Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy is a World Wonder. But who would like to live in a residential building that is tilted 5.5 degrees due to an unstable foundation? Would you like to live in a home that is infested with termites? Certainly, you may not. This blog elucidates why soil testing and anti-termite treatment are important for building construction.
Why soil testing is important for building construction?
Property buyers get impressed with the architectural design and the façade of the building but the real beauty lies in the foundation of the building. When the soil underneath the building is unstable and if the foundation of the building is inadequate, the building can develop cracks and can cave in, and collapse due to differential settlement. Therefore, soil testing is extremely critical and important to understand the soil on which the building is built.
By soil testing, one gets to learn the type of the soil underneath the building – be it a sandy soil, silt soil, clay, or loam soil. Among these soil types, Loam has an ideal combination of silt, sand, and clay and is considered the best soil type for building construction. However, we may not have this soil type in every locality. Investigating the soil, therefore, gains importance to determine the type of foundation required for the building structure.
Licensed geotechnical engineers perform soil testing, which is also referred to as a geotechnical investigation report, by drilling several boreholes into the soil across the project site for a reasonable depth of 3 meters and analyzing the properties of the soil such as soil strata, physical composition, moisture content, dry density, deformability, hydromechanical properties, and load-bearing capacity.
Image source: https://theconstructor.org
Based on this soil investigation report, an architect determines the type of foundation required for the building – individual footing, combined footing, strip footing, raft foundation, pile foundation, drilled shaft foundation, and the depth of foundation required to support the building structure.
Why termite treatment is important at the pre-construction stage?
The next biggest concern for many house owners is the termite attack on the building structure and household properties. Though termites cannot damage a foundation, they can travel through small holes and cracks in the foundation, masonry work, brick walls, and building conduits to weaken the building structure. Therefore, as we excavate the soil for the foundation, pre-construction anti-termite treatment is performed to protect a building from a termite attack.
Image source: https://civiconcepts.com
The chemicals that are used as anti-termite agents in buildings as per Indian Standards (IS 6313 Part-3) are Chlorpyrifos 20% EC and Lindane 20% EC, where 1 litre of an anti-termite agent is mixed with 19 litres of water to create the required solution. This anti-termite treatment lasts for several years.
How do we make your home safe?
We, at Traventure Homes, take a great care for the projects that we build. We have an experienced team of civil and project engineers to ensure sufficient tests and quality control measures are put in place to ensure your dream home exceeds your expectations.
