The Ogden standard. [volume] (Ogden City, Utah) 1902-1910, 1910-05-23
SOLID FOUNDAT|O
SHOULD BE LAID

The foundation, while the least seen
Of any part of house, is a very lm-
portant part OF its construction, says
Architect a. c. Clauscn In western
exchange. II the foundation should
prove Inadequate as to size or quality
OF the materials OF which It Is made,
allowing the building to settle, very
bad effects result which are usually
lrTeparable. except at great expense.
There are well-deflned rules for fig
urlng out the size of the foundation
and the footing under II, in proper
tion to the kind of soil on which the
foundation rests and the weight OF the
building upon 1t.
The first thing TO consider when de
termining the thickness of the walls or
size of the footIngs is the kind OF
soil on which the footings are TO be
built Bedrock is, of course. the very
best kind of a foundation. but it sell
dom found near enough TO the sur
face to be considered. Next TO this.
sand and gravel in its native bed pro-
vides the best soil in which TO build
footings.
In eXcayating, care should be taken
that no more sand is removed than is
needed. making It necessary TO I'll in
afterwards with loose sand or gravel.
for II IS almost impossible, even with
water. TO pack down sand and gravel
to as hard a bed as the native bed
before it was disturbed.
Strong Footlnes Necessary
While footings arc not always put
under walls for residence construction
tho expense is so little that there Is
little reason for omlttinc them. and IL
is better TO include them and he on
the safe side. The footings for n
frame residence need not be over
twenty-four inches wide. or thirty
inches for two-story brick house.
The thickness Of the foundation wall
varies according to the material OF
which IL is made. and the weight upon
H. When the foundation Is on clay,
care must he taken that the founda-
ton walls 20 down below the frost.
for If the frost gets under the foot
ings either during construction or al
ter the house Is built. there Is no
power on earth that will keep the
clay from heavIng the walls For this
reason it is good policy. when tho
building on top is light In weight TO
eNcavnte away from the building
about two feet around the house and
ll IN with sand or gravel.
With full two-story house on ton
OF the foundation or a brick house
this precaution is not necessary, the
weight of the building holding the
walls firmly in place and preventing
the heavinG OF the clay against them
from moYlHg the walls. Sometimes
clay is found TO be porous. containing
a large quantity OF watcr. When this
is the case the footings should be
very much wider than under other
conditions, the width depending upon
the exact conditions found, The only
way to build a foundation on marshy
places or on quicksand Is TO drive
piles through 1t on TO solid ground
make a reinforced concrete girder
across the top Of them and then start
the foundation
Concrete Much Used.
Footings are nearly always made OF
concrete, since they can be made
cheaper ot this material than any
other. and being in one continuous
line serves the purpose better than
broken pieces Of stone. The fouada
uon walls arc usually of concrete,
some kind OF stone, OF brick. II OF
concrete the walls should be solid.
aud the cheapest way TO build IL Is
10 pour the material into wooden
forms. The studdlng and boards used
in these forms can afterwards he used
10 the construction Of the buiudlps
While elghtlnch walls are sometimes
used for foundations OF bungalows, II
is advisable to mako tnem al least
ten inches IN thickness. for a two
story house twelve inches. and for
solid brick or brick yeneered house