Builders have a saying that you can build a house without a foundation, on any soil you like. But how long will this house last? If this is a temporary dwelling, then this option is quite possible. Houses designed for a longer time must be built on the foundation. Foundation casting is due to many reasons. The main reason is subsidence and swelling of the soil, in winter, weak bearing capacity

There are three main types of foundation:

• Pillar foundation formed by a system of piles embedded in the ground.
• The strip foundation is a system of vertical supports made of concrete under load-bearing walls, both external and internal. It is called tape, because, if you look at the plan, the foundation seems to be assembled from tapes.
• The slab foundation is the most durable and powerful - a solid base plate is laid under the whole building.

For the tape and slab type is characterized by pouring the foundation. Dig a pit, they assemble a formwork in which the filler is poured. Then the prepared form is poured with concrete. Filling of the base of plate type is carried out only by builders-specialists. The developer can also fill the foundation of the tape type.

The main stages of work for the foundation strip casting

• Dig a pit, depth is lower than the level of soil freezing, by 20-30 centimeters. For each wall-tape dig a separate ditch, with a width depending on the type of soil. In sandy soils, the width of the excavation is increased, since the installation of formwork is required.

• Sleep the bottom of the pit. For dumping take a layer of rubble or sand, up to 15 centimeters high. Sand is watered and carefully tamped. For a wooden house, pouring the foundation requires less concrete, especially if the lower part of the monolithic wall (up to 100 cm) is replaced with coarse sand or gravel. However, this replacement should be no more than half.

• Install the formwork. For multi-storey construction, it is made of boards, 2.5 cm thick. From the outside, the formwork is reinforced with struts, or covered with soil.

• The finished formwork is filled with brick or gravel. When the foundation tape more than a meter, apply rubble filler (from natural stone).

• As soon as the preparatory work is finished, the foundation is poured, and then it is rammed by hand or with the help of a vibrating rammer. Flooded foundation is maintained until complete solidification, up to three weeks.