- 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 (800/342-5976) sells a
line of asphaltic membranes for this purpose.