Pier foundation / froste line question

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I’m Building a 24X24 cabin using a pier foundation. It’s about 2 and half feet to get below are frost line in VA. I ran the Piers Down to about Three feet just to be safe. That leaves about two feet of the pier above ground. Now my understanding of why you want to be below the frost line is that if your not the pier may lift when the ground freezes. Is that right? What I would like to do is lay a dry stack field stone skirt right on top of the ground In between the piers to make it look nicer and to keep animals from under the cabin. Will this work?? Or when it freezes will the stone skirt push the cabin off of the piers. Thanks

-- (CsaLostReB@Aol.com), April 06, 2002

Answers

yep--they would heave up with the ground freeze. I live in North Western, Va in the mountains and our frost line is only 12 inches and we haven't seen a freeze in 8 years deeper than an inch. You could move your stone out and use a floating shelf ?

-- Joel Rosen (JoelnBecky@webtv.net), April 06, 2002.

My 16 x 24 foot cabin is on piers. The bottom of the cabin is anywheres from 1 to 2.5 feet off the ground depending on which corner you're measuring from. Here's a photo:



The space underneath the cabin has always been open and I have NEVER had a problem with critters making a home there. I beleive that animals want a more secluded location to nest than the wide open space below a cabin such as mine or yours. IMHO, if you build a stone skirt around the foundation of your cabin then you WILL have animal problems (especially skunks!) The stone skirt will provide them with the seclusion that they need for a safe nesting area.

-- Cabin Fever (cabinfever_MN@yahoo.com), April 08, 2002.

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