How to build Piers

[djsullie]

when building a pier foundation.  Does the post your using go into the hole and concrete poured around the post in the hole. ? Or do you fill the hole up with concrete to the top  and add a barcket at the  top of the concrete pillar to attach your post to?

[hunter63]

I used "sonit tubes" (spelling?), basically cardboard tubes 12" dia, 48" long.
Holes dug with post hole digger.
They get filled with concrete, then solid blocks for the balance of the piers.

[John Raabe]

You need to get the bracket and untreated wood up at least 6" above the soil.

See this article for options including the cardboard Sonotube mentioned earlier.

http://countryplans.com/foundation/index.html

[djsullie]

when building a pier foundation.  Does the post your using go into the hole and concrete poured around the post in the hole. ? Or do you fill the hole up with concrete to the top  and add a barcket at the  top of the concrete pillar to attach your post to?

thank you guys for the help.. I am very green to say the least. But I am determined to build a suiteable cabin by myself.  So I will apologize up front with the generic questions I will be asking

[glenn kangiser]

John has a very reasonable priced plan that would really help you out on your project.  Check out the Little House Plans and I think you will save enough time to cover the cost.

[peteh2833]

If you are using pressure treated wood for the posts, can they be below the soil level? Thanks Pete

[glenn-k]

John's foundation plan shows that in cases - usually where drainage is good surrounded by gravel or soil cement.

http://countryplans.com/foundation/index.html

[peg_688]

If you are using pressure treated wood for the posts, can they be below the soil level? Thanks Pete

They could yes , BUT you'd still need a wide footer, under that post , IE cement at least 8"x12" x12" min. if you just set a post in the grd. it would settle , and all the post would settle unevenly , unless of course they went 4 or 5 feet down to good soil, like a pole barn and the post should be larger than 4x4's . So it's a depends question.

 In fact it would be better to keep those posts above grade  so IF one did rot , yes even PT post do rot, it could be replaced some waht more easily.

[MountainDon]

o ....IF one did rot , yes even PT post do rot, it could be replaced some what more easily.

Yesterday I found that a PT beam in one of my 15 yr old shade shelters had developed some rot...

[John_C]

All PT wood is not created equal.   In terms of CCA (green) treated wood there are four levels of treatment in
Lbs. per cu.ft.    Use

0.25         Above Ground
0.40       Ground Contact
0.60        Permanent Wood Foundation
2.50        Salt Water

My porch sits on .60 treated 6x6's and they are in good shape after 19 years.  Sadly, the .60 stuff is hard to find these days.    

[MountainDon]

Good info John C. This was ground contact wood or so the tag said. It was on the ground but the bottom disappeared in a 12 inch space.    

[peteh2833]

I will be ordering plans soon and I will just follow the plans for the post and pier foundation. I know you can't just put the post in the ground. I planned on drilling holes down pretty deep and using some tubes and then filling them with concrete. From there I'm open to suggestions for the rest. Pete

[youngins]

The Simpson EPB bracket John has in his pier foundation example on this site (http://countryplans.com/foundation/index.html) is hard to find. Everywhere I went, they said they could special order it, but I would have to buy the whole case. Thats a real bummer cause I liked the idea of having the bracket attached to the rebar. Keep in mind I am only building a playhouse, but I am building it with stout.   I figure if a tornado hits, the house should blow away before the playhouse does. We should have a little more room in the playhouse than in those tiny FEMA trailers.

I am using the Simpson PB44 ZMAX instead - a decision mostly based on the fact I found them at a Home Depot for 5.54 each. An ABA is $8-9 - not including the J or other bolt you would need to sink int the concrete. The other reason is that I plan not to use any posts - just have the bracket connect straight to the  beam. RDPecken just used this on their installation (see http://www.countryplans.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1171414396).

[blackdog]

I plan on building the piers for my 12'x18' Little House once the ground thaws and am pondering my options for the post bases.  There are a wide variety of Simpson post bases available at my local Home Depot - EPB44T (post base suggested in the plans), EPB44A and PB44 to name a few.  I would assume the elevated post base should be used to keep the PT post away from the concrete.

If I go with the post base suggested in the plans, the whole building load will basically be supported by 6 pieces of threaded rod.  In my mind this is not very stable. I'm sure they will do the job or else John would have suggested a different post base.

Anyhow, would appreciate the experts comments.  Am I being overly cautious? (the snow needs to melt so I can get out and build and stop thinking).

[glenn kangiser]

Steel averages around 50,000 psi tensile strength so it doesn't take too much to be pretty strong.