When building a strong foundation, stability is everything. More than just holding a house above the soil, it provides the following benefits:
· It supports the building,
· It resists movement of soil underneath the building,
· It provides insulation against cold,
· It results in damage of any sort occurring due to water or moisture.
In short, if the foundation is weak, there is going to be a lot of scope for trouble.
Here is a 4 step guide that you must keep in mind while building a strong foundation:
- Soil Inspection
Checking the condition of the soil is the earlier step before beginning any work on it. When it comes to building a strong foundation, the soil type and its condition becomes very important. If the soil inspection is ignored, it can lead to instability in the future. Your structural engineer or your architect may be a trustworthy person to approach for inspecting the soil.
- Excavating and Grading Process
Remove all small stones, rocks, pebbles, twigs, roots, etc. from the soil as such waste materials may hamper the process of building the foundation. Removal of waste material is necessary because it may also interfere in maintaining a particular level of slope while grading the soil. Make sure to dig the soil up to the required depth only. For accurate results, an excavation contractor may come to your rescue.
- Building the foundation
To begin building the foundation, install the footings. Keep in mind that you would either be pouring concrete into wood forms or directly into the trenches to create footings. It depends on the type of foundation you want and the type of soil.
Concrete needs reinforcement for added strength and crack resistance. It is worth the small additional cost to install rebars (steel reinforcing bars). Once the concrete is beloved, make sure to check that there is no air gap as it will lead to developing further cracks in the foundation. Seal the footings with a high quality sealer.
Remember that the concrete base should be cured of any loopholes before proceeding further. Pay attention to minute details such as the correct mixture of concrete, amount of water in it, depth of the layer to be scattered, etc. Take the help of a quality-minded concrete contractor for building the foundation successfully.
- Finishing touch
Last but not the least, make use of concrete finishing tools such as hand float, trowel, edger and hand groover to smoothen the top layer of the foundation. Apply another layer of sealer to get rid of the remaining moisture. You can opt for acrylic-based sealers because they work well as a curing compound as well as a sealer.
Building a strong foundation is a job that requires utmost care. Consult an experienced concrete contractor to help you customized the foundation according to the soil characteristics as well as your requirements. It is useful to obtain expert help because it will ensure a strong foundation for years to come.