Kit Home Slab Foundation

The foundation is one of the most critical stages of construction. Building a house is an exercise of decreasing risk - the earliest steps are the hardest to repair later if they are done incorrectly and as such create the greatest risk if not performed well. It's always a good idea to use licensed contractors for these stages, even if you are planning to complete later projects yourself.

There are three main types of foundations that are typical for residential construction: slab, crawl space, and basement. Usually the contours of the building pad will help determine which type you might use.

	Preparation & Excavation Since our lot was already leveled and we live in a mild climate, a slab foundation was the simplest and most economical method for our project.
	Slab Plumbing The foundation phase of construction requires coordination between several different subcontractors who will generally only be on the site a short time. The slab plumbing took an experienced crew a day and a half to complete on our project. Although we planned to do our own plumbing to save money, we decided to hire out the slab plumbing because it's difficult to move pipes that are set in concrete if you make a mistake! Our electrician came out at the same time and installed the electrical conduit into the foundation.
	Pouring the Footings Footings are the base of what your home rests on. They are solid concrete "walls" around the perimeter of the house and under load bearing walls in the house.
	Finishing the Slab Foundation floors, or "flatwork" is poured after the footings have had time to cure. Steps should be taken to help avoid cracks in the concrete.

View a crawl space foundation with poured walls