RC SLAB FOUNDATIONS

HOW RC SLAB FOUNDATIONS WORK

At Capital Piling, we lay RC slab foundations for residential and commercial projects throughout London, Essex & Guildford. Call a member of our team today to find out more details.

RC 'slab' or 'raft' foundations work to spread the load across a large flat surface area, to 'float' a structure. It is ideal when soil is highly compressible and other foundation solutions might not work well.


The current ground is brought to the correct level. If anti-heave is requested by the local council or engineer, this is then installed accordingly. Wooden shuttering is made and installed around the perimeter of the foundation. Reinforced steel is then placed and installed to the engineer’s design. Once passed by the building control inspector or appointed warranty inspector, concrete is then filled to the correct level.

RC slab foundations are an ideal choice for many construction projects, in particular where:

  • Land is composed of low density/pressure soil
  • Walls/columns are close together
  • the overall load of the project will be low (e.g. 1-2 storey buildings)
  • Soil has lots of sediments and contaminants which make other piling methods unsuitable