What kind of foundation is needed for a house of foam blocks - many people think. After all, this material is economical when laying, the price of a house will be much lower than the price of brick laying. But on the other hand, the blocks strongly absorb moisture. And there is something to think about.

Which better foundation to make a house from foam blocks, we will consider today. Also, the video in this article will show the varieties of the foundation, and you can make the right choice.

Construction of the foundation for the house of foam blocks

To build a solid house, you need a strong foundation, which can be of several types. Each of them is suitable for its type of structure, but you can make any with your own hands, and below will be instructions on this issue.

Foundation tape This type of foundation is represented by a continuous concrete belt with specified parameters of width, depth and height. This type subdivided into deep and shallow.
Columnar foundation This type of foundation is represented by columns with a round or rectangular section. These pillars are dug into the ground at the corners and along the entire perimeter under each of the load-bearing walls. Each subsequent post must be dug in after 1.5 - 2 meters. The columnar foundation is made of reinforced concrete and has a round or square section.
pile foundation It is a partial analogue column foundation, but is made of metal piles, the number and distance between which are calculated individually. For installation, screw piles, hanging or pile-racks with a reinforced concrete grillage are used.
Monolithic slab This type of foundation slab is a solid base made of reinforced concrete, which is located on a bed of sand and gravel. This type of foundation is laid under the entire foundation of the house. The thickness of the slab is directly proportional to the number of storeys and area of ​​the house.

Making a choice of foundation

What kind of foundation is needed for a house made of foam blocks in your case, now we will understand according to the design.

Attention: To give a correct answer to this question, it should be noted that the type of foundation that is able to provide the structure with sufficient reliability is ideal. It depends on the conditions on your construction site. The financial issue remains important when choosing the type of foundation.

Now consider the factors that will affect the choice, and decide which foundation is best for a foam block house:

  • Soil characteristics - parameters such as soil composition, groundwater location, soil composition, determining the depth of soil freezing, heaving;
  • Approximate mass of the future structure. Do not forget to take into account, in addition to the house itself, the weight of communications, furniture and decor elements;
  • The presence of a basement;
  • Time to build and availability of sufficient manpower.

Let's take a closer look at each of the factors:

Soil characteristics and their impact Before you start creating the foundation for your future foam block house, you will need to explore the soil and find out what features it has.

Attention: Geological surveys would be the best option.

However, if these studies are too costly for you, you can conduct them yourself.

  • To do this, you need to make a well 2.5 meters deep with sampling and identifying the composition. You can find both non-rocky rocks, such as coarse sand, heaving rocks, such as clay, loam or sandy loam, and medium-rocky rocks, such as dusty sand.
  • In the case of weakly and non-rocky soils, a strip foundation can be laid.
  • Heaving soil requires the use of a strip foundation recessed type, while it is required to deepen the foundation to a sufficient depth, which threatens you with high costs.
  • If the non-porous layer lies at a depth of more than 2 meters, as well as the freezing depth, then you need to use a pile foundation.
freezing The depth of freezing in different areas differs significantly and must be determined according to data obtained over many years of research. The ground freezes most often to a depth of 1 to 2 meters.
ground water They have a significant impact on the choice of foundation. The higher the groundwater to the surface, the more likely it is that you will have to abandon the strip foundation. With a groundwater depth of 0.5 to 1 meter, it is not recommended to build a strip foundation, since complex drainage will be required, and this will cost a pretty penny. With these parameters, the use of a monolithic slab is better.
Availability of basements If you plan to equip the basement, then you will need to use a strip foundation, however, if the groundwater level is close to the surface of the earth, then you will have to invest in good drainage and waterproofing.

Attention: The fastest to build pile foundation, and the most expensive foundation is considered to be a monolithic slab.

It is necessary to make a decision on the choice of foundation based on the factors described above, as well as on the basis of financial resources at your disposal. To save on the cost of building a foundation, you can build it yourself if you have the necessary skills.

Building a foundation for foam blocks with your own hands

You can build almost all types of foundations on the site yourself. But for each of the options, certain features will be required.

Below we will consider such features and give examples of how best to build it yourself different kinds bases, which are: tape, pile, columnar and monolithic slab.

Filling the strip foundation

The strip foundation, which you can build yourself with your own hands, will be different high level strength. It can be both deep and shallow.

In both cases, the foundation will be continuous, made of reinforced concrete and located under all the load-bearing walls of the house. These types of foundations differ in the distance at which the foundation sinks into the soil.

buried This type of foundation is best used on clay soils and other heaving soils.
  • It is required to lay such a foundation to the depth to which the soil freezes, and its width should be 10 cm more than the width of the walls.
  • The plinth must be made at least 40 cm high. The top of the plinth must be reinforced using reinforcement with a diameter of 10-16 millimeters. You can tie the reinforcing row using clamps together with fittings or knitting wire.
  • To build such a foundation, you will need to spend a lot of material and time. Therefore, this option is more often used if it is planned to build a basement or when building low-rise buildings.
Shallow This strip foundation is laid to a depth of 60 centimeters and is used for non-rocky soils with high strength.
  • When constructing such a foundation, it is necessary to use a pillow of sand and gravel with a height of 20 to 30 cm, which lays on the bottom of a trench with a depth of 50 to 60 cm.
  • The pillow can be made of sand and gravel, then it is necessary to fill them in layers of 10 - 15 cm.
  • Next, we install the formwork and pour concrete of a grade of at least M200.
  • The upper part of the plinth is equipped with a reinforcement cage of 10-12 mm reinforcement and connected by reinforcement segments in steps of 20 to 40 cm.

Attention: This foundation must be made as wide as the width of the load-bearing wall with an additional 10 cm.

Construction of a column foundation

This type of foundation is most often used in the construction of foam concrete houses, when you need to build small house on clay and other heaving types of soil, while freezing of the soil should be no more than 1.5 meters.

So:

  • The column can be poured directly into the pit using a reinforcing cage.
  • You can also use ready-made reinforced concrete pillars for laying the foundation.
  • It is required to dig in pillars in increments of 1.5 - 2 meters with the installation of pillars under load-bearing walls, as well as corners. It is also worth installing poles under places with increased load. It is necessary to lay the pillar to a depth greater than the depth of freezing of the soil.

Attention: The pillars must be installed on a sand cushion, and a formwork with a bottom is installed on the top of the pillars and a beam with an armored belt is poured. Armoframe is required to be attached to the hinges on the poles or to the released reinforcement before pouring the concrete.

Building a foundation on piles

The pile foundation differs in the type of piles used and can be:

  • From screw piles;
  • From hanging piles;
  • From piles.

Attention: The length of the pile for the construction of such a foundation is most often 4-6 meters and is determined by calculation. It should be borne in mind that hanging piles will provide a stable foundation due to the friction of the side surfaces and compaction when they are clogged with soil.

  • The pile-screw foundation rests on metal piles, which are screwed into the ground due to screw blades. The pile-rack is driven into the ground until a solid layer of soil is reached and is necessary to transfer the load from the building to the piles.
  • When using any type of pile foundation, you will need to install a monolithic concrete beam with a reinforced frame. It is done by installing the formwork on top of the piles, into which the grillage is poured.

Construction of a monolithic slab for a house from foam blocks

A monolithic slab is a foundation that can be erected on almost any type of soil, except clay.

  • This type of foundation is often popularly called floating, because it has the ability to move along with the ground and thereby protect the walls of the house from the occurrence of small and large cracks.
  • To build a similar foundation with your own hands, you will need to dig a continuous pit with a depth of 60 centimeters. At the bottom of the pit, it is necessary to lay a sand cushion up to 25 cm high and crushed stone up to 15 cm high.
  • On top of the pillow, it is required to lay waterproofing, and then the reinforcing cage in two layers in the form of a grid with the formation of cells of 20 x 20 cm.
  • Fittings are best used with a diameter of 10 - 12 mm. First of all, only the first layer is tied, then “high chairs” from the same reinforcement are laid on it, and the next layer is already laid on them.
  • The entire structure must be tied with knitting wire. Then you can start pouring concrete.
  • Concrete should be used, grade not lower than M200. Thanks to this foundation, the house will stand for a long time, but you will need very a large number of reinforcement and other materials, and the construction time of the foundation will increase significantly relative to other types.

Is it possible to build a foundation from foam blocks?

Basically, this opportunity exists, but when building such a foundation, it will be necessary to ensure its reliability and it will be necessary to take into account a large number of different factors, and this makes it problematic to use such material for the foundation:

  • The main problem is the poor resistance of foam concrete to alternating loads, which is very important, especially if you are building on heaving soil.
  • Such a foundation will require the most thorough isolation from moisture, both vertical and horizontal, since this material has a porous structure and is able to absorb moisture from the soil.
  • The masonry itself will need to be carried out with reliable reinforcement, which, along with waterproofing, will require additional financial investments.
  • The frost resistance of foam blocks, especially in an environment with high humidity, also creates additional obstacles when using them as a building material for the foundation of a house, even when making foam concrete walls.

Attention: Thus, most of the structural foam blocks cannot serve as good material to build a solid foundation.

  • If you nevertheless decide to use foam blocks to build the foundation of your house, then it is worth conducting such experiments only on strong, non-rocky, dry soils using foam blocks of the highest density.
  • In addition, as we have said before, masonry must be carried out with reliable reinforcement with reinforcement, and it will also be necessary to provide high-quality waterproofing on each side.
  • However, when erecting a columnar foundation or foundation on piles, foam concrete can be used as a fill free space between posts or piles.

What kind of foundation is needed for a house made of foam blocks, you now choose based on the parameters of the room and the soil. Before making a decision, you should look at the photo and analyze everything in detail, and only then make a decision.

Before building any house, dacha, cottage, the area is first studied. What kind of soil, composition of the earth, is there groundwater underground, are there various communications, cables, etc. passing under the site? The composition of the soil is studied at a depth of 2.5 - 3 m. For this, it is required to create a detailed analysis of soil layers. So how are u ordinary people there is not enough experience in such matters, and it is easy to confuse weakly heaving soil with non-heaving, or mixed soil, it is advisable to make an application to professional specialists, to certain services. As soon as the result of the soil is ready, you can already proceed to the choice of the foundation.

How to make the most reliable foundation with your own hands for a foam block house, reliably, quickly and not expensively? First, you need to make a project of the future home. To do this, you need to calculate in advance the weight of the building, determine the type of soil, decide how many floors there will be in the house, and whether there will be a basement.

Required tools:

  1. Shovel.
  2. Concrete mixer.
  3. Roulette.
  4. Hammer.
  5. Buckets
  6. Level - ruler.
  7. Drill.
  8. Screwdriver.
  9. Hammer - pickaxe.
  10. Screwdriver.
  11. Cord, rope, metal wire.
  12. Screws.
  13. Chisel.

All types of foundations, for a house made of foam blocks

Column foundation, suitable for heaving and clay soils. Usually one-story buildings are installed on such a foundation. Formation of the foundation into the ground, pillars are dug in at a certain depth. For structural strength, reinforcement is laid in the form of a frame. Then all this is poured with concrete mixture.

A pile, screw foundation is erected if the house is planned to be built on a hill, or its slope. Such a foundation is suitable for soft, loose, unstable soils. Each pile should have a recess of 4 to 6 meters as a minimum.

For this, metal piles are screwed into the soil. From above it is installed, necessarily, for greater reliability - a concrete monolithic beam - a tape. Reinforcement is laid on top of it. And then the foundation is poured. The pile foundation is also made of hanging piles, and pile-racks. The process of forming the foundation is the same as for the pile screw.

A monolithic foundation, it is also popularly called "slab", is suitable for any type of soil. Since the concrete slab can move with the soil. Such a foundation is not recommended for clay soils.

Foundation formation

In order to independently make a monolithic foundation, you must first dig a pit with a depth of at least 60 cm. Then a “pillow” is poured into it, and waterproofing is already laid on top. Only after that the reinforcement is laid, in several layers, after which, everything this design filled with concrete.

Strip foundation, suitable for heaving and clay soils. It is formed from a continuous tape of reinforced concrete, along the perimeter of the bearing all the walls of the house. The main principle of such a foundation is that the foundation of the house should not only be well stable and reliable, but also light. The foundation tape is of two types: buried and slightly ruined.

The deepened foundation is made as follows: the foundation is laid to a sufficient depth so that the soil does not freeze. It should be remembered that such a foundation should be wider than the walls of the house itself, by about 100 mm, from all sides. The basement of the building must have a minimum of 40 centimeters. After building the base, the reinforcement is laid in two rows, two layers each. However, this type of foundation has its drawbacks.

Firstly, the whole process of forming the foundation takes too much time and effort. Secondly, you must immediately have a certain amount of money, so that it is enough for all the building materials that should be bought in advance. Thirdly, you cannot build such a foundation yourself, you need helpers or a construction team, and their work must also be paid.

Typically, such a foundation is laid during the construction of multi-storey buildings, or 3-storey mansions with a basement. If, according to the project, the house has a basement, then such a foundation is better than other types.

A slightly ruined version of the foundation, much simpler than the previous one. And it differs from it in that it is suitable for one-story buildings, and is laid at shallow depths of the soil. This type of foundation is low-cost, and even a beginner in the construction business can lay it. The most important thing here is to observe all the necessary proportions.

So, for starters, you can use an ordinary shovel, you need to dig a trench yourself, 60 cm deep. Then we pour a “pillow” into it, consisting of sand with crushed stone (gravel). Fall asleep should be in uniform layers of 15 cm each, preferably several times. Now we make the formwork, and fill it all with concrete.

Now in the upper part of the base we make a frame of reinforcement and securely fix it. The width of the plinth, 10 cm, should be wider than all the walls in the house. Shallow foundation, ideal for non-rocky, hard layers of the earth.

Design of structures and loads

Depending on the project of the house, the foundation must withstand the weight of the entire structure as a whole. For this, both the project itself and the area on which it is planned to be built are well studied.

For example, if there is groundwater, a columnar foundation, or a pile foundation, based on reinforced concrete monolithic slabs, should be installed.

The tape type of the foundation will not work here. And remember, no matter what foundation you choose for your future home, it must be strong and reliable.

As with a columnar foundation, the pillars should be located from each other, at a distance of 2 meters. They should be located at all corners of the house, and all places in the house that will have the maximum load in the future, as well as under all load-bearing walls in the house. The more poles installed, the more reliable your house will stand.

Foundation waterproofing

For waterproofing the foundation, you should have only good, high-quality material. It must be laid, on the basis of the foundation surface. Waterproofing can be both vertical and horizontal. The dryness in the basement and in the house depends on how correctly and efficiently the foundation is waterproofed.

For waterproofing you will need: sand, clay, polymer compounds, roofing material, geotextiles, any fine drainage.

If a basement is planned in the house, it is desirable, along with waterproofing, to immediately carry out work on thermal insulation.

Properties of a foam block house

  1. Very fast build.
  2. Minimum financial costs.
  3. Good soundproofing.
  4. Comfort of living.
  5. Environmentally friendly material.

Approximate dimensions for building a do-it-yourself foundation for a foam block house, as well as the necessary tools.

  • Foam blocks - 600 x 300 x 200 mm.
  • Foundation bases 6 t. X 6 t. Mm.
  • Foundation height - 700 mm.
  • Foundation underground - 400 mm.
  • Sand layer - 200 mm.
  • Crushed stone layer - 200 mm.
  • Concrete M 400; Concrete M 200.

So, we decided that our house will be built of foam blocks. The start is promising, especially given how much good there is to say about this material.

However, as soon as we are ready to start creating a project and calculating an estimate, the question of the foundation arises.

Choosing the best option for the basis for the house

What foundation is needed for a foam block house will be most rationally used? Here we will immediately disappoint many - there is no universal answer to this question. There are several options, both the base itself and the selection parameters.

Let's immediately define two directions in which we will consider options:

  • Soil type. In any case, we will have to build on this in fundamental work.
  • Building type. But rather the load that this building will exert on the foundation.

Problem soil

And we will start our conversation from the ground. Before starting work, we will definitely need to conduct a geological analysis of the soil at the construction site.

Based on its results, it will be possible to draw the first conclusions.

So, what problems can the soil hide:

  • Flowability. This is a weak type of soil, in which we can have a warp and subsidence of the building from one of the corners. As a result, serious deformations of the base itself and the walls.
  • Water saturation. This suggests that how to make a foundation for a house of foam blocks, we will have to carry out large-scale drainage work, which will not be limited to water drainage only during construction. The drainage system will have to work afterwards.
  • High groundwater table. The difference from water-saturated soil is that here the water will wash away the base and destroy it.
  • Difficult terrain. It is also possible to display this moment in the area of ​​just problematic soil. In any case, with such a relief, it is quite difficult to build a classic strip foundation, for example.

Loads

This is the main point in the development of any foundation, because, in fact, the foundation is a supporting structure that takes on the load of the building and distributes it, giving it to the soil.

The instruction for creating any foundation always assumes that all loads will be collected, that is:

  • Wall weight.
  • roof weight.
  • Cover weight.
  • Household appliances and engineering communications.
  • Weight of all prospective occupants.
  • Variable loads.

Based on these two parameters, we conclude that what kind of foundation is needed for a house of foam blocks.

pile type

The pile base is perfect for foam block construction due to several points:

  • Relative cheapness with excellent quality.
  • Short construction time.
  • Possibility of installation on problem soils.
  • Possibility of independent construction.

To consolidate all of the above advantages, we propose to consider the option with bored piles, which we will step by step lead to the foundation for our foam block house.

So:

  • Site marking.
  • Drilling of the wells. A manual hole drill is also suitable for this, since the depth should be at the level of freezing, and this is a maximum of one and a half meters.
  • Well expansion. Backfilling a pillow of sand and compacting it.
  • Installation of a glass, it is possible from a simple roofing material.
  • Immersion of the reinforcing element.
  • Pouring concrete.

As you can see, there is nothing complicated in the device of such a basis. The main thing will be to strictly comply with the design requirements. And this is the number of piles and their location.

And after the piles are filled, we have two options:

  • Create a grillage and fill it with a foundation.
  • Lay monolithic slabs on top.

In principle, with our own hands we can only arrange a grillage, special equipment will be required for the plates.

Advice!
To make the grillage even more durable than even originally planned, it is possible to increase the cross section of the reinforcement and use not the usual limestone type of crushed stone, but granite, in the concrete batch.

This was the first version of the basis device.

Related articles:

Tape base

And here is our tape basis. Often, to the question of what kind of foundation to make for a foam block house, the answer should be precisely on the topic of the tape type.

Indeed, it is one of the most simple types a foundation that we can easily build with our own hands.

If the soil and the project allow, then step by step everything looks like this:

  • Foundation layout.
  • Excavation. Depending on the size, you can dig everything yourself, or you can rent a small excavator.
  • Laying sand at the bottom of the trenches and tamping.
  • Reinforcing element.
  • Formwork installation.
  • Pouring concrete.

It also has its own interesting nuances. First, we will need to take care of waterproofing. To do this, after removing the formwork, we process the concrete with mastic. This is the simplest and most affordable option for waterproofing.

We always suggest to take rebar with a certain margin of safety. Of course, the price increases somewhat, but still we are talking about creating a foundation.

Speaking of materials, there is nothing unusual here. However, returning to waterproofing, you can use liquid glass in concrete mixing, this material will also significantly increase the water resistance of the base.

When installing the formwork, it will be more rational to use building moisture-resistant plywood, which can then be used in a variety of works. And in the process of fastening, wood screws are excellent. They bind the formwork parts better and are much easier to dismantle.

Monolith

Another type of foundation that we can also use quite successfully is a monolithic slab. Moreover, it can be either a simple monolith or a Swedish stove, in which we will immediately arrange communications.

In this case, the question of which foundation to choose for a foam block house rests more on the functional component of the monolith and on the cost.

Consider the basic principles of the monolith device:

  • Excavation. If the pit is in a water-saturated area, then drainage work is necessary. Here we definitely can not do without an excavator.
  • Sand cushion tamping. If we assume a Swedish plate, then we also level the bottom of the pit.
  • We install waterproofing. This is either roofing material or dense polyethylene. And we install everything in several layers.
  • If we have a Swedish stove, we install heat-insulating plates.
  • We knit armature. For a monolithic type, we choose reinforcement with a section of 12-14 cm, and we knit it in increments of 15-20 cm.

Here is a lyrical digression. Before we make the foundation for the house from foam blocks, we calculate all the loads, and accordingly we can accurately select the required section of the reinforcement.

How important is it to choose it with a margin of safety? In principle, no one forbids us to do this, the main thing is not to choose a smaller section.

Important!
The fittings should be exposed to the release at the edges, where it bends and will contact the walls.
In addition, even if we install it in one horizontal row, then it will have to be raised so that it is approximately in the middle of the plate.
To do this, we install it on special props.

  • We mount the formwork.
  • Fill everything with concrete.

The monolithic slab is ready.

Important!
If we have a Swedish stove, all pipes of communications or underfloor heating, before pouring concrete, are filled with air, so it definitely does not deform under the weight of concrete.

Conclusion

So, we answered the main question, what kind of foundation is needed for a foam block house, giving an example of three main types of foundation that can fully meet all the requirements of a foam block house.

In addition, it is these types of foundations that can be selected depending on the condition of the soil at the construction site, that is, we have several options. And there are always more opportunities.

Do not forget about the financial component, foam blocks initially save some costs, so you can optimize the foundation of the house. In the presented video in this article you will find Additional information on this topic.

It is necessary to choose a foundation for a house from foam blocks, taking into account the specifics of construction activities and the characteristics of the soil on a particular land plot. What do you need to pay attention to?

Foamed concrete blocks make it possible to build a dry and warm house for the minimum cost. This modern material actively used for the construction of residential buildings. According to a number of operational indicators, houses made of it are in no way inferior to wooden and brick buildings. The foundation for residential buildings from foam blocks is of the following types:

  • in the form of a monolithic slab,
  • pile,
  • columnar,
  • tape.

Arrangement of the foundation from blocks

The base for a house made of foam blocks is chosen so that the cost of arranging it with your own hands is minimal. In this case, the foundation must have the required indicators of reliability and strength.

Should be in without fail take into account the characteristics of the soil at the place of execution construction works.

If the soil on your site contains inclusions of loam, clay, sandy loam, it is recommended to build a pile foundation for the house. In situations where the soil belongs to the non-porous group, it is better to opt for a strip base. A columnar foundation is ideal for slightly heaving soils with a low content of sandy dust or fine sand.

Next, you need to clarify the level of groundwater in the area. If there is a real danger of spring flooding, it is advisable to build a foundation in the form of a monolithic slab (the so-called floating foundation). But remember that with its arrangement you will not be able to build a house with a basement. If you really need a cellar, equip a tape-type foundation with an additional drainage system.

Columnar and pile foundations are most quickly erected. They are the easiest to make with your own hands. At the cost of work, the most expensive is considered to be a monolithic foundation for a house made of foam blocks. It's a little cheaper to build a strip base. We'll talk about the rules next. self erection all these reasons.

The width of such a base, suitable for clay soils, is taken 10–15 cm more than the thickness of the walls of the designed dwelling. In this case, the base must have a height of 40 cm. The depth of the foundation is up to 0.6 m. The algorithm for performing the work is as follows:

  1. You dig a ditch, fill it up 15-20 cm with a mixture of crushed stone or clean sand, ram it, add a gravel layer of the same thickness on top, which you also carefully compact.
  2. Pour the footing - a solution of cement with water, on the cake made. Fill thickness - up to 10 cm. Wait 6-7 days. The cement mortar should harden by half.
  3. Tie reinforcing bars with anti-corrosion coating into belts. To do this, use a special knitting wire. Reinforcing the future foundation.
  4. Do, metal materials, plywood sheets or slate. Install the structure and fill it with a concrete solution (a part of cement plus 5 parts of crushed stone plus 3 parts of sand). Water is added to such a mixture at the rate of 0.5 parts for each portion of cement.
  5. The poured concrete is rammed with a wooden hammer. If possible, use a vibrator for this procedure, which perfectly compacts the mixture and removes all air bubbles from it.

Strip foundation made of blocks

After three days, you can dismantle the formwork and start laying foam blocks on a base made with high quality by yourself.

Such a foundation for a foam block house is made of wooden, rubble concrete, brick or stone supporting elements. They need to be installed at all corners of the future structure, at the points where its walls intersect, as well as under areas with maximum loads (girders, beam structures, and so on). Note! Between individual supports, gaps of more than 250 cm are not allowed.

Building Blocks

Most often, columnar foundations for houses made of foam blocks are constructed from reinforced concrete supporting parts. The foundation construction procedure is carried out according to the following scheme:

  1. Dig holes at the points where the posts will be placed. You make a pillow of sand for construction work, crushed stone and gravel in them. From above, cover the resulting cake with roofing felt or other waterproof material.
  2. Mount wooden shields in dug recesses (fix them with props). These structures protect the pits from shedding soil in them. They can also be used as formwork.
  3. Reinforce the pits - install in them (strictly vertically) rods about 1.2 cm thick at a distance of about 7–9 cm from each other. Then tie the metal structure with wire.
  4. Gradually feed the mortar (a part of cement plus three parts of sand) into the formwork structure. It is advisable to fill it in layers of 0.25–0.3 m and compact each layer.
  5. Concrete-filled supports dry out for two weeks. After that, you can remove the formwork and install a ceiling for mounting a house from foam blocks.

Important advice. Overlapping for construction is usually made of concrete monolithic blocks. But you can easily build it with your own hands using the concrete pour that was used to build the pillars themselves. In this case, it is only necessary to qualitatively strengthen the ceiling with reinforcing meshes.

If your plot of land, where it is planned to build a dwelling from foam blocks, has a heaving structure, you need to make a slab base. It, unlike the strip and column foundation, fills the entire space under the building. For this reason, a monolithic base does not make it possible to equip a basement in a house.

Monolithic foundation for the house

The algorithm for constructing a slab foundation is given below:

  1. Dig a pit according to the given dimensions (they can be any - the slab will even withstand enough big weight the buildings). Its depth is taken to be about 0.6 m.
  2. Make a pillow of sand (0.25 m) and gravel (0.15 m).
  3. On the top of the cake, mount a moisture-proof material and two reinforcing layers. They are made in the form of a grid with windows 0.2 by 0.2 m from rods with a diameter of 1–1.2 cm.
  4. A formwork structure is placed over the entire area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe monolithic base. Fill it with concrete.
  5. Wait for the solution to completely harden, remove the formwork.
  6. Lay roofing material (another waterproofing agent) on top.

The monolithic foundation for buildings made of foam products is characterized by increased strength. He, as was said, can be of any size. But it should be understood that its arrangement with your own hands takes a lot of time. In addition, you will have to stock up on a sufficient amount of reinforcement. It takes a lot of it to build a slab base.

Pile foundations for dwellings made of foam blocks are rarely made. Usually they are built on slopes or on unevenly deforming soils. Piles are made in the form of racks, screw and hanging supports are also used. At the top of the pile products, a formwork structure is necessarily made, as well as a special concrete monolithic beam - a grillage.

Pile foundation from blocks

In some cases, the foundation for foam houses is constructed from the foam blocks themselves. Doing this kind of work yourself is not recommended. Such events are best left to professionals. They will take into account all factors and provide the necessary reliability of the foundation. In this case, it should be borne in mind that the base of the foam blocks requires:

  • very high quality horizontal and vertical protection against moisture;
  • filigree calculation of loads affecting the foundation during the operation of a residential building;
  • reliable masonry reinforcement.

One more nuance. Foundations made of foam blocks are allowed to be equipped exclusively on non-rocky, most durable soils with a large depth of groundwater flow.

Despite the fact that cellular concrete is lighter than conventional, foundation for a house of foam blocks should provide normal bearing capacity. Grillage on pillars is not recommended, there is experience in the operation of foam concrete walls on slab, strip, pile-grillage foundations.

When carrying out measures that reduce the swelling forces, there are practically no restrictions on the type of foundation. For slopes, swampy areas, a hanging grillage along the heads of screw piles is more suitable. On soils with low design resistance to building loads, a floating or Swedish insulated slab is usually made.

If you need a basement floor, the only solution is a recessed tape. On a flat landscape, regardless of the presence of clay soil, a shallow MZLF tape is being erected. This option is used most often, and therefore will be discussed below.

Construction technology

Foundation for a house made of foam blocks must be guaranteed to be protected from heaving forces. The slightest shifts are contraindicated for foam concrete, which was created for thermal insulation of enclosing structures; it is not a full-fledged structural material.

Therefore, drainage, insulation of the blind area, the use of non-metallic materials in the underlying layer, backfilling of the sinuses is a prerequisite for MZLF, regardless of the freezing mark, the level of GWL. With a height difference of 1.5 m, it is recommended to choose screw piles with a hanging grillage.

Attention: The "folk" technology of the slotted foundation does not meet the requirements of the SP 22.13330 standards. When pouring the underground part of the structure into earthen formwork, it is impossible to lay sewer drains, qualitatively waterproof the reinforced concrete structure, and create thermal insulation of the blind area.

Axle breakdown

For a shallow tape, you do not need to dig deep trenches; there is no basement by default. Therefore, 3 cords are required for each wall, stretched along the axes, outer, inner edges of the MZLF for the installation of formwork. In addition, you will need two traits for each trench:

If the floor is laid on the ground in the project, the fertile layer will have to be removed completely by making a pit with a depth of 0.6 - 1 m. When using a prefabricated floor from PC slabs or concreting a monolithic structure, the arable layer inside the perimeter can not be removed.

Due to the small amount of earthmoving, trenches for MZLF are often made by hand. The depth of the trenches is selected structurally:

Thus, on sandy soil, the trench will have a depth of 40 cm, on sandy soil from 60 cm, on loam, clay from 80 cm.

Measures to eliminate swelling

After removing the topsoil, the clay content of the soil should be determined, at least folk ways. If the earth cannot be rolled into a ball, a tourniquet, the underlying layer is usually not needed - in the building spot there is sand, sandy loam with practically no swelling clay. In all other cases, backfilling is carried out in the following way:

With a high GWL, it is better to backfill with crushed stone 5/20 mm without wetting. Drainage is mounted according to the technology:

  • along the outer edge of the trenches, a slope of 4 - 7 degrees is created in the general direction
  • bedding is made of crushed stone 10 cm thick with vibration compaction
  • vertical wells are installed in the corners, after 4 m on straight sections
  • a corrugated pipe perforated with slots in a geotextile filter is laid between the wells
  • on the sides, a 10 cm layer of rubble is poured on top

Attention: The backfill level of the drainage sewage system must match the underlying layer of the foundation. It is forbidden to support concrete structures on drains.

A screed from a mixture of B7.5 simultaneously solves the following problems:

Attention: The footing should be at least twice as wide as the tape; with normal alignment, it is easier to install formwork panels, gaskets under the lower chord of reinforcing cages.

A formwork board is mounted on the outside of the trench to prevent the drainage sewer from filling with concrete. Inside, the formwork is usually not needed, it is the earthen wall of the trench by default. After gaining strength, 2 layers of TechnoNIKOL, Bikrost, any other rolled waterproofing are welded onto the surface of the footing, releasing edges of 30-40 cm, which will later be glued to the side edges of the tape.

Installation of reinforcing cages

For MZLF tape, standard reinforcing cages are used, made of longitudinal A400 (corrugated) rods with a diameter of 8–16 mm, connected into a spatial structure with rectangular clamps from 6–8 mm smooth A240 reinforcement. They are mounted in compliance with the technologies of SP 63.13330 (reinforced concrete structures):

Attention: Due to the small height of the MZLF tape, even taking into account the basement, reinforcing cages can be laid inside the formwork. Overlapping of bars without bending at a right angle in wall junctions is prohibited.

Removable formwork is more convenient, cheaper than non-removable polystyrene foam modifications. Boards made of plywood, edged boards can be reused after stripping in the roof, partitions, truss system. When installing the formwork, the following requirements must be met:

Attention: When installing vertical slabs of extruded polystyrene foam close to the inner formwork panel, the time for thermal insulation of the foundation is reduced subsequently. For high-quality fastening of the insulation to concrete, it is pierced with nails (a hat on the outside), which are firmly embedded in the MZLF tape.

fill

For any monolithic structures, concreting in one step is preferable. Therefore, with a small productivity of a concrete mixer, it is better to order the delivery of the mixture by mixers. The nuances of concreting technology are:

Attention: Stripping is possible for 3 - 15 days at a temperature of +30 - +15 degrees, respectively. During this time, concrete is guaranteed to gain 70% strength in the summer.

Hydrothermal insulation

After stripping, the remaining surfaces of the reinforced concrete structure must be protected from moisture. Before backfilling the sinuses of the trenches, comprehensive thermal insulation should be carried out. MZLF hydrothermal protection technology has the following form:

Attention: For buildings of periodic operation with irregular switching on of heating, garden houses for seasonal use, insulation is additionally laid around the entire perimeter of the house, glued to the inner surfaces of the MZLF tape.

The technology is quite accessible for self-manufacturing of a shallow strip foundation. In the absence of a set of measures to protect against swelling on clay soils, foam block walls are guaranteed to be covered with a network of cracks.