Ground Preparation for Your Shipping Container: What You Need To Know About Foundations
Before delivery, check and prepare your ground for the shipping container. You will want a level ground that will be at least as big as your shipping container. The ground should also be accessible for the delivery truck. In addition, you need to ensure that the ground is free from debris. Before you even start the preparation, you will want to consider the location first. Think about where you would like your doors to face or check that there will be enough room for the doors to be closed and opened. With these and other considerations in mind, you may have to think about the foundations as well. For this reason, here is what you should know about the foundations.
Concrete Piers
These are shallow foundations and come as concrete cubes with reinforced steel bars in them. These reinforced steel bars will come either as meshes of steel wires or steel bars that are used for strengthening the concrete. This type of foundation is inexpensive and can be accomplished easily as a DIY task. Six piers are laid for your container; one at each corner and two at the middle for enhanced support. An excellent feature about concrete piers is that your container will be off the ground allowing for ventilation and preventing the formation of condensation beneath it.
Pile Foundations
When the type of soil is too weak (such as silt and sand) to support the base of concrete or the shipping container, you should consider this type of installation. Piles, which are often cylindrical steel tubes, are hammered through the soft soil into your ground until they reach a more suitable level that can bear load. Concrete blocks are then used to cap the piles once they are secured in place. Unless you are an expert with the required specialist tools such as a pile driver, a DIY installation of the piles may not be a good idea. Therefore, you will have to hire a professional contractor.
Raft Foundation
This is a more time-consuming type of foundation that is ideal for softer soils like peat. It involves a lot of digging and a concrete slab with reinforcements, such as piers, is constructed. This type of foundation is also suitable in the warmer regions where freezing and thawing cycles are not a concern. This foundation has no hollow spaces in it, making it less vulnerable to infestation by creatures such as termites.
For further assistance, contact local professionals, such as those from Tasbulk Pty Ltd.