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CANADIAN HOME BUILDER MAGAZINE (Sept / Oct 1998)

New Foundation System Uses Fabric

SURREY, BC – A Canadian company is turning fabric into foundations with a system that has proven popular with California home builders. FAB-FORM INDUSTRIES LTD. claims it can deliver footing forms faster and at less cost than conventional wood forms. The company produces a system for strip footings as well as for point loads.

The FASTFOOT® strip footing uses a set of adjustable steel yokes (purchased from the company) which hold in place and level pairs of 2x4s, into which a lightweight but strong woven fabric is attached. The fabric form can adjust to ground height differences of up to 12 inches. Concrete is then poured into the fabric form and once the concrete sets, the 2x4s act as kicker plates for the wall forms. "We eliminate the need for stakes, cross bracing, and much of the lumber and labour", said Fab-Form's president and inventor, Richard Fearn. He estimates the fabric for a typical footing to cost around 60 cents, which he says is considerably less than conventional lumber.

The Fastbag® is used for point load footings. The lightweight "bags" are simply placed on the ground and filled with concrete. "There is no lumber, nailing, leveling, or stripping with the pads, and they cost less than the lumber they replace", says Fearn.

So far the bulk of Fab-Form's sales have been into the California market, but recently builders in Surrey, Vancouver, and Delta, BC are using the system.