Do-it-yourself wood foundation from hemp for a house, a bath, a barn? Step by step the old fashioned way + Video

The construction of any building or structure begins with the construction of the base - foundation. It takes over the entire load from the structure and transfers it further to the ground.

The foundation is one of the main structural elements of the entire building, which means that the reliability of the structure directly depends on the strength of its foundation. The required type of foundation is selected based on the analysis of related factors, namely the purpose of the structure being erected and the state of the soil at the construction site.

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Today, many different types of foundations are known, the most common are concrete and reinforced concrete.

But this was not always the case, earlier, in the past centuries, the basis of buildings was mainly a foundation made of wood.

Today, it is also quite relevant for the construction of light buildings: baths, gazebos, seasonal summer cottages, summer kitchens, various outbuildings.

Foundations for wooden houses have a number of undeniable advantages:

• - the first, and one of the most significant - the low cost of the material;
• - simplicity and ease of construction;
• - no need to use expensive mechanisms;
• - does not require specialized knowledge;

All these factors allow you to build a foundation from wood with your own hands.

Disadvantages of a wooden foundation

But this design has another side - limitations. Wood is prone to rotting when in a humid environment, which is the soil.

In connection with this feature, the wooden base has recommendations for use:

• when determining the depth of installation of a wooden foundation, it is necessary to clarify the level of groundwater, and perform drainage work, if necessary, drain water below the level of the base;
• to increase the service life of such a structure, carry out special preparatory work: to burn or antiseptic the logs.

Burning logs for a lifetime

Wooden poles can be prepared using modern antiseptic agents or the old methods used by our ancestors.

What is the impregnation of wood for foundations? Previously, it was tar, later bituminous solutions began to be used, and to improve protection, you can additionally wrap the logs with roofing material.

In modern times, many chemical and natural antiseptics and impregnations are available:

• various solutions, for example, one of them: for 5 liters of boiling water - 1 kg of table salt and 50 g of boric acid. Stir well until the ingredients are completely dissolved and process the logs at least two times;
• clay paste.

  Clay in a dry state is sieved and diluted with water until a plastic mass is obtained, then the pillars should be coated, dried completely and used in construction;

• ready-made compositions available for sale - a solution of sodium fluoride, ferrous sulfate, zinc chloride, and others;

• antiseptics from oils - shale, anthracene, creosote, coal.

When choosing an antiseptic, it is necessary to take into account its effect on metal parts, if they are planned to be used. It is also necessary to remember about the presence of unpleasant odors and negative effects on people. And use environmentally friendly substances for residential buildings.

When choosing wood for the foundation, it is better to give preference to the most durable types, such as spruce, pine, oak, fir, beech and larch. For example, burnt oak does not rot in foundations, and buildings constructed with this wood can last for many decades.

Consider the variety of used wooden bases:

• pile foundation ..

  . Wooden piles are of two types - rack piles and hanging piles. The first ones are used in the case when good solid soil is not deep and the piles rest on it.

• The second type - hanging piles are used when strong soil layers are not attainable deep, and the load is distributed due to the frictional forces of the side surfaces. Typically, the pile spacing is between 0.

  8 and 1.5 meters. The technology for making such a foundation involves driving piles to a certain depth and fastening them to each other with a grillage to stiffen the entire structure.

• columnar foundation. As the name suggests, the building blocks of this foundation are pillars or so-called chairs.

  These can be single pillars installed along the line of future walls with a certain pitch, or they can be composite structures in the form of mutually intersecting logs. Such pillars are installed in prepared pits with a step of 2 to 4 meters. A columnar foundation made of wood for a house was widely used earlier and is in demand at the present time.

• strip foundation. Such a base is made in various ways - in the form of installing short posts (from 0.

  9 to 1.3 meters long) to each other in a tape, the so-called hemp-type foundation or in the form of horizontally laid wooden elements, for example, sleepers. The depth of the tape is taken taking into account the capital structure of the structure, the deeper it is, the more solid the foundation is obtained, and the longer it is supposed to operate the structure under construction.The foundation is carried out as follows - a trench is dug along the contour of the future structure, the depth of the trench is determined depending on the desired result. Next, wooden logs are installed or stacked and then covered with sand.

Step-by-step instructions for building a foundation from logs

Consider the phased implementation of work on the construction of a wooden foundation:

Selecting the type of future foundation

Depending on the purpose of the structure, it is recommended to choose the foundations according to the following principle - the more capital the structure, the stronger and more solid the foundation. For light seasonal structures such as gazebos, summer kitchens, it is not advisable to use deep foundations. And for a residential building, you can also use an oak foundation, which is known for its high strength qualities.

Preparation of the construction site

Before starting construction, you need to remove the layer of vegetative soil and mark the dimensions of the future building. Consider the distance to existing trees, as tree roots expanding can damage the foundation.

After that, determine the presence of groundwater in the area of ​​the foundations, and, if necessary, carry out drainage work.

Along the perimeter of the future building, dig a trench to the full depth of the foundation structure, lay drainage pipes and fill it with sand and crushed stone, such a system will not allow moisture to collect in the immediate vicinity of the wooden base and thereby extend its service life.

Preparation of elements and erection of foundations

After the completion of the preliminary work, you can proceed directly to the preparation of the logs themselves in any of the above ways and carry out construction and installation work to erect the foundation of the future structure. Backfilling of pits with installed structures must be done with clean sand, this will help to exclude contact of wooden poles with moisture, since sand does not hold water, allowing it to pass freely. After the construction of the underground part, strapping works are performed, creating a spatially rigid structure capable of taking further loads.

In conclusion, I would like to say that wooden foundations, despite the presence of some shortcomings, are widely used and allow you to build fast, inexpensive buildings with your own hands. They have stood the test of time and are undoubtedly a successful solution for a number of tasks.

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