Gravel Foundation for Cabin?

[homesteadjourney]

Greetings.

I came across this cabin a while back while searching for Cabin Designs.  This cabin is designed to go on a gravel pad foundation.  Is this really viable for this size cabin (the cabin may be used as a permanant residence in the future).  I'd also like to know what you all thought of the building materials spec sheet for the ~$13,000 total cost.  Will this last for a long time? (I'm in the midwest US)

http://www.jamaicacottageshop.com/16x20vtr.asp

I've got John's plans too - but it's always fun to look at other possibilities as well.

Thanks,

HomesteadJourney

[John_C]

At a quick glance it doesn't impress me.

The house is on skids which makes moving it easy and may get around some codes.  The gravel doesn't bother me if properly prepared but...


6x6 hemlock skids would succumb quickly to rot and bugs in my part of the world. Pressure treated and a bit taller to get the joists further from the ground.  

6" floor joists don't leave much room for insulation.  

The walls are post & beam with the b&B siding nailed to the outside, and serving as inside wall finish... uninsulated.  The roof is tin over purlins, again no insulation. I see a lot of work to make that a four season dwelling.  An inspector would have a field day with this if you have any codes to comply with.

John's plans are WAY better thought out than this thing.  I don't think it would be hard to replicate a 16x20 uninsulated/no electric/no plumbing/no finish flooring house for $13,000.  If it will someday be a permanent dwelling keep in mind that the gravel foundation can keep the house up just fine but does nothing to keep it down in severe weather.

[glenn kangiser]

I'm with John C. on this.  

Possibly on a PT post and pier foundation but that would make different loading on the beams than full support on the ground.  I have bigger logs than that rot out in a year if they are on the ground.

If the pad was properly made as they spec.  you would have another $600 rock plus equipment and  compacting labor then if for some reason it was still too moist under it the termites would take over.   Possibly foundation life in a bad case - 1 to 3 years -- and the rest of your investment would be on that foundation.

[youngins]

We had contemplated "skid" for the playhouse, but severe weather is the reality in North-Central Texas - and the picture of it slamming into the house kind of turned us toward pier and beam.

As a wise member on this board once said something to the effect that he would rather see detail spent on a good foundation before being concerned about building technique.

[John_C]

I did a bit of ruminating about the skid foundation last night...

The idea is to be able to move the thing without too much difficulty, right?
The structure in question here would be 16' wide + overhangs & porch (or would you have to remove that?),   18' high if it has a steep 12/12 roof, call it 20' including the trailer.

You would need special permits, a route planned to avoid low underpasses, leading and following escorts, some of which would be removing and reattaching power lines.   Are we having fun yet??

If you were actually going to move the thing now and again, no wider or taller than 12', less would be better.

I think the skid foundation is popular with some because it is easy to understand, and looks like it would be cheap.  If you HAD to go that route how about some 6" x 10" x 1/4"   I beams of corten steel.  That would last pretty well, and be strong enough for a secure move.  I doubt it would be cheap.

If the movie my daughter was watching last night had been better I wouldn't have been thinking about a skid foundation. :-/

[glenn kangiser]

If the movie my daughter was watching last night had been better I wouldn't have been thinking about a skid foundation.

I prefer thinking about a skid foundation to most movies and all mainstream news media nowadays.

[StinkerBell]

I am going to put a shed with skid plates in our backyard. What I am not able to figure out is the size of rock I need to place down.
There are so many different size rocks at the rock place I went to I felt lost and confused.

[jraabe]

There are lots of different types of rock made by different batch plants but for something like this I would get
- crushed rock so the pieces lock together (don't get river run round rock)
- dry rock with out a lot of fines (so it drains)
- a 5/8" screen or larger (again so it drains)

[Amanda_931]

Somebody may have mentioned this--haven't been here in a while.  

Those zillions of Katrina trailers that were built before they discovered that they couldn't be used in south Louisiana are now on the market.

Haven't been in one, don't know what the three lots of guys who have a dozen each between here and Florence are wanting for them, but if the price is right they might be a good idea instead of a cabin on skids.

I'd expect that my little trailer is better designed, though.  those things seem to have few--and teensy windows.

[glenn kangiser]

What was the problem for not using them in La, Amanda?

[youngins]

There are lots of different types of rock made by different batch plants but for something like this I would get
- crushed rock so the pieces lock together (don't get river run round rock)
- dry rock with out a lot of fines (so it drains)
- a 5/8" screen or larger (again so it drains)

I used limestone gravel - which has worked really well so far - considering all the precipitation we have received in north Texas so far...

[Bunny888]

Re: FEMA Katrina trailers--

The trailers off-gassed so much formaldehyde that people who tried to live in them were getting nose bleeds, heart problems, and couldn't breathe. That's why you shouldn't look for one of the FEMA Katrina trailers. I know this thread is 10y.o., but i found it, so someone else might read it and come away thinking a Katrina trailer would be a cool idea. It's not!

[Don_P]

I believe they also had mold problems. Most travel trailers have vinyl wallpaper and linoleum type floors. Basically a sealed box with the vapor barrier on the wrong side for a full time air conditioned climate. Add to that they were small tight boxes crammed full of full time occupants and they were set up for trouble.

I believe Superior walls will make precast crawlspace panels, I've used their basement panels on gravel several times without problems.