What Type of Foundation Should You Choose for Your Elevated Home?
In the real estate industry, it is said that location is everything and that a property with a great location will typically be in great demand. You may agree with this sentiment and have found the perfect spot for your new home build, which will look out over a magnificent stretch of countryside. However, there is a caveat: this parcel of land is not particularly big, so you will need to be creative when you are constructing your property. As you will want to go up in order to build as much liveable space as possible, how will this affect the foundations?
Solid Foundations
As you have a growing family and want to have enough room to spread out, you are going to have to build a property that is three or maybe more storeys high. In fact, the higher you go the better so you can see more of that precious view from your rooftop deck, and this means that you will have to think carefully about the foundation. Generally speaking, the higher you go and the less room you have to distribute the weight of the building, the more sophisticated the foundations need to be. In this case, you may need to install pile foundations instead of raft or slab.
Piles
Pile foundations come in many different forms. They are typically used for tall buildings or where there is not that much room to spread the load, and they are driven or screwed into the ground using appropriate machinery. They also work particularly well if the soil is rather loose or there is not too much bedrock available, as one particular group of piles (known as end bearings) can be driven in to seek a secured base. Often, a group of piles can be linked together to provide additional support and to distribute the load.
Slab or Raft
Slab or raft foundations are often used when a building is not too high or has a large footprint. This is essentially a single solid piece of concrete that sits on top of or just beneath the surface of the ground, and it is most common in traditional, single-storey residential homes.
Getting Advice
In order to determine the best course of action, you should get in touch with piling contractors. They will be able to look at your chosen plot and recommend the best approach for you and your house.
