The basis of the longevity of your home is the pile-grillage foundation

The construction of any house begins with the arrangement of the foundation. Statistics show that the strip foundation is chosen most often as the basis of the future home. This is good, but not always correct, since strip foundations are not cheap. An analogue of its replacement can be a pile-grillage foundation. It is not inferior in strength, load capacity and resistance to soil heaving.

The pile-grillage foundation is considered an ideal option for small houses, garages, gazebos, baths and other lightweight buildings. For this reason, such a basis is chosen for the construction of houses from logs and beams. Sometimes for houses from a block, if we are talking about low-rise construction and a small area.

Preparation of the base before pouring the grillage

Arrangement of the foundation begins with the removal of points on the ground. To do this, they beat off the contour of the future house, measure the diagonals, the equality of which guarantees the correctness of the work performed. Then, according to the construction design documentation, the number of piles on the plane is marked, the top layer of soil is removed, and they begin to deepen. Deepening can be done with a shovel or drill.

The main condition for the work performed is that the piles must be buried by the amount of soil freezing. This is especially true for corner supports. For example, for many cities of the Central Federal District, the depth of soil freezing is 1.2 meters. Deepening by this value, the earth is thrown into the future basement.

Once the indentations are made, the pillars should be prepared for pouring. To do this, sand is poured onto the base of the pillar and rammed. This is how a pillow is equipped, the size of which should be at least 10 cm. If possible, frame the edges of the future pile with roofing felt, since this will serve as waterproofing and exclude direct contact of concrete with the ground.

Reinforcement is the next stage of the work. Reinforcement is carried out with a metal rod with a diameter of 10-14 mm, from which the frame is welded with an outlet upward, for the size of the future formwork.

Types of grillages for a pile foundation

Grillages for pile foundations can be different: metal, wood, concrete. The metal version is suitable for steel piles that are screwed into the base. Using this option requires skill in the field of welding.

The concrete grillage option is most common. It is convenient in that it allows you to get a solid, perfectly flat base, with a service life of more than 80 years. True, this option requires a large investment of effort, time and money, but it allows you to tie all the piles together.

The third option is a tree, which is a pile foundation with a grillage from a bar. Such a base is actively used for wooden houses, which in some cases even allows the grillage to be used as the first crown of a wooden structure.

A wooden grillage requires additional waterproofing, and must also be protected from insects.

Preparation for arranging a concrete-based grillage

Continuing the construction of the pile foundation with the grillage, pull the thread and beat off the contour of the future grillage. Having beaten off the plane, they dig up the upper fertile layer, approximately, on a bayonet, fill in a pillow of sand and level the base. Then they begin to arrange the formwork.

To arrange the formwork, they knock down wooden shields from boards, OSB and other even materials. Spacers are installed so that there are about 2 pegs per 1 running meter of formwork.

The formwork should be placed ideally along the horizon, so that later you do not have to trim the plane before construction.

It is recommended to send the bottom and walls of the formwork with a film, which will waterproof the base and protect it from soil heaving and drying out after pouring with concrete. Suitable for filling concrete for the grillage of the M250-M300 brand.

As soon as the formwork is ready, reinforcement is started. It is very important to tie together the reinforcement of future piles. If there is an overlap of the reinforcement in the work, then it should be at least 40 cm between the rods.

Reinforcement of at least 4 rods is recommended.

Between the first row and the sand, a space of up to 5-7 cm should be left so that the concrete fully spills under the rod. To do this, place a red brick under each rod to leave a fixed space.

After the preparation work is completed, you should calculate the cubic capacity and order concrete of the M200-M300 brand. The filling is done in one day.

Benefits of a foundation on piles with a grillage

Using a foundation on piles with a grillage, you can achieve the following advantages from the selected type of foundation:

1. Money is saved. You will have to buy much less concrete, in general, the savings can be 50 percent or more. In addition, the work can be done by hand, which will save even more. There is not much digging here, so the work will be easy.
2. Low material consumption. That is why it is allowed to pour the base with your own hands, mixing concrete on a concrete mixer.
3. The performance is the same as strip foundation... We get a frost-resistant base that is not afraid of soil heaving and external loads. It can be used for houses of different shapes and with a different number of floors. Therefore, answering the question “what is a grillage foundation”, we can safely answer that it is quality, reliability and confidence in the future.
4. No vibration. This is achieved through a suspended structure, which saves residents from discomfort if their homes are located near the railroad.
5. Saves construction time. Such technologies are often used for the construction of shallow foundations, which allows starting construction within a couple of three days after pouring. Thus, in a season, you can build a reliable, inexpensive house, for the individual dimensions of the pile foundation grillage.
6. Long time interval for work. Such foundations can be erected at any time of the year, excluding winter, when the air temperature drops below -10%. It should be noted that the heat loss is low, since the grillage protects the soil, poured into the basement, from direct contact with the atmosphere.

There are almost no drawbacks to such a foundation. Is that here they note the limited operation of such foundations with houses, the load on the base of which exceeds 7 tons. And the basement floor, as well as the basement, can no longer be equipped here.

How to care for a pile foundation with a grillage

If you poured a hanging grillage on piles today, this does not mean that tomorrow you should safely forget about the foundation and wait until it dries. Like any concrete base, the grillage requires maintenance. On the second day, it should be covered with foil and watered with copious amounts of water every day. Then there will be no cracks and chips. By day 28, it will gain its maximum strength. Of course, you can start building earlier. The main thing is to remember that a dry foundation is a guarantor of the formation of cracks. Therefore, water the grillage and cover it with foil.

A shallow foundation on piles should be erected already at the beginning of spring. It must be loaded before the onset of frost so that the base is not squeezed out by the heaving of the soil.

The deepened foundation is allowed to be dug and poured before winter, since the depth of its occurrence is greater than the depth of freezing of the soil.

Now you know how to properly build a pile-grillage foundation. The main thing is the correct calculation of the load on the land, professional geological exploration, the exact removal of the contour of the house to and compliance with the rules and regulations of construction.

DIY pile-grillage foundation - video