Weathers breaking !

[wvwoodsman]

Hi everyone,

The weather is breaking and its time to build the cabin. I had questions about the spacing of the piers for my cabin because i was building it larger (16' x 40' ) and we figured out the spacing was every 4' . I see several structures around the area ( West Virginia ) that are built the same , only with concrete blocks as footers. They locals all talk about the " red clay here " when it gets wet its slick , easy to get stuck in your truck ! I know i need to dig down in the ground till i reach solid ground for the piers. Do you think because of the soil being red clay , will i have problems with "heaving" ? Is there a need to dig below the frostline on the corners and middle of beams and pour concrete with sauna tubes ? I'm just concerned about the P&P foundation not being supportive enough. I never tried this and want to make sure i will be ok. All good things start with a good foundation. Has anyone here built in West Virginia with the post and pier and know for sure it works ?

[Redoverfarm]

I am not really a fan of post construction and would rather use a block pier or filled sonotubes to support the beams.  But others who will pick up can advise you of the process.  I can say that you will need to get the bottom of the footing below the frost/freeze line and in most cases it is 18-24" and come off that with your pier.  The heave is caused by the expansion of the soil when it freezes.  By going below that frost/freeze line there is essentially no movement except the soil above that of which you are not going to use to support anything permenantly.   

What part of the Mountain State are you located?

[wvwoodsman]

My property is just outside of Harrisville. Do you know if there's anyone to deliver me concrete in the area ? I know the stone i got for my driveway came off the barge on the Ohio river !

[Redoverfarm]

I would say maybe West Union or St. Marys ( They would come up the pike to Pennsboro)? But for sure Parkersburg or Clarksburg.

[Don_P]

I'm not a real fan of pier and beam but if you are going with block piers there is a way to make it perform much better. On the corners build the corner at least 4-6' long out of the corner each way. You will make it much less likely to tip the other piers with the corners locked.

[MountainDon]

As Don_P says IF you have the 4 corners braced down each side that will make it much more difficult for them to shift laterally. I've not had to deal with clay soils but when they get wet they expand and become less stable.

We have seen unbraced piers suffer dire consequences when the land was subjected to a soaking spring runoff. The ground became Jello like. The piers tilted, or rotated.

Do the bracing during the pier and beam, beam and joist construction stage. Don't leave it to later. At least mt "laters" have a habit of being continually pushed off to the future.