Pier and Beam Construction

[ZZ_in_Tejas]

John,
     Great site.  Great source of imformation and humor.
     My question is, in preparation for pouring of my
footings, which are 24"x 24"x 12", should a base of
crushed stone be laid first.  If so, how thick, or will
the footings be enough on their own.  They will also
contain 1/2" rebar.  Piers will be 12" in diameter.
Soil is a sandy loam.  Any imformation would be greatly appreciated.  Be nice to the newbie.

         ZZ

[glenn kangiser]

ZZ, I work mostly with steel, but all the footings I work with are poured into clean holes- no gravel.  I know they sometimes use gravel with pressure treated posts so the water will drain away from them, but I haven't seen it with solid concrete footings.

Maybe the others can kick in some better information.

I believe the policy is that we don't get to start hassling you until you've made at least 5 postings.  Then again-- If I remember right I think we started picking on Jonesy right away.

[DavidLeBlanc]

Hey ZZ;

Welcome!

You should be aware that questions such as yours are likely to be answered by John only if you've purchased plans from John. The rest of us will try to help, but we're not experts (except, possibly for one trogdylite retired drip under pressure... ).

Of course, there's always the possibilty that he'll offer a general, non-professional comment on your question...

[John Raabe]

Footing size is determined by the load and is the LAST thing designed since all the weight is accumulative.

Crushed stone under a footing is a footing for the footing. It can be used to provide solid bearing and drainage in poor soils or where the real footing is placed above frost line.