Options for closing in crawl space with piers

[skiwest]

HAve a pier foundation under cabin.  Right now piers but no cabin.  Was going to cantilever out over beams supporting joists so that could enclose crawl space with dry stone foundation.  Won't have kept out critters but was going to wire bottom of joints anyway. Now I'm thinking that will be a lot of work, alot.  Building a 3 foot rook wall under the cabin I think will mean sore back and a lumpy back of my head.

So I saw the diagrams on the sheathing post where the PT went down below grade 6".  Was thinking I could take the siding down to 3 foot above grade and then do something to the PT. Stucco ?? Cabin will be all wood , wood siding , exposed raffter beams , exposed roof decking 2x6 T&G,  that sort of thing.  

On the cantilever thing was going to go with 24' from center of beam to outside edge.  that didn't work with 2x10 joists.  So reduced down to 1'3" .  Just works with wall at piers but would like to reduce cantilever to 12" even so don't have to more than triple up joists at raffers.

[glenn-k]

If you have access to a Bobcat or other tractor with a loader that moves well on your soil the dry stacked rock walls are not too bad.  I can do around 10 feet of 24 inch wall per hour.  That depends on your rocks availability and ease of moving also.

Stucco is pretty easy and would work well over the PT plywood especially if you use the stucco lath that is like chicken wire over light building paper.  Just cut it and staple it up -- in fact it doesn't even need the plywood behind it.  Just build a frame work from PT 2x4's and staple it on.  24" centers is fine and it comes in 3' wide rolls.  I don't know if you will like the look with your wood cabin but it's easy.  Color can be added to the top coat so you don't have to paint it.

[skiwest]

Great , I'm feeling better about the rock.

Skid Steer - check have 7800 Gehl - not a wimpy Bobcat

I'm in the Rocky Mountains so I can look around on property and see 2000-3000ft piles of them. There a road cut up the valley that could supply all the road I'd need.  Have 16000# trailer so no problem moving them.  Though truck could not pull what trailer could take.

Now how wide would you have to lay them.  I've got a pinch point at each of the piers.  Could it be narrow as 7 in at pier?  with stone against pier?  the rest could be 12" or more.

[glenn-k]

Oh - that's right - you're the Gehl man.  Mine is pretty stout for a Bobcat -- just a bit below the Gehl..  

Yeah - My walls range from 6" to 18" - generally about 2 inches of slope to about 3' roughly.

I suggest reading over this online book a bit if you haven't done rock work before.  I learned enough to be able to do pretty decent from it.  When you click on the topics - be sure to go through the subtopics for more information.

http://handbooks.btcv.org.uk/handbooks/index/book/61
BTCV Handbooks Online

[Leo]

this is over kill prehaps.but Ive bough the pressure treated plywood.when bone framing piers Im gomma cover with pressire trated Pw all around ,in the hope it will stiffen all offer some dry storage space.yard tools etc.

[skiwest]

the Gehl in action

[glenn-k]

I remember it now--

Here is a pix of the rock walls I have made in the last week and a half - the upper wall and steps in the last 2 days.  This wall is easier than a straight drystack wall as soil or compost is used on the back side for garden beds so multiple size rocks are used and just the faces are aligned as desired.  They are self supporting with a slight lean back then it is filled in behind with soil.

[desdawg]

Glenn, that looks real nice. What did you do after lunch?
Skiwest, don't give up. If you feed that little yeller thing a bit it might grow into a Bobcat. And even if it doesn't it beats a wheelbarrow.  

[glenn-k]

More rocks, desdawg.  Every so often I have to sit back and look at things -- get a bit of a break from the heavy stuff --- old age and everything. :-/  Then I have to check on CountryPlans and see if there are any threads I can trash.

I nearly finished the rest of the bottom wall tonight and got about 6 yards of topsoil and 6 yards of compost behind it.

Now it's time for another snack.

[desdawg]

Good thing you have a Bobcat. Actually I am a little perturbed with Bobcat. Everything in the engine compartment is so inaccessible. I was looking at Cat skidsteers a while back. They have a nice front to rear oriented cylinder layout with room on both sides of the block for such things as your hands and wrenches. Their performance review aren't the best though. And they are pricey. Since I now have two Bobcat 863's I suppose I will stay with that. I really don't know anything about the Gehl, I was just razzing.

[glenn-k]

Unfortunately I checked specs on the Gehl.  It is a pretty good machine.  Even outperforms the 963 by a bit.  I wonder if you can still get parts for them?

Yep - working on many things on the Bobcat is sometimes quite a nightmare.  Some of it helps if you have smart friends with long arms -- for some of it there is not much hope - its just a plain lot of work.

To me many of the Cat clones of things are pretty clunky in operation and their new heavy duty reach lift with tilt lockouts when raised off of the ground is the biggest piece of junk they have ever made.  Totally unusable in many situations.  I don't even want to see one on my jobsite.  I had to use my crane to do the job the $150000.00 (est.) Cat couldn't do.

Do yourself a favor -- never rent a Cat forklift to do a mans job. :-/

[peg_688]

Do yourself a favor -- never rent a Cat forklift to do a mans job. :-/

Would it work for" womens work "?

So you'd do er by hand rather than use a cat forklift???  :-/   You must be strong  

[glenn-k]

Actually the $250 per day cat forklift was incapable of side shifting 4 inches to align the beam once the forks left the ground -- too many safety mechanisms had totally incapacitated it.  I could lower the beam to the ground - that was it.  I brought it down - took the piece of garbage Caterpillar Reach Lift out of the way and put the beam up with my little crane truck.

A Gradall, Lull, Skytrack, old Cat or a million others wouldn't have had the problem.  Just this new high tech over-engineered piece of Caterpillar junk.

[desdawg]

I don't have a forklift, just pallet forks for the skidsteers so sideshift means side skid or moving over. I like my Bobcats when they are working right. Getting repairs is always pricey. In this case something had gotten between the skid plate and the oil pan and eventually worn a hole in the pan. The motor had to be pulled. $2400 later it is back to working fine. Pretty expensive oil leak. Like I said I have never been around a Gehl. What I do require of my equipment is that service be available locally. I work with the equipment not on the equipment. I have never made 10 cents turning wrenches. Now moving dirt, that is another story. I have too small a company to keep a full time mechanic so when things break I bleed. On the opther hand when we are not working I bleed too.

[glenn-k]

I can do it, desdawg but don't always due to the reasons you mention.  Sometimes I can make more working on jobs while someone else fixes it.

If it is going to be a major cost and I can fix it for pennies on the dollar I or my buddy Al and I (or capable others in my network) tear into it.