Brick foundation by own hands

The brick foundation is perhaps one of the oldest technologies currently being replaced from construction sites. However, for small light buildings it is quite suitable, besides, does not require the use of construction equipment. Therefore, when building a summer wooden house, a bath or a veranda, it is quite possible to lay down the foundation of brick by oneself.

Base material

Not every brick is suitable for foundation. Silicate brick in the presence of moisture is prone to destruction, and the red hollow brick is not strong enough. Therefore, for the foundation, a red refractory full-bricks brick is necessary - it has a structure close to the ceramic, so the high humidity does not have a strong impact on it.

Masonry is carried out using a cement-sand mortar in a mixture of 1: 3.For the pillow and backfill, coarse sand is required, and for drainage - gravel with a fraction size of 50 mm and geotextile. For the waterproofing of the foundation, a roofing material is usually used, but any other roll waterproofing material will do.

Methods of execution

The foundation of a brick can be both columnar and tape. The pillar is used for the construction of light buildings: baths, verandas, frame houses. It is much more economical on materials.

Tape brick foundation withstands even more serious loads - a log or bar house. It can be both buried deep into the depth of freezing, and shallow. The foundation is deepened in areas with puffy soil, this measure with additional sand and gravel and the drainage device allows to exclude deformations of the foundation and walls of the building.

Technology for the foundation of a brick

The column foundation is usually not buried. Columns are installed on the corners of the building, at the intersections of the bearing walls, and along the perimeter of the walls at a distance of not less than 2 meters. The brick is put up with a dressing, in one of the ways listed below. The rest of the columnar brick foundation does not differ from the tape one.

The technology of the implementation of the brick foundation consists of several stages, which are not recommended to be neglected.

1. Preparation of a trench or excavation is necessary to reduce the load on the foundation when moving and pooching the soil. First of all, the marking of the plot is made, and the angles of the future building are determined. A fertile layer is removed throughout the area of ​​the structure. On the perimeter of the structure dig a trench of the required depth: for buried foundations in the pitted soil - to the depth of freezing of the ground, for shallow - 40-50 cm. The width of the trench is chosen depending on the soil moisture: the higher the humidity, the wider the trench. For particularly wet areas with a close groundwater table, it must extend beyond the outer limits of the structure by 1 meter for the drainage device. The bottom of the trench is covered with large sand, spills it and rammed.
   

   Preparation of a trench for a site

2. Perform formwork under a concrete base of boards, can be non-planed. The formwork height is about 10 cm, the width is half a brick more than the width of the foundation. The formwork is laid with a waterproofing - roofing material, with such a margin to isolate the entire concrete base. The layer of waterproofing is necessary to exclude capillary rise of moisture along the concrete base to the brick. Pour in the concrete, level it and leave to set strength for 2-3 days.
   

   The process of pouring concrete

3. On a concrete base, begin to lay a brick, performing any standard dressing. Between the first and second row, a longitudinal reinforcement is placed - a metal rod or reinforcing mesh. This prevents the foundation from breaking down along the longitudinal axis. The same reinforcement is placed before the last row.
   

   The process of laying a brick on a concrete foundation and its reinforcement

4. The grinding of the mortar takes 1-2 days, but it takes about a week to get full strength. At the end of this period, you can begin to waterproof the walls of the basement. Waterproofing is carried out with the help of coating or okleychnyh materials, mainly on bitumen basis.
   

   The process of waterproofing the foundation of brick

5. After the waterproofing of the foundation, if desired, it is possible to heat the foundation from the outside with polystyrene or polystyrene slabs, and then pour the trench with sand and rubble. This measure will allow to remove moisture from the foundation and eliminate the punching of adjacent soil layers. In particularly wet areas, drainage is carried out: at a distance of 0.5-1 meters from the outer side of the foundation, geotextiles are laid in a trench, a layer of crushed stone is placed on top of it, pipes with perforations are placed at a small angle, they are covered with a layer of crushed stone and wrapped in geotextiles. All this construction is covered with sand, ramming it layer by layer. Pipes are diverted to wells or drainage channels. By the way, we have made a separate article about the insulation of the foundation from the outside, and also wrote about the complete cycle of foundation warming with our own hands - read if you want to know more! .And also read about the drainage of the foundation with your own hands.
   

   Creation of drainage around the foundation

6. The brick foundation in comparison with concrete provides better thermal insulation, and with good waterproofing it can last more than 50 years without repair. In addition, the repair of the brick foundation is simple: it is enough to replace the destroyed sections of the brick. All these qualities make the brick foundation quite popular in the construction of small buildings and houses.