Im considering building a cabin in a timber where I hunt. Here are some details to help with my question…
The Cabin will be 20 by 30, with a loft. Convenbtional 2 by framing..
The site is in a timber that has a pretty good slope. There would be a lot of work getting fill into the site so I feel that stem walls will be the best solution. I can get a backhoe in to dig and rip out the stumps that we need to remove..it is in a timber!
Now this is where I get confused…If I have the backhoe ghuy dig a 12 in trench and go 3 feet deep, we will be 3 feet deep on the shallow end and about 5 feet on the deep end (Uphill side). Here is the question..
If I do a monopour, how can I form up the footing/stemwall and not have to incur a lot of extra cost?
Leveling the top of the forms seems to be the biggest issue with the botton=m of the trencch not perfectly level..
Is this the best way to go about the foundation?
Replies
Are you asking how to do the forming?
If you're thinking DIY, and you need to ask that question, you likely want 2 pours. First the footer, so you have something to support the wall forms. Then the walls.
You mention extra cost, which would only be labor? If you're planning on hiring out the forming, do it whatever way your chosen professional suggests. When you hire an expert (knows more than you), do it his way.
If your site only slopes 2' in 20', it's not much of an issue.
What's "a timber"?
If you'd fill in your profile we'd have some idea of where you're talking about.
PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
Consider bringing in a rubber-tracked mini excavator, which is much easier to maneuver around in the woods. Dig holes for sonotubes and pour piers. Frame your floor with PT lumber and use structural insulated panels for the floor (unless it will be an uninsulated cabin). Build the rest of the cabin conventionally.
Just some thoughts to consider.
Hey--show pictures when you get it going.......i've always kinda wanted to do the same type of thing, maybe you can inspire me!
if it just a hunting camp, why use concrete just build on timber piers.
Ill give more detailll...what is a timber?....Thats Missouri for a woods, a timbered area.
The cabin I plan to build will be 20 by 30, the front door on the 30 foot side and have one bedroom down, a galley kitchen, and a bath with a incinolet toilet so no septic needed and all greay water will surface drain.
The plumbing will need to be engineered to allow a full system drain as it will not be heated when I am not there and primary het will be a wood stove. The loft will serve as a second bedroom. The side walls will be 8 foot, the roof a 12/12 so I have head room in loft.
I had considered the entire thing on Piers but when I mention it to local contractors I get looks like I have an eye in middle of my forhead. It would be a lot easier to do that way as I can power posthole dig to at least 4 feet and maybe deeper with tractor and sonotube is easy. I normally will hit sandstone rock at 2 1/2 to 3 feet.
our company hunting camp is pretty much the same, setting on piers which in our case are six feet telephone poles. our is off the ground so we can have storage under the bldg. 4 wheeleres etc.
just build on timber piers
amen, that is what I did for my cabin. Many power companies give away what they call "pole butts" that are big fat creosoted 6 ft long cutoffs or stubs pulled from a damaged pole. Got mine free that way.
20 by 30? is that a cabin or a lodge<G> or a McCabin??
20 by 30? is that a cabin or a lodge<G> or a McCabin??
Amen too, brother. My house is 20x30....
If he can get heavy equipment including backhoes, concrete trucks etc. to the site, it ain't far into the 'timber' either.
I agree on the timber piers; creosoted pole butts would be ideal. My house was originally built in the 60s as a 20x24 summer cabin exactly that way, and it lasted through 30 years of zero maintenance by the former owners. When I finally jacked it up and rebuilt it into a real house in 1995, I only had to replace 3 floor joists.
Got there in the nick of time, tho....
Dinosaur
A day may come when the courage of men fails,when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship...
But it is not this day.
I would build on PT piers too.but on the layout - a 12/12 roof over 20' wide won't give you all that much headroom upstairs. Narrow and long like this does have some layout advantage downstairs and shorter spans can save bucks on lumber sizing, but heating can be harder to circulate from a wood stove. The closer you are to a pure cube, the less surface area you have losing heat compared to the sq fottage overall. IOW, a 24 x 26 will give you more sf with less surface area radiating heat out and heat circulation for even heat will be easier.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
If you had a great deal of snow and soft ground, an RC foundation might be nice. My cabin was built on a concrete piers just planted casually into the topsoil many years ago. The snowload caused very uneven settling, requiring frequent jacking and shimming to level out the cabin.In your case, though, since you can auger down to rock so easily, cement piers might be very appropriate.
Where in Misery are ya?
SamT
Thanks for all the insight...good food for thought....as to the size and calling it a cabin? Well I did build a cabin by most definitions there two years ago. But it has no indoor facility and the love of my life insists she aint gonna use no outhouse. So Im thinking of building this baby and she likes the floorplan...so she would approve of the cash outlay! If it was up to me, Id saty with my perfectly quaint 16 by 16 one room hunt cabin...perfect for me and one guest
Its pretty far back in the timber...the road way to top of first ridge is 1800 feet and it had to be chainsawed out . Its in Western MO