Pile foundations cost calculator
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Foundation Cost Calculator: Calculating the cost of your foundations
It is impossible to create a completely accurate costing prior to starting work. That’s because conditions on site may not be fully apparent until breaking ground. However, many companies will give you a generic quote which could be way outside the final bill.
Our foundations cost calculator factors in as many of the key variables as possible. It gives you an indication of the potential foundation and piling cost per metre for your project.
We include items such as the size and height of the building to identify the best type of foundations, and accessibility issues that will have an immediate impact.
We’re happy to speak to you to provide a more personalised estimate, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch to find out more about how to calculate the cost of your pilings or foundations.
What factors affect the cost of groundworks and foundations?
Various factors affect the cost of foundations per metre or square foot, including size and accessibility.
- The first influence is the type of foundation your building requires. Strip foundations with a trench of concrete are the cheapest, while piling is generally the most expensive. The type of building will determine which type of foundation you need.
- The next thing that affects the cost is another obvious one. The larger the footprint of the building, the more area there will be to install foundations and therefore the cost of materials and labour will be higher.
- A basement foundation cost per square foot will generally be lower than the cost of a foundation for a home or business development, simply because of the size, but other factors that aren’t related to the size of the building will still affect it.
- The accessibility of the building site affects how easy it is to get equipment and materials in place and whether or not you need specialist equipment. If the site is on uneven ground, you may need levelling or additional excavation, as well as disposal of soil. That is unless you opt to redistribute the soil for landscaping purposes, which will reduce the cost.
- The quality of the subsoil will also have an effect on the cost of laying foundations. Clay soils can expand or contract depending on moisture content and may need additional work to ensure the safety of the foundations. Any contamination of the site will also involve additional costs during the groundworks phase.
What is a piling foundation?
Piling is a form of deep foundation for large and heavy buildings, including blocks of flats and offices. They can be as deep as 20-65 metres. Depending on the ground conditions, these foundations might be end-bearing or friction piles.
End-bearing piles rely on having a layer of very solid soil or rock, deep in the ground. Piles will be driven into this layer and the load of the building transfers through the piles onto this stable layer. If there isn’t a layer of solid rock, or it is too deep, we need to use friction piles. These transfer the load through the soil, using friction.
What other types of foundations are there?
We use different types of foundations for different building types. Shallow foundations are suitable for smaller buildings, including houses. They can be installed at a depth of as little as 1 metre, and include individual footings, strip footings, and raft or mat foundations. The cost of raft foundations will differ from the cost of individual footings and other shallow foundation types. For an estimation, you can use our cost calculator.
Individual footings distribute loads horizontally when columns carry the load of the building. Concrete mix in reinforcement cages fills foundation holes on the site. These are most suitable for lightweight structures.
Strip footings use trenches full of concrete and are built up to ground level using blockwork. Building loads are carried across walls rather than columns. Raft or mat foundations are suitable for conditions where the soil is too weak to support footings, and the building loads need to be spread over a larger area. The weight of the building is spread over the entire footprint of the building, using a slab of concrete.