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TOOLS OF THE TRADE (March/April 2000)

Fast Footings

Forget funky footing forms - step up production with these new systems

By Kim Basham

Footing forms. They're the first pieces of lumber to show up on job sites - and they usually look more like a waste pile than building components. 

Although good foundation contractors know the benefits of the best wall-forming systems and treat them accordingly, many still use split-out refugees from the scrap pile to set their footings. Sure, these forms perform the lowest job on the totem pole, but the same efficiencies found in wall-forming systems are now available for footings. In fact, several manufacturers offer new, innovative footing systems that make traditional wood site-built forms obsolete. The new systems save time, labor, and materials, and, best of all, increase profits. Here's a look at some of the best new footing forms. 

Forming Footings with Fabric
Fab-Form Industries' Fastfoot® System uses a coated, high-density polyethylene fabric called Fastfoot® fabric, 2X4 supporting strips, and specially built steel yokes to form footings. According to Fab-Form operations manager, Rick Fearn, it's a simple three-step process. First, place pairs of 2X4s into the adjustable-height yokes. Then staple Fastfoot® fabric to the 2X4s. Forms can then be filled with concrete.

Yoke legs telescope, which makes it easy to adjust forms to the proper elevation. Yokes are placed about 10 feet apart and require no stakes. Fearn says workers can typically install up to 100 linear feet of Fastfoot® forms per hour, even on hard or rocky ground.

The Fastfoot® fabric conforms to uneven and sloping sites, are extremely lightweight, and can handle up to 24-inch thick footings. Fastfoot® fabric comes in 120-foot lengths and in widths of 62 and 74 inches. It's marked to help workers properly align the fabric before stapling. You save time and labor by leaving the fabric in place and using the 2X4s to align the foundation wall form, says Fearn. Because the fabric protects the 2X4s during concrete placement, the lumber comes off the footing clean and ready for the next job. 

Fastbags®
In addition to strip footing forms, Fab-Form Industries manufactures pre-sewn fabric bags for pad footings called Fastbags®. Bag sizes start at 18 inches square and increase in 6-inch increments up to 48 inches square. Access zippers let you place rebar inside bags.

You can fill fabric forms with a concrete pump or from a ready-mix truck's chute. Regardless of the placement method, Fearn recommends using a water reducer or plasticizer to aid in concrete placement. (Water reducers increase the fluidity and workability of fresh concrete.) Kicking the sides of the fabric form or bag at regular intervals during the pour helps ensure that the form is completely filled.