Welcome to Insulated Concrete Foundations
by Heffernen Forms Massachusetts MA

"We Help Save the Planet One Foundation at a Time"

Specializing in Retaining Walls, Foundations and Forms

Bob Heffernen ( formerly of Williams Foundations in Saugus, MA ) has over 25 years experience in the concrete pouring and placement Industry. Bob is committed to customer satisfaction and only employs the most skilled tradesmen in the industry.

Insulated Concrete Foundations are far superior to conventional concrete forms in every way possible. If you choose any other concrete foundation, then you are just throwing your money away. Remember! An R-50 Insulating Value!

Call 781-231-1722 for a Fast, Free Estimate Today
We offer Immediate Service (have your foundation dug and poured in less than a week from now)

Concrete Foundations Do it Yourself

Reinforced Concrete is concrete that has been additionally strengthened by having embedded into it some metal, usually steel reinforcing bar also known as rebar. Steel reinforcing bar will almost double concrete's tinsel strength. The component aggregate materials should separately possess certain properties, if satisfactory strength and durability are to be obtained in the structures having both of these materials used in combination. The properties of each concrete material being utilized, and those properties in particular should be emphasized which have the most to do with the safe and economic designing of concrete foundations.

Concrete Forms Symon or Symons Forms

Boston, Massachusetts - Concrete used in reinforced concrete foundations should be strong, of uniform quality, free from voids, and thoroughly sound. These qualities are required even more than in massive concrete foundations, as the sections in reinforced concrete structures are comparatively small and the stability of a given concrete foundation depends upon the strength and durability of every part used in the poring, reinforcing and forming.

Concrete Basement Walls - The proportions commonly used in American practice or standards may vary from about 1:1 1/2:3 to 1:3:6, using either crushed stone or gravel as aggregate. The rich mixture is usually required in structural foundations subjected to high stresses or where exceptional water tightness is desired. On the other hand, the use of a 1:3:6 concrete requires careful grading of the materials to produce satisfactory results, even for ordinary flat concrete work.

Concrete Forming MA - The aggregate employed in reinforced concrete construction should be of high grade; only Portland cement should be used, and the brand selected should conform to the specifications of the American Society for Testing Materials- for these specifications are now accepted as the American standard.

Concrete Footings - The sand employed should not contain any clay, vegetable loam, sticks, and organic matter and should be of hard, dense, tough material. Siliceous quartz sands are the best, although sands from any durable rock will suffice.

Waterproof Basements Free from Mold or Mold Free Basements

Sharp sand was formally a requirement in all residential concrete foundation construction, but this property is by no means essential. To be sure, by the use of sharp sand there is a slight tendency toward a concrete of greater crushing or tinsel strength than when sand of rounded grains is used, but this influence on the result is of less importance than the size of grain, or granular-metric composition. Moreover, the sharper the sand used-the relative sizes of the grains remaining the same-the greater the percentage of voids, and consequently the greater the amount of cement required to produce a given density. (The term density is here used to express the ratio of the volume of the solid particles to the total volume of the concrete.) It is now generally conceded that the requirement of sharpness of sand should be omitted from concrete specifications.

Amesbury, Andover, Shawsheen Village, Beverely, Boxford, Bradford, Danvers, Essex, Massachusetts, Georgetown, Revere, Chelsea, Gloucester, Groveland, Hamilton, Haverhill, MA, Ipswich, Lawrence, Lynn, Lynnfield, Manchester by the Sea, Marblehead, Merrimac, Methuen, Middleton, Nahant, Newbury, Newburyport, North Andover, Peabody, Rockport, Rowley, Salem, Salisbury, Saugus, Swampscott, Massachusetts, Boston, Topsfield, Wenham, West, Newbury, Acton, Arlington, Ashby, Ashland, Ayer, MA, Bedford, Belmont, Billerica, Boxborough, Boxboro,

Located Conveniently in Massachusetts

Pressure Tests of mortar and concrete show that: strength and water-tightness increase with density, and so the best sand as to size is one which will produce the smallest volume of mortar of standard consistency when mixed with the given cement in the required proportions. To put it somewhat differently,-the best sand for strength, for water-tightness, and also for is one which is so graded from fine to coarse so that the percentage of voids in the resulting mortar is reduced to a minimum. Such sand has a very coarse appearance as the amount of fine material required is very small.

It has been found that the densest mixture or concrete occurs with particles of different sizes and also that the least density occurs when the grains are all of the same size. Coarse and fine sands are thus inferior to graded sands for the use in concrete, but of the two extremes the coarse sand is preferable. The reason for this is due to the fact that the coarse sand has a less total grain surface in a unit volume, even when the sands considered contain portion of solid matter and voids. Less total grain surface means less cement and water to coat the grains, and less labor required in mixing the concrete. The additional amount of cement and water required in the case of the fine sand reduces the density of the resulting mortar and likewise its strength.

The finer the sand, the more nearly uniform the size of the grains, and consequently the greater the proportion of voids. Fine sand is seldom satisfactory and should not be used unless coarse sand is simply not available. Even in such cases, tests of strength should be made with the idea of determining what extra cost may be justified in securing a coarser material for the mixture of concrete.

A screen with 1/4-in, openings is generally employed for separating out large material from sand. Specifications should limit the maximum amount of loam or clay to be allowed in any given concrete mixture. Loam should never be permitted, but clay to the amount of 5 to 10 per cent, if evenly divided, is often beneficial in lean concrete. In rich concrete the strength and density is decreased by even slight additions of clay; but in lean concretes the clay helps to fill the voids of the sand, and causes the cementing material to coat the grains better and to bind them together more strongly.

Broken stone screenings have a small percentage of voids and, when free from clay, usually make excellent sand for use in concrete. These screenings ordinarily give a stronger concrete than natural sand but are likely to contain an undue amount of dust, especially when obtained from soft stone; in such a case the mass should be screened before being used in mixing mortar or concrete. Gravel screenings also constitute a good material in place of sand. All material passing a 1/4-in, screen is generally considered as sand, or fine aggregate; while all material larger than this size is classed as coarse aggregate.

Stone - For the coarse aggregate, either crushed stone or gravel is generally used. Any stone is suitable which is clean and durable and which has sufficient strength to prevent the strength of the concrete from being limited by the strength of the stone. Trap, granite, limestone, and the more compact sandstone are generally employed. Aggregates containing soft, flat, or elongated particles should never be used.

All that has been said concerning voids in sand applies with equal force to the coarse aggregate. Screens varying by a quarter of an inch from 1/4 inch up are desirable, but a very useful analysis may be made with fewer screens. A uniform size of stone filled with mortar does not make as dense or as strong a concrete as one in which the coarse aggregate is well graded-that is, where the small stones partly fill the larger interstices. A straight line on a mechanical-analysis diagram indicates a uniform grading of size.

A general rule is that the larger the stone, the stronger and denser the concrete. Experience has shown that for reinforced concrete that the maximum size should not be more than about 1 inch to 1 1/2 inches, in order for the concrete to fit itself closely around the reinforcing metal. Subsequently, the smaller the stone and the greater the surface to be coated, means the greater the amount of cement required.

Most gravel is sufficiently durable for the use in concrete as an aggregate. The gravel should be at least reasonably clean, although a quantity of finely divided clay equal to 5 to 10 per cent of the gravel may add to the strength of the concrete, if the cement paste does not entirely fill the voids. The presence of clay requires very thorough mixing. When gravel is used, it should be screened to separate the sand and then be remixed in order that the proportions may be definite to result in a quality concrete mixture.