Footer
To anyone considering the same design/path that I took, the mini excavator and a friend who knows how to run it is worth every penny. I ended up having a 24" drop in grade in 8 feet of distance between the front of the coop and the back. I went with a 12" deep, by 12" wide, by 4" thick footer. The grade is stepped every 8" to match the change of a cinder block. My oldest has continuously inspected my work to ensure everything is going smoothly. Also- for working by yourself a grade laser is a winning tool if you have access to one.
The next part of the foundation was to pour the footer. Each grade step had concrete placed before the pour so that the entire footer was tied together as one single piece. In the pictures, the gravel is where I had dug too deep and needed to come up on my grade some. My footer wasn't perfect, but it was close enough for me to fix in the block. The pieces of rebar you see in the bottom of the footer were placed using the grade laser to be 4" taller than the grade that I originally set. By using these stakes as a reference point for the top of the concrete it did not matter if the soil beneath them was exactly 4" from the top because all of the stakes were within 1/4" of each other and to top of the step forms.
The next part of the foundation was to pour the footer. Each grade step had concrete placed before the pour so that the entire footer was tied together as one single piece. In the pictures, the gravel is where I had dug too deep and needed to come up on my grade some. My footer wasn't perfect, but it was close enough for me to fix in the block. The pieces of rebar you see in the bottom of the footer were placed using the grade laser to be 4" taller than the grade that I originally set. By using these stakes as a reference point for the top of the concrete it did not matter if the soil beneath them was exactly 4" from the top because all of the stakes were within 1/4" of each other and to top of the step forms.
- Next page: Foundation
- Previous page: Overview
