Of course, there’s more to successfully installing your foundation than cleaning the ditch and digging the footers in dry soil. There are other important factors to consider in giving your home a firm foundation.
For example, the ditch needs to have a uniform bottom. You don’t want the footer to vary significantly in thickness. The steel you will now place in the ditch will be of the size and quantity required for the loads you are going to be putting on them and the soil that is under them. The steel needs to be placed neatly on “chairs” to ensure they are in the correct position in the footing. If the steel is not in the correct place in the footer, it’s strength is greatly reduced.
All steel needs to be tied together at all intersections and tied to the chairs. There needs to be L bars secured to the horizontal steel spaced vertically per the engineers drawings. This can be 1’ or 2’ on center most commonly. The L bars are then tied to the vertical steel in the walls and to the footers. The concrete placed in the footers needs to be a PSI “strength” as called for by the engineer. Be sure to not let the concrete crew add water to the design mix as it may reduce the strength of the concrete. This is a common practice as it makes the job of the placing the concrete easier.
Sticking to these best practices will ensure that your foundation is installed correctly and help your home last for years to come.