- Q. I have been told that crushed stone should be placed beneath foundation footings as a capillary break to prevent moisture from migrating up the foundation wall into the basement or crawlspace. Won’t this make the footing settle?
A. A concrete footing should rest on undisturbed inorganic soil. The crushed stone could cause settling of the footing. Moisture rising through the footing shouldn’t be a great problem if you have adequate perimeter drainage. As a failsafe, you might install a waterproofing membrane between the footing and the foundation. W.R. Meadows (wrmeadows.com) sells a line of asphaltic membranes for this purpose.
Q&A: Capillary Break at Footing
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