A solid foundation for the gazebo is the guarantee that you will not have to face side effects like instability, and the structure will last for many years. Even if we are talking about compact support poles, they require a solid installation. This will be discussed in this article.

Varieties of columnar foundations

The column foundation can be made in several variations, as well as from various materials. Having received information about the main racks, you can easily choose the method that suits you best.

Important! Due to the fact that the foundation is notable for its large weight, a terrain with a high level of groundwater and non-solid soil is categorically not suitable.

Concrete

This variety is one of the most popular, great for areas with shallow laying in dry sandy soil. Most often, concrete slabs are used, and in this matter, it is important that the formwork is fastened from wooden boards, and the frame from the reinforcement inside is fixed with concrete mortar.This variety is not suitable for everyone, since it involves large monetary and time expenses, but they are more than justified - the base will perfectly cope with a brick or tree arbor measuring 6 × 4 m or more.

From the pipes

The base of plastic, asbestos-cement or metal pipes is very easy and quick to install. In addition, it is perfect in a situation where the budget is much smaller than we would like - for comparison, this design will cost about 3 times cheaper than a monolithic foundation.

An additional advantage can be considered the absence of the need to treat pipes with special anti-corrosion preparations, since they are already protected from such problems. This type will be an excellent solution for moving and loose soil.

From logs

The preparation of such a foundation involves the mandatory treatment of wood with an antiseptic that prevents decay and other negative processes (for example, fungus), as well as a firing procedure. Often, standard wooden beams of 100 × 100 mm or 80 × 80 mm are used in the construction.

The support has established itself as unreliable: low bearing capacity, instability to rising groundwater levels, etc. It is for these reasons that wood is rarely used as the main element, but it is quite acceptable for a wooden arbor. The main condition is to adhere to all the rules of creation, which will be described later.

Made of building stone

Building stone is used identically to brick. The material is considered universal, as it is suitable for the construction of any type of gazebo. In addition, building stone racks would be the right solution for an area where the land is dry and sandy and groundwater is low. Service life reaches 100 years and above.

The height directly depends on the climatic features of the region of residence - it all depends on how much the soil freezes in winter. During the construction, reinforcement of the supports is often required, however, masons prefer to miss this stage. Performing the work yourself, you can establish a more solid connection between the foundation and the rack.

Preparatory work

This stage is extremely important for creating a gazebo, because without a thorough, and most importantly, proper preparation of the chosen place, your creation runs the risk of starting to stagger over time and, even worse, collapse.

Did you know? The first arbors appeared in Ancient Egypt about 5000 years ago. Then each instance had a distinct personality.

Tools Required

To create and strengthen the column foundation, you will need:

• mixer for mixing concrete for construction (can be replaced with a large tank where manual mixing will take place);
• bayonet and shovels;
• hand wheelbarrow;
• tamper (you can use both vibro and manual);
• rubber mallet;
• laser level (if one is missing, you can use the hydraulic level);
• roulette.

Drawing

The foundation scheme directly depends on the shape of the future gazebo, so first you need to decide on this, sketch ideas on a piece of paper. The next step is to transfer all your preferences to the computer program for creating drawings - there are quite a lot of them today, they are simple to use, so this stage will not take too much time. However, it is quite important, because it helps to build all the components symmetrically, correctly in relation to each other.

A fairly simple way that does not require a lot of time is to search for ready-made drawings on the Internet - often they all go for a standard square gazebo, but you can find unusual ones, for example, for copies with six or eight corners.

If you are not confident in your abilities, you can choose the simplest, but also the most costly option - contact a construction company. There in a short time you can get a ready-made and absolutely correct drawing in all respects, without worrying about the fact that the erected arbor with supports will collapse. The construction itself consists of pillars 1.5–2.5 m distant from each other, buried in the ground.

Foundation building

This step can be considered the longest and most laborious, since it consists of a number of stages.

Did you know? According to ancient Egyptian beliefs, the garden was considered a paradise, and the gazebo was an integral part of it. Even in the tombs preserved to our time drawings of such buildings, which were owned by rich people in life.

The foundation is of several types:

1. Unfinished - the pillars are on the surface, strength is achieved by removing the upper layer of soil and sand and crushed stone pillows.
2. Shallow - the supports deepen 40–80 cm from the soil level.
3. Buried - the depth should be below freezing of the earth (2 m or more).

Video: foundation for the gazebo

Cleaning and marking the place

It's no secret that clearing a place is a pretty important step. Absolutely everything, even fallen leaves of trees and any vegetation, must be removed from your chosen plot of land. Next, you need to remove the fertile soil layer (the first 30–40 cm) and remove all the roots of adjacent plants, and now you can safely proceed to the marking. This stage is extremely important, all calculations by this moment should be carried out with maximum accuracy, since the base of the building will be laid on the size.

You will need:

• small pieces of reinforcement ("pegs") - 2 pcs. to every corner;
• rope;
• long tape measure.

The markup consists of the following steps:

1. Selection of landmarks - for example, a nearby building or fence. This step is optional, but it helps you find your way faster and easier. If the binding goes to the fence, measure the necessary distance with a tape measure.
2. Further, at this distance, reinforcement sections are nailed around the perimeter of a future gazebo.
3. You need to tie them together with a rope so that at any intersection a right angle is obtained.
4. If an error is received, you need to check where the mistake was made and fix it.

Important! Correctness of comparison of all angles is checked diagonally — All sizes must match. To find out indicative measurements for your case, you can refer to special online calculators.

Formwork construction

Formwork is a simple auxiliary construction, often made of wood, used to give the construction a number of parameters: shape, geometric dimensions, surface structure, etc. To create it yourself is quite simple - you just need to purchase or use unnecessary wooden boards.Of these, the desired shape for the foundation is made along its entire perimeter, pieces of wood are connected together by so-called “shields”: small bars are taken, applied to the joints and fixed with screws. Corner joints require bolting only. After this, the diagonals and the formwork level must be checked. If it does not reduce to zero, you can purchase a water level at any hardware store and thus align all corners.

So that when pouring concrete the fence does not break and does not demolish, it is recommended to build a simple structure: two additional bars with screws are attached to the “shields” mentioned above, so that, as a result, they resemble a triangular ruler. Such a mechanism is done in ten minutes, but it can protect you from possible problems at further stages.

Reinforcement

The reinforcing frame is a prerequisite for building a gazebo, and any other foundation. In the case of the columnar version, it is worth choosing reinforcement with a diameter of not more than 12 mm (8-10 mm will be optimal).Next, you need to create the structure itself: take several rods, often 4 pieces are enough, and place vertically in each pipe or column. They need to be dug into the ground by about 45-50 cm. It will also be worth mentioning that to simplify the work, the material is tied together with a soft wire.

Important! Armature length should be 15–18 cm shorter than column height — this will prevent the development of corrosion.

Pouring concrete

When you are sure that the reinforcement is set evenly, you can proceed to the final item on this list - concreting. The best assistant in mixing concrete mix is ​​a construction mixer. You can also knead it with your hands or order a ready-made solution with delivery - you decide.

The resulting mixture is gradually poured into columnar supports, pressing each layer with a piece of reinforcement. In no case should the rods be loose, otherwise you can provoke cracks and breaks of the support from falling water or frost.All that remains is to wait for complete solidification to fill the formwork with concrete. The principle of action remains the same - the only caveat is that the fill level must be checked periodically in order to get an even foundation.

Based on the above rules and tips, you can easily choose the best material for your foundation, as well as save a good amount, because the intervention of professional builders will not be needed.