Structural Components
These represent the base of the foundation and are designed to spread the load into the soil.
What are footings?
The downward force caused by the heavy weight of the building materials.
What is gravity?
The specific term for how much weight soil can safely support.
What is bearing capacity?
These fasteners are used to connect the wood mudsill to the concrete stem wall.
What are anchor bolts?
The most common foundation type, featuring a continuous footing and stem wall.
What is a spread (or continuous) foundation?
Vertical walls that extend from the footing to the first floor.
What are stem walls?
The sideways pressure that pushes against a building, often caused by wind.
What is lateral force?
Foundations must be placed below this specific level to prevent damage from frozen soil.
What is the frost depth?
The maximum spacing allowed for anchor bolts in a 1-story building.
What is 1800 mm?
These long, slender columns are driven deep into the ground to reach stable soil or rock.
What are pilings?
These support interior loads and must extend at least 150 mm above grade to protect wood components.
What are piers (or posts)?
The upward force caused by wind that can lift a structure off its foundation.
What is uplift?
Unlike natural soil, this material is often less stable and requires compaction to gain strength.
What is fill?
The standard ventilation requirement for a crawl space is 1 square foot of vent for every _____ square feet of space.
What is 150 square feet?
These reinforced concrete beams span between pilings or piers to provide support in unstable soil.
What are grade beams?
These horizontal members support floor joists and often rest in "pockets" on stem walls.
What are beams (or girders)?
To prevent soil from overloading or compressing, foundations must do this to the weight of the building.
What is distribute/spread it evenly?
These are the three main things water causes in soil: expansion, shrinkage, and this.
What is loss of bearing capacity?
The minimum required dimensions for an exterior crawl space access opening.
What is 406 x 610 mm? (16 x 24 in)
This foundation type is specifically recommended for steep sites or flood-prone areas.
What is a piling foundation?
The specific size of steel reinforcement bars typically used in concrete footings to resist tension.
What is a #4 bar?
This acts as this for a building, responding to soil, climate, load, and code.
What is a Foundation?
The upward movement of soil caused by freezing water, which can crack foundations.
What is frost heave?
Building codes are written to protect these three specific things.
What are people, buildings, and property?
These specialized connectors are used at posts and beams to provide resistance against wind and seismic activity.
What are metal connectors (or column bases/straps)?