11/28/2018 Foundation Systems and Soil Types | Homebuilding & Renovating

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Home > Foundations > Foundation Systems and
Soil Types

Foundation Systems
and Soil Types
While seemingly innocuous, the soil
type could have a dramatic impact on
your project. Michael Holmes and Paul
Hymers analyse the various ground
conditions and foundation solutions,
revealing their cost

By Michael Holmes on 8 Jul 2016

Foundations can be the most unpredictable

element of a building project. You can have an
idea of the ground conditions and plan on a
specific foundation type, but once you start

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digging, you could find yourself having to to back

to the drawing board to find a contingency.
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Here we explain the soil types you could encounter
on your plot, and the foundation types available.

For a how-to guide on getting started with your

foundations, check out our Beginner’s Guide.

A Guide to Soil Types

A good starting point is to call your local authority
Building Control department. They should be
willing, informally, to give you an idea of the typical
soil type in the area you are building, and the sort
of foundation that is appropriate.

Usefully, most local authorities produce a fact

sheet on typical foundation solutions for different
soil types commonly found in the area.

Another useful source of information is the

Building Regulations Approved Document A:
2004 which lists seven types of soil plus subsoil
conditions and practical field tests to help you
identify soil type (download from
planningportal.gov.uk).

Rock
Rocks such as limestone, granite, sandstone, shale
and hard solid chalk have a high bearing capacity.
The rock may simply need to be stripped back and
levelled off to build from.

Rock can be impervious, so topsoil is likely to

require drainage as it is not possible to build
soakaways to dispose of rainwater or surface
water. Off-mains drainage options will also be very
limited.

Chalk
Strip foundations are commonly used in chalk.
Providing the chalk is not too soft, widths of
450mm for low-rise buildings are generally
acceptable. The depth of the foundation must be
below any frost action (700mm). If the chalk is
soft it will need to be excavated until firm chalk is
reached.

Chalk soils can be prone to erosion so be wary of

hollows or caves.

Gravel and sand

Dry compact gravel, or gravel and sand subsoils
are usually adequate for strip foundations.

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Generally a depth of 700mm is acceptable, as long

as the ground has adequate bearing capacity.
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If the water table is high (i.e. the gravel is
submerged), the bearing capacity is halved, so it’s
important to keep the foundations as high as
possible. A shallow, reinforced, wide strip
foundation may be suitable.

Sand holds together reasonably well when damp,

compacted and uniform, but trenches may
collapse and so sheet piling is often used to retain
the ground in trenches until the concrete is poured.

Clay
The first 900-1,200mm layer of clay is subject to
movement due to expansion and shrinkage
depending on moisture content, so it is generally
necessary to excavate foundations to a depth
where the moisture content of the clay remains
stable. British Standard 8004 recommends a
minimum depth of 1m for foundations But if there
are, or were, trees nearby, depths of up to 3m may
be necessary.

In clay, prior to concreting the foundations, the

trench is often protected from heave by lining it
with a compressible layer (e.g. Clayboard).

Firm clay over soft clay

A traditional strip foundation is sometimes
acceptable but it is important not to overdig as
this may increase the stress on the softer clay
beneath. A common solution is to dig wide strip
foundations with steel reinforcement — however
an engineered foundation may be necessary.

Peat
Peat and loose waterlogged sand are very poor
subsoils. If the peat can be stripped back to find
suitable load-bearing ground of at least 1.5m
depth, strip foundations may be suitable. A
reinforced raft foundation will likely be required.

Filled ground
Where ground has previously been excavated and
filled, it is generally necessary to dig down to a
level beneath the area of the fill.

Sloping sites
Sloping sites require stepped foundations.
Guidelines are given in the Building Regulations.

Which Type of Foundation

Should You Choose?
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A quick guide to the most common types of

foundation

Read more about foundations for difficult
sites

Strip Foundation
  

A continuous strip of concrete supporting load-

bearing walls. For a single storey building strip
foundations will typically be 450mm wide and at
least 200mm deep, and for two storeys 600mm
wide and 200mm deep.

Deep Strip Foundations: Deep strip foundations:

Where strip foundations need to be at a lower level
to reach soil with suitable bearing capacity, a
wider, deeper trench can be dug to work in, and the
strip foundations dug and poured at a lower level.
Walls are then built up to ground level in masonry.

Wide Strip Foundations: Wide strip foundations:

Where the soil is soft or of a low load-bearing
capacity, wide strip foundations can be used to
spread the load over a larger area, reinforced with
steel so that the loading per m² is reduced.

Trenchfill Foundation

Due to the high cost of labour, deep strip

foundations have largely been replaced by trench
fill. Trenches are dug to a depth where the subsoil
provides sufficient load-bearing capacity, and the
whole trench is filled with concrete. Steel
reinforcement may be added in areas close to
trees.

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Compared to deep strip foundations, trench fill

minimises the width of the dig and the labour and
materials required for building masonry below 
ground level, offsetting the cost of the additional
concrete.

Raft Foundation

A reinforced concrete raft or mat is used on very

weak or expansive soils such as clays or peat.
They allow the building to ‘float’ on or in the soil. A
raft is used where the soil requires such a large
bearing area that wide strip foundations are
spread too far, making it more economical to pour
one large reinforced concrete slab. A raft is an
alternative to piles as it can be less expensive.

Piled Foundation

Short bore pile and beam: Where the ground

conditions will not support strip foundations and
the depth of trench fill foundations become
uneconomic, or ground conditions make them
unsuitable, a series of columns (piles) can be
bored and cast in-situ, or precast piles driven into
place until they reach stronger strata.

Short bore piles are typically 2–3m long and can

be reinforced with steel. Each pile is then
connected at the top by a precast horizontal beam
of reinforced concrete. A suspended reinforced
concrete ground floor can then be built using
precast components, or cast in situ.

Friction Piles: A similar concept to short bore pile

and beam used in situations where there is no
suitable bearing stratum at an acceptable depth.
Friction piles rely on skin resistance against the
soil.

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Pad Foundations
Used when isolated loads need to be supported,
for instance to support the columns of a steel or
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post and beam frame house. The load is
concentrated on a small area.

How They Work

In basic terms, the purpose of a foundation is to

distribute the weight to be carried over a sufficient
surface as to prevent the subsoil from spreading
and avoid an unequal settlement of the structure.
This particular example is of a concrete strip
foundation. The strip footing must be considerably
wider than the wall it supports in order to be
structurally sound.

The depth of foundations varies with the character

of the subsoil, but any brick wall below ground,
such as this wall base, should be built with cement
mortar. A drainage membrane prevents the
intrusion of water onto the foundation wall. A
suspended slab is supported at the wall base over
the hardcore. A subsoil drain is laid beneath the
ground in gravel to dry out damp soil and lead
seepage water away from the foundations to a
public drain.

Typical Costs for Foundations

Building Depth of
Footprint Dig Strip Trench Fill
Area Required Foundation Foundation
(m²) (m)
0.3m deep
foundation 0.9m deep
50 m² 1m deep and foundation:
footing: £5,553.73
£5,815.51
50 m² 2m deep 1.3m deep 1.9m deep
foundation foundation:
and £7,991.06

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footing:
£8,252.84
2.3m deep
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foundation 2.9m deep
50 m² 3m deep and foundation:
footing: £10,428.39
£10,690.17
0.3m deep
foundation 0.9m deep
100 m² 1m depp and foundation:
footing: £9,371.61
£9,904.52
1.3m deep
foundation 1.9m deep
100 m² 2m deep and foundation:
footing: £12,818.55
£13,351.46
2.3m deep
foundation 2.9m deep
100 m² 3m deep and foundation:
footing: £16,265.49
£16,798.40
0.3m deep
foundation 0.9m deep
150 m² 1m deep and foundation:
footing: £13,088.81
£13,741.47
1.3m deep
foundation 1.9m deep
150 m² 2m deep and foundation:
footing: £17,310.28
£17,962.94
2.3 deep
foundation 2.9m deep
150 m² 3m deep and foundation:
footing: £21,531.75
£22,184.41

NB: The strip footings and trench fill costs

both include all work to oversite and slab,
so the costs are directly comparable on a
like for like basis with the stage a raft
foundation takes you to. Trench fill
foundations work out slightly cheaper than
traditional strip foundations, and are much
faster to build.

The cost of deeper strip foundations can

rise by 30–40% if the trenches require
planking and strutting to support them
whilst footings are being constructed. As

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soon as ground conditions require a dig of

around 2m, a reinforced raft becomes a
cheaper option. 

Use our Build Cost Calculator

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