Sounds like your area may be perfect for a pier foundation, which is
the type emphasized in the class. I believe piers are best because
they allow adequate ventilation to minimize an early death of the
structure. They are also fast as you are working around piers in the
ground, not an open pit (basement), but the big advantage is that a
pier foundation is fast and almost impossible to screw-up. My guest
house sits on piers that go deep into the ground.
That said, I'm installing a continuious ring foundation. I'm on a side
hill (not good), and my frost line is close to four feet down. This would
make my piers so large that the two types of foundations are almost
equal in cost (plus the added time of building a basement, having to
build around a basement, the cost of a concrete floor, the extra stack-
height of the Russian Stove, installing a second set of stairs....).
You may consider talking with a good soil engineer. Not all of them are
good. I was installing cabinets on a house being built on a combination
of sandy loam, hard pan, and giant boulder. The soil engineer was on
site and she was emphatic that the soil would not bear the weight of a
stick-framed house. She was fresh out of college and sister to the owner.
-Rick
Hello,
Will I learn how to create a foundation from the class? The area of North Texas that I live in has black soil that cracks a lot, some years the cracks can be a few inches or more. People in my area are constantly having foundation problems which result in cracked walls and unlevel floors. How will this affect a log home and does anyone have any suggestions to avoid this issue? Another issue is that not far below the soil is rock which certainly complicates the issue. Help me, please.