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Plans Support => Plans Support => Topic started by: highlandva on October 04, 2011, 08:09:39 AM

Title: Victoria Cottage Post and Beam foundation Questions
Post by: highlandva on October 04, 2011, 08:09:39 AM
Hello,
I just received my plans for the Victoria and have a foundation question.  I will be doing the post and beam and need to understand a little better (visually) what this looks like.  From all the threads on this site I have noticed most of the joists sitting on top of the beams and this plan shows then being hung.  I am thinking the beams should sit on top of each post but the plans show bolting.  There are also sill boards with these bolts in the material list and I understand the sill for concrete foundations but not the post and beam.  Does anyone have a picture or sketch that I can see???  Thanks
Title: Re: Victoria Cottage Post and Beam foundation Questions
Post by: John Raabe on October 04, 2011, 10:00:54 AM
The concrete perimeter foundation is the easiest and most solid foundation to build if you can.  Note in it that the joists sit on top of the interior beams (6x6 or 6x8) AND the sill plates on top of the stem wall foundation.

In the Post & Pier foundation you are using concrete piers with steel saddles and beam hardware to support the exterior foundation beams. The tops of those beams are level with where the tops of the sill plates would be on a crawlspace foundation. The engineered joists sit on top of these beams.

There are a couple of places where the beams come together and their tops need to align. There you will need to hang one beam from the other with hardware such as Simpson HUTF (http://www.strongtie.com/products/connectors/HUTF-HUSTF.asp).

(http://www.strongtie.com/graphics/products/small/081k-2011.gif)

If you are on a sloped site you will need to add bracing and should consult with an experienced local foundation contractor.

Hope that helps.
Title: Re: Victoria Cottage Post and Beam foundation Questions
Post by: highlandva on October 04, 2011, 01:18:25 PM
Thanks John for the quick reply.  So on the Post & Pier there will be NO sill plate?  And the joists will sit on top of the beam instead of being hung?  If they do sit on top, do they extend past the beam or flush with the beam and how do they conect to the beam?  I understand hanging the beams on the bedroom addition and the kithen bumpout.  I am not sure I can use (afford) the concrete perimeter in my location.  I will price this to see what I get but I am a long ways from any plant and not sure they can even get to my site. 
Title: Re: Victoria Cottage Post and Beam foundation Questions
Post by: Don_P on October 04, 2011, 09:28:40 PM
Do check with your local building dept. A pier and beam foundation in my county of VA would require an engineer's design where a typical codebook crawlspace or basement would not. Some building officials are more lenient than others.
Title: Re: Victoria Cottage Post and Beam foundation Questions
Post by: highlandva on October 04, 2011, 09:37:03 PM
Don P,thanks for the info, where are you located?  We are in Highland county. 
Title: Re: Victoria Cottage Post and Beam foundation Questions
Post by: Don_P on October 04, 2011, 09:59:19 PM
I'm down in Grayson. I can cross the county line and things change, it really is county by county as far as how the code is interpreted and enforced.
Title: Re: Victoria Cottage Post and Beam foundation Questions
Post by: John Raabe on October 05, 2011, 09:37:21 AM
When joists sit on top of the beams they are flushed out with the beams so that the structural sheathing can extend down the walls, over the joists or rim boards and be nailed into the beams - the same as you would to a sill plate. You can also attach straps as needed to add additional connection between the foundation posts and beams and the wall system. As Don mentions there are many local situations that make this type of foundation more subject to an engineering requirement. 
Title: Re: Victoria Cottage Post and Beam foundation Questions
Post by: highlandva on October 06, 2011, 08:04:43 PM
John, making more sense as I think and plan through it.  Another question with the pier and beam foundation, on the kitchen side it shows a 6x8 beam where the bump out starts to the back of the house and another 6x8 beam on the outer piers of the kitchen.  How can the bedroom side of the house have the 28' 6x12 beam and the bedroom too and then the kitchen bump out have 6x8 beams?  Thanks for walking me through this as I know once I can picture it I can run with it.  I am meeting an excavator this weekend to discuss my road, pier holes, septic, spring water.   
Title: Re: Victoria Cottage Post and Beam foundation Questions
Post by: John Raabe on October 13, 2011, 02:57:06 PM
The 6x12 beam line on the bedroom side of the house is taking the full load of the roof, loft and main floors for 1/2 the width of the main house. Over the kitchen the main building roof and loft loads are carried by the 6x12 beam in the kitchen ceiling. The 6x8 beams at the foundation carry only the lower floor loads and half of the bumpout roof load - considerably less than the other side of the house. These beams are sized to carry the accumulated loads  as they come down through the building.
Title: Re: Victoria Cottage Post and Beam foundation Questions
Post by: highlandva on October 13, 2011, 04:27:06 PM
Thanks John for the reply, makes sense.  1 more on this, can I just run the 6X12 the entire 28' on the bumpout side instead of changing to the 6X8?  I would still run the 6X8 on the outside of the bumpout. 
Title: Re: Victoria Cottage Post and Beam foundation Questions
Post by: John Raabe on October 14, 2011, 11:17:28 AM
Sure, you can always up-size a beam. Sometimes that is easier than fussing around with two sizes.