hello to everyone! after researching, and taking advice from others, we have finally decided to put this thing on peir and beam. although i really wanted stained concrete, i really want to avoid flooding. we found alot of info on why not to pour concrete in this area, ie water wells cause shifting. so we bought all our building materials yesterday. it will be delivered saturday. all 3 trucks full. we bought everything to dry it in. we spent $9,300. this includes hardiplank. we will have to drive 60 miles to pick up the metal for the roof. we will dig the peirs this weekend and make room for all that lumber. will send pics asap. btw, found a cool place in houston that sells recycled building materials h&s salvage 713.694.3640 doors windows, etc.
Vojacek, Check your Private Messages ..
Congrats on getting it started! I think writing that check was probably the hardest part you will face. ;D
I'm also building mine on pier and beam. What method of pier and beam did you decide on?
Sounds great - keep us posted. We've been wondering how things were with you.
Which house, the 2 story universal? Got floorplans? ;D
You know, you made find it's a little cooler that way. Very common construction in hot country b4 AC. High ceilings, piers, center hall. Anything to get a breeze.
Are the Vojaceks still out there? We might live pretty darn close to y'all - we're 15 miles east of Houston. Just bought the 1 1/2 story plans and we're working on site preparation. I'm wondering what you ended up doing with your piers. How deep are the concrete footings, was additional engineering required, etc?
Thanks
Lisa (& Billy)
I remember them using a giant post hole digger. Haven't heard from Monica V. in quite a while.
Here are some links to their postings on the old forum- reply here though-- we don't keep track of the old forum.
The next one had the post hole digger but it appears that tinypic has lost the images.
http://countryplans.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=01;action=display;num=1114998862
http://countryplans.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=01;action=display;num=1117730387
http://countryplans.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=01;action=display;num=1132594215
http://countryplans.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=01;action=display;num=1125327595
http://countryplans.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=01;action=display;num=1123866070
http://countryplans.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=01;action=display;num=1119111707
http://countryplans.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=01;action=display;num=1116542444;start=0
http://countryplans.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=01;action=display;num=1116782526
http://countryplans.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=01;action=display;num=1116782526
[size=14]Wow, congratulations! I wish you the best of luck. Please send pictures and updates when you can. I, too, would love to know what method of pier and beam you decided to go with.
Houston, my brother lives there. It sure does get hot and sticky down there. Good plan to get things started now before the ruthless summer hits.
KELLY KELLY KELLY KELLY[/size]
Hi again, KELLY KELLY KELLY KELLY
Nice to see you working on your studies.
Since we haven't heard from Monica in a while. I'm going to re-post her picture and make a pretty good guess what they did on the piers.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/dsc024112th.jpg)
I remember it took about 3 men to hold the giant post hole digger they rented. I am assuming about 12" dia. holes about 3 or 4 feet deep with Sonotube above ground and a Simpson beam bracket mounted in the top of the pier. I would also assume they added at least a couple of pieces of #4 or larger rebar to hold things together. You could also build square plywood forms for the above ground portion of the pier and support them with a couple of 2x4's across the hole and staked a foot or two outside the hole.
Now please go back and work on your pig calling --- that last sooie was a bit flat.
Thanks Glenn and Kelly. We're probably six months from breaking ground. Fence to build, ground to clear, the electric company to argue with, etc. It's a seven acre riverfront site that is far from the road, it's beautifly forested and we're trying hard not to take down any trees which seems at odds with having affordable city power run. I'll post pics when we get started, or more questions before we do!
Best,
Lisa
Great, Lisa -- looking forward to seeing your postings on your project.