Before construction starts on the house you need to build the foundation. The foundation (insert info here!) . But before you start the foundation, you got to make Footings. The purpose of footings is to provide a solid base for the foundation walls and peirs. The footings must be wider then the actual walls and peirs. This serves to distribute the load over a greater area. Footings are made from poured concrete , generally reinforced with steel rods, and must be placed under most masonery walls, pilasters, columns, peirs, fireplaces, and chimneys. The depth of the footing below grade must be greater then the frost penetraition in the area where the home is being built. This prevents the wall from heaving or setting when the ground freezes or thaws.
For an example of a footing, Click Here

Foundations

There are several types of masonery foundation walls. The most common of these is the poured concrete wall, for which forms must be built. The forms must be tight and smooth, with the joints properly aligned so that a smooth, straight surface will result after the forms have been removed. In addition, the forms must be securely built to withstand the pressure of semi-liquid concrete, especially in the case of a high wall when the forms are filled rapidly before the concrete has a chance to set.
To see how the concrete foundation is set Click Here

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