Without the proper foundations in place every structure will soon crumble. Foundations are essential in providing the proper base to support a building and keep it upright. Without a secure footing to keep a building level, the weight won’t be evenly distributed causing sections to crumble and fall away and eventually for the building itself to collapse.
Determining which type of foundation for any given building is a specialist job and requires a trained eye to recognise the requirements and to weigh up all the factors: from the weight of the building, wall construction type and height, soil type, slope gradient, budget and drainage requirements.
What are the different foundation types typically used on UK buildings?
Shallow foundations
Most domestic properties use some sort of shallow foundation as well as other smaller buildings and can be made at depths of as little as 3ft. Shallow foundations come in a number of different types:
Individual footings
These are the most common foundations types you will find across the UK for their reliability and durability. They are typically used when the load of the building is supported by individual columns. These columns help spread the weight of the building horizontally across an area large enough so that the bearing strength of the soil underneath is not exceeded.
Strip Footings
If a building is supported by entire walls, rather than isolated columns, a technique called strip footings is used. These are installed by excavating trenches which are then filled with concrete before being built up to ground level using blockwork and the walls are switched to stone or brick.
Raft or Mat Foundations
When buildings are constructed on weak soil then this process is utilised. You will often see this technique used in houses where an entire basement floor acts as the building’s foundation, generally constructed of one solid piece of concrete with the buildings weight spread evenly over this base.
Deep Foundations
As the size of the building increases, we need to use different foundations in order to support the increased weight. As the taller a tree grows, the deeper and more widespread the roots must travel, the higher a building goes, the deeper the foundations need to go. Deep foundations are also used if the underlying soil is unsuitable at the surface and the foundations need to be built down to more secure, stronger soil or even solid rock.
Pile foundations
It can be a noisy technique, but an essential one. For this, prefabricated, cylindrical piles consisting of concrete, timber or steel are driven into the ground until they reach ground firm enough to hold. They come in two forms:
- End Bearing Piles – These piles are driven deep enough so that the bottom rests on a layer of very strong soil or rock, deep underneath the topsoil. The building’s weight is then transferred through the pile onto the more secure layer, completely bypassing the weak soil surrounding it.
- Friction Piles – If secure soil or rock is too far to be reached by end bearing piles then friction piles can be driven into the ground. Instead of supporting the weight on the columns themselves, these piles transfer the weight of the building across the soil via friction.
For piling in Manchester, contact the team at Rhinopiling today.
