As a carpenter I was laughing at you figuring everything out. But you got it quick and did it right! That was definitely not overkill. You will thank yourself in 10 years
As a retired design/construction engineer you did a great job. No overkill at all. After I retired and became a farmer again I love to get down in the dirt and build things by hand. It’s not necessarily about whether it’s overkill or not, sometimes it’s just about the satisfaction of doing something in the best way possible and doing it well enough that future generations will get to enjoy the fruit of your labor. Congratulations.
It’s a lot of work, but when your done, looking at your foundation, knowing that it is done right with nothing to worry about, it is 100% worth it. Nicely done!
I like how you embrace the overkill. Everything nowadays is made for short-term profit, we are mortal beings, so I appreciate you doing something for posterity.
This was super helpful to see you doing this all by yourself. I’m probably going to have to mostly work alone too so seeing how much work is actually involved, especially from someone who also doesn’t have much experience is priceless.
A couple of points. Your base of your footing should be at least 1’ below your worst case frost level. Using the round version of the square pads is much easier, plus you can use an auger to drill your holes. Hire a skid steer or mini-excavator with auger and your holes will be dug easily in half a day without breaking a sweat! And you will probably use the machine for other jobs on the site while you have it. Most plant hire places have them to hire by the weekday or weekends. I always weld my rebar cages. It’s something you can easily do with a $100 chinesium arc welder, and is probably equivalent to what you’re gonna spend on the rebar ties and the tying tool you then don’t need to buy. Plus you get to keep the welder, which is a pretty useful gadget. Make yourself a concrete vibrator by attaching a hammer drill to a length of rebar (it’s even better if you have a drill where you can have the hammer action without the rotation). Otherwise weld the rod to an old sabre-saw, multi-tool or jigsaw blade, and then use that to agitate the concrete each time you add a barrow load. Wrap plastic around the saw to protect it. Just remember, it won’t have the power of the commercial concrete vibrators, so use it more frequently.
I've done carpentry work for a long time. Your spot on brother about having a good footing. I worked for a contractor for a short time many years ago and he didn't know what a frost line was. He had been a contractor for 30 years. Really.
I love when you come to the realization of "moving the materials" which I consider 80% of the construction process. Great video and Thanks from Texas !
I live at 8,000 feet in Colorado. Where I work we have a bunch of cabins and there are a few slabs that remain from cabins built there in the 40’s. The ones that remain from that time are 4” concrete slabs... directly over compacted ground… that’s it. We get 8 feet of snow every year and have a freeze thaw cycle regularly. We had 14” of snow in June this year, all that to say, those concrete slabs have hardly moved a bit, and they’re not even insulated. I think this is great info, don’t get me wrong you are very much correct according to building science and general studies that have been done. I’m just putting it out there that sometimes we overthink things in the modern world of building.
Jordan! I couldn’t agree more, I follow code requirements but just as you’re mentioning, I myself have seen houses at 5000 ft, directly exposed to high winds and being built just with nails and they’re still there, 40 years later… it puzzles me sometimes.
@@TheDIYCabinGuy Thanks for the reply, also awesome work it looks great. I applaud your direct adherence to doing this the “right way”. I just wanted to also point out the “overthinking” aspect of building that we normalize in modern society. Keep it up! It’s great to see the detail and pride that you put into your work.
Just re-watched the video and read the comments a year after my above comment. It is amazing how many so called "experts" are willing to give advice about engineering that they don't know anything about. Your foundation was done RIGHT! GOOD WORK❤
Excellent work! it is rewarding to know that after all that hard work your cabin is in a very sturdy foundation. Thank you for the material cost tracker, it's very useful!
Wow, 5 min in and you can tell your videos are very educational compared to others. About to take my journey off-grid and the details and costs are much appreciated!
Nice Job, but there are a few things I will do differently and that is to lay down 24x24 inch concrete square stone payers (to ensure everything is leveled) in each hole and then place the concrete mold, create all the rebar forms ahead of time (hopefully you this this afterwards, saves a lot of time) and once I figure out the length of the rebar and forms, have them cut at Lowes/Home Depot or somewhere, it doesn't cost that much and I live by the motto "what is your time worth", but that's just me. You did an amazing job explaining everything!
Very helpful sering you building all from the beginning I have 4acr of land and I will star5 working on it by next month. Thank you for the great ideas and the courage
I had an old cabin on my property when I bought it. The neighbors who are in their 50’s said they played in it when they were kids. It was build on the ground and the base was still good.
Les gens sont des jaloux, n'écoute pas les commentaires. Cest du bon boulot Guy! Je m'inspire de ta vidéo pour les fondations de ma maison bois. Bises de Tahiti 🇵🇫
9:41 I dug down 5 feet three foot around filled it with Lafarge fiberglass 10:15 concrete up to the top of the ground level let it dry then installed 16;inch Sonna tubes so it is like an upside down mushroom used a water level from Home Depot pressure treated 2 x 10 's on a mile of ocean frountsge at the southern east tip of Nova Scotia in Canada
I just got plans engineered and my design is the same with the plastic feet for the bottom of the sonotubes and rebar. Except I have a tractor, done that a few times with a shovel, it sucks where im at. Lots and lots of rocks, maple trees
Glad to see you are using concrete below grade. I have seen many people build cabins on wood posts and within 20 years they usually have to replace them.
I watched episode7 first. I thought, dude, your structure is awesome, but your piers are really weak. Then I went back and looked at your earlier episode and you are the master. You did an excellent job. I could relate that to a job I did recently, on a much smaller level where I built a foundation for a solar shade.
For future viewers, I have been told to keep rebar 3 inches from any edge of the concrete. I think his is good in that regard with the exception of the vertical cage from the cylinder walls. A three piece triangular cage may work better.
@@TheDIYCabinGuy The sun is below the horison now, Jan.5th will be first sunlight again. Since we practically is in the ocean the temp is around freezing with rain every other day so it's the shittiest winters around. Thats why I find anything diy on youtube from warmer places.
All that rebar makes sense ,sure was a pain getting it all set up but well worth it for years and years to come if you plan to make a permanent structure
Yes and no. With some ground prep for each placement, you can float a decent sized cabin right on the ground in most normal kinds of ground, especially if the cabin has enough unit strength to move as a unit and you have a reasonable way to adjust level. And yes it can last 100 years.
cool... we will have to do something similar next year, so learning from you! And very cool idea about openness and showing us dollars spent and days! :)
Cabins built without footings have lasted over a hundred years . Rubble trench or gravel displaces the load si.ilar to a footing, likewise friction pilings do the same laterally. Just have to understand the method.
I love your cabin I watched the series several times and I love your hard work, I meant to ask you if it’s possible to get the plans of your cabin as I’m planning on building my own one day and I’ve spent the last two years trying to learn as much as I can
In Cades Cove there are churches that are over 100 years old that are sitting on loose stacked stones. I’m not saying this is a good option for new construction today, but I am saying this - I wouldn’t be too quick to declare that I am “doing it right” as if anything less or different is deficient.
I wonder if it would have been beneficial to use an extra black plastic form, turned it upside down to use as a funnel ontop of the sonotube. Then just dump the wheelbarrow over into it. To save your back from some shoveling.
This is why I am using helical screw piles. They hold the weight just as well as sonotubes but all 12 are installed in just a few hours without any of this work.
Future pro tip. Don’t cut anything until the very end. Set up a line laser at the height you want and cut them all at the same time. Otherwise how do you know your at the correct height you can’t go off the ground since it’s different everywhere. Your string lines don’t look level at all so not sure what your using to measure off
Andrew, good tip but check out the following videos, I ended up decided not to level the concrete piers but to level the wood posts above it using a 360 degrees laser level.
All that means nothing with out an engineered coring test. Need to measure the bearing capacity of the soil before you do anything if you want it done right . They come out drill and take core samples .
Richard, this depends on your code requirements, you’re right that some area do require you to get a geotechnical engineer involved to provide a bearing capacity. In my area, we are allowed to use a code minimum 2000 PSF without having a geotechnical engineer report.
If you insist in digging with manual labour (don't they have tool hire place near you?) you need a pickaxe. Digging holes means a shovel and pickaxe unless you have explosives to take the place of the pickaxe.
Great work and Thanks for this video! Would you happen to know the soil profile with respect to the area of the country you're in (i.e. Limestone, Sand, etc...). Also, as an Engineer "Overkill" is natural.
No unfortunately I’m not sure about the soil profile. It might be somewhere in my septic permit as they did have to look at the soils to figure out what septic system to use
Yes you’re definitely right! But I didn’t know if I could handle dealing with the sonotube sticking 4’ off the ground. I’ll have lots of Y bracing between my posts, I don’t think it’ll move much. How did you manage to pour all of your sonotube exactly at the same height?
@@TheDIYCabinGuy I used a rotary laser with a measurement stick. I was able to get my piers within 1/4” and made up the short ones with some non shrink grout. You would notice on taller piers that the concrete will settle quite a lot in the tubes and if you aren’t on top of adding more you can get a little short. I was always only able to do one or two a day digging my own holes by hand 3 feet deep. Lots of work but a solid foundation.
No compaction of the pier backfill? Nice example. Hand dug holes are FUN!!! To bad a friend doesn't have a backhoe or an auger. What is the diameter of the piers?
Think about how much easier it would be to use 16”x16” pier block dry stacked and filled with concrete. You can just shove the rebar into the concrete after you fill the pier. You could pour a concrete footer to start as well, but depending upon the soil that might not be necessary. Just tamp the bottom well before setting the first block in place.
We are about to rebuild our cabin that was built directly on the ground about 80 years ago. The ground there is very very rocky, and less than a foot of shoveling its impossible to dig more. (Its almost impossible to pin a tent there without curving the hooks while trying to plan them). No way we can do what your do for your footing. What would you suggest ?
Fully agree. We're building our cabin based on engineer drafted plans and they call for 8ft deep piers with 30 inch footings. Never would have guessed! I'm so glad we paid a pro to do the mathing.
@@TheDIYCabinGuy New Mexico. Yeah. It's way deeper than I would have assumed if we were just doing it ourselves so I'm really happy we sought an engineer. Better to do it right than do it twice :)
@@jonathangrubb572 It's under 1200sqft. Hardly anything like a mansion. We dug them with a backhoe and a mini-ex and did the last 2ft give or take by hand so we wouldn't screw up with the machinery. ruclips.net/video/klHxtb-fwuU/видео.html here's a video of us digging out the foundation if you're curious.
Your fortunate... In my area of Massachusetts, the frost line is 48" below grade. Big footers are required by code on porches and decks in most towns now...
Yeah I’m not that far north, we do not get super cold temperatures. I can’t imagine having to dig 48” deep by hand, no way. You definitely would have to get a backhoe for that.
@@TheDIYCabinGuy Regardless of temperature... large, solid,heavy footings should be the bare minimum in any build. Replacement of them later with the weight of the structure above you, will be far costlier and more difficult.
Well I know of 2 houses built in northern maine right near where my land is and they are on 3' of gravel with concrete pads and pressure treated posts. The people live there full time and the houses we're built well over 10yrs ago. They have had no problems at all and one of the houses had an addition put on within the last 7 yrs. I know the builder of those places and he has built may camps and houses over the years. He's also fixed quite a few houses others had built. I guess it just depends on where you build and knowing the land your going to build on.
That’s good to know. I think that lumber under ground could potentially take 30/40 years+ to have issues. Maybe it never will in their case, depends really on how much moisture it will be exposed to. Gravel helps a lot below the concrete at it will help moisture drain down.
@@mjkx_8476 up where we bought our land there are alot of huge rocks, roots, and the ground water isn't far down so building on the gravel makes the most sense for us. The plan is for a 24×32 A-frame with a loft. Hope the build goes well for you and your dad this summer.
@@TheDIYCabinGuy me and my family are going to do it ourselves. I may hire the amish to help me with the roof. They have fair prices and the cost will be a fraction of the cost of what a contractor would charge us.
Concerning the depth of the hole for the post foundation, how much below the frost line do you need to dig? I live in canada and the frost line here is at 49 inches . I'm finding it quite challenging to dig a hole deeper than 48 inches, by hand
Excellent videos. Real down to earth DIY info. Love it. Just one question. Why use foundation forms? What’s the advantage? Why not just fill the foundation, let the concrete settle for a while, put in the pilar forms and then concrete them? Thanks.
With that soil you can just install 6x6 pressure treated posts, and it’ll outlive you. Totally unnecessary to dig massive holes just to get two feet down. I have 6x6 pt posts @ 4 feet down on a gravel base. Most cabins in the northeast are using this same method. We are required to have the piers at 4 feet minimum due to frost heaving.
Your concrete post is good for a toy cabin. The real Foundation of a house is to dig a whatever shape of the house hole, like a footprint approx a yard deep, secure all dirt walls with concrete blocks, and the house rest on this concrete belt. Do not pour a concrete slate over the dirt. It's made to let the house breeze, it can b used to store food, suitcases, ... excellent for accessing water lines, gas, ... but it is not a basement. crawlspace
While you are following standard building construction techniques, this, i would consider "overkill" for a simple cabin. I think you are building for a luxury cabin. I dug 18 inches, placed sand and crushed rock. Made my footings using treated railroad ties to make cribbing for my foundation. My 24 ft by 28 ft with a 4 ft high loft has now been standing for 32+ years and it has only settled 1/2 inch in one corner in that time. Certainly not enough to be of any concern. My cost for the footings was less than $200. Much cheaper then your method with very similar results to what you achieve
Not for the foundation, being a licensed engineer, I signed off on it myself. I will need to get all the rest of the cabin inspected though (about 5 inspections total), framing, electrical, plumbing, insulation…etc
Observation... The company that produces the plastic footings should also include the prepared steel tubing for inside...no need to custom cut pieces for it..time saver...
I did the design myself, pretty much used free ressources online to get an idea and then drew stuff by hand and got a drafter from fiverr to do it. Septic , $700 Permit fee, 4.5k for the installation including labor and materials.
@@TheDIYCabinGuy I've got a camp in Western Maine and frost line 3 ft. Resets part of having piers. Also had camps in Adirondacks and Boundary Waters. Same deal. Small camps not that hard to deal with. You can also insulate the piping and enclose the lattice skirting for winter use, I've spent nights at -30 Fahrenheit. Some slab the camp and use piers on decks
@@TheDIYCabinGuy Oh I'm just giving you a hard time, but seriously I really think you're reinventing the wheel. There's a reason cabins aren't built with a construction philosophy that applies to multi storey condominiums. The ends simply don't justify the means. I'd rather have a well-built cabin thrown up in a few weeks and IF it ever gets hit by a tornado, I'll just spend another few weeks and rebuild it. If you love what you're doing then I salute you! There's no price tag on personal satisfaction. That said, the utility value in overbuilding is simply not there. You're doing a really nice job though. Best of luck!
@@stormbytesnot sure if you’re referring to only the foundation or the framing as well. The framing sizes are governed by the insulation requirements for my climate zone (2x6 walls, 2x10 floors and 2x12 rafters) I had no say in this. That’s the depth I need to meet the insulation requirements. Foundation footings is sized based on code required soil bearing capacity of 2000 PSF. I go overboard here and there but lots of it is simply what the code is requiring me to. Obviously code requirements are vastly different from one place to another. For instance in Tx, probably could have gotten a much higher soil bearing capacity by getting a geotech involved which is required, allowing the footers to be much smaller, also would have been able to use 2x4 walls, 2x8 floor joists and probably 2x6 or 2x8 rafters.
If the frostline is 2 1/2 feet deep and your hole is 2 feet deep, your footer is not set below the frostline. And your footer needs to be on a gravel bed and the backfill needs to be gravel, as well. You should have taken two hours to dig a hole four feet deep, laid a foot of gravel bedding and laid the footer at a 3 feet depth. But, I am not the one digging.
The reason I would have put gravel underneath is to prevent water from contacting rebar or any metal. So a waterproof film cover over the gravel pad is also necessary, to stop cement from leaching into gravel pillow.
You can now get the free DIY Cabin Blueprint at :
thediycabinguy.com/blueprint
As a carpenter I was laughing at you figuring everything out. But you got it quick and did it right! That was definitely not overkill. You will thank yourself in 10 years
Thanks! Nice to hear that from a pro !
he should go work with a concrete crew and pick up some skills
As a retired design/construction engineer you did a great job. No overkill at all. After I retired and became a farmer again I love to get down in the dirt and build things by hand. It’s not necessarily about whether it’s overkill or not, sometimes it’s just about the satisfaction of doing something in the best way possible and doing it well enough that future generations will get to enjoy the fruit of your labor. Congratulations.
Really appreciate the kind words! I do see it the same way you do! The satisfaction of a job well done.
It’s a lot of work, but when your done, looking at your foundation, knowing that it is done right with nothing to worry about, it is 100% worth it.
Nicely done!
Agreed! I’m building this for the long haul!
I like how you embrace the overkill. Everything nowadays is made for short-term profit, we are mortal beings, so I appreciate you doing something for posterity.
Hi Leonardo, I appreciate your comment! That’s a refreshing point of view.
Honestly props for figuring this out DURING YOUR VIDEO. You did pretty good with (seemingly) no prior experience. Thumbs up, dude!
Thanks!
Excellent foundation, now you see why everyone doesn't do them correctly, a lot of work. good to see you're doing it the correct way
Definitely a lot of work! Maybe will use some earth moving equipment next time!
This was super helpful to see you doing this all by yourself. I’m probably going to have to mostly work alone too so seeing how much work is actually involved, especially from someone who also doesn’t have much experience is priceless.
Glad you found this helpful 😀
Some say "overkill", you say "done right", I say EXCELLENT! Thank you!
Thanks Tad! I appreciate it
A couple of points.
Your base of your footing should be at least 1’ below your worst case frost level.
Using the round version of the square pads is much easier, plus you can use an auger to drill your holes. Hire a skid steer or mini-excavator with auger and your holes will be dug easily in half a day without breaking a sweat! And you will probably use the machine for other jobs on the site while you have it. Most plant hire places have them to hire by the weekday or weekends.
I always weld my rebar cages. It’s something you can easily do with a $100 chinesium arc welder, and is probably equivalent to what you’re gonna spend on the rebar ties and the tying tool you then don’t need to buy. Plus you get to keep the welder, which is a pretty useful gadget.
Make yourself a concrete vibrator by attaching a hammer drill to a length of rebar (it’s even better if you have a drill where you can have the hammer action without the rotation). Otherwise weld the rod to an old sabre-saw, multi-tool or jigsaw blade, and then use that to agitate the concrete each time you add a barrow load. Wrap plastic around the saw to protect it. Just remember, it won’t have the power of the commercial concrete vibrators, so use it more frequently.
Thanks for these tips!
I love watching a builder who embraces overkill. Makes me feel less foolish, for doing the same.
😂
I've done carpentry work for a long time. Your spot on brother about having a good footing. I worked for a contractor for a short time many years ago and he didn't know what a frost line was. He had been a contractor for 30 years. Really.
Thanks Sam, damn, that’s kind of scary!
I love when you come to the realization of "moving the materials" which I consider 80% of the construction process. Great video and Thanks from Texas !
Yeah it’s silly how I never saw that coming 😅
I live at 8,000 feet in Colorado. Where I work we have a bunch of cabins and there are a few slabs that remain from cabins built there in the 40’s. The ones that remain from that time are 4” concrete slabs... directly over compacted ground… that’s it. We get 8 feet of snow every year and have a freeze thaw cycle regularly. We had 14” of snow in June this year, all that to say, those concrete slabs have hardly moved a bit, and they’re not even insulated. I think this is great info, don’t get me wrong you are very much correct according to building science and general studies that have been done. I’m just putting it out there that sometimes we overthink things in the modern world of building.
Jordan! I couldn’t agree more, I follow code requirements but just as you’re mentioning, I myself have seen houses at 5000 ft, directly exposed to high winds and being built just with nails and they’re still there, 40 years later… it puzzles me sometimes.
@@TheDIYCabinGuy Thanks for the reply, also awesome work it looks great. I applaud your direct adherence to doing this the “right way”. I just wanted to also point out the “overthinking” aspect of building that we normalize in modern society. Keep it up! It’s great to see the detail and pride that you put into your work.
@@Jordan-tq2jc thanks a lot Jordan!
Slab probably 'Floats' on the soil, as it freezes and thaws. like a raft. As long as the Slab is strong enough not to crack, It'll be ok.
Excellent build job! It is a pleasure to see someone using modern engineering standards and International Residential Code requirements.
😀
Thanks John! Really trying to put my engineering knowledge to good use 😀
Just re-watched the video and read the comments a year after my above comment. It is amazing how many so called "experts" are willing to give advice about engineering that they don't know anything about. Your foundation was done RIGHT! GOOD WORK❤
Excellent work! it is rewarding to know that after all that hard work your cabin is in a very sturdy foundation. Thank you for the material cost tracker, it's very useful!
Thanks a lot, very glad to hear that you’re enjoying the content 🙂
Wow, 5 min in and you can tell your videos are very educational compared to others. About to take my journey off-grid and the details and costs are much appreciated!
Hey Alex, very glad to hear that you’re getting value from my videos.
Nice! What size cabin will you be building ?
You may be interested in checking out how "the bearded carpenter" did the footings for his log cabin
👍
Take a sander without sandpapper and vibrate the sona tube no voids of concrete !
Interesting
I had to watch like 5 videos just to understand foundation lol and this guy explained it all in one video lmao
Nice! Glad to hear that !
Nice Job, but there are a few things I will do differently and that is to lay down 24x24 inch concrete square stone payers (to ensure everything is leveled) in each hole and then place the concrete mold, create all the rebar forms ahead of time (hopefully you this this afterwards, saves a lot of time) and once I figure out the length of the rebar and forms, have them cut at Lowes/Home Depot or somewhere, it doesn't cost that much and I live by the motto "what is your time worth", but that's just me. You did an amazing job explaining everything!
Thanks ! Appreciate you sharing different ideas, it’s always good to see what people would do differently.
Very helpful sering you building all from the beginning I have 4acr of land and I will star5 working on it by next month. Thank you for the great ideas and the courage
Glad to help
I like all your detailed descriptions, costs, tools used and details…nice!
Thanks! Glad to hear that
I had an old cabin on my property when I bought it. The neighbors who are in their 50’s said they played in it when they were kids. It was build on the ground and the base was still good.
That’s totally possible, still doesn’t meet code though.
Les gens sont des jaloux, n'écoute pas les commentaires. Cest du bon boulot Guy! Je m'inspire de ta vidéo pour les fondations de ma maison bois. Bises de Tahiti 🇵🇫
Merci !
9:41 I dug down 5 feet three foot around filled it with Lafarge fiberglass 10:15 concrete up to the top of the ground level let it dry then installed 16;inch Sonna tubes so it is like an upside down mushroom used a water level from Home Depot pressure treated 2 x 10 's on a mile of ocean frountsge at the southern east tip of Nova Scotia in Canada
Nice
Nicely done! There's an old saying, a house is only as good as it's foundation. You're concern for deal will give you a life time of enjoyment.
Cheers
Thanks Scott! I do agree with that saying and I hope and believe that this foundation will last for a lifetime!
I just got plans engineered and my design is the same with the plastic feet for the bottom of the sonotubes and rebar. Except I have a tractor, done that a few times with a shovel, it sucks where im at. Lots and lots of rocks, maple trees
I was lucky I didn’t have to deal with the rocks and a very limited amount of roots.
In Toronto our frost line is at 4 feet 😅 replacing rotten fence posts and digging out piers is the name of my existance
Man that sounds miserable! 2 ft was already such a pain
I agree this looks much more stable and durable
Thanks !
This guy started off pretty serious and now it seems like he is struggling I'm kind of enjoying his I'm second thinking everything attitude.
😂
Awesome! Cutting with the grinder!! Get yo self a band saw. Less stress. Way faster
❤
Thanks !
Measure some marks from 12” to 24/36” on shovel and post hole diggers. Save s a bit of time and guess work
Thank you, good tip
Glad to see you are using concrete below grade. I have seen many people build cabins on wood posts and within 20 years they usually have to replace them.
Yep, not worth it burying wood, even treated, it will decay at some point.
Footings need rebar
I watched episode7 first. I thought, dude, your structure is awesome, but your piers are really weak. Then I went back and looked at your earlier episode and you are the master. You did an excellent job. I could relate that to a job I did recently, on a much smaller level where I built a foundation for a solar shade.
Ahah yeah only sonotubes would have been a little light, definitely need footers.
For future viewers, I have been told to keep rebar 3 inches from any edge of the concrete. I think his is good in that regard with the exception of the vertical cage from the cylinder walls. A three piece triangular cage may work better.
Yes that’s correct, 3” is what people should follow for concrete permanently exposed to earth.
Love the information you provided
Thanks! Glad you found it useful
Damn,you guys have it easy. Just dig a little🌞 Here in Norway there is 10cm of dirt and then solid rock!😳 Cool build👏
Damn that’s rough! So how do you do foundations in Norway ?!
@@TheDIYCabinGuy Haha,with a lot of swearing and bolts. I live in Lofoten islands and it's mostly rock🤘
@@bengtriise6504 I just looked it up! That is so far up north, how much daylight are you getting during winter ? And what kind of temperatures?
@@TheDIYCabinGuy The sun is below the horison now, Jan.5th will be first sunlight again.
Since we practically is in the ocean the temp is around freezing with rain every other day so it's the shittiest winters around. Thats why I find anything diy on youtube from warmer places.
You clear soil and anchor to stone for foundations, no?
Wow, lad that money counter was a fantastic idea!
Thanks ! I try to update as often as I can, it’s actually pretty sporadic here and there.
Just downloaded the plans..
Don't know if I will ever do this..but at least I can see how it is done..thank you.
Awesome!
Very well done! Great information and incredible work mate ! I learned a heap it was very thorough! Thank you brotha god bless
Thanks you for the kind words Chase, glad you enjoyed it and learned things along the way !
Great idea with the money counter.
Thanks 😀
All that rebar makes sense ,sure was a pain getting it all set up but well worth it for years and years to come if you plan to make a permanent structure
Yep! That’s for sure !
Get a heavy slate bar to help in digging. Really helps a lot.
👍
Excelente my friend..
Great job.. Loved it.
Thanks Jesse !
Yes and no. With some ground prep for each placement, you can float a decent sized cabin right on the ground in most normal kinds of ground, especially if the cabin has enough unit strength to move as a unit and you have a reasonable way to adjust level. And yes it can last 100 years.
Would need to have soil check to be sure beforehand
cool... we will have to do something similar next year, so learning from you! And very cool idea about openness and showing us dollars spent and days! :)
Glad you’re liking those features! I’ll make sure to update it in each video.
Cabins built without footings have lasted over a hundred years . Rubble trench or gravel displaces the load si.ilar to a footing, likewise friction pilings do the same laterally. Just have to understand the method.
Unfortunately (fortunately?) building codes won’t allow this anymore
I love your cabin I watched the series several times and I love your hard work, I meant to ask you if it’s possible to get the plans of your cabin as I’m planning on building my own one day and I’ve spent the last two years trying to learn as much as I can
Hi Jafar, thank you for the comment.
Yes I have some of the plans available on my website, did you get that already?
You explained this very good 👍🏻 looking forward to see the progress
Thanks Nima! Glad to hear that my explanations were clear.
In Cades Cove there are churches that are over 100 years old that are sitting on loose stacked stones. I’m not saying this is a good option for new construction today, but I am saying this - I wouldn’t be too quick to declare that I am “doing it right” as if anything less or different is deficient.
Great point !
Should tie rebar in column with rebar in base. And better to use a vibrator because the size and shape of the
Makes sense!
Muito bom seus vídeos, obrigado!
very helpful. THanks
Thanks Rich !
Great job bro… next time get some beers and food n invite your buddies to come over to help
If only I had friends 😂😂😂
@@TheDIYCabinGuy don’t worry buddy, over time u will have friends… if not u still have an awesome cabin lol
I wonder if it would have been beneficial to use an extra black plastic form, turned it upside down to use as a funnel ontop of the sonotube. Then just dump the wheelbarrow over into it. To save your back from some shoveling.
Could have worked!
Stylé ! :o Top les explications ca donne envie de faire du bricolage !
This is why I am using helical screw piles. They hold the weight just as well as sonotubes but all 12 are installed in just a few hours without any of this work.
Yep! They surely are a lot easier and faster. Do you install them yourself or a company has to do it?
how much is each helical screw pile cost for materials & labor install? 1000 per pier or so?
Next time add "J-bar and take off the paper for ultimate style points ;)
I'm a general contractor and I agree with pretty much everything you said.
Thanks! Glad to hear that !
41 episodes, wow 😳. Many things are possible during covid lockdowns
😂
Future pro tip. Don’t cut anything until the very end. Set up a line laser at the height you want and cut them all at the same time. Otherwise how do you know your at the correct height you can’t go off the ground since it’s different everywhere. Your string lines don’t look level at all so not sure what your using to measure off
Andrew, good tip but check out the following videos, I ended up decided not to level the concrete piers but to level the wood posts above it using a 360 degrees laser level.
All that means nothing with out an engineered coring test. Need to measure the bearing capacity of the soil before you do anything if you want it done right . They come out drill and take core samples .
Richard, this depends on your code requirements, you’re right that some area do require you to get a geotechnical engineer involved to provide a bearing capacity. In my area, we are allowed to use a code minimum 2000 PSF without having a geotechnical engineer report.
One gallon of water to each 80# bag is perfect.
That’s good to know! Thanks
very nice work!!!
Thanks a lot!
Im pretty sure people know to bell out sonotubes, which means making the bottom of the hole wider so the concrete can spread and make a bell 🔔 shape.
Some do some don’t, I have seen plenty of project where only sonotubes have been used
I've seen many where it's just Co crête in a dirt hole😂
I live in Canada where permafrost is about a foot underground.
If you insist in digging with manual labour (don't they have tool hire place near you?) you need a pickaxe. Digging holes means a shovel and pickaxe unless you have explosives to take the place of the pickaxe.
Great work and Thanks for this video! Would you happen to know the soil profile with respect to the area of the country you're in (i.e. Limestone, Sand, etc...). Also, as an Engineer "Overkill" is natural.
No unfortunately I’m not sure about the soil profile. It might be somewhere in my septic permit as they did have to look at the soils to figure out what septic system to use
@@TheDIYCabinGuy No worries, thanks and look forward to more videos and final outcome!
I’ve done two cabins like this, but my piers go all the way to the treated beams. It’s one less pivot point.
Yes you’re definitely right! But I didn’t know if I could handle dealing with the sonotube sticking 4’ off the ground. I’ll have lots of Y bracing between my posts, I don’t think it’ll move much.
How did you manage to pour all of your sonotube exactly at the same height?
@@TheDIYCabinGuy I used a rotary laser with a measurement stick. I was able to get my piers within 1/4” and made up the short ones with some non shrink grout.
You would notice on taller piers that the concrete will settle quite a lot in the tubes and if you aren’t on top of adding more you can get a little short.
I was always only able to do one or two a day digging my own holes by hand 3 feet deep. Lots of work but a solid foundation.
@@cochransgonewildalaska2265 sounds like it would be tough work for sure. Did you have to brace the sonotube sticking out ?
A very solid well made foundation……
😀 thanks !
Hats off to you man. It’s a lot of work I know. Are you using 10” or 12” sonotube?
I used 10” , yeah it was pretty physical!
No compaction of the pier backfill? Nice example. Hand dug holes are FUN!!! To bad a friend doesn't have a backhoe or an auger. What is the diameter of the piers?
I did compact it, well jumping up and down on it 😂
22” square footing and 10” diameter pier if I recall correctly
@@TheDIYCabinGuy Love your documentation for other to see your process. Well done, Sir.
@@butopiatoo thanks a lot !
Think about how much easier it would be to use 16”x16” pier block dry stacked and filled with concrete.
You can just shove the rebar into the concrete after you fill the pier.
You could pour a concrete footer to start as well, but depending upon the soil that might not be necessary.
Just tamp the bottom well before setting the first block in place.
Nice!
We are about to rebuild our cabin that was built directly on the ground about 80 years ago. The ground there is very very rocky, and less than a foot of shoveling its impossible to dig more. (Its almost impossible to pin a tent there without curving the hooks while trying to plan them). No way we can do what your do for your footing. What would you suggest ?
Maybe talk to a local builder to get their input
Fully agree. We're building our cabin based on engineer drafted plans and they call for 8ft deep piers with 30 inch footings. Never would have guessed! I'm so glad we paid a pro to do the mathing.
Nice! Man those are big piers, which state is the building located ? You gotta do what you gotta do.
@@TheDIYCabinGuy New Mexico. Yeah. It's way deeper than I would have assumed if we were just doing it ourselves so I'm really happy we sought an engineer. Better to do it right than do it twice :)
I think the word you were looking for is mansion, not cabin. How did you dig those? Rent the Chunnel digger? LOL
@@jonathangrubb572 It's under 1200sqft. Hardly anything like a mansion. We dug them with a backhoe and a mini-ex and did the last 2ft give or take by hand so we wouldn't screw up with the machinery. ruclips.net/video/klHxtb-fwuU/видео.html here's a video of us digging out the foundation if you're curious.
Your fortunate... In my area of Massachusetts, the frost line is 48" below grade. Big footers are required by code on porches and decks in most towns now...
Yeah I’m not that far north, we do not get super cold temperatures.
I can’t imagine having to dig 48” deep by hand, no way. You definitely would have to get a backhoe for that.
@@TheDIYCabinGuy Regardless of temperature... large, solid,heavy footings should be the bare minimum in any build. Replacement of them later with the weight of the structure above you, will be far costlier and more difficult.
@@kevinmackfurniture you’re preaching to the choir 😄 I do agree, not anyone on RUclips will though.
Well I know of 2 houses built in northern maine right near where my land is and they are on 3' of gravel with concrete pads and pressure treated posts. The people live there full time and the houses we're built well over 10yrs ago. They have had no problems at all and one of the houses had an addition put on within the last 7 yrs. I know the builder of those places and he has built may camps and houses over the years. He's also fixed quite a few houses others had built. I guess it just depends on where you build and knowing the land your going to build on.
That’s good to know. I think that lumber under ground could potentially take 30/40 years+ to have issues. Maybe it never will in their case, depends really on how much moisture it will be exposed to. Gravel helps a lot below the concrete at it will help moisture drain down.
Thanks for this reply. Starting a cabin in Sumner with my father this summer and I’m looking into what has worked for our area.
@@mjkx_8476 up where we bought our land there are alot of huge rocks, roots, and the ground water isn't far down so building on the gravel makes the most sense for us. The plan is for a 24×32 A-frame with a loft. Hope the build goes well for you and your dad this summer.
@@BLAM777 nice! Are you going to hire a builder for that A frame or do the work yourself ?
@@TheDIYCabinGuy me and my family are going to do it ourselves. I may hire the amish to help me with the roof. They have fair prices and the cost will be a fraction of the cost of what a contractor would charge us.
great job. I lot of hard work, but werth it
Thanks ! yes, a strong foundation for years to come!
Concerning the depth of the hole for the post foundation, how much below the frost line do you need to dig? I live in canada and the frost line here is at 49 inches . I'm finding it quite challenging to dig a hole deeper than 48 inches, by hand
Here I need to be at 24” below grade, man 49 is a lot! Especially if the ground is hard and rocky.
do you have a ''frost line'' in NC?
@@masucci61 yep it’s about 2 ft. That’s for western NC in the mountains. Down the valley, not sure what depth it is, it any.
Ontario, Canada frost line:
Northern counties: 5 feet (1.5 m)
Southern counties: 3.5 feet (1.1 m)
Excellent videos. Real down to earth DIY info. Love it. Just one question. Why use foundation forms? What’s the advantage? Why not just fill the foundation, let the concrete settle for a while, put in the pilar forms and then concrete them? Thanks.
That would totally be a viable option, I just liked the idea of doing everything in one pour.
With that soil you can just install 6x6 pressure treated posts, and it’ll outlive you.
Totally unnecessary to dig massive holes just to get two feet down. I have 6x6 pt posts @ 4 feet down on a gravel base.
Most cabins in the northeast are using this same method. We are required to have the piers at 4 feet minimum due to frost heaving.
Maybe but would not meet code requirements though …
Looking real good. Rebar is most important for loads under suspension. A footing probably didn't need it.
Thanks for posting, good job. Maybe could have put some plastic under the rebar.
Thanks William! You mean plastic rebar chairs instead of the metal ones I used ?
@@TheDIYCabinGuy On the bare ground to keep the concrete from drying out too fast
Your concrete post is good for a toy cabin.
The real Foundation of a house is to dig a whatever shape of the house hole, like a footprint approx a yard deep, secure all dirt walls with concrete blocks, and the house rest on this concrete belt. Do not pour a concrete slate over the dirt.
It's made to let the house breeze, it can b used to store food, suitcases, ... excellent for accessing water lines, gas, ... but it is not a basement.
crawlspace
Indeed I wouldn’t recommend this for a full size house just good for a little cabin
While you are following standard building construction techniques, this, i would consider "overkill" for a simple cabin. I think you are building for a luxury cabin.
I dug 18 inches, placed sand and crushed rock. Made my footings using treated railroad ties to make cribbing for my foundation. My 24 ft by 28 ft with a 4 ft high loft has now been standing for 32+ years and it has only settled 1/2 inch in one corner in that time. Certainly not enough to be of any concern.
My cost for the footings was less than $200. Much cheaper then your method with very similar results to what you achieve
Well, what i did was what was necessary to meet code requirements.
Did you go through your countys planning board for inspection?
Not for the foundation, being a licensed engineer, I signed off on it myself. I will need to get all the rest of the cabin inspected though (about 5 inspections total), framing, electrical, plumbing, insulation…etc
Observation...
The company that produces the plastic footings should also include the prepared steel tubing for inside...no need to custom cut pieces for it..time saver...
Would be nice!
You need to invest in a mini excavator or better yet a small front end loader/backhoe combo
Trust me I would love that! Do you know how much they usually cost used?
@@TheDIYCabinGuy my pop picked up a lightly used kubota bx24 for $12,000, that was 10 years ago, I’m sure costs have risen. Great videos!
@@the_atomic_punk487 thanks! I’ll look into it if I end up building more or maybe I would just rent one first.
as long as you're showing costs how much for the home design and septic components - design, permit, hardware, installation?
I did the design myself, pretty much used free ressources online to get an idea and then drew stuff by hand and got a drafter from fiverr to do it.
Septic , $700 Permit fee, 4.5k for the installation including labor and materials.
Maybe next time pour a slab in the hole then place your concrete mold so it’s nice and level.
Yeah that’s also a way of doing it, thought about it after the fact though.
Amazing
Thanks !
all good. cold climates the problem is the frost line and heaving so piers need a reset in 5-10 years
What about if you’re below the frost line? My understanding is that would limit the heaving to a minimum.
@@TheDIYCabinGuy I've got a camp in Western Maine and frost line 3 ft. Resets part of having piers. Also had camps in Adirondacks and Boundary Waters. Same deal. Small camps not that hard to deal with. You can also insulate the piping and enclose the lattice skirting for winter use, I've spent nights at -30 Fahrenheit. Some slab the camp and use piers on decks
Battery band saw next time for cutting rebar
I’m sure that works great! I’m just limited in the number of tools I get. I try to do as much as I can with what I currently have.
Could you remesh instead of rebar for the column? Seems like it could save some time.
I would still prefer rebars on a cylindrical pilaster like that.
I agree this will probably last for 100 years. About as long as it takes to built it lol
Lol come on Daniel, I’m getting there! I only get to work 4 to 8 hours max on it per week.
@@TheDIYCabinGuy Oh I'm just giving you a hard time, but seriously I really think you're reinventing the wheel. There's a reason cabins aren't built with a construction philosophy that applies to multi storey condominiums. The ends simply don't justify the means. I'd rather have a well-built cabin thrown up in a few weeks and IF it ever gets hit by a tornado, I'll just spend another few weeks and rebuild it. If you love what you're doing then I salute you! There's no price tag on personal satisfaction. That said, the utility value in overbuilding is simply not there. You're doing a really nice job though. Best of luck!
@@stormbytesnot sure if you’re referring to only the foundation or the framing as well. The framing sizes are governed by the insulation requirements for my climate zone (2x6 walls, 2x10 floors and 2x12 rafters) I had no say in this. That’s the depth I need to meet the insulation requirements.
Foundation footings is sized based on code required soil bearing capacity of 2000 PSF. I go overboard here and there but lots of it is simply what the code is requiring me to.
Obviously code requirements are vastly different from one place to another. For instance in Tx, probably could have gotten a much higher soil bearing capacity by getting a geotech involved which is required, allowing the footers to be much smaller, also would have been able to use 2x4 walls, 2x8 floor joists and probably 2x6 or 2x8 rafters.
I think people know they should use footings, renting or buying an auger is easier than renting backhoe.
A lot of people on RUclips do not use footings whatsoever.
If the frostline is 2 1/2 feet deep and your hole is 2 feet deep, your footer is not set below the frostline. And your footer needs to be on a gravel bed and the backfill needs to be gravel, as well. You should have taken two hours to dig a hole four feet deep, laid a foot of gravel bedding and laid the footer at a 3 feet depth. But, I am not the one digging.
That depends on your area. We don’t put gravel here and 2 feet is technically below the frost line.
The reason I would have put gravel underneath is to prevent water from contacting rebar or any metal. So a waterproof film cover over the gravel pad is also necessary, to stop cement from leaching into gravel pillow.
Yes exactly. ALL of the footer goes BELOW the frost line.
The info: decent. Watching you try to dig this hole: hilarious. 🤣🤣🤣
How is the 10" tube working for the 6x6 post? It's what I want to do as well but every place seems to say I need 18" tubes for 6x6 posts!
Well what’s their reasoning ? I do have an appropriately sized footing under the sonotube.
Nice vid...Am I wrong? but isn't the frost line quite a bit lower in your area? shouldn't the footing be much deeper?
Footings need to be at 24” below grade per code in my area.