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Johnbenjamin
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# Posted: 13 Aug 2017 11:03am
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Hello,
I'm building a 24x32 a frame cabin. Quick question about piers. The cabin will likely be 4' oc sitting on a tripled 2x12 "beam" supported every 8' by piers. How small a pier can I get away with? I was planning for 12", but 10" or 8" sonotube will decrease the amount of digging (frost line is 5').
Thanks in advance!
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ICC
Member
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# Posted: 13 Aug 2017 04:05pm
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The piers need to have a footing pad under them to distribute the vertical load over the soil and make it less likely to sink further into the soil. So reducing the size of the pier will do little if anything to reduce the amount of digging required.
The prescriptive guide for building a deck calls out a minimum diameter for a round footing of 18". And that is for a deck with no roof; not a house. (Google DCA-6 manual for a look). There is no prescriptive formula for making a habitable building on piers because piers really need an engineer. Lots of variables need to be addressed with the load carrying of the soil being one. Hire or rent a back hoe and dig a perimeter trench, pour a concrete footing, probably 16" wide x 8" thick. Then pour walls or build a block wall or maybe look into building a permanent wood foundation if that is too much concrete. Google will find lots of info on the PWF. PWF can be built on a compacted gravel base in a trench.
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Johnbenjamin
Member
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# Posted: 16 Aug 2017 11:55pm
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The build site is only accessible by trail, so a foundation is out. Thank you for the information though!
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Ken Robbins
Member
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# Posted: 22 Aug 2017 11:41pm
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Take a look at these, the installation machine is like a mountain goat, climbs about anywhere.
https://www.technometalpost.com/en-US/
I used them in AK and worked out fantastic.
Ken
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