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Liamey
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# Posted: 18 Jun 2014 19:51
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Hello,
I have been digging holes for my 16x24 cabin. I dug 15 with the thought of having 3 piers, with each pier resting on 5 posts. The land is remote, and appears to be a mixture of sand/ clay. Over the winter I can see all but 2 holes drained well. The other 2 have a fair bit of water in them. Lately I have seen some cabins which appear to only have 2 piers. I dug the holes so that I would have a 6 inch overhang (cantilevered) beam) so really the corner posts would measure 15x23. Given I am in Canada and only able to dig 3 feet or so down (very difficult digging with rocks etc and on my own) could I forego the middle beam? Would a middle beam pose problems with uneven settling? Would a 15 feet span be ok? I was planning a small loft for sleeping, nothing too big. Any ideas would be very much appreciated. Also, I should point out that I can pour a footer and have 6x6 posts which I would brace. I might have to nail an uplift anchor? To the posts.
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bldginsp
Member
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# Posted: 18 Jun 2014 22:20
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15 feet is a lot to span for a floor, if you follow span charts you would probably end up with 2x10 joists, my guess. A beam in the middle (girder) would only be the source of settling problems of you don't dig your piers deep enough given the frost depth in your area.
I'm confused- you dug 15 holes but have only 3 piers? Piers are concrete pads in the earth that have posts on them that support girders (beams) which the floor joists sit on. I think what you mean is you have three rows of 5 piers each, on which you planned to locate three rows of girders, correct? I think you do need the middle girder, which will allow your floor joists to be 2 x6. Find out what your frost depth is and dig all the piers holes to that depth, whatever it takes. You'll be glad you did 10 years from now when you have no serious settling problems.
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Liamey
Member
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# Posted: 19 Jun 2014 06:09
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Hello bldginsp. Sorry my fault with the piers. You are correct, I have three rows of 5 piers on which I was planning to locate three rows of girders. Actually all I have at the moment though are the 15 holes. I had seen a beautiful cabin on here built in Alaska of the same size, but that one appeared to just have two girders each side, nothing in the middle. I was thinking I might be able to do similar. I guess I will try and muster up the strength for that last 6-12 inches of digging. The ground has been quite difficult to dig by myself. A blessing here today is that it is raining, so maybe by the weekend the ground may have softened up some when I try and get back at it.
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