Backfilling the foundation with stone. How to build a rubble foundation: workshop from FORUMHOUSE

07.03.2020

If there is cheap natural stone in the region, building a rubble foundation with your own hands will cost much less than a monolithic or prefabricated structure made from FBS blocks. Rubble is not sorted into fractions and does not have smooth edges, so instead of cords for masonry or pouring, formwork is often used.

Rubble stone ensures a reduction in the foundation construction budget by at least one and a half times. The strength of the structure is comparable to a monolith, the main filler of which is the same material, only of smaller fractions. The basement part of the house does not have to be decorated; the underground part is waterproofed by treating the seams with special compounds.

The construction of a rubble foundation is similar to masonry or concreting. In the first case, a cement-sand mortar is used with the addition of penetrating mixtures or liquid glass, which impart water-repellent properties.

There are two options for constructing a rubble foundation:

concreting with laying rubble stone;
rubble masonry.

The foundation is made using rubble masonry.

Attention! If the rubble concrete foundation is not planned to be lined in the basement, this massive structure will become a cold bridge. Heat loss through floors and ceilings will increase, since at subzero temperatures the material will freeze through.

Earthworks and foundation

At the stage of moving the full-scale axes of the house into the building area, it is necessary to take into account several factors that significantly affect the productivity and quality of work:

the size of the stone is much larger than the brick, the tape is 45 - 60 cm minimum;
It is very difficult to reinforce masonry, so sometimes plaster mesh or fine mesh Chain-link mesh are used;
even for masonry, it is better to make formwork that can be moved in height, which will sharply increase the pace of work;
The rubble material should be sorted into small and large stones before starting work.

The construction of trenches is standard, 0.5 - 0.7 m is added to the width of the tape from the inside (comfortable for rearranging the formwork, opening joints), 1.2 m from the outside (necessary for insulating the blind area, laying drains). The trench is dug to the design depth, since below the freezing mark there are guaranteed to be no heaving forces, and there is no need for an underlying layer of non-metallic material.

Attention! If you plan to pour a rubble concrete foundation, in order to avoid leakage of cement laitance into the lower drainage layer, it is necessary to make a footing 5–10 cm thick, twice the width of the tape, and fuse 2 layers of rolled waterproofing onto it.

Features of formwork design for different technologies

Rubble masonry and concreting technologies foundation tape using rubble stone are very similar. The differences are:

when laying, stones are laid on mortar;
When concreting, the formwork is filled to 30 cm with concrete, into which large stones are embedded.

Unlike brick, rubble has an uneven shape and it is very difficult to lay it along a thin cord. Therefore, it is easier to fix two shields along the outer and inner edges of the tape in order to lay the stones close to them.

Therefore, the formwork arrangement for these two technologies for building a house foundation will be different:

for concreting, standard shields will be required for the entire height of the tape with a polyethylene film stretched along the inner surface so that the mixture does not flow out through the cracks and the concrete does not dehydrate upon contact with wood;
for masonry, a shield 30–50 cm high is sufficient, so that it can be conveniently moved in height as the foundation walls are built up.

Attention! It is not recommended to use slot foundation technology when the formwork is trench walls. If the soil does not crumble from its surfaces, this indicates a large percentage clay, which is guaranteed to swell in winter and destroy the masonry. It is necessary to widen the trench, lay drains, backfill with sand, and ASG.

Rubble masonry

For secure support wall material At home, on the upper edge of the rubble foundation, it is necessary to select stones with a flat surface for the last row. Unlike classical masonry, the construction of a rubble structure is more reminiscent of concreting:

a film is laid on the underlying layer;
a bed of mortar 3–5 cm thick is applied to it;
two longitudinal rows of stones of approximately the same size are installed;
then the mortar is laid again, the bed is leveled;
ligation is performed with a butt row on the outer or inner side;
in the third row the poke is placed on the other side;
then several rows of spoons are installed (long side along the wall);
At the corners it is necessary to bandage with whole, ¾ stones.

Rubble masonry.

Ligation of intersections.

Bandaging corners.

Some experts wet the stone with water (dipping before installation without soaking). However, this material is not fired in ovens and usually has natural moisture, so the procedure is not necessary.

Attention! The consistency of the solution should ensure that the joints in the previous row are completely filled. To increase plasticity, add a Superplasticizer or a few drops (5 - 7 per concrete mixer) of Fairy type detergent.

Concreting using rubble stone

Laying rubble concrete mortar into the formwork is a little more difficult; you will need a reinforcing bar or an internal vibrator. The crushed stone fraction in the mixture should be small (5/10 mm) for better filling. The technology looks like:

laying concrete - a 30 cm layer is poured inside the formwork without compaction;
stone distribution - the rubble is not covered, but laid out in a 20 cm layer so that the outer edges come into contact with the formwork panels;
recessing the rubble - with fittings or the tip of a deep vibrator, on which a special visor is put on.

After immersion, the stones should not stick out from the concrete. The break between laying the mixture and stones should not exceed a quarter of an hour. If it is planned to stop work, concrete or rubble runs out, the laid stone must be covered with a mixture compacted with a vibrator attachment.

Attention! The upper 30–50 cm are concreted without stone; before laying the mixture, a reinforcement cage is installed on the last row of rubble so that the upper belt of the longitudinal rods is recessed into the concrete by 2–5 cm (standard protective layer).

Waterproofing

Depending on the technology used for making the foundation of a house using rubble stone, the surface of the tape does not have the same roughness. Therefore they apply different ways waterproofing of the underground part:

rubble concrete foundation - the surface is more even, possible over a primer;
rubble masonry - the surface is uneven, plastering with moisture-resistant mixtures, coating with bitumen, polymer or epoxy mastics is used.

Attention! If penetrating compounds are introduced into the solution or concrete, waterproofing of the structure is not required.

Advantages and Disadvantages

The main advantages of a rubble strip foundation for a house are traditionally:

reduction of the construction budget;
reducing work time through the use of large-format material;
high performance characteristics (weather resistance, strength).

The disadvantage of rubble masonry is the lack of reinforcement and excessive mobility of elements inside the structure. When concreting into formwork using rubble stone, there are no disadvantages at all. The tape can be qualitatively waterproofed and covered with thermal insulation. It is a monolithic structure with an upper reinforced belt, which compensates for tensile loads from possible swelling of soils.

Thus, the construction estimate country house it is quite possible to reduce it through the use of budget building materials. It is more difficult to work with rubble stone than with brick, but the large format allows you to reduce construction time.

For the construction of low-rise private buildings (1-2 floors), the technology of constructing rubble foundations is often used. This base is a closed loop of a tape type. That is, the structure is located directly under all load-bearing and transverse walls in accordance with the design of the house.

The peculiarity of this base is that instead of a steel rod, natural stone is used to reinforce the structure, called rubble in construction. It is the strength properties of the stone that allow the mortar to reliably adhere during the drying stage, which ultimately makes the base monolithic, strong and reliable.

Important: a strip-type rubble contour differs from a rubble concrete base in the amount of stone it contains. So, if for a rubble concrete foundation the percentage ratio of mortar and rubble is 50:50, then when constructing a rubble foundation this ratio reaches 80:20 or at least 70:30. That is, the masonry is made like brick.

Stone selection

To build a durable and reliable foundation It is necessary to select high-quality material from rubble. It is better to give preference to rocky rocks. These include sandstone, shell rock, limestone, granite, etc.

The quality of the stones can be checked by simply tapping. It is enough to hit the stone, and if it makes a ringing echo, it means that the strength and strength of the material are high. If the bottle responds with a dull echo, its structure is damaged and soon it will simply crumble.

In addition, the quality of the rubble can be determined by its splitting. If you look at the cross-section when chopping a stone, then a good rubble will be characterized by even and smooth edges without the presence of dust and fine grain.

For construction strip base From rubble, it is better to select material of approximately the same size and flat-edged. The diameter of the stones should vary from 30 to 50 cm and it will be better if they all have slightly torn edges. This will promote better adhesion of the rubble to the solution.

Important: for masonry it is necessary to use only clean rubble without the presence of dirt, clay and other materials on its surface. These impurities will disrupt the structure of the finished strip base and subsequently lead to its destruction. So the bottle needs to be washed before installation. In addition, in order to enhance the adhesion of the stone and mortar, the rubble must be wet at the time of installation.

The construction of such a stone structure can only be carried out on those soils that are not subject to seasonal heaving, erosion by groundwater, landslides and excessive movement of earth layers. The ideal soil for such work is hard soil with low groundwater.

In addition, it is advisable to submit the soil from the building site for detailed analysis at the building design stage. This will allow you to avoid gross mistakes at the design stage of the project.

Features and advantages of a rubble foundation

A strip foundation for a house, made of rubble, has a number of advantages compared to the usual reinforced concrete foundation. Some of the main ones are:

Reliability and solidity of the entire structure. A house built on a strip-type rubble foundation can last up to 150 years or more.
Excellent wear resistance of the stone. Thus, a tape-type base made of rubble is not subject to wind, wear as a result of natural mechanical influences, resolution under the influence of ultraviolet radiation, etc.
Low hygroscopicity of buta. As a result, the rubble structure is not able to absorb moisture, which makes such a base even stronger. By comparison, familiar reinforced concrete foundation even if a vibrator is used when pouring the solution, it is a porous structure that can absorb moisture during the rainy season or melting snow. And this, in turn, negatively affects the integrity of the entire structure.
Attractive design appearance, which does not require additional finishing.
Comparative savings on building materials, but on the condition that the rubble deposits will be located in close proximity to the building site.
Environmental friendliness of the material is an additional advantage when constructing such a foundation.

Important: but a rubble foundation also has several disadvantages. Firstly, for its construction it is necessary to carry out painstaking and accurate calculations. And secondly, a rubble base requires a lot of time to lay it.

Carrying out calculations

To prevent the construction from reaching a dead end, you need to calculate the required amount of rubble stone for the entire structure. To do this, you need to know all the parameters of the future foundation, namely:

Foundation width;
Its height;
The length of the structure on each side.

Now you need to multiply the length by the width of the entire foundation to calculate the area. After receiving the value, it must be divided by the average diameter of one bottle. For example, it will be equal to 35 cm. Thus, we find out how much rubble is required to lay the foundation in accordance with its area per row.

Now you need to calculate the amount of stone needed in height by 1 m. To do this, we take 15 cm as the average thickness of the rubble. 100:15 = 7. Approximately 7 rows of rubble material will be required to lay one meter of foundation in height with an average rubble diameter of 35 cm.

It remains to calculate the total number of m3 of the designed base. To do this, we multiply its area by its height. Having received the value, we multiply it by 7. Thus, it has the amount of rubble necessary to lay out the area and volume of the base.

If it is planned to use rubble of various sizes for the construction of the foundation, then calculations can be made based on its tonnage. Thus, the average weight of stone per 1 m3 is 1.8 tons. Thus, having calculated the volume of your foundation, all that remains is to multiply it by 1.8. The result will be the weight of material required for the construction of the rubble strip circuit.

Features of building a rubble foundation

The depth of digging the trench should fall below the freezing level of the soil. Such deepening of the structure will make it more durable and will not allow low temperatures to affect the base of the circuit.
More advanced craftsmen can use the technology of expanding the foundation to the bottom. That is, you can start laying the foundation with a larger width and gradually lead to the desired one.
The rubble stone contour must be mounted exclusively on top of a sandy and well-compacted cushion. In addition, you need to lay roofing felt waterproofing on top, and a small layer of mortar (about 15 cm) on top.
Although natural stone is not susceptible to moisture, it is still better to waterproof the base walls in the soil. For these purposes, roofing felt and mastic are used.
If the walls of the trench under the foundation are crumbling, then it is better to make formwork before starting installation. Otherwise, soil that gets into the solution can completely destroy the entire structure later.
For the first layer of the structure, it is better to use stones of approximately the same shape and only with smooth edges. This will protect the waterproofing layer from damage during operation.
The distance between the stones should be about 5-7 cm. And all the gaps are filled with mortar.

Important: the rubble foundation is installed in the same way brickwork, adjusting the stones with a mallet.

The arrangement of stones in the rows should be changed. That is, one row of material is placed with a spoon, the second row with a poke.
To speed up the work, it is better to lay stones along the entire perimeter of the future foundation. Still, their weight is significant, and it will be difficult to bring each of the stones to the point of work.
When all work on installing the base is completed, it is necessary to pour a layer of screed on top, which will act as a leveling base for laying or installing walls. Such a screed needs to be reinforced.
When the entire foundation is ready, it must be dried for a month. To prevent drying too quickly, it is better to cover the entire structure with roofing felt and periodically wet it.
It is better to start forcing the walls after a year, when the strip base has settled and survived seasonal changes in the soil.

Important: rubble foundations can only be laid in the warm season. Because low temperatures force the bottle to take heat away from the solution. And this has a very negative impact on the entire structure as a whole.

Any home craftsman can lay a rubble foundation with his own hands. And he will not need any special equipment or any specific knowledge. It is enough to understand the simple technology of constructing rubble stone foundations.

Experts say that rubble bases for various buildings have been built for more than 4 thousand years. In the Middle Ages, durable and aesthetically attractive rubble was used to make reliable strip foundations not only for houses, but also for powerful fortresses and defensive structures. Structures made from this stone last 150–500 years, demonstrating unique performance properties.

Rubble foundations for houses are absolutely environmentally friendly. They perfectly resist the effects of soil water and do not lose their characteristics when frozen.

Reliable foundation made of rubble

A rubble base is understood as a strip structure built from natural large-sized stones, which are filled with cement-based mortar.

This natural material is not divided according to its size into separate categories. For this reason, it may contain fractions with different geometric parameters - from 15 to 50 cm.

To build a foundation for a house, it is recommended to use stones with relatively wide and even upper and lower edges. Such material is usually called bedded. But it is also possible to use stones that are less correct in terms of geometry. Their shape does not affect the strength of the constructed foundation in any way.

Nowadays, rubble is most often used to build foundations for 1–2-story houses, as well as for various commercial buildings. The technology for constructing standard five-story residential buildings from rubble stone has existed for more than 60 years. The construction of such buildings requires a minimum financial resources, due to the low cost of natural material.

It is impossible not to separately note the natural beauty of natural stones. You can use them both to build a solid foundation for your house and to furnish the basement of your home. In the latter case, you will not have to spend money on finishing measures. The rubble base does not need to be plastered or tiled. It will look truly luxurious anyway.

On clay soils, loams with high density and on sandy soils Rubble foundations last up to 150 years without any repairs. If such a foundation is being built on heaving ground that is prone to subsidence, the structure should be strengthened with reinforcing elements. And it will serve you for the same 150–200 years.

The quality of rubble for laying foundations for residential buildings is determined very simply. You just need to hit the stone well with a regular hammer. If the bottle does not break from a strong blow and at the same time produces a clear and ringing sound, it means that you have excellent material in front of you.

Stones are also checked for quality by splitting them. If you break the rubble, and it does not generate dust and is not crushed into small fractions, feel free to use it to build a foundation. Believe me, a foundation made of such stone will last for many decades.

Rubble house foundation

The rubble must be washed before laying. This procedure, let’s say right away, is labor-intensive. Please be patient and have some free time. You have to thoroughly wash every stone. If this is not done, the concrete mixture will not bond with the stones at the proper level, which will significantly worsen the strength of the foundation.

Large pieces of rubble for laying the foundation of a house require additional preparation - breaking them into smaller stones weighing no more than 30 kg. This procedure is called plinting. It is done with your own hands using the following technology:

Using a soft pencil, draw a line on the stone along which you plan to break the rubble.
Stretch the nylon rope and forcefully press it into a piece of pre-prepared chalk.
Pull the cord marked with chalk over the line marked on the stone and suddenly release the rope. As a result, you will get a clearly visible chalk mark on the rubble. This is where the material needs to be split.
Use a hammer to drive a steel chisel into the cut line on the rubble. You are splitting a stone. The hammer blow should be performed quite strongly. Don't be afraid. A high-quality stone, as we said, will not crumble, but will clearly separate into separate fractions along the split line.

Now that the material has been prepared, you can proceed directly to laying the foundation for the house.

The laying of the structure we require is carried out in several stages:

Clearing the land.
Digging a trench required sizes. The ditch must be made with a small margin. Maintain a distance between the boundary of the future foundation and the edges of the walls (load-bearing) of the house being built at a level of 15–20 cm. The depth of the trench is below the freezing mark of the ground in your area.
You do. It will protect the ditch from soil falling into it. The formwork structure is dismantled immediately after pouring and setting of the concrete mixture.
Set up a 30 cm hole at the bottom of the hole. sand cushion. Sand must be poured into separate layers, tamping each of them.
Lay sheets of roofing felt over the made pie. They will be an excellent waterproofing material for the foundation.

Creating a rubble stone foundation

After this, start laying the rubble. It must be moistened with water before starting work. Then the stones will adhere well to the cement mixture. Pay attention! Stones cannot be placed back to back in the trench. Leave a small gap between individual pieces of rubble.

The masonry technology itself is simple. You need to remember that the short side of rubble stones is called a poke, and the long side is called a spoon. In one row of spoons should alternate when laying with a poke. The total thickness of the masonry is usually taken at 0.6–0.7 m. For a residential building, this is quite enough. Installation of stones is carried out using a small sledgehammer or a massive hammer.

The construction of a rubble foundation is carried out according to three different schemes. The operation can be performed “under the bay”, “under the scapula” and “under the bracket”. If you plan to make formwork, it is recommended to implement the “flooded” scheme. It is given below:

Place the butt row in the prepared ditch (on a sand bed). Pour fine gravel or crushed stone into the gaps. Compact the layer.
Fill the stones with liquid concrete (3 parts sand plus 1 cement).
Lay the spoon row. Repeat all the described procedures.

The topmost row is filled with thicker concrete (add less water to the mixture). The layer of mortar should have a thickness of about 0.5–0.6 m. Then, using a vibrator, compact the concrete until the mixture no longer penetrates into the gaps between the rubble stones.

Creating a foundation from rubble

Important point. If the foundation is developed according to the “bay” scheme, only light buildings (for example, a small or outbuilding) are allowed to be erected on it. Structures with a large mass are not installed on such a foundation.

For loaded houses, the foundations are usually built according to the “shovel” and “bracket” schemes. In the first case, you are allowed not to choose a bottle by size. But the “under the bracket” option involves careful selection of stones in height (it should be the same for all pieces used).

Laying according to these two options is done as follows:

Place the bonded row dry on a bed of compacted sand.
Compact the stones, pour small stones into the gaps between them.
Pour liquid concrete.
You install a row of spoons, tamp it, pour the concrete mixture.
Next, lay the bond row again, then the spoon row, and so on.

Pay attention! It is imperative to tie the seams between all mounted rows with reinforcing bars and steel wire. You need to ensure that the rubble in the masonry does not wobble, but stands really firmly.

And one last point. When installing rubble in rows, you must constantly monitor the horizontal and vertical positions of the corners of the masonry and the surfaces of the stones themselves. Then you will have an impeccably reliable foundation.

The most popular building material today is rubble, which is made from parts of natural rocks. It can be artificial and natural. A rubble stone foundation is a strong foundation, the main component of which is rubble. Finished design 9 out of 10 parts consist of it.

These stones come in various shapes, sizes and weights, but the most commonly used stones on construction sites are tile rubble, with smooth and even sides. It is much easier to install it in any of the structures.

The rubble foundation is built in the same way brick walls– the components are stacked one on top of the other and reinforced with concrete.

Disadvantages and advantages

The decision to lay a rubble foundation for a house should be made only after considering all the characteristics of this material, as well as weighing all the pros and cons. This is motivated by the fact that building such a foundation is not so easy. Firstly, this will take some time, secondly, it is necessary to take very careful measurements, and thirdly, the selection and distribution of stones over the foundation area is quite a troublesome task.

Rubble stone foundations are usually widely used when it is necessary to build a high load-bearing structure. And this is no coincidence; a foundation of this kind has a number of positive characteristics:

environmentally friendly material;
strength, reliability, and a guarantee of durability;
natural water resistance;
attractive appearance that does not require additional cladding.

But at the same time, there are also disadvantages to it. The most pronounced are:

quite high price of natural material;
difficulties arising during the construction of rubble structures;
high time costs;
difficult calculations that are made before construction begins.

A positive feature of a rubble foundation is the ability to combine different materials. For example, to make the structure a little cheaper, you can use rubble for the base located in the ground, and a brick on top. It should be remembered that the laying technology for these materials is different and must be adhered to.

Rules for laying rubble

Bite is mined through a special kind of explosion. To work with the foundation, you should select those elements that have two flat sides. The laying of a rubble stone foundation is carried out using a cement mortar using the “under the blade” principle. The thickness of the seam between each stone should be at least one and a half centimeters. It is not recommended to do more, since the rubble will settle and the structure itself will collapse.

Before laying, the stones must be cleaned of various types of contaminants and slightly wetted. Seams with minimum sizes, as well as the strength of the ligation of the foundation parts will contribute to the use of fragments of different sizes.

All work on laying the rubble foundation is done by hand. The largest stones are usually located at the bottom and in the corners. Due to them, the stability of the structure is achieved. This can sometimes be very difficult, because sometimes you need to turn the bottle over more than once before you find the most best option its location.

To increase the bearing capacity of this type of foundation, a cement mixture solution is poured under the first row of stone. The area where the rubble will be missing is covered with small stones. Later they can be used as wedges.

All subsequent rows of masonry are made using a thicker mortar. Here they already use stones no more than 30 centimeters thick. All elements of the rubble foundation are laid in such a way that they are located close to each other with maximum density and the consumption of concrete is minimal. The top row of masonry should overlap the vertical seams of the bottom row.

The rubble base can be expanded by creating ledges consisting of at least two rows. The connecting parts of the future structure must be correctly “tied” with the upper masonry. And remember that in some places excessive load is unacceptable, since this may be followed by a shift of the stones and complete destruction of the laid layers.

Cladding of rubble foundation

If your house or other premises has a basement, then the foundation is made of rubble, at its location it must be covered with facing bricks. The lining work is carried out at the same time as the construction of the foundation. Every 4 or 6 rows are tied together with pokes.

As a result, you will receive a facing surface, the rows of which will completely coincide with the horizontal seam of the load-bearing structure. The brick base must have a thickness of more than 75 centimeters. And the rubble is laid in rows about 25 centimeters high. It is also necessary to fill with mortar all the voids that formed during the installation process.

Working on a rubble strip base

To do strip foundation It is necessary to select a suitable site from rubble stone. Often this type of foundation for a building is used in places with complex soils that are prone to swelling. Before starting the main work, you need to explore the construction site and study the hydrogeological features of the area. You need to pay attention first of all to the level of groundwater, soil moisture, as well as the depth to which the ground freezes. And only then can you dig a trench.

You must first mark the area using a regular tape measure or wooden pegs and twine. You can dig a ditch yourself using a shovel or use an excavator to do the work.

The size of the stone blocks directly determines what the foundation will be like. The walls of the trench should be several centimeters wider than the rubble, since experts do not recommend laying stone end to end. And the depth of the ditch should be at least a meter.

With a professional approach to work, you can reduce the time required to pour the foundation by several times. There are instructions for this:

The site is marked.
Trenches are dug and formwork is installed.
A little sand is poured into the finished trench and stones are placed there, pressing them into the created “cushion”.
All gaps resulting from laying are filled with crushed stone and compacted.
Prepare a concrete mixture (1:3) and pour it into the first row to make it more durable.
Another row is laid out using the same principle. At the same time, do not forget to “bandage” the seams, as when laying brick material.
The rows that will protrude above the ground are reinforced with wire or relief reinforcement.

Some tricks in constructing a rubble base

To achieve enough good result There are a few things you need to know about how to make your work easier and at the same time increase your efficiency:

In order to build a strip foundation from rubble stone, you need to prepare a cement mortar. It is almost the same as for laying brick materials. Powder grade M 400 or M 500 is used for preparation. To prevent the concrete from cracking in the end, the sand should not contain clay particles. It also needs to be cleaned of various debris and all kinds of impurities.

Initially, you need to mix cement and sand, and then add water. The consistency of the solution should resemble sour cream.

When laying a strip base made of rubble, you can use 3 methods: pouring, “under the blade” and “under the bracket”.

The first is chosen when constructing small buildings no higher than 10 meters. The stone used is different and is not selected. On top of the laid blocks, pour crushed stone (a layer of 5-10 centimeters) and compact it well.

After preparatory work the rows are filled with concrete mixture. Remember that the material is initially laid dry, and only then the solution is poured. Using a vibrating compactor, it is distributed over all the voids that have arisen. These measures will greatly increase the strength and reliability of the foundation.

The other two methods are characteristically different from the first. First of all, it requires careful selection of stones. When laying them there should be minimal gaps and voids. These options are of course optimal, but require a lot of time and additional labor costs. The stone blocks are laid out horizontally, and in order to achieve absolute evenness along the entire length of the foundation, a rope is pulled. And the main aspect is the presence of rubble stones of approximately equal size.

Despite the large selection of foundation types, some developers prefer to build them using “old-fashioned” methods. For example, fold the base under country house from rubble. Thus, you get a reliable stone foundation that attracts increased attention with its original appearance. This is exactly the design chosen by the portal user with the nickname jonic61, building an unusual house from wood concrete.

How to prepare the soil foundation for building a foundation.
How to make drainage for the foundation.
How to lay a rubble stone foundation.

Stages of building a stone foundation for a wood concrete house

History of the construction of a country house jonic61, which he named in a topic on the portal “Arbolit in Stone,” began with the purchase of the “right” plot. According to the user, he had been looking for a suitable building site for about two years. The reason is increased requirements for comfort. We need accessible communications, like in the city, good roads for the passage of heavy trucks with construction materials, proximity to highways for traveling to the city, etc. Finally, required area with an area of 6 acres found in SNT.

jonic61 User FORUMHOUSE

I was captivated by the proximity of the sea. The gardening community has electricity, and the energy supply goes on without interruption, there is main gas, a year-round central water supply with drinking water and good developed infrastructure. A bonus of 5 acres is attached to the northern part of the site - an exclusion zone from railway, on which it is possible to build non-permanent structures, i.e. - buildings without a foundation. Total: total area The territory was 11 acres.

In addition to the plot there was a house measuring 5x5 m, “molded” from a steel container and whatever the previous owner had on hand.

Looking ahead, let's say that the house was eventually dismantled, and the container was turned into a vandal-proof storage room for storing tools.

In 2017 jonic6, Armed with the knowledge gleaned from the portal, I began building a house, without a project, with changes made to the design as the cottage was being built. Having studied the wall market building materials, the user settled on wood concrete.

In the production of wood concrete, non-instant formwork technology is used, which has a positive effect on the properties and geometry of the material.

Blocks, 1000 units ordered in total, corner blocks measuring 50x30x20 cm and wall blocks 40x30x20 cm, are already plastered on the front side.

While waiting for a batch of wood concrete, the user went to the so-called. the zero stage of building a house - the construction of the foundation.

Preparing the soil base and arranging drainage for a rubble foundation

We have already said above that the house is being built virtually without a design, and at first the user planned to pour a slab, but in the end he “outplayed” it with a rubble foundation, which we will talk about later. But when building a foundation of any type, careful preparation of the soil base comes first, because the foundation only transfers and redistributes the load from the structure. Therefore, first we determine the composition of the soil.

To do this, on the building site of the house jonic61 dug holes and studied the layers of soil. This:

chernozem - 30 cm;
sandy loam – 10 cm;
loam – 10 cm;
Next comes a thick layer of clay.

GWL is high. The height difference on the perimeter of the foundation is 4 cm.

Having retreated 5 m from the red line and 3 m from the neighbor, the user, having rented a tractor and truck, began digging a pit for the foundation, adding another 1 meter to the dimensions of the house (9x9 m).

Total: pit dimensions 11x11 m.

Where the house used to stand, they immediately dug a hole for installing a septic tank made of concrete rings.

At a depth of 2.4 meters, groundwater began to flow.

The excavator removed the soil on the spot under the foundation with a leveling bucket that does not have teeth (steel “fangs”).

This increased the quality of work because, while removing layer by layer, the excavator operator, which is important, did not loosen the continental soil.

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I stood with the level, and the truck driver helped with the measuring rod. As a result, the height difference after digging the pit did not exceed 1-2 cm.

Having finished digging the pit, the excavator immediately made a “ramp” for the entry of heavy trucks.

Having cleaned up small irregularities with a shovel, the user covered the bottom of the pit with geotextile with a density of 200 g/sq. m.

I laid a drainage pipe with a diameter of 110 mm along the perimeter, maintaining a slope of 2-3 cm per 1 linear meter.

Geotextiles are laid with an overlap of 15 cm and 0.5 m outward, beyond the perimeter of the foundation.

This article describes in detail the arrangement of storm drainage systems.

They brought sand and scattered it over the pit.

The sand was carefully leveled over the base.

The bottom of the base is displayed at 0 according to the level.

The sudden onset of rain played into the hands of the water-saturated sand, which compacted itself.

At the same time, we installed a septic tank by delivering and installing concrete rings.

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In construction, the quality of access roads is very important. Trucks must be able to enter, unload and leave without hindrance. This will save a lot of nerves and money.

The drainage pipes are led into a drainage well made by the previous owner of the site from car tires.

From the drainage well, water is discharged into the SNT drainage network.

Drainage pipes are filled with slag.

Additionally jonic61 covered the sand with slag and hired a team of workers with a gasoline vibrating plate.

Before compacting the foundation, communications were dug out and laid - mortgages for water input and sewerage pipes.

The finally prepared base, onto which 2 cars of sand and 8 cars of slag are poured and thoroughly spilled with water.

Construction of a rubble foundation

So, at this stage everything is ready for installing formwork and pouring slab foundation. But jonic61 took a time out and decided to think whether he could do this with the help of a new team, and whether the workers had enough experience for this. We were also concerned about the safety of building materials on the site, which must be put into use immediately.

jonic61

Once I went to visit a friend of mine who is engaged in excavations and restoration of an ancient settlement, and along the way, on the advice of a friend, I stopped at the military history museum, which was being built in the form of a stone fortress. The most interesting thing is that it is being built by the same workers from the team I hired. I love natural stone very much, and the structure, made of beautiful gray-blue stone, hooked me.

Having estimated the costs of pouring the slab and laying rubble, the user decided to make a stone foundation. He ordered a car with a boot and hired a proven team of 6 people for the work.

Because the concept of the foundation has completely changed on the fly, jonic61 I additionally ordered 20 tons of sand, a truckload of slag and 2.5 tons of cement.

Laying rubble stone requires a large amount of mortar.

Along the way, instead of a footing, the user bought a profiled geomembrane, which will additionally cut off moisture from the foundation from below.

A total of 3 rolls, 2 m wide and 20 m long, were purchased.

The workers broke the axes of the foundation, laid out a geomembrane and set up the corners of the rubble foundation.

width of the foundation “ribbon” – 50 cm;
height – 1 m.

There is a load-bearing wall inside the perimeter. The foundation sinuses are then filled with clay, slag with layer-by-layer tamping, and then the first floor floor slab is cast. The user believes that a natural stone foundation is a beautiful and strong foundation for a home that does not require finishing or special care.

The foundation grew before our eyes and absorbed trucks with rubble one after another.

From inside the base, along the entire perimeter, a “step” measuring 150x150 mm was made for support - a concrete slab that will tie the entire structure together.

They also laid out a geomembrane from the inside and began laying the load-bearing internal wall.