There’s no way around it; a house is built from the ground up. So, what actually occurs where ground meets the house is important for the overall structural integrity of a building. The key to this is footers. These are the first part of a building that touch the ground and are responsible for evenly distributing the weight of the house. The successful implementation of these will have an overall effect on your house, so precision and expertise in engineering and construction is a must.
When it comes to building any structure and putting footers in, the load bearing value of the soil of an area has to be consulted. Soil load-bearing value refers to the amount of pressure that can be transferred to the soil rated in pounds per square foot. The International Residential Code (IRC) states that footers must be placed to “transmit the resulting loads to the soil within the limitations as determined from the character of the soil”. There are guidelines by the IRC pertaining to the load-bearing of soil and material the footers. In most cases engineers calculate the size of footers required.
Another factor that must be accounted for is the frost line, which is the depth that soil freezes. Soil freezing and thawing will change its volume, causing any placed footers to move with these changes. To avoid this, footers must be placed either at or below the frost-line. In Delaware, it’s determined to be 20 inches below grade. These rules vary on location, as different counties and municipalities can have varying regulations above and beyond the minimum requirements set by the IRC 2018 publication.
With all the components that must be considered as well as the importance of footers, it’s best to leave footers to the experts. Here at Fine Remodeling, we are your Delaware contractor dedicated to making sure your construction project goes smoothly. We are experienced with the proper implementation of footers to make sure your renovation project has the legs it needs to stand on.
E-mail sales@fineremodelingde.com and/or call 302-635-0375 to have a specific discussion about your dream project. It's our duty to help guide you as best we can.
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