Question Concerning Footing

[brharrison]

I have been looking over this forum for a few days and there are some really awesome builds posted on here as well!
I am in the planning stage of building a cabin in the near future and after looking over a lot of the projects on here I have a question regarding the footings I have seen.

What is the advantages and disadvantages of the following footings?

First:

10" Quik Tube pier with Simpson 6x6 bracket and 6x6 post secured with 16D nails.

Second:

10" Quik Tube pier with gravel base in the ground and 6x6 post cemented inside the Quik Tube

I am trying to determine which way I should go when I start my 20x32 1.5 story.

Thanks for any opinions offered.

[MountainDon]

Where will this be? As in climate, frost depth, snowfall amounts.... 
What is the terrain/soil? Level/sloped? Some are not well suited for piers.

And last but not least is the location of the build subject to building permits and inspections?

[brharrison]

Deep South Mississippi
Terrain is fairly flat.
We dont have to worry about to much snowfall but maybe a little frost but nothing major.
No permit and inspections will be required either.

Thanks,

[MountainDon]

To the question of which of the two is best/worst... The concrete pier with a wood pier attached to the upper end of the concrete is the worse of the two. That short wood pier section provides an additional failure point. Each connection can become a hinge if the forces on the house get high enough. A side wall and the roof do provide a large surface that will generate large lateral forces with high winds. Piers that are solid one piece affairs deep in the ground would be better than this.

However piers may not be the best choice. They offer little lateral resistance to movement when compared to other foundations, especially in soils that may we very wet at times.

Do I interpret deep south as being near the coast? Real big winds there.

There are maps and other planning data in Chapter 3 of the IRC. Even if there are no permits or inspections I would advise looking over chapter 3. We have a topic on where to find codes.

You may also note that there are no pier foundations listed in the IRC. That's because piers should be engineered with someone who has local knowledge of the soil types. Not everybody does that and many builders will get away with it.

With an almost non existent frost problem a permanent wood foundation may be suitable.  Or something like a block wall or poured concrete perimeter foundation. Or a poured concrete slab.