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Using Insulated Polystyrene Forms for Foundation Footings

Bob talks with Howard Brickman about the challenging soil conditions on this project, where a high water table and impermeable soils must be considered for the foundation. To alleviate these problems, several tons of inch-and-a-half crushed stone were trucked to the job site. The footings for the foundation were placed to support the load-bearing walls. Waterproof Fab-Form plastic footing forms were used instead of typical wood forms because they will keep the water out and away from the footings. A plastic membrane was placed on the inside of the Fab-Forms to further protect the footings from water. The forms are connected and braced for the pour with stakes that are screwed into the forms with threaded wallboard screws. When the stakes are removed, the screws will be snapped off. Using this method has removed two of three steps in the standard footing construction process. The forms double as the drainage-pipe material and will stay in place after the pour, eliminating the need to remove the forms once the concrete is set. In a typcial footing pour, the forms would be stripped away from the footings before the drain pipe was placed. With Fab-Forms the slab and the footing with integral drainage can be poured at the same time, using a smaller footing than traditional installations.

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Chapters from this episode

Building with ReddiForm ICFs Now Playing

Building with ReddiForm ICFs

Preparing Insulated Moisture Barrier and Forms for Foundation Pour Now Playing

Preparing Insulated Moisture Barrier and Forms for Foundation Pour

Protecting Local Wetlands Now Playing

Protecting Local Wetlands

Expanding a Home to Create an In-Law Suite Now Playing

Expanding a Home to Create an In-Law Suite

Pouring the Concrete Foundation Now Playing

Pouring the Concrete Foundation

Using Insulated Polystyrene Forms for Foundation Footings Now Playing

Using Insulated Polystyrene Forms for Foundation Footings

Clip Transcript For:

Using Insulated Polystyrene Forms for Foundation Footings

computer-generated transcript - may not be 100% accurate

" The soil conditions are pretty challenging here aren't they Howard I mean. You've got a high water table for your high water table and very impermeable soils and what you've done is you've trucked in. Several tons of what is it inch and a half crushed stone and have pressed on I think we're about seven or truffles. -- explain to us how the footing like they know that traditionally you build a form work for footing using planks -- ten's or whatever. And you've used an alternative here."

" How we're doing is replacing the the footings for the foundation that are gonna support the load bearing walls. And -- and so we want to provide a form for doing -- And we're using a combination of any of plastic material. And this is the fab form product that's a plastic with us for a minute that keeps the moisture from getting underfoot and army canceled it's waterproof. So what programs moisture incursions from below after that if -- building has assembled. We've replaced the normal wood form which would have to be stripped. And and then an additional plastic pipe would have to be placed for drainage around the foundation. By using a one piece plastic. Form drainage. Piece and then placing our membrane on the inside of that. When it comes to. Holding the forms in place and connecting pieces together. We use day -- regular fine threaded interior sheetrock screw. To go through the the stake into the -- in the forming material. That way when we go to pull the stakes out later we just snap the screws off. And we don't have to worry about removing them and disturbing the form. We've eliminated two of the three steps in the standard footing construction process. We've placed the form. And our form also doubles as the drainage pipe material. Our standard our word for wood wood form would have to be stripped away from the footing and then a drainpipe. Would have to be placed an adjacent to put it so essentially we've removed all the work after the placement of the forms. It."

" because we can leave these forms in place and don't have to pull them out after the concrete is cured. We take the inner form and reduce it by the thickness of the concrete slab. This eliminate this gives us of the -- capability of pouring the slab and the footings at the same time. And eliminates an awful lot of labor and an extra trip with the concrete truck."

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