The quality of the entire construction depends on how correctly the concrete is chosen for the foundation. The base of the house, flooded from poor-quality or incorrectly selected concrete, after some time can become unusable and begin to collapse.
How to find out which concrete should be used for the foundation
Video tips for choosing concrete for the foundation
In order not to be mistaken in the calculations, first of all, you need to draw up a project of the whole structure. For this, it is best to contact the architectural bureau, whose specialists will take into account factors such as the depth of groundwater, soil type, etc. D.
The first factor affecting the choice is the final weight of the entire building. The easiest building will turn out if you build a shield house – in this case, the foundation can be poured using concrete of brand M200. The larger weight will be at the house made of timber or logs. For such buildings, the concrete brand should be no less than m300. This can be used exactly if your house is erected from aerated concrete or foam concrete blocks. The most “serious” foundation requires a house built of brick and monolithic or prefabricated reinforced concrete. With such construction, pour a brand lower than the M350, you cannot.
The next factor affecting the quality of the foundation is the type of soil. If you are lucky, and the soil in your area is rocky or sandy, then the “two hundred” concrete is quite suitable for filling the base. However, this type of soil is rather a rarity and most people have to build houses on clay and loamy soils. In this case, the use of low -minor concrete is strictly contraindicated. For such construction, you need to choose stamps not lower than m250. However, it is best to use the composition of the M350 brand – its cost is not much higher, but the indicators of frost resistance and water resistance are higher. In general, frost resistance and water resistance increases directly in proportion to the improvement of the brand.
And another factor is the design features of the house itself. If the construction is planned to arrange the basement, and the depth of groundwater is small, it is advisable to use the optimal in terms of “price-quality” mortar of the brand M350.
To avoid possible problems with the finished foundation, the selection of the composition is best entrusted to the specialist.
How is the calculation of concrete for the foundation done?
Video pouring grillage concrete
After we have decided on the quality and brand of concrete, you need to find out its amount that will be needed for filling. The foundation of the house can be several types:
Strip;
slate;
columnar.
The first is a monolithic reinforced concrete structure passing around the perimeter of the building under all load -bearing walls. Calculating the amount of concrete is easy. First you need to measure the perimeter of the house. Then determine the width and height of the foundation. Imagine that the perimeter of our house is 40 m, the width of the foundation is 0.4 m and its height is 1 m. We change the values and get a volume of 16 m3. Therefore, the same amount of concrete will be needed to fill the base.
The second version of the base is a monolithic or prefabricated iron slab, which serves both the foundation and the floor of the first floor. The construction of such foundations, although it requires large costs compared to other costs, is ideal for the construction of houses on weak soils. The thickness of such a foundation, as a rule, is from 20 to 40 cm. If the dimensions of our house are 6×9 m, then the area of the plate will be, respectively, 54 m2. With the thickness of the plate, for example, 0.3 m, its volume will be 16.2 m3 – the amount of concrete necessary for its filling.
And finally, the columnar foundation is separate reinforced concrete columns. In order to calculate how much concrete is needed for the foundation in this case, we need to know the number of pillars and the volume of each of them. Suppose we have 20 pillars with sides of 0.25×0.25 and 1.2 m high. Based on this, the volume of one pillar will be 0.075 m3, and 20 – 15 m3, respectively,. That is, to fill the foundation of this type, you need 15 m3 concrete.
If you have round columns, then in order to calculate how much concrete you need on the foundation, you will need to know their radius. For example, the radius of the column is 0.125 m. We build this number in a square, multiply by 3.14 (that is, the number of “pi”) and we get approximately 0.05. We change the result with a pillar height of 1.2 m and get 0.06 m3 of concrete per column. Therefore, for 20 supports will need 12 m3 of the solution.