The sand pillow is an essential part of any foundation. This element is the sole of the base of the future house, which significantly improves the characteristics of the foundation itself. It is necessary to focus on the fact that the pillows are often created in cases where the soil has some problem areas.
Also, the positive sides of the foundation pillow include the insulation of the main building from moisture, which negatively affects the integrity of the structure. Moreover, when the oscillations occur, the foundation will remain almost fixed, and the main "blow" will take on themselves the pillow.
It is also important to note that the creation of a pillow is a fairly simple process, so it should not cause any problems.
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The main features of the foundation pillow
Immediately need to say that a sandy pillow for foundation is often created on the basis of clay and peat soils. The main problem of these natural grounds is the regular change in their level. Accordingly, with similar phenomena, you can encounter numerous problems. In particular, we can talk about the deformation of the building.
The same problem is often observed at houses erected on the basis of bunching soils.
Tightly rammed sand pillows are often covered with a layer of waterproofing material, so no moisture is terrible. With this isolation, you can forget about corrosion, which actively destroys the metal components of the foundation design.
Despite the fact that the foundation pillow provides a huge number of positive moments, you should also remember about some restrictions. The future building, which is erected on the basis of a sand pillow, can only be one-story. Accordingly, this option can only be used to create a cottage house or a small barn or garage. You also need to be sure that the future structure will not have too much mass. Most often, the pillows are created for buildings that will be based on wood or slag blocks (that is, small in weight of building materials). Also, do not forget about the level of groundwater. They should not be a threat to the future structure.
Features of creating a sandy pillow for foundation
At the very beginning you need to decide on the choice of sand. In this process, it is impossible to use the most common sandy material. Specialists advise use the sand of a large fraction. If you use fine sand, the pillow will have too low compression resistance, and it is very practically unacceptable. Fortunately, there is a huge number of suppliers of such products. In this case, the perfect option will be gravel sand. In some cases, the material of the average fraction can also be used.
To create a sandy pillow, we will need in a hole dug to base the foundation, lay a certain amount of sand. The thickness of this layer should be about 0.25 m. Of course, the sand must be dissolved so that there are no problems with the uniform and the effectiveness of the base in the future.
In some cases, it is necessary to carry out a vibration seal of sand. Fortunately, in such cases, the vibroplitis helps perfectly. With this installation, it is possible to create all the conditions for the construction of a sandy pillow for the foundation as soon as possible. Experts argue that no other method of sand sealing will be so effective as when using vibratinglitis. Moreover, without using this installation, we risk significantly reduce a number of pillows characteristics.
During the seal, you need to take care that the sand has sufficient humidity. This will significantly simplify the process, and will also achieve the high quality of the rambling.
It should not also forget that groundwater, as well as their regular activity, can adversely affect the base of the dwelling. Moreover, in some cases, even a sandy pillow protected by waterproofing will not help. Once again, it should be noted that without effective waterproofing to create a pillow and does not make sense at all. The insulating material should be positioned so that the moisture does not penetrate into the sand.
Crushed stone and concrete foundation pillows
If we are dealing with a project of a large structure, which is based on sufficiently strong and heavy building materials, then it is necessary to look in the direction of rubble and concrete foundation pillows. Unlike the past method, the use of crushed stone and concrete implies large financial spending. However, reliability should always be in priority.
When creating a rubbed pillow for the foundation, we also need sand. At the very beginning you need to create a sandy layer, the thickness of which should be not more than 0.15 m. Then this layer is compacted using a vibration plate. Now we come to the use of rubble. The fraction of this material should be small, and the crushed stone layer should be up to 0.25 m. Again, the layer seal occurs. It is worth noting that the upper layer of such a pillow must be immediately before the start of the main foundation.
If we are talking about a concrete pillow for the foundation, then everything is somewhat more complicated than in previous cases. In this case, the sand does not need, and on the prepared layer of the soil you need to place rubble. The thickness of this layer should be not more than 0.1 m. Now you need to create a wooden formwork, which is often used in the construction of foundations. The height of the formwork should be 0.3 m. After that, a concrete mixture is prepared, and fittings are purchased to increase concrete strength. Now concrete is poured into the formwork and reinforcement is created. The next step is the mixture seal. It is necessary to go well through the layer of concrete vibrating plates so that there are no problems in the future.
Specialists advise creating a concrete foundation pillow with a larger area than the foundation itself. Such a reason without problems copes with colossal loads and other negative influences, due to which the foundation usually suffers.