RE: Odp: [strawbale] a technical question about foundations

["herwig" <orcaherwig@skynet...>]

Title: Re: Odp: [strawbale] a technical question about foundations

Dear rikki, herbert

 

If we have a clay underground we normally ask for a structural soil ivestigation.  Having this information and the informaiton of the structure and the weight of the hous we decide how the foundations will be.  For clay the result is often a concrete plate or pile foundations.

 

Herwig

-----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
Van: owner-strawbale@eyfa... [mailto:owner-strawbale@eyfa...]Namens Herbert Gruber
Verzonden: maandag 18 februari 2002 14:19
Aan: strawbale-l@eyfa...
Onderwerp: Re: Odp: [strawbale] a technical question about foundations

Dear Rikki
Hundreds of houses in Austria and former German Democratic Republic are built on earth/clay with rubber-trench-foundations. We too, live in such a house.
The foundation is about 1 meter deep (under the frost-line) as usual foundations are in winter-cold areas. So don´t panic about using a common and traditional technique, which has proved to resist over more than hundred years.
best wishes, Herbert

Thanks for the advice.
Actually, I have read "A strawbale house" and "Earth floors" by the Steens, but i missed the bit about the clay slip.
What really worried me is building on land that is pure clay.  A non-expert said that I could have problems with the whole house moving on a clay site, a i don´t know if the rubble trench foundation will be enought to avoid that.  . .