metal formwork, but before placing the panels in the trench, the reusable formwork structures should be thoroughly cleaned of concrete stains, dirt, oil and dust.

Reinforcement frame and concreting

To increase the strength of the foundation base, its rigidity and load-bearing capacity, the structure is strengthened with a spatial frame made of reinforcing steel, which is laid in the formwork before concreting. Do you own a welding machine? Do you have welding skills? This means that the frame can be made with your own hands. The main structure uses reinforcing steel with a diameter of 10 to 12 mm, the spatial connecting frame is made of wire with a diameter of 6-8 mm.

Strip foundation reinforcement

The second option for connecting the reinforcement is using a binding wire. In this way, it is easy to make a frame for the foundation with your own hands, even without certain construction skills.

The finished frame is placed in the formwork in such a way that the metal does not touch the formwork walls anywhere.

The foundation strip is concreted with concrete mortar, which is best poured into the formwork within one day, thus avoiding the appearance of cold bridges during the operation of the foundation. It is best to fill the formwork with concrete on both sides at the same time, constantly leveling the concrete.

Compaction of the mortar in the formwork is carried out using deep vibrators, trying to carefully process all joints of the reinforcement frame. The presence of cavities and shells in the body of the foundation should not be allowed.

Concrete care and backfilling of sinuses

The foundation support must gain sufficient strength before the construction of walls can begin. Strengthening continues for at least 28 days, so during this time work on the construction site is suspended. The surface of the foundation must be moistened frequently, covered from the sun and wind with plastic film.

Backfilling of the foundation sinuses can begin after the foundation has reached full strength.