plan review/critique

[puglife122711]

ive been working on the plans for our 16x32 house/cabin, here is some pictures and details. any and all advice/suggestions are appreciated. ive never designed or built a house before. heres the link to my other page of the property http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=13830.msg181738#msg181738


6x6 posts 3 rows (5 posts 8 foot apart to make the 32 foot) (3 rows 8 foot apart to make the 16 foot) will be using 3 2x10 for the beams with 1/2" plywood sandwiched between. 2 sections of 16 foot. the floor joists will be 2x8 16" on center with hurricane ties. all the bracing will be 2x6.
walls are 2x4 double corners and top plates.

[Don_P]

In the deep south a footing trench is 12" deep x 16" wide, filled 8" deep in concrete.  3-4 rows of block and you're building. The posts, bracing, perimeter girders, hangers, hurricane ties, beam plywood, and all their weaknesses go away.

If you go pier and beam run the braces on the same face and butt them into one another as you W your way across the structure. Let the compressive strength of the whole end of the stick of wood take the load rather than just the fasteners. There is an open pavillion in the San Antonio Arboretum that has nice bracing if you're ever over that way. Plywood for dimensional fill if needed, it adds very little strength. Build up the beam to full length by making the breaks between plies over alternate posts

The walls look tall, is this still a single story with a truss roof?

The subfloor end joints should not line up, start every other row with a half sheet... same principle, always try to weave the building together.

[puglife122711]

So on the bracing you're saying to keep it on the inside or outside instead of alternating in between? Would it be beneficial to brace on both inside and outside or a waste of material?And with the beam make it 32' instead of 2 16' sections.the plywood would just be to make it the same width as the post. The walls are ten foot here, but the wife just told me she wants to make a loft for the bedroom to give us more space on the main floor. Now I'm thinking of just going 8' walls and a gambrel truss roof. 2x10 joists for the 16x16 loft. I haven't done too much research into lofts or anything more than one story. Would the joists for the loft sit on top of the wall, or could I nail a double 2x to the wall studs and sit the joists onto them? Thanks

[midrover170]

And with the beam make it 32' instead of 2 16' sections.the plywood would just be to make it the same width as the post.

I think you're better off doing a 32' beam, but stagger the boards and make sure the joints line up on top of a post. I'm not sure you need to do 3 2x12's. I'm doing something very similar with 2 2x12's and no plywood sandwiched in there.

[puglife122711]

It will be 2x10's for the beam, the reasoning for 3 of them and the plywood would be to get it the same width as the post. I'd rather overbuild it than look back and wish I had.

[MountainDon]

As Don_P mentioned, in locations where the frost depth is negligible or non existent a shallow footing trench and some block as very much in its favor. 

And as Don_P also mentioned, the plywood is for making the width match the dimensions of the post and adds very little strength. So, if that is the chosen route, why not nail the 2x's to each other and then use plywood or milled pieces of lumber, scabbed on the outside of the beam at the positions of the metal brackets? Saves materials and time.

[Don_P]

The way to check the beam is to use the girder and header tables in chapter 5 of the codebook or figure out the loads and calculate the minimum beam size. There is nothing wrong with extra. People often forget things like porch or deck loads on the other side of a girder.

For the bracing, all treated lumber, if you run a 2x6 horizontally between posts down low and nail studs to the girder and that new bottom plate on 2' centers and then nail 1/2" treated ply from the bottom plate up onto the girder over the posts and short studs on very close nail spacing. The ply provides much racking resistance to the posts, that load is spread out over many small fasteners. The framing is providing the stiffness to keep the sheathing in plane