The foundation of stone with their own hands (+ photos)

During the excavations, archaeologists found an ancient city dating back to 2000 BC. e. Although the houses were completely or partially destroyed, the foundation nevertheless remained almost intact, as it was stone. Indeed, it was built "for centuries"! Nowadays, many people prefer to make a foundation of stone with their own hands, hoping that it will last a long time. In addition, this masonry adorns the facade of the building, does not need additional finishing, and in fact is durable.

Why is it durable

The stone is not afraid of water

The life of the stone foundation exceeds 150 years, because of all the existing ones, it is the most resistant to frost penetration and it is not afraid of groundwater. Their eco-friendly building material can make the foundation on their own, without attracting additional construction equipment. It remains to find a good stone and master the simple technology of building from it.

How to choose a good stone

The durable stone does not crumble

When it comes About natural, untreated stone, it is clear that this is a boot, but it can be of different strengths, which depends on the composition. It can be shell rock, dolomite, limestone, cobblestone and tuff. How much such a stone is suitable for the foundation should be checked independently, not trusting advertising.

To check the strength of a material, you need to hit it hard with a hammer. A suitable stone will make a clear and clear sound, without breaking.

If the sound is deaf and the hammer leaves large dents in the stone, from which dust rises, then we can definitely say that such material is not suitable for the foundation. A good stone is more likely to crack than crumble.

Crushed stone can be found even in the field, but it is very troublesome, because it is heavy, and it will take several tons, so it’s best to order delivery from a reliable, trusted supplier. If you do not have this, then listen to the recommendations of other people.

Restrictions

Crack in the wall due to unreliable foundation

This statement It may sound paradoxical, but it is impossible to build light buildings on the rubble foundation, otherwise it will not last long! The fact is that the rubble tape is mobile and it does not have such rigidity as that of a conventional foundation. The exceptions are light wooden buildings, for which it is safe that the foundation under them “leads” a little. In all other cases, a massive concrete or brick wall is needed, which could have pressed down the rubble foundation with sufficient force, “pacifying” it, otherwise it and the structure will necessarily crack.

Technology

Flat-faced stone

A large flat-faced stone is chosen for masonry by picking it up in size and shape. It is important that these stones fit as closely as possible to each other. However, it is required to clean the stone from various impurities and earth, otherwise there will be no ligament. What consequences it will lead to guess.

Unfortunately, a stone with smooth edges is rarely found in nature, so plinth is often required. This is the name of a simple stone treatment, with which a smooth surface is obtained. Well, when there is an opportunity to split the rubble stone along the seam, formed naturally. In this case, you need to insert a chisel into the seam and break it along the crack, but most often you have to deal with a stone that needs to be marked, and then along the mark, driving the chisel from all sides, using it as a wedge and lever, breaking the stone.

Stones of hard rocks can hardly be broken, small fragments can break off from them, and fly in any direction, so protect your face with a plastic mask, put on strong gloves on your hands, and protect your body with thick clothes!

Tool

Tool builder

The list is simple, but from availability depends on the speed of work. So, you will need:

• fishing line;
• trowel;
• bayonet and shovel;
• trough;
• buckets ;
• different levels;
• plummet;
• roulette;
• trowel;
• pickaxe;
• sledge hammer;
• tamper;
• chisel;
• concrete mixer;

The solution, of course, can be made without a concrete mixer, but the manual kneading is very heavy a demanding and time consuming business.

Getting Started

Foundation of stone

Now you can start building stone foundation, pre-selected an acceptable option. If necessary, pour the base with rubble, pebbles or stone chips. After performing these works, formwork can be built. Before laying the stones, soak them in water for one hour.Such a procedure will help to clean it and saturate it with water, however, it is impossible to get involved in it, trying to feed the stone harder, since then there will be no bond with the cement mortar.

Lay the stones in horizontal layers, picking up smoother edges. In order for the stones not to come into contact with each other, it is necessary to apply a lot of mortar, a layer of which can reach a height of 10 cm with large irregularities of the stone used. When the required height of the foundation has been reached, the mesh reinforcement is laid down, and it is poured with concrete.

We advise you to familiarize yourself with:

• how to build a fence made of corrugated flooring with your own hands;
• a one-story house made of aerated concrete with your own hands.

Video

This video tells you how to pour the foundation of the foundation with sand.