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CONCRETE FACTS - THE CONCRETE FOUNDATIONS ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER (October 1998)

'This Footing is in the Bag'

A new product recently unveiled by a Canadian company revolutionizes how concrete footings are constructed.

FAB-FORM INDUSTRIES LTD. has introduced a new footing form and a new pad form.

FASTFOOT’S spread footing system utilizes pairs of 2x4 lumber placed flat in steel yokes and leveled by yoke legs quickly adjusted with an electric drill. There are no footing ladders, stakes, cross bracing, or edge lumber used. Instead, concrete is formed by using the company’s Fastfoot® fabric.

The Fab-Form company says that up to 100 feet of footing wall can be installed per hour using these products. In addition to labor costs saved because of the speed of the operation, lumber costs are also greatly reduced.

Fab-form’s pad forming system, the Fastbag®, used for point loads, utilizes plastic bags that come in five standard sizes or that can be custom made to any size. Standard sizes include 24" x 24" x 8", in 6" multiples up to 48" x48" x 14". Larger sizes can be purchased with zippers for easier placement of a reinforcing mat in the footing.

Nothing could be simpler than this system: you place the bag on the ground and fill with concrete. The concrete automatically conforms to uneven ground inside the bag, and the bag is left in place, preventing rapid drying of the concrete.

Some of the Fastfoot® bags come with zippers that are used when a column will be constructed atop the footing. In this case, contractors drive rebar through the center of the bag before pouring to mark the exact column location. Zippered bags are also used when steel grid reinforcing is called for.

The Fab-Form company compares conventional pad forming with its new system in this way: In the conventional system, you cut lumber, build formwork, fill with concrete, strip the lumber, and discard the lumber. With Fab-Form’s new system there are only two steps: position the bag and fill it with concrete!

For more information, contact Fab-Form Industries Ltd., Unit 212, 6333 148th Street, Surrey, BC, V3S 3C3, Canada, or phone 604 596-3278, or Toll Free 888 303-FAST (3278), or Fax 604 501-6090, or Email: info@fab-form.com.