About Footing and foundation concrete contractors

A shallow design foundation will be set about three feet into the soil. A spread footing design is typical, with concrete pads extending below the frost line, and transfers load from the walls to the earth.

Another type of shallow foundation used is the slab-on-grade design, which transfers load to the earth through a slab of concrete. Slabs also allow for the use of radiant heating.

A deep foundation is generally more complex and will be used in cases when soil conditions are poor (such as a hillside for example) or the structure must be raised to prevent flooding if the structure is being built in a flood zone.

A deep foundation transfers load from the structure through a weak top soil layer down into a stronger layer. Several variations for deep foundation designs can be used and naming conventions tend to vary, but include caissons, piers, piles, drilled shafts, and earth-stabilized columns.

Deep foundations can be made from steel, wood, reinforced or pre-tensioned concrete. A deep foundation penetrates the bedrock in some cases, so an engineering expert is definitely needed!

This article is concerned primarily with planning and building shallow design foundations used in constructing a garage, workshop or outbuilding.

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