In a house with which foundation it will be warmer. A reliable foundation for a home with your own hands. Insulated foundation: we make UWB ourselves

What is the best foundation?

Foundation buried to the depth of freezing

To protect the foundation from the effects of forces the sole of the foundation of the building is usually laid below the freezing depth.

On heaving soils, the tangential forces of frost heaving still act on the side surface of the buried foundation, which tend to push the foundation out of the soil.

The magnitude of these forces is often sufficient to slightly raise a relatively light low-rise building in winter. And in the summer the house sinks, and not always to the old place.

In addition, for a low-rise building without a basement, a strip foundation to the freezing depth is an unjustified cost of materials and money for its construction.

Shallow foundation for a private house

Often used for low-rise buildings. Such a foundation, with frosty heaving of the soil, reduces the deformation of the walls of the house to an acceptable level due to enhanced reinforcement and replacement of part of the heaving soil with non-heaving one.

On such a foundation, the house is deformed twice a year, albeit within acceptable limits.

The expansion of water during freezing in the soil under the sole of the foundation annually “looses” the soil, which reduces its bearing capacity.

Reinforced reinforcement significantly increases the cost of building a foundation especially on heavily heaving soils.

How frost heaving destroys a house

As we see, on heaving soils, and hence the house as a whole, regularly experiences deformations, caused by the forces of frost heaving. Over time, periodically occurring deformations tend to accumulate. So, repeated bending of the wire, in the end, breaks it.

Over time, the degree of heaving of the soil at the base of the foundation may increase, for example, due to an increase in humidity for some reason.

It is not uncommon to make mistakes when designing a house, for example, in determining the degree of heaving of the soil or in choosing a foundation design.

Hence the conclusion - from the influence of the forces of frost heaving, the house begins to collapse in the very first winter after construction.

The only question is, how long will it take for visible signs of destruction to appear - after the first winter or after a hundred years?

How to make heaving soil not to heave?

With the advent of new heat-insulating materials, another way of protecting against the forces of frost heaving of the soil is becoming increasingly popular - warming the foundation and the soil near it so that the ground under the house does not freeze.

This method of protection excludes freezing of the soil and the effect of frost heaving forces on the building.

The design of the heat-insulated foundation and walls of the house is chosen without taking into account the impact of frost heaving forces on them, which significantly reduces the cost of construction.

Placing the base of the foundations at a shallow depth (0.3-0.4 m) from the surface, instead of burying the foundation to the freezing depth, significantly reduces the labor intensity and cost of erecting low-rise buildings, saves materials and reduces the duration of construction.

Such foundations are widely used in the Scandinavian countries, Canada and the USA.

In Russia, they are still used unreasonably little, despite the fact that for the design and construction of thermally insulated foundations in Russia, regulatory documents have been developed and approved. Everything new, as usual, hardly reaches the minds of developers and designers.

A significant proportion of the total cost of low-rise buildings is the cost of the foundation. Reducing the cost of construction is simply not profitable for many participants in this process.

Heaving soils at the base of foundations are widespread in Russia. It is easier to list non-rocky soils.

Practically non-rocky soils can be: fine and silty sands and clayey soils of a solid consistency with a deep occurrence of the groundwater level, namely, fine sands with Z> 0.5 m. silty sands at Z>1.0 m, sandy loam at Z>1.5 m, loam at Z>2.5 m and clay at Z>3.0 m(Z is the depth of the level , counting from the base of the layer ).

Non-rocky soils- soils that do not change their volume and properties during freezing and thawing. These include pebbles, gravel, crushed stone, coarse and medium-grained sands, as well as their mixtures.

The device of a heat-insulated shallow foundation - TFMZ

The laying scheme and parameters of the heat-insulating layer in the foundations of heated buildings with floor insulation are shown in fig. 1.

As a thermally insulated shallow foundation (hereinafter referred to as a warm foundation), foundations on a soil cushion (columnar, strip or foundation slabs) are used, the sole of which is laid to a depth of 0.4 m in heated buildings and to a depth of 0.3 m in unheated buildings.

Unheated buildings are buildings with indoor air temperature in winter equal to or lower than +5 °C.

A shallow-depth strip foundation (hereinafter referred to as MZLF) is one of the types of strip foundations, which is characterized by a slight deepening, much less than the depth of soil freezing, and a relatively small consumption of concrete mix. This article discusses the main advantages and disadvantages of the MZLF, the most common mistakes in their construction, a simplified calculation method suitable for private developers (non-professionals), recommendations for building a foundation with your own hands.

The main advantages of MZLF are:

- efficiency - the consumption of concrete is much lower than in the construction of a conventional strip foundation. It is this factor that most often determines the choice of this technology in low-rise construction;

- reduced labor costs - less earthwork, less volume of prepared concrete (this is especially important when it is not possible to pour the finished mixture from the mixer);

- smaller tangential frost heaving forces due to the reduced area of ​​the lateral surface of the foundation.

However, during the construction of the MZLF, it is necessary to strictly observe the technology, a frivolous attitude to the process can lead to cracks, and then all of the above advantages, as they say, will go down the drain.

The most common mistakes made with the MZLF device:

1) the choice of the main working dimensions of the foundation without any (even the most simplified) calculation at all;

2) pouring the foundation directly into the ground without sprinkling with non-porous material (sand). According to fig. 1 (on the right) it can be said that in the winter season the soil will freeze to concrete and, rising, drag the tape up, i.e. the tangential forces of frost heaving will act on the foundation. This is especially dangerous if the MZLF is not insulated and a high-quality blind area is not equipped;

3) incorrect reinforcement of the foundation - the choice of the diameter of the reinforcement and the number of rods at your discretion;

4) Leaving the MZLF unloaded for the winter - it is recommended that the entire cycle of work (construction of the foundation, erection of walls, and arrangement of the blind area) be performed one construction season before the onset of severe frosts.

Calculation of a shallow strip foundation.

The calculation of the MZLF, like any other foundation, is based, firstly, on the value of the load from the weight of the house itself and, secondly, on the calculated soil resistance. Those. The ground must support the weight of the house, which is transferred to it through the foundation. Please note that it is the ground that holds the mass of the house on itself, and not the foundation, as some believe.

If, if desired, an ordinary private developer can still calculate the weight of the house (for example, using our online calculator located), then it is not possible to determine the calculated soil resistance on your site on your own. This characteristic is calculated by specialized organizations in specialized laboratories after geological and geodetic surveys. Everyone knows that this procedure is not free. Basically, architects who make a project at home resort to it, and then they calculate the foundation based on the data received.

In this regard, it makes no sense to give formulas for calculating the size of the MZLF within the framework of this article. We will consider the case when the developer is building on his own, when he does not conduct geological and geodetic surveys and cannot accurately know the calculated soil resistance on his site. In such a situation, the dimensions and design of the MZLF can be selected from the tables below.

The characteristics of the foundation are determined depending on the material of the walls and ceilings of the house and its number of storeys, as well as on the degree of heaving of the soil. How can you determine the latter is described

I. MZLF on medium and strongly heaving soils.

Table 1: Heated buildings with walls made of lightweight brickwork or aerated concrete (foam concrete) and with reinforced concrete floors.

Notes:

- the number in brackets indicates the material of the pillow: 1 - sand of medium size, 2 - coarse sand, 3 - a mixture of sand (40%) with crushed stone (60%);

- this table can also be used for houses with wooden floors, the margin of safety will be even greater;

- options for foundation designs and reinforcement options, see below.

Table 2: Heated buildings with walls made of insulated wood panels (frame houses), logs and timber with hardwood floors.

Notes:

- the numbers in brackets indicate the same as in table 1;

- above the value line for walls made of insulated wooden panels, below the line - for log and timber walls.

Table 3: Unburied foundations of unheated log and timber structures with wooden floors.

Notes:

- above the value line for log walls, below the line - for walls made of timber.

Design options for MZLF on medium and highly heaving soils, indicated in the tables with letters, are shown in the figures below:

1 - monolithic reinforced concrete foundation; 2 - sand filling of the sinuses; 3 - sand (sand-gravel) pillow; 4 - reinforcing cage; 5 - blind area; 6 7 - waterproofing; 8 - plinth; 9 - ground surface; 10 - sand bedding; 11 - turf.

Option a.- the upper plane of the foundation coincides with the surface of the earth, the plinth is made of bricks.

Option b.- the foundation protrudes 20-30 cm above the surface, forming a low base or being part of the base.

Option c.- the foundation rises 50-70 cm above the ground, while it is also the base.

Option g.- non-buried foundation-basement; Table 3 shows that such foundations are used for unheated wooden buildings.

Option d.- used instead of options b. or V. when the width of the sole of the foundation significantly exceeds the thickness of the wall (by more than 15-20 cm).

Option e.- a shallow-depth strip foundation on sandy bedding is used quite rarely on weak (peaty, silty) soils with a high level of groundwater for wooden buildings. Depending on the size of the building, backfilling is done either under each tape, or under the entire foundation at once.

Reinforcement of a shallow strip foundation.

Reinforcement of MZLF is made with meshes of working reinforcement and auxiliary reinforcing wire. The working reinforcement is located in the lower and upper parts of the foundation, while it must be immersed in the concrete thickness by about 5 cm. It makes no sense to place working reinforcement in the middle of the tape (as you can sometimes see on the Internet).

Table 4: Foundation reinforcement options.

The MZFL reinforcement schemes are shown in the following figure:

A.- mesh with two bars of working reinforcement; b.- mesh with three bars of working reinforcement; V.- T-shaped joint; G.- L-shaped corner joint; d.- additional reinforcement of the MZLF with a large width of the sole, when the sole is wider than the base by more than 60 cm (additional mesh is located only in the lower part.

1 - working fittings (A-III); 2 - auxiliary reinforcing wire ∅ 4-5 ​​mm (Вр-I); 3 - rods of vertical reinforcement ∅ 10 mm (A-III), connecting the upper and lower grids; 4 - reinforcement for reinforcing the corner ∅ 10 mm (A-III); 5 - connection with wire twists (the length of the twist is at least 30 diameters of the working reinforcement); 6 - additional working reinforcement ∅ 10 mm (A-III).

II. MZLF on non-rocky and weakly rocky soils.

Shallow strip foundations on non-rocky and slightly heaving soils do not have to be made only from monolithic concrete. You can use other local materials, such as rubble stone, red ceramic bricks. MZLF is laid at 0.3-0.4 meters without a sand cushion. Moreover, for wooden buildings and one-story brick (or aerated concrete) foundations, you can not even reinforce them.

For 2 and 3-storey houses with walls made of stone materials, MZLF is reinforced. Concrete foundations are reinforced according to the 1st reinforcement option (see table 4 above). Foundations made of rubble or brick are reinforced with masonry meshes made of Vp-I reinforcement ∅ 4-5 ​​mm with a mesh size of 100x100 mm. Nets are laid every 15-20 cm.

The structures of the MZLF on non-rocky and slightly heaving soils are shown in the figure below:

1 - foundation; 2 - plinth; 3 - blind area; 4 - waterproofing; 5 - draft floor (shown conditionally); 6 - mesh of wire reinforcement, 7 - reinforcement according to the 1st option (see tab. 4)

Options a. and b.- for wooden and one-story brick (aerated concrete) buildings.

Options in. and Mr.- for two- and three-story brick (aerated concrete) buildings.

The width of the sole b is determined depending on the number of storeys of the building and the material of the walls and ceilings.

Table 5: The values ​​of the width of the sole of the MZLF on non-rocky and low-rocky soils.

Stages of construction of a shallow strip foundation and recommendations.

1) Before proceeding with the construction of the foundation, if necessary, it is necessary to ensure high-quality drainage of surface rainwater from neighboring areas from the building site. This is done by cutting drainage ditches.

2) The foundation is marked and trenches come off. It is recommended to start earthworks only after the delivery of all necessary materials to the construction site. The process of extracting the trench, pouring the tape, backfilling the sinuses and constructing the blind area is desirable to organize continuous. The less time it takes, the better.

3) Dug trenches are covered with geotextiles. This is done so that the sand cushion and the sandy backfill of the sinuses do not eventually become silted up with the soil surrounding them. At the same time, geotextiles freely pass water and do not allow plant roots to germinate.

4) In layers (layers of 10-15 cm), a sand (sand-gravel) pillow is poured with careful tamping. Use either manual rammers or platform vibrators. Do not take ramming lightly. Shallow foundations are not as strong as foundations filled to the full depth of freezing, and therefore a freebie here is fraught with the appearance of cracks.

5) The formwork is exposed and the reinforcing cage is knitted. Do not forget to immediately provide for the supply of water and sewer to the house. If the foundation is also a plinth, remember about the ventilation (does not apply to buildings with floors on the ground).

6) Concrete is being poured. The filling of the entire tape must be carried out continuously, as they say, in one go.

7) After the concrete has set (3-5 days in summer), the formwork is removed and vertical is made.

8) The sinuses are backfilled with coarse sand with layer-by-layer tamping.

9) A blind area is being built. It is advisable (especially with a low height of the foundation tape) to make the blind area insulated. This measure will further reduce the frost heaving forces affecting the MZLF in winter. Insulation is made with extruded polystyrene foam.

As mentioned at the beginning of the article, it is not allowed to leave the MZLF unloaded or underloaded (the building was not fully built) for the winter. If nevertheless this happened, the foundation itself and the soil around it must be covered with any heat-saving material. You can use sawdust, slag, expanded clay, straw, etc. It is also not necessary to clean the snow on the building spot.

It is highly discouraged to build a shallow strip foundation in the winter season in frozen ground.

In the comments to this article, you can discuss with readers your experience in the construction and operation of the MZLF or ask questions that interest you.

Thermal insulation of the foundation is a key element of building insulation. There are many methods that make it possible to carry out the insulation of the foundation yourself. The labor input and the price of materials, as well as the effectiveness of thermal insulation, depend on the chosen technology.

The main methods of warming the foundation with your own hands

Technologies that make it possible to protect the building from low temperatures from the ground can be divided into the following two groups.

• Insulation of the outer foundation.
• Insulation of the foundation inside. The best option is considered to be insulation from the outside, while it is much better to carry it out at the foundation construction stage. If we talk about the insulation of the foundation or the basement of an already built house, then external insulation is often done only after preliminary work on cleaning and drying the foundation. Foam sheets are often used to insulate the foundation with your own hands.

  
  

  Thermal insulation of the foundation is a priority from which to start the construction of any private house.

  
  

  Photo of an insulated foundation using extruded polystyrene foam boards.

  Insulation of the foundation inside, in addition, is used in a host of other situations, for example, when access to the foundation from the outside is limited. Insulation inside makes it possible to increase the temperature in the basement, but at the same time it does not protect the foundation from the harmful effects of water and dramatic temperature changes.

  The nuances of external insulation

  There are a lot of technologies for external insulation of the foundation in our time, but they all come down to four key steps:

  • preparation and cleaning of the foundation;
  • installation of waterproofing;
  • warming;
  • finishing.

  Backfill insulation method

  It is carried out using expanded clay, gravel, sand, added directly to the trench prepared along the foundation.

  

  In this case, a trench laid along the perimeter of the foundation is covered with gravel.

  Due to sufficient drainage of water from the base of the foundation, the backfill method protects it from destruction.

  Implementation stages:

  • A trench more than 80 cm wide is dug along the foundation to the full depth, then the walls of the foundation are cleaned from pollution, sand, and debris. Dry the foundation.
  • Make waterproofing by pasting or coating method. Bituminous mastic is used for coating. The gluing method involves the use of roofing felt or other film-based coatings glued to the desired composition.
  • The trench is filled with filler: at the very bottom - a layer of sand about 20 centimeters, tamped, after which building expanded clay or gravel is poured. Smooth at ground level or slightly higher.
  • They make a blind area, maintaining the slope from the walls, as well as the decoration of the foundation walls located above the ground level.

  Use for insulation of foam boards

  This method involves the use of foam boards mounted on using glue or mastic. The thermal insulation characteristics of such insulation, due to the ability of the foam to keep heat, are really high. Styrofoam has a well-known flaw - it is often spoiled by rats. Therefore, it is desirable to strengthen the chain-link mesh over the heat insulator layer.

  

  Foundation in the form of a monolithic slab using FORMEXX foam blocks.

  Implementation stages:

  • Prepare the foundation: dig, dry and clean from dirt.
  • The foundation is coated with a primer for concrete with bactericidal components, as it dries, it is waterproofed with a coating method.
  • A crate made of pine timber treated with biological protection for foundations and structures interacting with the soil is mounted on the foundation. Styrofoam sheets are mounted between them.
  • The foam plastic is fixed using specialized dowels in the form of a fungus, covered with foam or putty to cover all the gaps, but on top of the entire structure is covered with a mesh. The grid is mounted to the crate.
  • The foam layer located under the mesh is covered with plaster using a mortar based on cement and sand.
  • As the solution dries, the trench is filled with sand. Part of the foundation that rises above the ground is lined, a blind area is being prepared.

  In addition to foam plastic, foam plastic is often used today - a high-tech and stronger material that is not subject to deformation and destruction by mice. It is glued directly to the foundation, to a layer of mastic based on bitumen or glue.

  Method of insulation with polyurethane foam

  A modern and very effective method, but it always requires the use of special equipment and is expensive. However, the quality of insulation is incomparable with any other method - polyurethane foam has good adhesion and serves not only as a heat insulator, but also as a waterproofing.

  

  An example of warming the foundation of a cottage with thick polyurethane foam plates.

  
  

  And here is an example of how polyurethane foam is applied to the outer wall of the foundation by spraying.

  Implementation stages:

  • The plane is prepared for insulation: they clean, dry, remove dust. Work is carried out in spring or summer, because if the temperature drops below +10 degrees Celsius, the adhesion of polyurethane foam to the foundation plane becomes worse.
  • Polyurethane foam is sprayed on the surface with an insignificant layer, then it increases several times. Forming a strong, waterproof, environmentally friendly insulated layer without cold bridges.
  • After the foam hardens, reinforcement, plastering, backfilling of the trench and other cladding work are carried out.

  Video on the principles of foundation insulation

  The video demonstrates how to properly insulate the foundation when building a house or cottage. After it, you will have no doubt that a warm foundation is really necessary.

  How is internal insulation done?

  It is possible to make internal thermal insulation of the foundation using the spraying of a layer of polyurethane foam, as well as using polystyrene foam, mineral wool and almost any other heat insulator.

  

  Photo of the internal insulation of the foundation tape with polyurethane foam plates.

  Implementation stages:

  • The walls of the foundation are dried when it is very wet in the basement - you can use a thermal gun for this task.
  • The surface is cleaned of debris, sand, remnants of hydro and thermal insulation. Primed with a bactericidal component for concrete and brick.
  • Coating waterproofing is prepared using bitumen-based compounds.
  • When mineral wool or foam boards are used as a heat insulator, a frame is made of bars. It is also waterproofed.
  • Thermal insulation is added to the frame mesh or polyurethane foam is applied by spraying.
  • When using a permeable heat insulator, a layer of membrane vapor barrier is laid on top of it to remove water vapor.
  • Strengthen the reinforcing mesh, cover with plaster, then prepare the finish.

  The implementation of thermal insulation by any of the described methods will improve the local climate in the building and extend the period of operation of the foundation. The foundation should be insulated over the entire perimeter of the house: protecting only certain areas often leads to its early destruction due to various operating conditions.

Building your own home can be done either on your own or with the help of hired professional builders. The first option is much more reliable, especially if you have at least basic building skills. Plus, it will allow you to save money on hiring workers. The second option, as it is already clear, will cost you much more. And this applies not only to the financial side.

Expanded polystyrene is used for insulation

In addition to the fact that you will need to find and hire workers, you will not yet be completely sure that the construction and all related work will be done properly. The same applies to purchased materials, on which "unscrupulous" foremen and workers quite often save. Therefore, when starting to build a house, you should carefully weigh all the pros and cons regarding a certain option for implementing your plans. In addition to the fact that you will have to correctly assess your capabilities, you will also need to decide how you will carry out the construction of one or another element of the structure.

The very first and most important stage in the construction of each structure is the erection. Much depends on this stage, including the level of the fortress of the entire building and the atmosphere in the entire room. As for how strong and long your house will serve you, the foundation should be built as reliably as possible. Warming of the house can be made at later stages. Many residents of countries or regions of a particular state located in the northern part of the globe, in order to insulate the premises, very diligently insulate the walls and ceilings of their homes, but they forget about the foundation as one of the most basic sources of heat in the house.

Foundation structure: soil, strip foundation, floor.

So, if you install any structure, then a foundation must be laid under it. This is required for that. so that the house stood as long as possible and at the same time acted as a barrier to the entry of cold air into the room. In order to understand exactly how the above principle works, one should recall the elementary physics course from the high school course. Warm air currents are much lighter than cold ones, respectively, cold air is formed at the bottom and, gradually heating up, it rises. That is why rooms with high ceilings are almost always cool. But it will never happen that all the cold air will heat up and rise immediately upwards. This happens gradually, without any action on the part of a person. The only thing that can change this state of affairs is the insulation of the foundation. Thanks to this measure, you do not have to wait for the cold air to heat up, since only warm air will be in the house.

Another mistake that is quite common during the construction of a house is that the foundation is not dug deep enough into the ground, and the distance between the floor and the ground is very small. This is not always associated with the usual miscalculation, quite often this happens through the fault of the builders. Those who do this or that work not for themselves have a peculiarity connected with the fact that they try to do everything necessary very quickly, not really worrying that the work will not be done accurately and reliably enough.

Therefore, if you do not carry out the filling yourself, then try to at least follow how the work is done by hired builders.

Drainage: foundation, drainage pipe, wall.

They are not very often aware of the composition of a particular soil, as well as the fact that the foundation in regions with harsh conditions must be insulated. Many people believe that it is enough just to deepen the foundation so that the house stands evenly and reliably. However, it should also be taken into account that the foundation, which is not deep enough into the ground, can freeze, which will lead to increased formation of cold air both in the underground and indoors.

Soil analysis is necessary in order to determine as accurately as possible at what depth the groundwater passes at the site of the construction of the house. This will determine how deep you can pour the foundation. If groundwater passes high enough, then this will indicate that it is impossible to deepen the foundation too much. Moist soil conducts cold air even better than dry soil. Thus, it is advisable to take care of the insulation of the foundation even at the stage of building a house.

Installation

The depth of the trench depends on the distance to groundwater and the type of soil.

In connection with all of the above, it is necessary to conclude that a warm foundation can be built at the very beginning, and if the geological analysis of the soil does not allow this, then it will be necessary to insulate after the house is fully erected. In the case of the first situation, you must first dig a trench around the entire perimeter of the future home.

Depending on the climatic conditions and the composition of the soil, its depth should be from 50 to 100 cm. After that, it will be possible to start mixing the solution itself. The most commonly used concrete mortar, consisting of:

• cement;
• sand;
• crushed stone;
• water.

First you need to take one part of water and cement, mix everything and add 3 parts of sand and the same amount of rubble to them. The mixed solution must be poured into the dug trenches. You can resort to reinforcement in advance. This will allow you to strengthen the structure, and, accordingly, the whole house. For these purposes, materials such as old frames from any vehicle, old wire, pipes and any other scrap metal, which, most likely, was lying around somewhere in the country or in the garage, are perfect. Thus, if the depth meets all the above requirements, then this bookmark will allow you to insulate the foundation of the house to the maximum.

Thermal insulation methods

Concrete block foundation: sand cushion, blocks.

In addition to the option that involves the construction of a liquid foundation pit with concrete mortar, there is another way to insulate a home. It is due to the fact that instead of mortar, individual concrete blocks are placed in the pit. They are ready-made material for the foundation, which are already reinforced and pressed into rectangular slabs. They can be columnar (they have a regular rectangle in cross section) and tape. They are concrete blocks in the form of trapezoids. The wide base of such plates allows you to withstand enormous loads on the foundation and on the soil.

Insulation of an existing structure

Foam insulation method.

There are several options that you can resort to insulating the foundation of a private house after it is fully built. The first option is due to the fact that insulation is necessary due to the fact that the foundation was not sufficiently deepened due to the negligence of the builders.

The second is that it was not possible to dig a deeper foundation due to the increased soil moisture. In the first case, in order to insulate the foundation, you will first need to dig the foundation of the house from the outside and from the inside of the house. After that, it will be necessary to mix the concrete mortar, the recipe of which has already been mentioned, and fill it with all the new trenches that were dug next to the main foundation of the structure.

This option is the most common and popular of all, which can allow you to insulate an incorrectly erected foundation. In addition, the creation of this solution will not require a large amount of money spent, which will significantly favorably affect the family budget. You can mix the mortar both with your own hands and with the help of an electric concrete mixer. Another option involves the use of a drill and a nozzle - a construction mixer.

The second option involves the use of a much larger number of tools and materials for insulation. In order to make a warm foundation, you can use:

• expanded clay;
• Earth;
• expanded polystyrene.

Expanded clay is a porous material that retains heat.

Expanded clay is practically the cheapest material for warming both the foundation already erected and the foundation in this process. In order to insulate the foundation with expanded clay, it is necessary to build lightweight formwork in the inner part, since expanded clay is also the easiest material to achieve this goal. Most often used for this slate. Expanded clay is poured into the formwork, compacted and covered with waterproofing on top. This is necessary so that the expanded clay is not destroyed due to adverse climatic conditions.

The insulating properties of expanded clay are possible due to the fact that it is a material of a special porous structure. As already mentioned, expanded clay can also be used to insulate the foundation at the stage of its construction. To do this, expanded clay is poured into the dug pit, which is later spilled with cement mortar. It consists of one part of cement, the same amount of water and three parts of sand. Expanded clay can also be filled with gaps between strip concrete slabs.

Penoplex insulation: foundation, penoplex, drainage, sand.

The earth is one of the most affordable materials that will allow you to insulate the foundation. To do this, you will have to accumulate a certain amount of land, which will subsequently be poured inside the house (in the underground). With its help, it will be necessary to fill the foundation completely. In this case, the size of the subfloor will be significantly reduced, but cold will not penetrate into the room. This option can be successfully used in conjunction with the plastering of the outer ground part. To do this, you will need to knead the cement mortar, the composition of which has already been mentioned. Then you apply the solution to the foundation. This can be done evenly, or it can be done with sloppy strokes, imitating the unevenness of a natural stone. Then you can paint the plastered foundation or immediately overlay it with decorative stone or tile.

Expanded polystyrene will allow you to quickly insulate the foundation without resorting to dirty work. It is sold in whole sheets, which are attached to the foundation along its entire height from the ground to the floor. But first, the entire foundation will need to be protected with waterproofing. All gaps between polystyrene foam are closed with polyurethane foam. So, the foundation for a house can be created from earth or concrete mortar, it can be made from expanded clay and concrete blocks.

So, after we figured out how to properly place the house on the site, it's time to figure out where any construction begins - the foundation. The foundation is the basis of the house, and the stability and durability of the entire structure depends on how reliable it is. However, you should not be zealous either, because the foundation is an expensive structure. In order to find the "golden" mean - the designer comes into play. Guided by geological surveys, architectural drawings and SNIPs, they will perform all the necessary calculations of the bearing capacity of any type of foundation and select the best option.

The main types of foundations used for country houses.

1. Slab shallow foundation. Represents one monolithic reinforced concrete slab. This type of foundation is also called "floating". It is used for low-strength soils, due to the large area of ​​\u200b\u200bsupport, such a foundation is able to carry significant loads, but it also experiences large bending forces. In order to prevent the slab from cracking under the bearing walls, stiffeners are made deepening below the main slab. The plate itself has a thickness of 300 mm. The manufacture of such a foundation requires compliance with technology.

It is definitely recommended to carry out a warm floor in this type of foundation, so you get a structure that can not only carry a house on weak soils, but also heat the entire first floor. After making the foundation, it remains to lay the floor finish on it. To avoid heaving and its negative impact on the foundation, it is necessary to make a warm blind area of ​​extruded polystyrene 1.2 m from the foundation along the outer perimeter of the building. The complexity of the implementation of this foundation lies in the fact that during its manufacture it is necessary to immediately decompose all communications (sewerage, heating and electric cable). And also a large consumption of fittings.

2. Pile foundation. This type of foundation is also well suited for weak soils. The bearing capacity of such a foundation depends on the soil and on the length of the piles. The pile carries the load due to the lateral force of friction against the ground and due to the emphasis on the solid continent. The rigidity of the foundation is carried out due to the grillage, which connects all the piles into a single structure.

Piles are of several types:

- brown-stuffed. For the manufacture of such piles, holes are drilled in the ground to a predetermined depth, then a reinforcing cage is inserted into the hole, roofing material rolled into a cylinder is used as formwork in the above-ground part. Then concrete is poured carefully compacted and vibrated;

- drill-driven. These are ready-made piles (mainly of square section), which are driven into the ground under the impact of a pile driver. Such a pile has a greater bearing capacity than the previous version, but due to the high cost of this type of piles, they are mainly used in the construction of public, industrial or multi-storey residential buildings.

- screw piles. These are piles of circular section with a screw at the end. This pile is screwed into the ground. Such piles are used mainly for wooden houses and baths. Often used for the manufacture of terraces.

The grillage of this foundation must be in a "suspended" state so that it does not break when the soil heaves. This is done by lining a polystyrene insulation under the grillage, so it prevents cold from getting under the floor of the house and saves the grillage from soil pressure when it is heaving.

This foundation increases the cost of drilling wells, but savings on concrete and reinforcement compensate for this disadvantage.

3. Tape foundation. There are several types:

3.1. Monolithic strip foundation. One of the widely used types of foundation on clay and wet soils. This type of foundation is very strong and reliable. The issue of heaving is solved by laying it to a depth below the freezing of the soil. A monolithic foundation has an expansion at the base, it increases the bearing capacity of the foundation, and accordingly raises the cost of its construction. In some cases, the foundation can be omitted, but for this it is necessary to perform geodetic surveys and calculate the bearing capacity of soils.

3.2. Prefabricated strip foundation- the most common and widely used type of foundations in the Republic of Belarus. The very name "prefabricated" suggests that the foundation is assembled from FBS (foundation wall blocks). The block is laid either on prefabricated reinforced concrete foundation slabs or on a monolithic reinforced concrete belt. In view of the high cost of foundation slabs, we recommend a monolithic reinforced concrete belt. It creates an even, rigid reinforced base on which it is convenient to lay wall blocks. Many try to do without a foundation and lay blocks directly on the sand. This is not worth doing for the reason that the wall blocks do not have reinforcement and, accordingly, such a foundation simply cracks when a deflection occurs. When using a reinforced monolithic base, this problem does not arise. On top of the laid FBS, another monolithic belt is made, it gives additional rigidity to the entire foundation structure and is a leveling layer for laying the wall. The number of rows of FBS blocks depends on the height of the basement and the depth of the foundation.

The chosen type of foundation depends not only on the composition of the soil, but also on the structures of the house: type of floors, wall material, number of storeys of the house.

In this article, we paid attention to only a few, the main types of foundations that are used in the construction of country houses.