Foundations
Building On Rock
Based on the Soil Classification rock is considered one of the best surfaces to build a house foundation. It comes under the Classification Class A. That doesn’t mean its going to be cheap especially for a conventional raft or waffle…
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Building on Fill – Screw Piles
I have previously posted about building on fill using Concrete Piers. Well one alternative to constructing concrete piers is to use Screw Piles such as the one to the right. These are made from a thick steel tube with: A…
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Conventional Raft Slab
A ‘Conventional’ Raft Slab is a concrete base with thickened beams laid directly on the base. This photo shows the base covered in poly and with reinforcement in position ready for placing of concrete. Advantages Better thermal mass, and incorporates thermal mass…
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Waffle Pod Raft Slab
A ‘Waffle Pod’ slab is now probably the most common Concrete ‘Raft’ House base. Its generally taken over from the Conventional Raft Foundation. It’s an example of composite construction with polystyrene pods forming voids in the underside of the concrete…
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Building On Sand
Building on sand at first seems to be an issue…… although I have heard it said that sand is actually the easiest ‘soil to build on. If you live in West Australia there is a good chance that your house…
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Building On Fill – Concrete Piers
Its not unusual for the Site Investigation for your new house to reveal fill materials on top of the more stable clay or rock. Even if there is no fill the builder may need to level a sloping site using…
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