San Antonio addition

[patriotn11]

 Hello Carson

I've been following your story.  I bought the plans for the 2 story 20x30 from country plans.  I am buying a fixer upper in the city and I am going to use the bottom part of the plan to add it to the rear of the already 20x30 1930 pier and post home I'm fixing up.  I will use the plan as a bedroom addition.  Can you tell me how and what you used to set and mount your posts, all the details please, depth and so on.  I see they were 4x4 treated posts.  How many total, did I see 6, 6 and 6 for 18 total.  Any info please advise, I'm so excited and glad I found your forum.  This is my first such project, I've been saving and also buying power tools and such for the last year, so I'm ready and stoked .  I did carpentry years back and so excited to get back in it.

Michael in San Antonio[/b]

[Jimmy_Cason]

Hello Carson

Can you tell me how and what you used to set and mount your posts, all the details please, depth and so on.  I see they were 4x4 treated posts.  How many total, did I see 6, 6 and 6 for 18 total.  Any info please advise,

Hello Michael and welcome.

I used 6x6 treated posts for the foundation of the house.  
The 4x4s are used only on the front porch.
I built this house on very, very sandy soil, just like at the beach.
I guess that is why my mailing address is Big Sandy, Texas.

I dug holes for the posts at front of the house about 36" deep by 20" wide in kind of a bell shape tapering smaller toward the top . At the rear of the house the posts are about 5 feet from the ground to the bottom of the foundation so I dug the holes about 48" deep.
I placed 4" thick of concrete in the bottom of the hole with rebar.
Let it dry for a week or two. Then I placed the post directly on top of the pad in the hole and surrounded each post with aprox. six  80lbs bags of quickcrete. Poured it  in dry then sprayed the top with a mist of water for a few minutes. A few weeks later the entire concrete support was hard.

I placed a post every 8 feet down my 40 ft length on each of the 3 support beams

[patriotn11]

Thanks a bunch,

I appreciate it very much, i'll keep in touch.

Sincerely

Michael

[Preston]

Jimmy, please don't tell me you dug those 20 wide 36 deep holes by hand  :'(

I'm planning on using a 2-man gas auger but the max is 12"  I hope I don't have to go much wider...

[Jimmy_Cason]

Jimmy, please don't tell me you dug those 20 wide 36 deep holes by hand  :'(

I'm planning on using a 2-man gas auger but the max is 12"  I hope I don't have to go much wider...

Yep, Dug by hand!
Luckly this was the first part of the project so I had lots of drive and energy.
Although, I would do it again!    
I'm just glad I don't!

[Preston]

I'll be digging in clay and soft rock, not on the Beach  Thinking about it now, I'd sacrifice and do it all with a Hand trowel if I had to, I'm so excited!