Foundation Drain Pipe & Keyway
In my opinion, the single best way for architects and the general public to learn about how buildings go together is to literally see buildings go together (or at least pictures of how buildings go together) and how that compares to what is being drawn in the construction documents architects produce and contractors build from.
That said, I thought it would be a helpful educational tool to start a 'Detail Mark-Up' series of blog posts to highlight specifics of details as they are installed in the field on the Oakley Home 2.0 project, to translate drawings into reality.
Below I have focused on a detail showing the concrete footer (or footing as architects and engineers call it) that will support the concrete foundation wall, highlighting the drainage pipe and keyway elements. The perforated drainage pipe (which is shown rolled up by the sidewalk in the second photo) will be laid on either side of the footer per the detail drawing and connected at intermittent locations through the footing (as shown in the first photo) to collect and disperse any water that builds up around the footer. Meanwhile, the keyway, which is a depression at the top of the footing, aides in resisting the lateral pressure exerted on the base of the foundation wall at the cold joint between the footer and foundation wall (that is structurally viewed as a weak point) by locking the footer and foundation wall together like a key would lock a door.
