FHB Logo Facebook LinkedIn Email Pinterest Twitter Instagram Plus Icon Close Icon Navigation Search Icon Arrow Down Icon Video Guide Icon Article Guide Icon Modal Close Icon Guide Search Icon Skip to content
Main Menu
Subscribe

In every issue you'll find...

  • Expert insights on techniques and principles
  • Unbiased tool reviews
  • Step-by-step details to master the job
  • Field-tested advice and know-how
Subscribe Now!
Subscribe
  • How-To
  • Design
  • Tools & Materials
  • Videos
  • Blogs
  • Forum
  • Magazine
  • Members
  • FHB House
  • Podcast
  • Join
  • Log In
Main Menu Subscribe
How-To

Habitat for Humanity How to Build a House: Foundation Fundamentals

Establishing a sound connection between the house, the foundation, and the earth is crucial. These foundation fundamentals can help get you started.

By Larry Haun
Article Image

Synopsis: All across this country, in hundreds of towns an cities, people from all walks of life are working with Habitat for Humanity to build decent, modest housing. In the last 25 years, more than 100,000 affordable homes have been built in America and in other countries by Habitat for Humanity affiliates.

If Habitat for Humanity can build affordable homes, why can’t anyone? In Habitat for Humanity How to Build a House, Habitat volunteer and Fine Homebuilding contributor Larry Haun provides step-by-step instructions for building a house from the ground up. For beginners and professionals alike, the book is filled with tips that come from Larry’s four decades of experience.

In this excerpt from Chapter 3: Firm, Flat, Level, and Square — Foundations and Floors, you’ll learn how to form and pour footings and how to build the foundation walls.

Foundations and Floors

Floors may seem to be the simplest of the challenges facing a new builder, but the importance of establishing a firm, sound, dependable connection between a house, the foundation, and the earth cannot be overstated. Everything rests, quite literally, on the quality of the foundation and framing work done in the first few days or so after the concrete contractor has left. Our first house, in coastal Oregon, had a concrete foundation made from beach sand. Sixty years of wind and rain had washed much of that sand back toward the beach, leaving us with a shaky, tilted floor that wasn’t even bolted to the foundation.

Know the Foundation Fundamentals

Take a deep breath. Having found and purchased a lot, bought or drawn up the plans, obtained the permits, cleared and run power to the site, and completed the necessary grading, drainage, and excavation work, you’re finally ready to begin working on the foundation. You’ve already come a long way.

Whenever I think about foundations, I can’t help but recall being told as a child, “You’re on your feet most of the day, so wear good shoes.” A foundation is like a pair of shoes—quality makes all the difference. Walk around all day in poor shoes and your whole body feels lousy. Build a house on a poor foundation and the entire house is unstable.

There are quite a few foundations that can be used for houses. The three major types— slabs, crawl spaces, and full basements. If you’re planning to build a house, it’s a good idea to consider all your foundation options. Talk to builders and foundation sub contractors in your area to find out which foundations and special site conditions to consider. If you’re building a crawl space foundation, find out about the ventilation requirements. In some areas, vents are required in crawl-space foundations. In other areas, codes have been updated to allow for an unvented crawl space.

Clay can cause problems

Local soil conditions have a lot to do with choosing and constructing a foundation. Extra care must be taken when building on clay-rich soils, which exist in many parts of the country. Clay expands when saturated with moisture. This can exert tremendous pressure on a foundation. I have seen how this expansive action moves footings, cracks slabs, and causes extensive damage to a house. When builders are aware of the potential problems with clay soil, they can take precautions to avoid damaging effects. I have worked on sites where several feet of clay soil were removed and replaced with non expansive soil, which was then compacted before the footings were poured.

For more photos and details on foundation fundamentals, click the View PDF button below. 

Sign up for eletters today and get the latest how-to from Fine Homebuilding, plus special offers.

Sign Up

Get home building tips, offers, and expert advice in your inbox

×
View PDF
X
X

New Feature

Fine Homebuilding Forums

Ask questions, offer advice, and share your work

Log in or create an account to post a comment.

Sign up Log in

Become a member and get full access to FineHomebuilding.com

Up Next

Featured Story

Photo of Nest thermostat

Google Eases Rules for Smart-Home Developers

After restricting access to the Nest thermostat in 2019, Google has a change of heart.

Featured Video

A Modern California Home Wrapped in Rockwool Insulation for Energy Efficiency and Fire Resistance

The designer and builder of the 2018 Fine Homebuilding House detail why they chose mineral-wool batts and high-density boards for all of their insulation needs.

Related Stories

  • How to Design Small, Smart Homes

  • Podcast 329: PRO TALK With Modular-Home Builder Jason Webster

  • Third-Day at IBSx: Pure Learning

  • More New Products at the Virtual International Builders’ Show

Discussion Forum

Recent Posts and Replies

  • |
  • |
  • |
  • |
  • |
  • |
View More Create Post

Highlights

  • Fine Homebuilding All Access
  • Fine Homebuilding Podcast
  • Tool Tech

    Plus, get an extra 20% off with code GIFT20

  • "I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.

    Get home building tips, offers, and expert advice in your inbox

    Sign Up See all newsletters

Video

View All
  • Shower niche

    Interior Finishes for a Cabin in the Woods

  • Framing Floors and Stairs with Larry Haun

  • Podcast 184: Insulating an All-Brick House, Working with Engineered Siding, and Carpentry as a Second Career

  • contractors working on subfloor installation

    Squeak-Free Subfloor Installation

View All

Floors and Coverings

View All
  • Floating Hardwood Floor with Unmatched Advantages

  • Patching a Hardwood Floor

    2 Methods for Patching a Hardwood Floor

  • Nearly Invisible Floor Finish

  • Wide-Plank Flooring

View All

BOOKS, DVDs, & MERCH

Shop the Store
  • Code Check Building 4th Edition

    Buy Now
  • Musings of an Energy Nerd

    Buy Now
  • 2020 Fine Homebuilding Archive

    Buy Now
  • Fine Homebuilding Magazine Slipcase

    Buy Now
  • Shop the Store

Fine Homebuilding Magazine

  • Issue 297 - Feb/Mar 2021

    • Foundations for Success
    • Staircase Renovation
    • Ditch the Hose
  • Issue 296 - Dec 2020/Jan 2021

    • Insulating Glass Keeps Getting Better
    • Simple Way to Make Old Walls Straight and Plumb
    • Making Sense of Minisplits
  • Issue 295 - Kitchens & Baths

    • Condo Kitchen Reimagined
    • Row-House Remodel
    • Rise of the IAQ Monitor
  • Issue 294 - Oct/Nov 2020

    • Schoolhouse Reimagined
    • Tool Test: Folding Sawhorses
    • A Better Way to Build Tall Walls
  • Issue 293 - Aug/Sept 2020

    • A Practical Guide to Fall Protection
    • Installing Frameless Cabinets
    • Make Any Tablesaw Safer

Fine Homebuilding

Follow

Newsletter

Get home building tips, offers, and expert advice in your inbox

Sign Up See all newsletters

Membership & Magazine

  • Online Archive
  • Start Free Trial
  • Magazine Subscription
  • Magazine Renewal
  • Gift a Subscription
  • Customer Support
  • Manage Preferences

Taunton Network

  • Green Building Advisor
  • Fine Woodworking
  • Fine Gardening
  • Threads
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Privacy Policy
  • Careers
  • Copyright
  • Terms of Use
  • Accessibility
  • CA Privacy Rights

© 2021 The Taunton Press, Inc. All rights reserved.

    Main Menu

  • How-To
  • Design
  • Tools & Materials
  • Video
  • Blogs
  • Forum
  • Reader Projects
  • Magazine
  • Members
  • FHB House
  • Podcasts

  • FHB Podcast
  • ProTalk
  • Account

  • Log In
  • Join

    Podcasts

  • FHB Podcast
  • ProTalk
  • Popular Topics

  • Kitchens
  • Business
  • Bedrooms
  • Roofs
  • Architecture and Design
  • Green Building
  • Decks
  • Framing
  • Safety
  • Remodeling
  • Bathrooms
  • Windows
  • Tilework
  • Ceilings
  • HVAC

    Magazine

  • Current Issue
  • Past Issues
  • Magazine Index
  • Subscribe
  • Online Archive
  • Author Guidelines

    All Access

  • Member Home
  • Start Free Trial
  • Gift Membership

    Shop the Store

  • Books
  • DVDs
  • Taunton Workshops

    More

  • FHB Ambassadors
  • Reader Projects
  • Podcast
  • Customer Support

    Account

  • Log In
  • Join

Newsletter

Get home building tips, offers, and expert advice in your inbox

Sign Up See all newsletters

Follow

Join All Access

Become a member and get instant access to thousands of videos, how-tos, tool reviews, and design features.

Start Your Free Trial

Subscribe

FHB Magazine

Start your subscription today and save up to 52%

Subscribe

We hope you’ve enjoyed your free articles. To keep reading, become a member today.

Get complete site access to expert advice, how-to videos, Code Check, and more, plus the print magazine.

Start your FREE trial

Already a member? Log in