Cob: Frost-Protected Shallow Foundation

[~Lootvik~]

Only last January Mark Piepkorn wrote on this very list:

... the Frost-Protected Shallow Foundation method. HUD produced a design 
guide for the system several years ago, in which it was written, "An FPSF 
incorporates strategically placed insulation to raise the frost depth 
around a building, thereby allowing foundation depths as shallow as 16 
inches, even in the most severe climates. The most extensive use has been 
in the Nordic countries, where over one million FPSF homes have been 
constructed successfully over the last 40 years. The FPSF is considered 
standard practice for residential buildings in Scandinavia."
This design guide, which has quite a bit of good, thought-provoking, and 
cross-applicable technical info, can either be purchased from Oikos for 30 
bucks:
http://oikos.com/catalog/Design_Guide_to_Frost_Protected_Shallow_Foundations.html 

or read for free here:
http://www.cs.arizona.edu/people/jcropper/desguide.html
Your choice.



>   Canada also has some good information about non-deep  foundations, like 
> used in Scandinavia, but I don't have the URL for it, or remember the 
> proper foundation type name for this type.    Anyone else out there?
>
>Cheers,
>    Darel
>
>--------------------------
>
>puppetman at ix.netcom.com wrote:
>
>>The more I read about building construction the more I get conflicting 
>>information.
>>In the building code of South Lyon (small city) Michigan,USA they state 
>>that foundations should be a minimum of 48" deep. Unless the building is 
>>less than 400sq ft. then it must only be 28" deep.