The foundation is pile: reviews. Pile-screw foundation. Monolithic pile foundation

Without a foundation, it is impossible to imagine any house, no more or less serious structure on a country plot. The only problem is that the cost of a good basis is very high, so there is always the temptation to find some cheaper, but qualitative option.

One of them is the pile foundation. Reviews indicate that its characteristics are quite sufficient for the average country cottage, not to mention the baths and other homesteads. Today we will consider not only customer testimonials, but also the reasons that cause them. The latter is very important, as practical reasons are extremely important for the correct choice of the basis for the house.

Why pile foundations are so popular?

In recent years, more and more developers are choosing such a basis for the house. Why is this happening, than this technology surpasses the already proven and completely reliable options?

• First, it's the speed of work. Where else do you find a foundation that can be made in just one day?
• Secondly, cheap. Taking into account the fact that the cost of cement is constantly growing, the price of an ordinary ribbon foundation may be sky-high.
• In addition, a similar foundation of the house can be laid on unstable soils, as well as in conditions of permafrost.
• If the technology of the bookmark was executed correctly, the foundation will not work, and the house will stand securely in any conditions.

Customer testimonials indicate that in just a couple of weeks they were building a full-fledged panel house using pile technology. Other builders note that the low cost of piles allowed to meet the modest budget, having built quite a decent house. By the way, the pile-screw foundation, whose price is about 13-14 thousand rubles, is available to virtually every potential homeowner.

The cost of one pile (diameter 76 mm) is about 1200 rubles. For one average house goes within a dozen piles.

Basic information about the technology

By the way, how is the bookmarking of this type of foundation done ? As can be understood from the name, its base is screw piles. They are made of metal, and at the end of each element of the construction there is a blade (like an icebreaker), intended for digging it into the ground. Here, from this moment, many disputes begin.

Someone thinks that the construction should be buried only with the help of heavy equipment, while someone insists that for such purposes the manual force of the workers' brigade is quite suitable, which will install the pile foundation. A drawing of it can often be provided by the same firm where you hire specialists. So it turns out much cheaper, and in the process of calculations you can make your constructive suggestions.

Negative sides

Here we should make a digression, describing the weaknesses of this technology. If buyers do not know them in advance, the percentage of disappointed people may increase.

• If the soils are dense (we will say more about this below), then a pile-and-screw foundation can not be laid on them. The fact is that when trying to twist the piles in them, the protective coating is likely to be damaged, which is fraught with rapid corrosion. Of course, you can use special equipment, but this will significantly increase the cost of work.
• In addition, if the piles are poorly protected from corrosion processes, then nothing good is better not to wait.
• The twisted piles for defects are no longer to be checked.

In addition, in a country house, which is installed on such a foundation, it is impossible to make a basement. This not only makes it impossible to keep house preparations, but can make staying in the house unpleasant in winter, as the floors will be cold.

Many people remain unhappy with their choice of the foundation only because the managers of construction firms simply withhold this information. Remember, enthusiastic odes to pile foundations are most often sung by those companies that are solely interested in profit. If the firm is serious, then its specialists should in any case warn potential customers about possible problems and obvious shortcomings of the technology.

And further. The service life of houses on the pile foundation rarely exceeds 100-120 years, so you will not be able to build a "generic nest". This circumstance should also be borne in mind. However, the pile-screw foundation, the price for which is very small, is rarely used to build such monumental houses. Typically, they are built on small country cottages, intended for summer residence of a family of two or three people.

However, there are exceptions, when the piles are placed very impressive size house. This is quite possible, but you will have to use the most durable materials.

To dig or not to dig?

Very often you have to read negative feedback from those people who hired workers for manual piling. They say that the foundation's foundation "walks" within 40-50 cm! What's the matter? What is the official technology?

Note that she is quite fond of both methods. But! It is very important to bear in mind that with manual digging it is necessary to strictly follow certain rules, which in most cases are safely ignored. So, in all instructions it is said that piles must be screwed from scratch, without any additional pits. In reality, it is necessary to straighten the site a little, to ensure the correct direction of driving. To do this, first dig a small hole (not more than 15-20 cm). A pile is inserted into it, which is started to be screwed by hand.

Practical situation

And how do they make a pile foundation in practice? The testimonies testify that there is no longer any talk about any technology of speech. As a rule, first a huge hole is digged a couple of meters deep, then a pile is inserted there, turned a couple of times, and then all this ugliness is sprinkled with earth. Naturally, there is no reliability for this kind of construction. At the first rain the earth is washed away, and piles go pant.

In addition, very often people report that piles are constantly swinging during operation, so that it is easier to twist them. So do not in any case! Such employees need to be sent back. Piles they screw, but that's only a couple of years, the pile foundation for the house can really prosest - and your shelter will tilt. Thus, most of the negative feedback is related to the banal non-compliance with technology. This is very insulting, since these foundations all over the world had time to prove themselves only from the positive side.

In addition, most consumers are obsessed with a manic idea of saving: such "zealous" people sometimes choose piles of metal 2 mm thick, and then complain about the subsidence of the foundation. Remember what the SNIP assumes: pile foundations are made of steel at least 4 mm thick. The grade of metal is 20, because it is at least 10-15% longevous for the iron of the third brand, which is most often used by most construction companies.

Important!

Many buyers complain about negligent companies that do not do their job well. Reviews with terrible stories are complete, but you should remember: if you want to call workers to twist the piles, then trial twist - be sure!

Do not use the services of companies that frivolously dismiss it. Despite the availability of the results of geodesy, in more or less deep layers of the soil there may be a lot of rocky rock, as well as other obstacles that make the pile foundation impossible. The price of work is much higher, but it's worth it.

So, if you just buy piles from the supplier, then one unit will cost about 1200 rubles, while with trial drilling and cementing the headband its price will increase to 1,300 rubles and above. However, if you do not have experience of such construction works, it is better to use the services of professionals who have already laid such foundations before.

Endurance - first of all!

Everyone knows that when pouring a tape base you need to wait some time, for which the concrete in the proper measure will harden. Strange, but for some reason the same people are firmly convinced that it is possible to use the pile-screw foundation in a couple of hours after twisting.

This is far from true! Experts say that ideally it is necessary to give piles for at least a year, during which the final shrinkage of the soil and fixing of the structure will take place. If you hurry, nothing good will come of it: angry reviews emerge, in which people complain about each other's shortcomings in technology.

The need for geodetic surveying

It should be noted that it is not necessary to screw the piles "as it will", but in accordance with practical considerations. Before the start of construction, it is necessary to call specialists from the geodetic service and to know the depth of occurrence of dense layers of soil. It is up to their level that such a foundation should be laid, since otherwise the piles will eventually blend into soft ground.

Remember that the base of the piling foundation should be cemented immediately, since if you fill in this structural part with concrete in time, the probability of deviating the pile is greatly reduced.

Importance of presence in the work process

Strangely enough, but for some reason many of our fellow citizens completely forget about this small detail. It does not matter what the reputation of the construction company, but you (or your representative) must necessarily be in place. We have already noted more than once that workers can resort to a lot of tricks to simplify the process, but in no case can this be done.

In addition, you must immediately check the quality of work, and if necessary, fully photographed the process, starting with the very first stages. The testimonies indicate that, in the presence of such material, any claims are considered quickly. Even careless builders in this case prefer to solve the issue amicably, otherwise the court will still take the side of the consumer.

Experience in operating houses on a pile-screw foundation

Our article would be far from complete if we did not discuss the practical experience of operating houses that were delivered on a pile-screw foundation. So, what does the pile foundation give? Reviews are contradictory, but some common points are still present.

Firstly, almost all homeowners say that it's cold on the floor in the winter. Especially it concerns those cases when the house is put in a clean field, in a territory not enclosed at least by a fence. The wind freely blows the space between the piles and the house, providing stable (and significant) heat losses. You can easily notice that the pile foundation, the photo of which is in the article, can lift the house to a decent height.

Thus, I would like to advise you to do the following:

• It is necessary to insulate the floor with modern materials, not forgetting about the vapor barrier.
• Protect the perimeter of the territory with a fence or plantations that could reduce the wind speed.
• Finally, in winter, you need to throw such a house with snow, closing the gap between the ground and the floor.

As for durability, it is too early to draw conclusions. Still not a single house, put on screw piles in our country, celebrated even the fiftieth anniversary. However, homeowners themselves note that so far no distortions have appeared (except for cases of violation of technology).

In general, for the time being this technology in the vastness of our country has proved itself exceptionally well, so there is no special reason to refuse to use it.

Technology monolithic pile foundation

In the first part of the article we considered the standard pile foundation. Reviews about it are quite contradictory, but we have already found out that in almost all cases, some negative points almost always arise due to fault or the builders themselves, or customers who did not control workers.

It should be noted that there is simply no universal type of piles . Not in all conditions your needs will be able to satisfy their helical variety, and therefore now we will discuss a monolithic pile foundation, based on feedback from consumers.

Generally, builders call this type of foundation "buried columnar foundation", which does not prevent us from viewing it from the position of piles. Simply in this case, they are not screwed separately, but are poured with concrete in place. Unlike the above technology, digging is welcome here. First drill a well of the required diameter, pour a powerful sand cushion on its bottom, reinforce it, and then pour it with concrete solution.

In the upper part, a grillage is mounted, which connects the entire structure into a single monolith having excellent strength characteristics. What are the advantages of this technology?

• Firstly, it's much easier to find a technique for drilling wells than to turn the piles.
• Do not forbid digging, so that you can immediately get acquainted with the characteristics of the soil.
• There is no danger that the pile will be damaged or deformed, as its pouring is made directly on the spot.
• Good concrete serves for centuries, so that those wishing to create their own "patrimonial nest" are shown a monolithic pile foundation. The technology assumes that the house will stand for a very long time.

Customer Testimonials

As in the previous case, the immediate feelings of those who live in such homes should be discussed. First, users note a slower bookmark speed (compared to screw piles). This is compensated by the high quality of work: if you control the preparation of concrete, even careless employees will find it difficult to spoil something.

Experienced builders also note that it is not necessary to dig giant holes a couple of meters deep. For an average country house it is enough to drill a hole up to 80 cm deep. Important! Judging by the reviews, many try to put in the same pile of filler (crushed stone, crushed brick). This installation of the pile foundation is everywhere.

This should not be done: experience shows that such piles tend to crack, while pure monolithic concrete can stand for years. Quite often there are stories that when dismantling old sheds (in the North piles were used for a long time) concrete posts (and they were years old by 60-70) were in perfect condition, whereas from the building itself there was only a trash left for a long time.

Important! Do not use welded reinforcement to fill the substrate! Comments of some builders indicate that the use of such a solution leads to cracking and deformation of the pile. The thing is that the reinforcing base must be flexible (knitted) to evenly distribute the loads arising in the material.

The welded structure does not meet these requirements, and therefore, the occurrence of cracks. Some lovers of country rest, who independently poured a monolithic pile foundation, often note that when cracks occur to the fittings, water quickly penetrates. The result is predetermined: active corrosion and pile destruction. Do not repeat the mistakes of others by designing pile foundations!

The only option for heaving soils

Soils, which under certain conditions (cold season) can dramatically change their configuration, literally swelling on the surface, called puchinistymi. They are a real headache for almost all builders and those people who live in their distribution zones.

And just like a pile foundation (its price is really low), which is located below the freezing level of so capricious soils, is a real salvation. According to residents of houses on stilts, there is no distortion of the basement, while the usual basics of tape type literally "tear" as early as the second or third year of operation of the house.