Asbestos-cement pipes as load-bearing pillars. Foundation made of asbestos-cement pipes: features of the base, calculation and installation details. Installation of asbestos supports

A foundation made of asbestos pipes is suitable for any unloaded structures, be it a private bathhouse or a garage, a terrace or a frame residential building. Such a columnar base is quite easy to build with your own hands.

A base made of asbestos pipes requires minimal effort and time. It is not suitable for heavy buildings and houses. But there is practically no alternative to it when constructing light buildings in areas that are flooded during floods. A columnar foundation made from inexpensive products has the required resistance to destruction caused by wetting of the structure.

Columnar foundation made of pipes

The main advantages of such bases are as follows:

• Low cost of materials and economic feasibility of construction. A pile foundation made of asbestos-cement pipes is always cheaper (and significantly) than block and buried strip structures.
• Easy to calculate base. Its design is easy to do with your own hands, without spending money on turning to professional designers.
• Asbestos pipes are not subject to corrosion and can be processed mechanically without any problems. They also do not change their linear parameters when the ambient temperature fluctuates.
• Short construction time without the use of special equipment and the preparation of a finished foundation made of pipes.

The disadvantages of the structures under consideration include their relative fragility (a base made of asbestos products has been in use for 60–70 years) and the impossibility of arranging a cellar in a house built on a similar foundation. But this is not a problem, because the basement can also be built as a separate structure.

Visually, the foundation made of asbestos products consists of pillars installed in several lines. These rows of pipes are a reliable basis for the construction of the planned building. The basic principle of constructing such a foundation is to pour concrete mixture only in certain areas, and not along the entire perimeter of the structure.

You need to decide on the number of supports that will make up the columnar foundation, as well as its depth. No knowledge of higher mathematics is required to perform such calculations. The depth of the pipe base depends on:

• the magnitude of the load on it for future construction;
• depth of soil freezing in a specific area.

The lighter the structure you build, the less stress it will put on it. In most cases, the depth of the base of asbestos-cement products is taken to be about 150 cm. In this case, pipes of different cross-sections are used. If a frame house is being built, it is recommended to use products 25–30 cm in diameter. But to build a light summer veranda or gazebo with your own hands, pipes with a cross-section of 10 cm are enough.

Creating a foundation from asbestos pipes

It is easy to find out about the depth of soil freezing in a particular region from reference tables (they are abundantly available on the Internet). Note! Such signs always indicate the amount of freezing of bare soil - without taking into account snow cover. In areas where a lot of snow falls, the depth values ​​recommended by the reference book can be reduced by 5–10 cm.

Second point. You should add about 40 cm to the depth indicated in the reference table. The resulting value will tell you the exact length of the underground part of the asbestos-cement products. And the pipes should protrude about 30 cm above the ground. If the floods in your area are quite serious, you can “stick out” the piles higher above the ground.

Support pillars must be placed under the central part of the building, along its perimeter and at all angles. It is important to install enough piles so that the load from the building is distributed evenly across them. In this case, the load on one support should be a maximum of 800 kg.

To do the work yourself, you will need asbestos-cement pipes, a concrete mixer, a grab or a hand drill, construction sand, gravel, cement, reinforcement, and a shovel. It is with the help of this set of tools and materials that you will build a reliable columnar foundation.

House on a foundation made of asbestos pipes

Prepare the site for the construction of the foundation:

1. You clear the ground and remove the turf from the area where the foundation will be built, then cut off the fertile part of the soil.
2. Carefully level the site.
3. Take the rope and pegs. With their help, you mark the contours of the future structure, mark the intersections of the walls and the location of the corners of the building. Install stakes at the points where the asbestos-cement supports will be located.

Now you dig holes for the piles with a shovel. The diameter of such mini-pits is taken to be slightly larger than the cross-section of the pipes used. If you have a drill, it is easier and faster to make wells with it.

Important! The depth of the pits is taken to be approximately 0.2 m greater than the calculated length of the part of the supports located underground. This is done so that you can equip a sand cushion in each well.

Do-it-yourself columnar foundation - a guide to action

In the prepared pits we make special pillows from. The thickness of the finished sand layer should be 0.2 m. Pour the sand, tamp it, water it with ordinary water, and compact it again. Then place a piece of roofing material on the made layer and perform the following operations:

1. Install asbestos cement pipes into the pits. Level them and fix them. Temporary fastening of the supports can be done using small wooden beams.
2. If groundwater flows close to the surface in the area, asbestos pipes should be waterproofed with bitumen mastic. Fill the pipe products with it to the soil level and wait until the composition dries.
3. Drive reinforcing bars around the pipes. Their length is taken in relation to the length of pipe products by 20 percent more. Be sure to maintain a distance of about 70 mm between adjacent rods.
4. Prepare the concrete solution. Mix 2 parts sand with one part cement M 400, add water to this mixture. Stir the resulting composition until it becomes a liquid dough. Add water as needed.
5. Pour gravel (2 parts) into the mixture and mix it vigorously.
6. Pour concrete to a height of 0.4–0.5 m around the pipe product and directly into its center.
7. Raise the pipe 0.2 m and wait for the concrete mixture to harden. The support is raised in order to give the foundation additional resistance to pushing out piles during soil heaving.

High-quality hardening of concrete occurs in 8–14 days. After this, you can safely mount supporting elements on a self-made columnar foundation to install the planned structure on them.

One of the most popular columnar foundation designs is a foundation made of asbestos-cement pipes. This technology is used in the construction of lightweight buildings and frame houses, and its implementation requires a minimum of money and effort. In addition, foundations made of asbestos-cement pipes are used in regions prone to flooding - the foundation material has the necessary strength and resistance to wetting and destruction.

Advantages of a foundation made of asbestos-cement pipes

• Ease of implementation, eliminating the need to use special construction equipment;
• Short deadlines for work and endurance;
• A simple calculation of the foundation, which you can do yourself, without contacting a design organization.
• Possibility of construction and long-term operation of buildings in flooded areas;
• Low price for materials.

Scope of application of columnar foundations

Columnar foundations made of asbestos-cement pipes are used as the basis for the construction of light buildings: summer country houses, small baths and saunas, terraces and verandas, as well as lightweight frame houses. In regions with a cold climate, such a foundation allows for significant savings, because the burial of free-standing pipes, both in terms of materials and the cost of work, is much cheaper than a buried strip or block foundation.

Calculation of a foundation made of asbestos pipes

To make the calculation, you need to know the depth of soil freezing in your region, as well as the planned load on the foundation. The freezing depth can be determined from reference data. The reference book indicates the freezing depth of bare soil, without snow cover. If your area has high snow cover, the reference data can be reduced somewhat.

Table - soil freezing depth in Russian regions

It is necessary to add 0.3-0.5 meters to the reference value - this will be the required depth of the underground part of the piles. Above the soil level, pipe piles usually protrude 0.3 meters, but if there is a possibility of flooding, they can be made higher.

The diameter of the pipes depends on the weight of the building. For light gazebos, pipes with a diameter of 10 cm are sufficient; for log buildings, it is better to choose pipes with a diameter of 25-30 cm.

The load on the foundation depends on the design of the building, as well as on the material from which it is made. Below are approximate details of the specific gravity of various materials. When calculating, it is necessary to take into account not only the walls, but also the roof, insulation and finishing.

Table - foundation loads

Piles are placed in the corners of the building, at the intersection of load-bearing walls, and also along the perimeter at a distance of no more than 1 meter. The redistributed load on each pile should be no more than 800 kg. If, as a result of the calculation, the load value is greater, it is necessary to increase the number of piles.

Based on the results obtained, the required number of pipes is determined, as well as the required amount of reinforcement at the rate of 2-3 reinforcing bars in each pipe.

The amount of concrete depends on the diameter of the pipe. On average, to fill 10 meters of a pipe with a diameter of 10 cm, taking into account the base, 0.1 cubic meter of concrete is required, for a pipe with a diameter of 20 cm - 0.5 cubic meter, and for a pipe with a diameter of 30 cm - 1 cubic meter of concrete.

Technology for making a pile foundation from asbestos-cement pipes

• Preparation must begin with markings. Remove debris and foreign objects from the construction site, level it if possible and remove the turf. Using pegs and rope, mark the contours of the future building, corners, and intersections of walls. Mark the installation locations of the piles with pegs. To check the perpendicularity of the corners and the correctness of the markings, check the equality of the diagonals.
• They begin to drill holes for support pillars. This can be done with the help of a drill, and if you don’t have one, you can dig holes with a diameter larger than the diameter of the pipes. The depth of the well is 20 cm greater than the calculated size of the underground part of the piles, which is necessary for the construction of a sand cushion.

• Place a 20 cm thick sand cushion at the bottom of each well, compact it and spill it with water. After the water has been absorbed, the bottom is lined with roofing felt. After this, prepared pipes are installed in the well. If pipes have to be cut to the required size, it is necessary to leave a margin of about 10 cm in height in order to equalize the height of the supports after completing the foundation.

Installation process of asbestos-cement support pipes

• The pipes are leveled and secured using temporary supports made of wooden blocks. Once again check the equality of the diagonals. In areas with close groundwater, pipes are waterproofed with bitumen-based mastic to the ground level. Dry the mastic.

• Concrete is prepared: 1 part of cement is mixed with 2 parts of sand, diluted with water to the consistency of a batter, after which 2 parts of fine gravel are poured into the resulting solution. Knead well and fill the base of the pipe to 40-50 cm.
• The pipe is raised 15-20 cm and left until the concrete hardens completely. This technique will help create a strong support base that is resistant to buoyancy forces during soil heaving.
• After the concrete has hardened, the well on the outside of the pipe is additionally waterproofed with roofing felt and covered with river sand, spilled and compacted, checking the installation level. Stretch a string between them or install a block and align them horizontally.

• Fittings are installed inside the pipe: several rods connected to each other by transverse wire bridges. Mix the concrete and fill the rest of the pipe. To remove air from the solution, pierce it several times with a metal rod.
• After the concrete has completely dried, after two to three weeks, the foundation is ready for further construction. In order to extend its service life, it is recommended to waterproof it with bitumen or polymer materials.

The installation of a pile foundation made of asbestos-cement pipes allows you to reduce the cost of building a solid foundation for a building several times. However, if the load is too heavy, such a foundation may not be strong enough. In this case, it is better to choose a different type of foundation, strip or monolithic.

Any capital construction begins with the construction of a foundation on which walls and the structure as a whole are installed. One of the most popular foundation options today is a pile foundation. Support made of metal pipes is a fairly convenient type for the construction of one-story buildings, utility buildings, garages and small houses.

Arrangement of a pile foundation is a fairly simple process that takes place even faster than the construction of a monolithic or strip foundation. In addition, a foundation made of piles is universal, since it can be used on various types of soil, including floating and heaving soils. Depending on which piles are selected, such a foundation can withstand different loads.

Support characteristics

The main feature of a foundation made of asbestos pipes is the process of its construction. Externally, such a base consists of pillars installed in the corners, as well as in the locations of load-bearing walls at a distance of one to three meters from each other. The main advantage of a foundation made of asbestos pipes is the speed of its construction, as well as fairly low financial costs.

Moreover, in order to equip a foundation of supports, a very small amount of concrete solution is required. If for a strip or monolithic foundation you need to first dig a pit or trench, then for a pile foundation this is not required, you just need to make a few wells. Accordingly, the site owner’s time and money are also saved.

If you follow all the necessary rules and construction technologies, pipe piles, like the foundation as a whole, will last quite a long time and will maintain the strength of the entire structure for many years. It is important to take into account when arranging a pile foundation that it will not be possible to create a basement in this way. Most often, pile foundations are used in areas with uneven soil, for example, on slopes, or in areas with weak soil, where a monolith or strip foundation will collapse.

Supports for pile foundations are made from a variety of materials, for example, asbestos cement, concrete, metal, wood or brick. The most durable foundations are those made of concrete and asbestos-cement pipes and pillars. Such supports have a number of advantages:

• Very high level of strength.
• High speed of construction work.
• Resistance of the material to spreading.

Another important advantage of using supports for arranging the foundation is that there is no need to use heavy and large construction equipment. As a rule, in reality it is enough to use a regular drill, a concrete mixer, as well as standard available tools. The advantages of a support base are:

1. Simplified procedure for conducting communication systems.
2. Compared to the construction of a monolithic or strip foundation, the labor intensity of construction work is lower, as well as the lower cost of materials and lower expenditure of physical strength.
3. Protection of the building from flooding during periods of river overflow and heavy rainfall. The fact is that the main part of the structure when using a pile foundation is located above the ground by about 30 centimeters, and sometimes more.
4. There is no need to carry out any excavation work, since there is no need to dig a pit or trench.
5. High speed of completion of all work, no need to spend additional time waiting for the concrete to dry.

Despite the considerable number of advantages of a foundation with piles, such a foundation also has a number of disadvantages that must be taken into account:

1. A pile foundation cannot be used in areas where there are too large differences in height, as well as moving layers of soil that lie deep enough.
2. The use of supports for piles allows structures with a small mass to be installed on such a foundation. This is especially true for bases made of PVC pipes. For this reason, foundations on pipes are used mainly only for the construction of one-story buildings.
3. Inability to organize a basement or ground floor.
4. The duration of use of a foundation made of pipe structures, as a rule, does not exceed 85 years, which is significantly less than the service life of other types of foundations.

Types of columnar base

A pile for a columnar foundation can be made from various types of products. The following are actively used in construction:

• asbestos-cement;
• wooden;
• concrete;
• metal;
• plastic.

The foundation, made on piles of asbestos-cement pipes, is considered the most durable. In addition, such a base has a number of other advantages:

• Asbestos products have a low cost, which reduces the final cost of all work.
• To equip a foundation of this type, it is not necessary to additionally construct formwork for pouring concrete mortar.
• No special equipment is needed to install asbestos products.
• Before installing the supports, it is not necessary to create a special cushion of sand and gravel.

In addition to asbestos products, other types of supports and technologies are used when constructing the foundation. For example, it is quite common to make supports and piles from steel pipes. In addition, for the construction of small lightweight buildings, the use of piles made of plastic pipes is common.

Construction stages: detailed instructions

Preparatory work

Before making a foundation, it is necessary to study the site where construction work will be carried out. The first step is to determine the following factors:

• Estimated total mass of the entire structure.
• Soil freezing depth.
• Features of the soil in the selected area, as well as the characteristics of the soil layers.
• Depth of aquifers.

We make markings

Then, taking into account all the features of the territory, it is necessary to mark the site and indicate the places where future piles will be located. In order for the pipes to steel well and maintain a stable position, sufficiently deep wells are made. You can make them yourself using a gasoline-powered drill or using hand tools.

Drilling of the wells

Pipes must be installed in the corners of the future building, as well as in places where the walls of the building will intersect. As a rule, asbestos-cement pipes are installed around the perimeter of the structure at a distance of 1.5-2 meters from each other. The holes must be drilled so that their depth is approximately half a meter lower than the freezing depth of the soil. On average, the depth of the well is about two meters. The diameter of the hole is selected depending on the width of the pipes. The installed supports should rise 50 centimeters above the ground level.

Reinforcement

After preparing the wells and installing asbestos-cement pipes in them, additional steps must be taken to secure the support in the soil. You can do this in two ways:

• Fill the inner surface of the pipe and some parts around it with concrete mortar.
• Secure the supports with metal rods.

In the first case, before pouring, fittings are placed in the pipe, which is selected to be approximately half a meter longer than the pipe itself. The reinforcement should be placed 25 centimeters into the soil, and protrude at this distance above the pipe. Then all the pipes inside are filled with concrete. After the concrete has dried, further work can begin.

In the second option, the pipe is initially filled to only a third part. Then it is immediately raised a short distance from the bottom of the well so that part of the concrete solution pours out, forming some expansion at the bottom. After this, the entire pipe is filled with the solution to the very top. In this case, the reinforcement does not protrude at the top; instead, a special metal pin is installed, which protrudes above the surface of the support by about 30 centimeters. It is to this pin that the rest of the structure, in particular the grillage, will be attached.

When constructing such a foundation, special attention should be paid to reinforcement. It must first be treated with a special solution that protects against corrosion. This will allow you to maintain the strength, stability and stability of the building’s foundation for a long time.

When constructing the foundation of a pipe structure, it is very important to strictly follow the construction technology. Otherwise, the base will be skewed, resulting in deformation of the entire building.

Injecting concrete into a well

• If there are loose layers of soil in the area, then before installing the pipes it is imperative to prepare a gravel cushion at the bottom of the well so that the support is more stable. When installing asbestos pipes on floating soils, the piles can be further strengthened with trenches filled with concrete mortar.
• In addition, an additional option for strengthening casing pipes for piles is to drill holes closer to the top of the pipe and install anchors in them. Metal rods are then attached to these anchors.

A foundation on piles made of asbestos-cement pipes is convenient because it can be installed fairly quickly. In addition, the pile foundation allows you to quickly and easily install pipelines, as well as other types of communications. This does not require large financial or time expenditures; you can save on equipment and labor.

Initially, asbestos-cement pipes were used quite limitedly in private housing construction. Firstly, asbestos pipes scared people away with myths about the carcinogenicity of the material, and secondly, there was little experience in using this type of material in foundation construction. Today, a columnar foundation made of asbestos-cement pipes can be called a successful compromise between low cost and high resistance to moisture and load. Another undeniable advantage is that making a columnar foundation from asbestos pipes with your own hands is much easier and faster than any other option for a columnar foundation.

Construction of a foundation made of asbestos-cement pipes

The general design and principle of manufacturing such a foundation is not much different from other options for manufacturing pile supports with pouring concrete into a prepared form. In our case, the frame and concrete solution are poured into an asbestos-cement pipe body immersed in a drilled hole in the ground. Pile foundations on asbestos-cement supports are valued primarily for the following points:

• The production speed of such a foundation is much higher, and the labor intensity is significantly lower than any other bored supports, including TISE piles, frame cast piles, second in this indicator only to expensive screw and reinforced concrete options;
• High resistance of the asbestos-cement pipe base to any moisture, without loss of strength of the pile support, material degradation, or corrosion;
• On piles made of asbestos-cement pipes, it is possible to raise the base of a building to a height of 30-40 and even 100 cm with proper load distribution, which is not always possible in some cases for other types of pile structures.

For your information! The cost of building a foundation on asbestos-cement pipes will cost you less than a monolith and even a strip version by about 30-40%.

Do-it-yourself foundation installation on asbestos-cement pipes

The design of a foundation with supports made of asbestos-cement pipes cannot be called ideal. It can be easily and quickly assembled and built within two days, provided you have a concrete mixer, a hand drill for drilling wells, an angle grinder, a welding machine, concrete mortar and prepared steel reinforcement 8 mm thick. Before you start making such a foundation, you need to pay attention to its disadvantages:

• The strength of asbestos-cement foundation supports is relatively low. The rigidity and load-bearing capacity of pile elements is sufficient for the construction of a frame, log or aerated concrete building, provided that the construction is carried out on dense and heavy soils;
• Drilling work must be carried out to a depth of at least 150-180 cm; due to the low strength of the piles, it is necessary to drill a large number of wells, and almost all the work must be done with a hand drill;
• Unlike their competitors - TISE cast-in-place piles, asbestos-cement piles do not have an “anchor” property, therefore, if the foundation manufacturing technology is violated, there may be cases where the supports are squeezed out by heaving soils.

For your information! As a rule, a building on a foundation with asbestos-cement supports is constructed with a “solid” base, without the arrangement of basements.

We make piles from asbestos-cement pipes

Before starting work on preparing the site and marking places for drilling wells, it is necessary to determine the exact number of required asbestos-cement supports and their diameter. Most often, asbestos-cement pipes with a bore diameter of 100 or 150 mm are used to make supports. A 200 mm pipe is much less commonly used. It is mainly used in cases where it is necessary to repair the asbestos pipe of a columnar foundation. Accordingly, it is necessary to select the offset of the cutting edges of a hand drill to match the size of the asbestos-cement pipe. The diameter of the well must be at least 10 mm larger than the outer diameter of the asbestos-cement support.

For example, for a “weaving” - a 100 mm asbestos-cement pipe, the outer diameter for the “BNT” brand will be 118 mm, and for the more common “VT” - 122 mm. Accordingly, the diameter of the well should be 128 and 132 mm. For the 150th pipe, the well diameter should be 170 and 180 mm. This gap is indicated for a depth of 150 cm; if drilling is carried out to two or more meters, the gap size must be increased by another 30%.

After a well of the required diameter and depth has been drilled, a mixture of sand and screenings must be poured onto the bottom to form a cushion at least 10 cm thick. This will compensate for the shrinkage of the concrete mixture inside the asbestos-cement pipe.

Before installing an asbestos-cement pipe, it is recommended to treat the outer surface with bitumen mastic, regardless of the groundwater level. Next, we install the pipe into the well cavity and pour a small amount of solution inside, no more than 2-3 liters. After pouring, lightly lift the pipe and push it down several times to ensure that the poured layer of mortar is leveled over the surface of the cushion, as in the video:

At the next stage, we align all asbestos-cement supports along a vertical plumb line so as to achieve the most even position horizontally and vertically, after which we fix the pipes using wooden slats. Inside each asbestos-cement pipe we place a package of three ten-millimeter reinforcement rods. Each rod must be equidistant from the pipe walls and other rods.

Pouring asbestos-cement supports with concrete

The most critical stage in building a foundation is pouring concrete into the inner space of the pipe. Concrete mortar is prepared from grade 300 cement, sand and fine gravel or screenings, previously washed with water. The consistency of the solution should be such that the mixture, poured into a funnel with a neck size of 50 mm, flows freely without the formation of plugs.

Depending on the support diameter and depth, each pile will require at least 40 liters of concrete mixture. After pouring the first part, the concrete inside the support is carefully pressed down with a thin rod for 10-15 minutes, after which the rest of the solution is poured.

The gaps between the pipe and the walls of the well must be sealed with remaining mortar to prevent rainwater from leaking inside. This will significantly increase the service life of the supporting elements. The upper end of the support may change its position as the concrete hardens and shrinks. The final alignment of the ends of the asbestos-cement columns can be performed no earlier than two weeks after pouring the piles. If work is carried out in the hot summer, it is better to cover the piles with plastic film bags to reduce moisture loss due to evaporation and avoid concrete cracking.

Grillage or frame, what to use

At the final stage, after leveling the height of the pile heads, it is necessary to install the supporting frame of the foundation or fill in the grillage. The latter option is used most often for aerated concrete walls, wood concrete masonry, and any cement-based building materials. If you are building your panel house or room from profiled timber, the frame can be made from oak timber with a cross-section of 200 mm or channels, which makes it relatively easy to replace the pile or repair it if necessary. In any of the listed options, it is necessary to provide methods for connecting the reinforcement of asbestos-cement piles with the load-bearing elements of the frame.

Conclusion

Asbestos-cement piles are practically resistant to corrosion, even after prolonged exposure to water. But the material has an alkaline reaction, so when installed in acidic soils, the smooth outer surface of the pipe can become corroded by cavities, especially if the waterproofing is damaged. To avoid problems of this kind, sand must be filled in the area where the outer part of the pile passes into the ground. It is not recommended to use any other mixtures for these purposes. In such conditions, a pile foundation can easily stand for 30-40 years.

The foundation is the foundation of a building, the durability of the structure depends on its strength. In fact, it is the main supporting structure of the structure, its movements or subsidence lead to distortions in the building structure, floors begin to swell and doors stop closing, and, in the worst case, the house may simply collapse . We propose to consider how to build an inexpensive and reliable columnar foundation from reliable asbestos pipes in this article.

It should be noted that recently this type of house foundation has become especially popular.

Advantages and disadvantages of a pile foundation

The foundation for a house made of asbestos-cement pipes is financially advantageous and reliable enough for the construction of light buildings and auxiliary structures such as log or frame houses, bathhouses, and outbuildings. To build a columnar foundation from asbestos pipes, you will need the pipes themselves, a garden drill, a concrete mixer (it can be rented during construction), several rods of corrugated reinforcement, sand and cement. Due to the labor intensity of execution, it is quite possible to build it with your own hands.

The following can be said about the advantages of such a foundation:

• compared to monolithic solutions, a base made of asbestos-cement pipes for a house will cost half as much and require half the effort and time;
• Digging a pit for such a foundation is not necessary;
• a pile foundation made of asbestos-cement pipes is built very quickly; upon completion of the work, you can immediately begin building a house, saving up to two weeks compared to a monolithic foundation;
• the height of such a foundation above the ground is usually at least 30 cm, which will prevent water from entering the house during rainstorms and flooding, and if floods have ever occurred in the area, the piles can be raised even higher;
• on a foundation made of asbestos-cement piles it is much easier to connect communications to the house - water supply, sewerage, gas supply, etc.

The use of such grounds is limited by the following factors:

• such structures are applicable only if structures of limited mass are placed on them;
• the duration of safe operation of pile foundations made of asbestos-cement piles is limited to 80 years;
• in houses on such foundations it is almost impossible to build a basement;
• foundation of a house from asbestos-cement piles is impossible in areas with floating soils.

Other materials, in particular metal or plastic products, are also quite suitable for these purposes. However, they also have disadvantages characteristic of the materials. Metal pipes corrode and are more expensive, while plastic pipes are limited in their exposure to negative temperatures.

Asbestos-cement pipes have the lowest coefficient of thermal expansion, which ensures the stability of the foundation during operation.

How to make a foundation

When starting construction, you need to perform a number of mandatory actions so that the work is not done in vain:

1. Determine the quality of the soil at the construction site to prevent contact with floating soil.
2. Determine the depth of soil freezing in a given area; the depth of immersion of piles made of asbestos-cement pipes depends on this.
3. Calculate the size of the pile taking into account the maximum redistributed load on the pipe of 800 kg. If the design load is greater, the number of intermediate piles must be increased.

Work order

1. Mark the house plan at the selected location, marking the intersections of load-bearing walls with pegs.
2. Check the markings by measuring the overall dimensions along the diagonals of the markings. They should be the same.
3. Mark the locations of intermediate piles under load-bearing walls. The distance between them should be no more than 1 meter.
4. Use a garden drill to make a hole in the ground for the pile. The immersion depth should be 0.3 - 0.5 meters greater than the freezing value of the soil. The diameter of the hole is at least 5 cm larger than the diameter of the pile. The job is easy to do with your own hands
5. Backfill the base of the asbestos cement pipe with two layers of sand and gravel.
6. Compact the bedding and pour water.
7. Mark and cut the pipe with your own hands using a grinder to the required length, taking into account that the upper end exceeds the ground level by about 30 cm.
8. The immersed end must be treated with water-polymer waterproofing for the length of immersion in accordance with the instructions on the emulsion packaging. The work can easily be done by one person with his own hands.
9. Lower the pipe into the hole and secure it with wooden blocks.
10. Also install the remaining piles. Measure the diagonals again and, if necessary, adjust the location of the pipes.
11. Using a level, check the horizontal placement of the upper ends of the asbestos-cement piles and mark the level for pouring concrete into the pipes. Cut off protruding parts after the concrete has hardened.
12. Fill the piles with concrete prepared according to the following recipe: 2 parts M300 cement, two parts sand, two parts medium gravel, water. To check the consistency of concrete, mold it into a ball with a diameter of about 10 cm. It should sag slightly under its own weight, but not crumble or blur.
13. Install 3–4 reinforcement bars outside the pile, tying them with wire. Install reinforcing steel bars inside the pipe in the same way.
14. After loading the concrete batch inside or outside the pipe, pierce the layer of mass in several places with a rod and tamp it down to avoid the formation of air bubbles in the pouring mass.
15. After this, take a break for 5 - 7 days from performing any work on the construction site to give the concrete time to harden.
16. Check the horizontality of the upper ends of the piles, and if necessary, shorten the protruding ends with your own hands.

Grillage foundations

If it is necessary to strengthen pile foundations, a structural element called a grillage is used. This term refers to a concrete slab or beam that is placed on top of the vertical foundation supports.

Types of execution.

They can be:

1. High– the supporting element is located above the ground surface, used in areas with high groundwater.
2. Short– used in deep soil locations and in areas with shallow soil freezing depth.
3. A raised grillage is a supporting element located at ground level. It is carried out by making formwork, reinforcement and continuous pouring of concrete. The most durable foundation for low-rise and larger construction, since the support turns into a monolithic structure.

Types of grillages according to materials used:

1. Wood– a grillage made of timber, used for the construction of wooden houses, bathhouses, and outbuildings. Easy to do with your own hands. Needs high-quality protection of wood from rotting and pests.
2. Steel– made of steel structures, rods and screw piles. Used in lightweight construction, it is durable and stable. Disadvantage: susceptibility to corrosion.
3. Monolithic– a system of elements made of asbestos-cement piles and a cast concrete supporting surface, combining all components of the structure into a single whole. The most reliable and durable type of pile foundations.

If you want to make a foundation for a country house with your own hands, pay attention to the methods described here. You will get a foundation of sufficient strength at low cost. I wish you success!