Professional Documents
Culture Documents
loadbearing walls.
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The drawing on the left shows a
foundation plan superimposed on the
house plan. As stated on the previous
page, the foundation supports all the
loadbearing walls. This includes the
external cavity walls (275mm wide),
and the internal walls (100mm wide).
The internal walls are loadbearing
because they help support the 1st
floor joists. All the upstairs internal
walls are non loadbearing - this is the
norm in modern houses.
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Once the the topsoil has been removed (and
levels reduced if necessary), the
foundation can be set-out by surveyors or
engineers. The graphic on the left shows
the foundation plan superimposed over the
site.
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Machine excavation is the norm. Keeping the
trenches straight and keeping the dig the
right depth is harder than it looks. Boning rods
and various types of Level ensure the latter
(see next page).
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Site rail Getting the right depth….
Site rail
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When trenches have been excavated they
should be checked for ‘square’ etc - mistakes
can be expensive once the concrete has been
poured.
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Traditional strip
Trench fill
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This is a simple cross section at A - A. The
section shows the two external walls and one
internal wall. Note that the internal wall is a
single leaf of blockwork (100mm wide). In
theory the width of the foundation width can
A A sometimes be less for these internal walls. In
practice, it’s sometimes easier and cheaper to
provide a bit of extra concrete rather than
waste time changing the digger bucket.
End