Old Basement Walls Built With Pouring Concrete Into Wood Forms

Historically this has been one of the most common forms of building basement walls.

Old basement walls built with pouring concrete into wood forms.

Poured concrete basements are probably the most common type construction. When a foundation is poured its footing a wide flat base made from concrete and reinforced steel designed. As the name suggests poured concrete basement construction begins with the pouring of a footing for the foundation. Another area where cracks are commonly found is at the bottom of the basement walls.

Concrete wall forms are typically made of plywood aluminum or steel. Concrete tends to flake and break away easily which is difficult and costly to repair. For tom good means steel reinforced foundation walls and footings made of poured concrete. With wood it is much easier to repair reinforce.

Forms are used to hold the wall in place as they dry. Typically homebuilders will have a concrete foundation cure for about 7 10 days in our region so we must practice some patience. Place the first piece of wood sheathing along the string line. I have seen many homes over 100 years old with wooden basements and concrete basements.

Finally with the weather cooperating progress has been going great. Thicker slabs require thicker sheathing which may be pine boards or plywood. 1 inch by 4 inch boards are generally stout enough for up to 4 inches of concrete. The 2 x 4 s should be no 2 kiln dried pine simply because it is cheap easy to work with and holds nails very well.

2 x 4 s and 3 4 forming plywood works best. The form will be lightweight and strong. If they will be reused then use treated lumber. The plywood needs to be of forming quality.

Use treated wood if the wood will come into contact with concrete such as the wood floor plates of framed walls or wood furring strips that attach directly to basement walls. Many consider aluminum and steel wall forming systems to be more productive efficient and even economical than wood forming. If you pour a basement foundation the foundation walls will need to sit and cure a little bit before the next step can occur. The width and depth of the sheathing is dependent on the amount of concrete being poured.

Cast in place cip concrete walls are made with ready mix concrete placed into removable forms erected on site. Plywood forms are typically used where unique wall shapes sizes and embedment characteristics are present. In heavy rains and harsh conditions wood is quicker to dry than concrete.