This is because the hillside is so steep that the concrete footings were naturally more than 24” below the surface, protecting them from frost.īuttress walls are designed to provide extra support for walls by transforming horizontal pressure into vertical pressure on the concrete footings beneath them. It wasn’t in our original plans to create step footings, but our concrete expert recommended that we put them in the front of the house because they would help us excavate less land and save money on concrete.Īdding step footings to the front also meant we avoided building a frost wall across the back half of the foundation.
#Placing footing per frost depth full
They are often required when a building is built on sloped ground (like ours) or doesn’t have a full foundation. Step footings are concrete footings that are poured at different levels to maximize excavation space and minimize concrete costs. It was our goal to keep things simple, as this is our first home and we didn’t want to get fancier than we could handle.Ī rough guide for sizing your concrete footings can be found here. Thanks to our heavy clay soil, our concrete footings ended up being 8” thick, 24” wide, and with a 36×36 footprint. The lower the bearing capacity, the wider the footing needs to be. How do you know how big you need to make your concrete footings? The bearing capacity of your soil makes a difference. They only work with a heated structure, and they require two sheets of polystyrene insulation (one outside the foundation wall and one at the base of the wall) to keep slab ongrade- style foundations from being vulnerable to colder temperatures. Frost Protected: Frost protected foundations are designed to hold heat around the concrete footings to prevent them from freezing.This style is better suited for places where the ground doesn’t freeze, but it’s possible to add insulation to make it more suitable for all temperatures. This slab is usually thicker around the edges to increase the footing, and wire mesh is often added to the concrete to add support and reduce the risk of cracking. Slab ongrade: This foundation style consists of a single layer of concrete, several inches thick, that is poured on a bed of crushed gravel.We used this style for our home and placed our footings deeper than the 24” inch frost depth to comply with building codes. Usually, three separate pours of concrete are required to create this foundation. This size difference adds support to the base of the foundation where it needs it most. The wide footings are placed below the frost line, and narrower walls are added on top. T Foundations: This traditional foundation method is best suited for places where the ground freezes.There are three main kinds of concrete foundations for building projects: T foundations, slab ongrade, and frost protected. Most concrete footings contain rebar, which adds support by helping the structure resist movement from the soil underneath that can compromise concrete over time. The importance of correctly creating your home’s footing can’t be overstated, as uneven footings may cause the building to come out unbalanced. Like with human feet, they are what ‘grounds’ a house to earth.Ĭoncrete footings are essential for quality concrete foundations, as they provide support for the whole structure.
In building projects, concrete footings are one of the first steps to tackle. The Importance of Concrete Footings in Home Builds
#Placing footing per frost depth how to
Regardless, we think there is value in sharing our experience of how to make concrete footings.
You might find our process makes sense for you, or you might choose experiment with a different method instead. Okay, we aren’t sure if anyone’s said that before, but as first-time home builders in the midst of building a debt-free timber frame home, we believe it. This process has taught us so much about building your own home, and in this article we want to explain what we did to set our entire homebuilding project up for success.Īs the saying goes, ‘a home is only as good as its foundation.
We’ve spent weeks getting our garage foundation as perfect as possible, right down to the concrete footings.