I always hear that the footings have to be placed below the frost depth but does that apply to any footing? For a job where the local code indicates frost depth of 42”, all exterior bldg footings are placed at that depth but when it comes to the exterior stairs, they only go down 18” only!! The...
Frost penetration and frost depth effects are really two different animals. As OldestGuy indicated, even in very cold climates, they recognize that footings do not have to go full depth of frost penetration if they are in non-frost susceptible soil.
A contractor is suggesting the use of 1ft deep, very wide concrete slab to support heavy rotating equipment. The local jurisdiction has a required frost depth 42in. Can a very heavy foundation (while still below the allowable bearing capacity of the soil) eliminate the need to go below the 42"...
Hello all, this is my first post here so please bear with me. Where do you go to find accurate frost depth/line values? At my job, we often have to design footers/foundations rapidly so as to get them to a costumer for the purposes of an estimate. Because everything needs done ASAP, contacting...
And another note, frost depth is usually deeper for cold footings versus heated footings. Is the 48" frost depth for cold, unheated footings? Here where I practice in a cold climate, we have 42" frost depth for heated footings but that goes down to 120" completely unheated, or we can typically reduce that to 60" WITH NFS under the footings.
I have virtually an unheated metal shack. It will sit on a slab on grade with a turndown. Is is necessary for the turndown to bear below the frost depth? In my mind, only unheated bearing foundations should be below the frost depth. Even though the shack will put load on the turndown, the...