Astonishing Facts and Amazing Information About ConcreteAstonishing Facts and Amazing Information About Concrete

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Astonishing Facts and Amazing Information About Concrete

Do you want to learn about concrete? Do you want repair tips or design ideas? If so, you have come to the right place. Hi and welcome to my blog! My name is Ginny, and as a photographer, I am a very visual person. I always notice when concrete is cracked or blemished, and recently, I learned how to fix a few of those small issues on my own. I plan to share some of those tips in this blog. I also plan to write about acid staining concrete, stamping and other interesting ideas. If you own a home or a business and you are thinking about updating your concrete, I invite you to take a look at my posts. Thank you for reading!

A Guide to Laying Foundations

18 November 2016
 Categories: , Blog

Laying foundations for a building really requires a great deal of expertise, especially if the building will be more than a single storey high. Usually, the depth that foundations need to be dug is worked out in advance by a civil engineer, but for more modest projects, such as a garden wall or an outbuilding construction project, then a DIY approach is perfectly adequate. When laying out foundations on your property, take the following steps:

  1. In order to get the foundations of the wall looking straight, it is best to use timber profiles above ground to mark out where they will go. You can make a timber profile from three short lengths of timber in an 'H' shape. Sharpen two of the sections of wood at the bottom of the 'H' into a point so that the profile can be shoved into the ground like twin tent pegs and joined together by the third section of wood acting as a crosspiece. Make sure that each profile is wider than the wall you intend to build.

  2. Secondly, push a profile into the ground at either end of where the wall will be about half a metre beyond the area that will be dug. Before proceeding, ensure that each crosspiece is level and that they are at the same height using a laser spirit level. Now tap two nails into the top of each crosspiece which correspond to the width of the wall. Add a further two nails outside of the first ones on each profile to correspond the width of the foundation. This should be approximately 10 centimetres beyond the wall's width on each side.

  3. Thirdly, tie string to the outer nails of the profile and pull them tight from one profile to the other. In order to keep each string guideline under tension, with no sagging, it may be necessary to fix it to pegs in the ground beyond the profile, like a tent guy line. You should now have two string lines parallel to one another that run straight between each of the profiles and are at the same height all the way along, regardless of any undulations on the ground. Place a spirit level vertically against the string guidelines so that one end is in contact, or very near, to the ground. Use this end to mark out the position of where you will dig your foundation with spray paint. Alternatively, you can tap pegs into the ground at regular intervals lines to mark the edge of the footing on the ground.

  4. With the line of the foundation marked out on the ground accurately, it is now possible to remove the string and dig into the earth to create a squared off trench. To make sure that the trench is level at the bottom, place a long piece of wood with a spirit level on it. You are now ready to tip in a concrete foundation from a wheelbarrow. For longer trenches it is advisable to use a concrete pump. These devices help to ensure an even distribution of concrete for a foundation and they will also speed the job up considerably. For more information, contact local professionals like Hunter Concrete Pump Hire.