5 Residential Home Foundations to Consider
If you are thinking about building a home, the first element is the foundation. There are actually multiple options that you can consider and all have their pros and cons. Learning a little more about each will help you to determine which option is going to be the best for you.
Footing and Stem Wall Foundation
The footings can vary greatly in terms of their width and depth, starting at about 12 feet by 18 inches and ranging all the way up to 36 feet by 48 inches. The flooring system and terrain at the site where you are building the structure will ultimately determine the height of the stem wall. You can install either a crawl space or a slab foundation on top of a footing and stem wall. It works well in areas with up to a moderate frost.
Slab on Grade That Has a Turned-Down Edge Foundation
While most often used in areas with low frost, it is an option for areas with other climates too. When utilizing this design, the use of post tension cables is a very effective option. In many cases, a monolithic pour is used during the construction process.
Drilled Shaft Concrete Grade Beam and Piers Foundation
This is most often seen when building industrial and commercial structures. However, if a residential home is large, this could be a relatively cost-effective option. If the clay soil on the lot where the structure is being built has high plasticity, this is going to be the best option for building the foundation. For the design and soil analysis parts of the process. Additional structural engineering is generally required.
Basement Foundation
This involves utilizing a hollow sub-grade structure. A basement is a great way to add square footage to a home without building out onto the property. The functional requirements will determine the structural design. When working to design and build this type of foundation, those doing the work have to determine the external earth pressure and hydrostatic pressure. It must be built in a way to ensure that the foundation is able to resist both.
This foundation type is typically constructed using either cast-in-place concrete or cinder blocks. To ensure moisture is not able to infiltrate and cause issues, waterproofing is a critical part of the process.
Permanent Wood Foundation
This type of foundation is ideal in just about every part of the country, including areas where the temperature can range greatly depending on the season. Pressure treated wood is used to frame the basement foundation. A poured concrete floor is where the wood sits when it is put into place. If a crawl space foundation is used, driven timber is used to build onto a footing. Pressure treated wood is used for constructing stem walls.
You can see that with these five choices, it is important to do your research before coming to a final decision. Once you are ready to move forward with the build, make sure to talk to an experienced contractor to get the work completed.