Foundation Work

Carpenter Joseph Truini offers construction details for four types of basic, on-grade foundations suitable for backyard buildingsby Joseph Truini

by John Spier

The bones beneath concrete's muscle, rebar has to be cut, bent and tied properly to do its jobby Howard Stein

Dry-laid walls reinforced with steel and filled with concrete make a weathertight, bugproof houseby Fred Leadbeater

Assembled with regular building skills, ICFs form airtight, insulating concrete walls that finish with standard materialsby Andy Engel

They hold up the house, hold back the earth and keep out the water. If they're not level and square, you may end up custom-cutting every rafter.by Rick Arnold, Mike Guertin

Fill up a trench with concrete -- what's to know? If a house is going to stand on those little sidewalks, they'd better be straight, level and correctly placed.by Rick Arnold, Mike Guertin

by Thor Matteson

by John Carroll

Get evenly spaced courses and consistent mortar joints by using the proper layout, mortar consistency and troweling techniquesby John Carroll

Used overseas successfully for decades, this innovative foundation system uses carefully placed insulation and a slab with integral footings instead of conventional deep frost wallsby Christopher R. Kendall

by Robert L. Brungraber

New products from the latest technologies offer more effective alternatives to slopping sticky tar onto new foundationsby Bruce Greenlaw

Tips on ordering, placing, screeding, floating and finishingby Carl Hagstrom

These time-saving tips make short work of setting sills, posts and girdersby Larry Haun

Using driven piles and grade beams to build on soft groundby Alvin M. Sacks

Building forms stick by stick can save on labor and materialsby Arne Waldstein

Proper drainage (lots of gravel) is the keyby George Nash

Covering concrete walls with rigid foam insulation and troweling on stucco requires experience with the materialsby Bob Syvanen