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Liamey
Member
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# Posted: 29 Oct 2012 08:40am
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First of all, I would like to say Hi 
I have lurked on this forum for a while and have obtained some very good information 
With any luck, early next year I might be able to begin construction on a 16x24 1 and a half storey cabin. The cabin I hope to construct will be in Newfoundland and situated on Crown Land. Now for my issue  The land is slightly raised and backs onto a nice secluded pond. Now, I know this is a major no no from what I have read, but the scenic location comes with a bit of an issue, in that the land is "slightly boggy" This is where I am struggling with coming up with an appropriate foundation. I do not want to sink lots of money into a foundation pardon the pun! Does anyone have any potential ideas as to what foundation might be appropriate? I was thinking of digging down as far as i could and filling with crushed stone and then laying paving stones and blocks on top to which my piers wouold be attached. I have seen this method used on a number of webpages but never for boggy ground. Now when i say boggy, the ground does not appear to be completely saturated in that I can walk on it just fine. Currently there is some moss and many blueberry bushes on the land. I'm just worried about frost heaving. Any initial thoughts as to a suitable foundation?
Mnay thanks for your anticipated input.
Regards,
Liamey
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MtnDon
Member
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# Posted: 29 Oct 2012 11:10am
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Wet ground expands when frozen so that is one problem. If the buildings foundation is laid above the frost depth it will suffer movement. If you can dig below the frost level and place a poured concrete footing at that level you can prevent movement. If you do not get below that frost level and the soil is wet there will be movement. Perhaps a small amount of movement can be tolerated in a vacation type of residence? That's up to you, the owner builder.
The other question I have is how are the local winds? High winds can be a problem if the structure is not firmly anchored. So if you can not dig very deep you would need lots of concrete. Are there other structures in the area on similar terrain? How have they fared over time? And how were they built / anchored? Some things work, some don't and what's already been there for a while may be a good indicator.
I'm not familiar with whatever rules are in place when one builds on crown land. Do they have rules?
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Liamey
Member
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# Posted: 29 Oct 2012 11:59am
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Hi MtnDon,
Thank you for your reply. I am still going through the process of acquiring the land which will be on the basis of Licence to Occupy. The next step assuming that no department or agency has any concerns with the area I selected would be to confer some kind of deed or title to the land. I am not aware of any restrictions as to size of cabin etc. I do not believe the local winds to prove a problem as they tend to be fairly light and the area itself is surrounded by many trees.
I guess i really should go and dig a few test holes to see how far down I can get. If possible I would like to move away from concrete posts (sonotube?) as it can be quite expensive here. Looking at other cabins is a great idea - i shall certainly keep that in mind as and when I stumble upon one!
At the moment I am thinking of digging down as far as I can go and filling the holes with gravel and then placing some kind of paving block on top. As the cabin is only going to be 16x24 I am thinking of maybe a large tarp over a gravel base to deflect any rain water away from the cabin once it is built - not sure if this would prevent any lateral perculation of water though. What the land does have going for it is that the slightly boggy land is raised so does not collect water.
Regards,
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MtnDon
Member
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# Posted: 29 Oct 2012 05:02pm
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I don't think digging a hole and tossing gravel in is any better than just digging a hole and inserting a post of some kind and packing what was pulled out back in.. The gravel in a hole or trench thing works when there is also a drain out to daylight so any water that enters has an easy way out. Otherwise it's just a hole with gravel where the water can collect. If that is below frost depth then it might work, but if the hole and the gravel stop above frost level the gravel / hole is just a place to form a nice chunk of ice with gravel in it.
Yes, do dig a test hole or two so you know what is under the surface. Also ask the government if they can tell you what the frost depth is.
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larry
Member
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# Posted: 29 Oct 2012 11:21pm
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Quoting: Liamey Currently there is some moss and many blueberry bushes on the land.
i live in michigan and i have never seen blueberries grow in a wet area. my point is ,are you sure it is as wet as you believe?
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beachman
Member
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# Posted: 30 Oct 2012 03:36pm
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Have you seen a new product called PostTech? These are steel posts that screw into the ground with a special ATV attachment and have levelers built in. I understand that they can support a tremendous weight and may be the thing you are looking for with this project. If they work - very little ground damage and no frost pboblems. Good luck!
I built a hemlock walkway a few years ago in a boggy are of our land and used hemlock posts to drive down into the muck - then attached my walkway to them. Of course in two years we had a "hundred year" flood and a few 4x10 sections floated away. I managed to retreive them eventually and got the thing mostly back together but plan to systematically replce the pilings with these posts.
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exsailor
Member
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# Posted: 1 Nov 2012 02:02pm
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I don't have a lot of building background to draw upon. Why wouldn't building on Skids, without a permanent foundation work here? Unless the ground is boggy enough for the weight of the cabin to sink the skids. If that happened the floor would end up resting on the ground, which would not be good.
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TheWildMan
Member
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# Posted: 1 Nov 2012 02:44pm
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moss and blue berries? are there any rocks in view? moss is an indicator of very poor soil but not specificly wet soil. it grows on rocks and on trees so its not a good indicator. blueberries grow on high acid soil that would kill a lot of other plants, your in canada so i can't suggest the us geologic survey, you should find our if canada did any survey work. find out what the soil struture is exactly. you may find a few feet down its solid rock (I am thinking of the canada shield, bedrock just under the surface), or it may have been a big pond centuries ago that filled with fine silt and you may have a lot of trouble building.
i suggest you either get a soil report or ask those in the area farmiliar with soils to advise you whats best.
(if your in the US you can get all the info free at geologic survey website, but understanding it can be hard)
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DungeonX
Member
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# Posted: 14 Nov 2012 02:12pm
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i have started on my cabin in ontario and i have some what the same conditions as you. i have a thread in the members photos area called "16x24 cabin on the abitibi river" and it has pictures of how i have dealt with my foundation i have very remote access so gravel and cement was not an option. I created pilings out of 4x6 creosoted timbers. I have heavy clay soils and it will heave but what i will just have to do is jack it back to level for the next few years in the spring. so i will use paneling inside to cover walls
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