What is Minimum Depth of Foundation?

During the initial phase of building our house, the laborers were cutting trenches. I knew those were being done for laying the foundation but I didn't know about the depth. I went up to the civil engineer present there and asked him about the foundation minimum depth. Here is what he told me. 

What is the Minimum Depth of Foundation Below Ground Level?

The civil engineer told me that the minimum depth should be at least 50 cm below the natural ground level but that can differ depending upon the type of soil. The information that he provided me has already been provided in the answer provided by Anamika. 

He also told me about factors affecting the minimum foundation depth. Here are the factors 

• The bearing capacity of the Soil

• The density of the soil

• Water table level

• The dead load of the structure

• Live load of the structure

• Wind load and seismic load

After that, he told me that minimum depth should be considered to ensure that the soil has the required bearing capacity as assumed in the design. To ensure that, soil tests are necessary. 

And that is all that he told me when I asked him about the foundation's minimum depth. I hope this information has been of help to you. 

Houses are mostly one time investment thus utmost care is to be taken while constructing it. I remember that our former house had no pillars for which one wall was tilting slowly day by day. My father also stated that builders should be knowing

what is the minimum depth of foundation and build houses as per rules but he believed they might have not done that. We had to reconstruct our house and demolish the old one and this time, my father checked everything himself to make sure that no such issues occur in the future. That is when I got to know such details and would like to share it with you all as well.

The minimum depth of any foundation should extend to a depth of at least 50 cm below the natural ground level and the maximum depth should be 3 metres to create a solid construction. But the type of soil is also to be focused upon while creating the foundation since every soil is not capable of holding the foundation equally. Some will need more depth and some less to hold the constructed building which are as follows

• Minimum depth of foundation in clayey soil: 0.9 m

• Minimum depth of foundation in sandy soil: 0.8 m

• Minimum depth of foundation in rocky ground: 600 mm por 2 feet from the lower edge of the footing

• Minimum depth of foundation in sandy soil: 0.8 m to 0.1 m

• Minimum depth of foundation in black cotton soil: 1.5 m

For a construction of a building, checking the depth of foundation is the foremost thing that should always be checked or be sure to face serious problems in future or like us, you might need to construct a new house again.

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