← Building on the homestead H62-02 · Module 2 of 7 · Pages: 20 · Worksheets: 5

Foundations

Trial pit, setting out, pad footings, strip foundations and slabs, concrete mixed and cured properly, damp-proofing and drainage, with a concrete calculator and a pour log

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Foundations

In short

  • A foundation goes below frost depth (in lowland UK and Ireland usually at least 450 mm, in clay often about 1 m; in the US and Canada as the local code says) and onto sound ground, never onto topsoil or fill.
  • You check a right angle with diagonals or the 3-4-5 rule.
  • Foundation concrete: roughly 1 part cement, 2 sand, 3 gravel, about 325 kg cement per m³, with just enough water to make it stiff, not runny.
  • Fresh concrete is cured for 7 days (kept damp and covered) and takes full load after 28 days.
  • Water is a foundation's worst enemy: drainage, a damp-proof course and roof water led away.

What's inside

Chapters

  1. Which foundation for which building
  2. Ground and foundation depth
  3. Setting out: a true right angle and the right height
  4. Digging
  5. Concrete: mixing that holds
  6. Pad footings for posts
  7. Strip foundation
  8. Slab on grade
  9. Water: damp-proofing and drainage
  10. Foundations without concrete
  11. Common mistakes
  12. Printable checklist

Worksheets

  • Concrete calculator
  • Dates from the pour
  • Shopping list and cost sheet
  • Foundation sketch
  • Concrete calendar and pour log

Fields and checkboxes can be filled in with Adobe Acrobat Reader (desktop and mobile), and the calculator adds up by itself. Filling in may not work in some browsers. A print version comes with the screen PDF.

This guide in other languages:

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