Build Your Own Concrete Forms
AdvertisementBuild Your Own Concrete Forms – A house’s foundation is forever, so it makes sense to pay attention to the details to ensure it stays dry and crack-free for as long as the house has something to last.
A proper foundation can do more than just keep a house off the ground. Building foundations also retain moisture, insulate against the cold, and prevent the earth from moving around it. Oh, and one more thing: It should last forever. No wonder builders like them
Build Your Own Concrete Forms
To Tom, “good” means steel-reinforced foundation walls and cast-in-place footings. By comparison, all the painstakingly assembled foundations of stone, brick, and mortar that have supported buildings for centuries—even the concrete block walls most builders used when this old house went down 25 years ago—are just cracked and leaky. prone dinosaurs.
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Building a good foundation requires a lot more than digging a hole and pouring concrete into molds. It must be tailored to its site like a tailor-made suit, taking into account soil conditions, groundwater levels, even backfill quality.
And just like a custom suit, every detail must be perfect: correctly compacted sub-base, properly seated formwork, void-free concrete. Neglect even one of them and the most carefully poured foundation can fail.
When Tom Silva builds a house, he wants foundation walls that are lead and straight and free of the discoloration that is the hallmark of weak concrete. The illustration shows how he wants the base to look before he starts framing.
The requirements for a slab foundation are similar: a solid base and a vapor-tight, reinforced concrete pad sitting on a bed of compacted crushed stone. The main difference between these types of house foundations is in the way the slab is insulated, which protects against frost
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In an Acton, Massachusetts, project, Tom Silva shaved days off his busy schedule by using prefabricated foundation panels for additions. When they arrived at the job site, the crane simply lowered them onto the compacted rock, where they were glued together with polyurethane glue.
There were no foundations, shapes or form joints to deal with and no damp proofing to apply; 5,000 psi concrete panel insulation and integral foam board prevent moisture migration. Installed panels typically cost about 10 percent more than a poured foundation. “We really liked them,” says Tom. “I’m sure we’ll use them again.
Say “basement slab” and most people think “cold and damp.” Not so in a Billerica, Mass., project where Richard Trethewey, a TOH plumbing and heating expert, had several hundred feet of PEX tubing (the same stuff used to heat radiant floors) attached to the top of 1-inch foam board and buried. in 6 inches of concrete.
Once the piping was connected to the boiler, the basement floor warmed to a comfortable 68 degrees. At left, plumber Brian Bilo uses the same system to heat a sidewalk.
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While decks and small outbuildings may not require full foundations, they still require solid support from piers resting on well-buried foundations. Typically, piers and footings are poured on separate days to allow the concrete to harden. Now Tom does it in one shot using funnel-shaped plastic support molds fitted with cylindrical pier molds. “As far as I’m concerned, there’s no better way to make a concrete pier,” he says.
A new chemical called a “super-super” plasticizer makes it possible to pour a mixture that flows almost like water but maintains its structural integrity. (Normally, too thin a mix allows the aggregate to settle to the bottom before the concrete hardens, resulting in a weaker wall.)
“You can back the truck into one corner and pour the entire foundation,” says Ed Sauter, executive director of the Concrete Foundation Association. “It’s just spreading everywhere.” This eliminates the need to pump or shovel concrete where it is needed. And like water on the surface of a lake, the top of the “super-super” softened concrete will automatically set a level, which is a good start for framing.
Rather than laboriously building foundation forms from slabs, some foundation suppliers use lightweight forms made from high-density polyethylene fabric. These flexible fabric systems easily adapt to sloping and uneven sites, simplifying excavation work and the fabric remains in place as a built-in moisture-resistant membrane. The bulging sides of finished foundations also help direct water away from the foundation.
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Get the latest This Old House news, trusted tips, tricks and DIY Smarts projects from our experts – straight to your inbox. An essential stage in the construction of a concrete foundation involves the setting of the forms that form its foundation. Quality formwork will determine the success of the foundation project. Before you decide on DIY concrete foundation forms, consider the significance of the foundation for your future home.
A strong, durable, and safe home requires a well-built foundation to support the weight of the home, transfer the load of the home to the foundation and into the ground, resist seismic and wind forces, and anchor the home. A durable foundation also provides a moisture-proof barrier (in accordance with building regulations) and adequate resistance to shear and bending stress due to lateral soil and water pressure. A quality foundation should also provide insulation and prevent insect penetration. A poorly constructed foundation can lead to significant structural damage and endanger your family and surroundings.
The importance of foundation forms to the integrity of the home, along with the complexity of the installation, makes it clear that homeowners should leave this part of their home building to professionals like those at Fox Blocks.
A high-quality concrete foundation owes its shape and stability to its shapes. When building concrete foundation forms, several factors affect their performance: the dimensions of the wooden board, the distance between the studs and the fastening of the studs. A high-quality concrete slab owes its shape and stability to its shapes. Experienced suppliers know this ﹘ will provide the best insurance that the mold will meet the highest standards.
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When using wooden boards for concrete forms, the dimensions must ensure that the concrete does not spill, create a mess and affect the strength of the board.
The length of the board should exceed the length of the board by several inches, allowing for easier attachment to vertical boards. If the board dimensions exceed the available board length, you can clamp multiple boards together
Most projects for boards up to 5 inches thick use 2 x 6 inch or 2 x 12 inch board sizes. However, for boards with reinforced edges, use 2-by-12-inch boards. Reinforced edges provide more stability by creating a protective wall around the concrete base.
Formwork boards require properly spaced wooden pegs installed around the perimeter to ensure they do not bend, buckle or collapse under the massive weight of wet concrete. Place the pegs no more than three feet apart; however, deep or large boards may require closer pins for more stability. Once you pour the concrete in place, the pins give the shapes stability to keep their shape.
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In certain types of soil, the pins do not provide enough stability to withstand the force of the concrete on the forms. A pin pushed out just an inch or two can cause the molds to bulge, resulting in a warped board.
You only have one chance to make the foundation of your home. If something goes wrong during construction, including concrete foundation forms, it is not always easy and usually quite expensive to fix. Average foundation repairs range from $5,000 to $7,000 and climb even higher if the problems damage other parts of your home. Before you start your own concrete foundation formwork project, consider these five disadvantages of DIY concrete formwork construction.
Professionals understand that any deviation in foundation forms from straight or horizontal will cause the foundation to fall out. Do-it-yourselfers must carefully and precisely align each board before nailing it to the corner studs.
Heavy poured concrete can push the form plate out and leave the foundation with a curved edge – a very difficult situation to repair. To prevent this, you need to use extra strong braces. Place a level on the 2-inch X 12-inch and extend the masonry line just above its top edge, then support it with pairs of 2-inch X 4-inches spaced every two feet.
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After cutting the other 2 in. X 12 in. to the width of the base, nail one end to the braced form. Then, to ensure a square base, use the length of the diagonal to set the mold at 90 degrees.
Before you decide to build concrete foundation forms, consider the actual costs, both time and material. As a DIYer, you will need a lot of tools, materials, and possibly equipment.
You can avoid the risks and problems of building concrete foundation forms with Fox Blocks Insulating Concrete Forms (ICF). The Fox Blocks cast concrete method creates a stronger, more durable and more energy efficient foundation than a professionally constructed traditional cast concrete foundation.
Construction of ICF foundations requires dry stacking of polystyrene foam panels along the length of the foundation. Skilled workers then reinforce and brace the forms before pouring concrete into the hollow formwork panels. The IRC Building Code and the Fox website provide the technical design
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