Foundation help needed!

[Okie_Bob]

I own a 24' X 30' cabin on a lake in E Tx that currently has what I call a 'stilt' foundation. The cabin is about 35 years old and I want to completely remodel and update it and have recently completed a large garage to live in while gutting the cabin.
The 'stilts' are old creosote telephone poles sunk into the ground between 5' to maybe 6' deep. There are 20 of them and they have done a good enough job but, I think I should replace them before gutting the cabin.
My question concerns how and what can I do?
My first thought was to jack up both sides of one pole, cut the old pole off with a chain saw and replace it with pipe. But, what can I do about the pole left in the ground? Can I simply dig around the old stub and concrete over it and sit the pipe on top of it? Would this be a good practice? If not, what would be a better alternative? I don't think I can dig the old poles out of the gound and cann't get a tractor or any other power equipment into a position to help pull them out.
The main reason I want to replace the poles is to prevern termites from becoming a problem now that the creasote has pretty much evaporated away....maybe a bad term there. And I want to ensure I have enough structural integrity to support the cabin with the improvements I have planned.
And one last thing. The posts are about 1' above grade on one end and extend to about 6' of the other end of the length of the cabin.
Do you think I could get by doing nothing? After all, they have done a good job for the past 35 years and I don't expect to be around another 35!
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[jraabe]

Boy, that's a tough one. How often does the phone company replace their poles? Might be interesting to call and find out what the working lifetime is in your area.

A properly built and drained PT wood foundation could certainly be expected to last much longer than the 70 years we are projecting for the project.

They sound pretty sturdy and well placed for the loads of the building. If you are not going to add substantial new loads to the structure, my first thought would be to do a through inspection to see if there is any rot or insect damage, and, if not, to retreat the poles w/ preservative (top, sides and at least the upper 6" into the soil).

If you have to replace the poles you should really do a full root canal and dig them out - which is a big nasty job.

[glenn-k]

Nice to see you again, Bob.  The worst damaged areas are likely to be in the active soil layer - about the top 6 inches.  You could check them for soundness.  You could put new posts between the old ones if you find problems -if termites were working up toward the house you could cut the top of the old post off after putting new ones each side a bit away, and disconnect them.  If your foundation is dry it doesn't seem like there would be a problem as termites need moisture. Powder post beetles and carpenter bees will go after the dry stuff though  but my guess is that they don't like the taste of creosote anyway..  Search the board for borate for more info.

When I worked for the phone company, many times we found poles that wouldn't come out with even 30,000 pounds pull or more on them.

Ken Kern also highly recommended the pole foundation.

If you do find a problem or two you could use a concrete footing with a new treated post to take care of the problem, next to the bad one.  You don't have to use buried poles just because the originals were buried poles, unless you want to.

[Okie_Bob]

John and Glenn, you guys are life savers!! Thanks
so much for the comments and suggestions. I have been worried about this for years, wondering how I was going to handle this problem. Looks like maybe I don't have a problem after all and that is great news from both a labor and cost standpoint.

I just can't say enough about this site, I'd have made a lot of mistakes had it not been for the tips and advise from you two especially! Thanks so much!
Okie Bob

[glenn-k]

No worries, Bob as Jonesy would say--where is he anyway

What makes this site great is that everyone will share their experiences so you don't have to lose money where they may have in the past.

[jraabe]

Here, here Glenn!

Just goes to show you that if a fool sticks around long enough they might finally have some value.  

[Okie_Bob]

Yep, even a blind squirrel stumbles on a nut evey now and then!
My best to John, Glenn and Jonsey (the Guona Killer)
Okie Bob
PS: I know I don't know how to spell that funny creatures name!