Not everyone does not always have the opportunity to carry out construction with high costs, so for many it is important to save at least in those works that you can do it yourself. When my wife and I decided that a close apartment no longer satisfies us, we decided to build a small but still personal house on our country site. Of course, there was something to think about – the construction of the house is a serious thing. Having re -read a lot of information, I decided that I could handle the foundation myself, and this is very significant, since the foundation of the building is the third part of the costs of the entire construction. I have never done such work before, so I consulted with all possible sources. But since the result seems to be excellent, I can share experience. So, at first I learned about the type of soil on the site and the approximate level of freezing, which is necessary to decide on the necessary trench height under the foundation. I decided to make the width of the trench 40cm, although they say that 30cm is usually enough. But I was afraid to save on fundamental things. Then he cleared and leveled the site, made markings. I made it with the help of simple wooden home -made pegs and a thick fishing line. I admit, it was not immediately possible to make all the corners even. Only when the neighbor built nearby advised me to measure the diagonal roulette (if they are equal to one another, the corners will also be correctly exhibited), everything worked out. I marked the internal boundaries in the same way, be sure to check after this diagonal. My plot is almost even, but still, construction literature advised to choose the lowest point, from where it is recommended to start the countdown of the digging depth of our trench. This will avoid the difference in the height of the foundation. I decided to dig a shovel on my own with a friend. Of course, this is not easy, especially when you need to try to make the walls of the trench clearly vertical, and the bottom is constantly aligned and checked using the level. But I can say that we finished this work, along with the removal of dug land, in just a week. Of course, without attracting the technique it is much more difficult to make a strip foundation for the house, but my experience showed that it is still possible. I already fell asleep with sand, tamped, leveled the finished trench in level and moistened with water. I was also advised to put waterproofing on top of the pillow using a plastic film. She is inexpensive, so he did so. The same neighbor who was already engaged in the roof took materials from its formwork and knocked out his nails, setting it to a height of about 30 cm above the surface of the earth. Of course, I immediately made holes for the future sewer, so as not to do excess work, breaking through the foundation. I did not have a welding machine, so I tied the reinforcement with wire, making square cells with a side of about 30cm. Having laid the reinforcement in the trench, I started filling. Concrete poured a little, 20 centimeters, tamping it all the time and tapping the walls of the formwork. Upon reaching the desired level, he was talked with a trowel and left to dry. It seems that nothing is very hard, and a third of the work is done!