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Coyote Flats
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# Posted: 27 Feb 2016 02:02pm
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Today I didn't have much going on so I put my snowshoes on and hiked into my friends place to check on his cabin. Our concern was snow load on his roof. The first thing I noticed when I got there was his front door was wide open but I could tell that nobody had been around as our snow is very deep.
I looked around couldn't see anything missing door wasn't forced. I found that because he didn't use dead bolt as he likely lost the key he only had lock set locked and his cabin does shift up and down I found the striker plate was to far away from bolt and just slipped open. His cabin was built on bad ground he is constantly jacking it up and letting it down because of frost. I am only 4 km away and new he was having trouble before I started to build. I built mine on rock with a foot or so of soil. I scraped down to rock and poured pier blocks.
So just pick your spot but beware if it's not well drained soil you may have issues
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 27 Feb 2016 04:39pm - Edited by: bldginsp
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Is the issue here well-drained soil or is it frost heave? Obviously you're in a serious frost area- if his footings are not below the frost line he'll have the problems you describe. But is there also a drainage issue where he is? Soil staying soaked year round? Gradually sinking into the mud....
You were smart to dig down to rock.
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Julie2Oregon
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# Posted: 28 Feb 2016 02:06am
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Coyote Flats
I'm going to do the same as you did. The only question remaining is if we'll do block or use ICFs. The ICFs will insulate and save on labor hours but require more concrete. Both would need waterproofing.
How did you waterproof? Do you use the crawlspace and do you have any water issues inside the crawlspace from natural groundwater flow/seepage?
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Coyote Flats
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# Posted: 28 Feb 2016 09:34am
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Hi Julie I just poured my concrete piers and put my grade beams 8 x 8 timbers from saw mill on them. I don't have an enclosed crawl space just skirting around cabin no water issues there are some cracks in the rock so it drains itself
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Julie2Oregon
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# Posted: 28 Feb 2016 06:13pm
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Ah, OK, got it. I'm doing a perimeter with block or ICFs. That's cool that you've got natural drainage! 
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KinAlberta
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# Posted: 29 Feb 2016 06:57pm - Edited by: KinAlberta
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I posted somewhere else on the forum that we have two cabins on blocks on soil. Both are 60+ yrs old and neither moves much at all due to the drainage. They do move though and an inch or so of shimming has been done over the years on a couple corners.
So if I were building today I wouldn't hesitate to use blocks. The only thing I wish had been done, was for the cabins to have been raised higher off the ground so I could get under them at all points. One, for insulating the floors and two, to upgrade the beams by attaching more 2x s to them. (I'd love to really up the beam strength by doubling or tripling their size, maybe even putting in a sub-cross-hatching beam, so I could put in a tile or slate floor.
Some over-building of beams decades ago would have left me in a wonderful position today plus it would have added a lot more stability. On one cabin there
's 1"+ of sag in a corner (hasn't been touched in 20+ yrs.) and heavy duty beams might have spread the load across a larger area and maybe have floated that corner rather than allowed compression in damp soil. My thinking is that heavy duty beams would essentially cantilever the perimeter where any rainwater might soften the soil and allow the weight of the cabin to sink the footings. Plus jacking and levelling would be much easier.
Basically, on the issue of blocks as foundation I think water has to drain away from the cabin so as the soil freezes, everything freezes in unison so any lift from frost lifts the whole structure equally. I compare it to all the detached on-slab garages built in western Canada that at most get cracks in the concrete floors.
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Coyote Flats
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# Posted: 29 Feb 2016 07:49pm
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Yes it's good to have some room under the cabin. I crawled under mine this fall and insulated the 2x10 s and than sheeted it. I was some happy when I was done. Just enough room to crawl in get turned over on my back than get sheet of plywood on top of me ,hold it up and screw it. Thank god for cordless tools
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