A stem wall foundation is an alternative to a full basement or crawl space for your home. A stem wall foundation is typically designed in areas where the soil has a high water table, flooding issues, and/or excessive frost penetration. This type of foundation also saves you money because it does not require concrete walls as a traditional basement does. So what exactly are stem walls? And how do they work?

What is a stem wall foundation, and what does it do for your home? A stem wall is a foundation that extends from the ground, up through your home’s first floor. This type of foundation can be beneficial for homes with shifting soils or sloping land and helps to keep them stable by providing additional support. A stem wall also has the added benefit of keeping moisture away from your home’s basement walls–which in turn prevents damage caused by flooding. If you are not sure if this style of foundation would best serve your needs, it may be worth consulting an engineer before deciding on one.

How to install a stem wall foundation: Layout a stem wall foundation in the desired location of your house. Dig down to about 24 inches from ground level, depending on what type of soil is available. If you are not sure how deep to dig, consult with an engineer or geologist. Ensure that the bottom edges meet at right angles for correct alignment; make adjustments as needed before proceeding onward so that one side does not slope lower than another.

Starting at one edge, pour concrete into the area dug up and work your way along other sides until they are all filled. Allow time to set (usually overnight) before continuing any further with the construction process. Once the stem wall foundation is installed, it can be filled with clay or other types of fill material to provide extra insulation and protection from groundwater (or saltwater in coastal areas).

Advantages of installing a stem wall foundation:

• Stem walls provide increased lateral stability to buildings. This means the building is less likely to shift due to seismic activity, which can cause significant damage.
• They also increase brick or stone construction’s fire resistance by providing additional protection against direct flame contact with vertical surfaces.
• A stem wall foundation will reduce subsidence in soils that have high clay content and low bearing capacity because it allows for drainage without widening an existing excavation site. Landfill materials are often used as fill around the outside of a stem wall to prevent cracking from pressure on the soil surrounding a stem wall installation if there is not enough structural strength between excavated material.

Cost breakdowns for these types of foundations can vary somewhat depending on the size and type of stem wall you need, but for a typical job, it is estimated that the cost will be in the range of $100 to 500.

Typically stem walls are made with concrete blocks or cinderblocks, which adds to your costs as these materials can get expensive if not purchased at wholesale rates. This also means more labor time because mixing and pouring cement is very physically demanding work.

In some cases, stem walls may be constructed from other materials such as wood, steel, or plastic; however, none of those have been found to perform nearly as well as poured concrete blocks over time due to their susceptibility to water damage and rot build up.