Home Improvement Stack Exchange
Home Improvement Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [pier-blocks]

22 questions
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How do I properly jack up one side of my house?

As I write this, I have a slight lean as I walk on my floor in some parts of my house, and it's even worse on the upper floor. In some parts upstairs, it feels almost like you have to grab something. Visitors don't notice this, but I do. The lean…
Volomike
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How do I secure a canvas garage?

I picked up one of those cheap canvas garages from Costco, to keep a few things out of the weather. It's 10' wide, 20' long, and maybe 11' high at the peak. Our area is a bit prone to windstorms. I'm in the woods, so it's largely protected from the…
Jay Bazuzi
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Is it OK to use washed, smooth gravel under a pier block footing?

I am preparing footings for an outbuilding, using pier blocks. Our frost depth is only 12". There is a significant amount of clay in the soil, so I am putting gravel under the pier blocks. The plan was: excavate holes to 12". Fill with 4" of 1 1/4"…
Jay Bazuzi
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How can I repair a loose crawlspace support post?

We just had a crawlspace inspection (unrelated to this topic) and the inspector found one of our support posts was loose enough to be wiggled back and forth. It wasn’t quite touching the concrete pier. Since the house is built (2016, west coast)…
Shannon T
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Pier foundation and water table issue

I am in the process of building a small (14x14) log cabin in the woods on a pier foundation: After marking the perimeter, I began excavating the soil and dug to below the frost line (36"). The plan is to have 18" above the soil and 3 feet below.…
dfife
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How can I strengthen the floor above a crawl space in pier and beam construction?

what are the steps to strengthen pier and beam (sometimes called post and beam) foundation? i will be installing a 3-5 ton Rocket heated cob bench mass heater in a rambler home in the living room over 8' length of floor space that has no beams…
catjacent
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Evaluating options for sunken concrete pier

In our crawlspace we have a sunken concrete pier that is no longer touching the beam above it. I've shimmed some support there temporarily, but am looking at a more permanent solution. A reputable foundation company gave me a couple quotes on how…
gammapoint
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How many pier blocks do I need for an 18 x 12 floating deck?

I'm planning on building a detached, floating deck, 18 ft x 12 ft, in Vancouver, Canada. Using 2x10s as the dimensional lumber for the joists. Joists would be 16" OC with composite decking on top (Timbertech). I've found conflicting information on…
Uppsilon
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What is the proper beam sizing/span and pier spacing for a 10'x16' cabin?

I'm planning to build a 10x16' cabin. I need help sizing beams and spacing piers for the foundation. As of now I am planning to use two 4x6 16' beams with three ez tube precast footings per beam. This would leave 8' between piers. I am planning to…
Foopysfarm
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Fixing porch-supporting pier that settled because of bad drainage

I've got a wraparound porch on the house. It's supported by a half dozen 28" x 30" x 24" concrete piers (plus other sized concrete piers elsewhere) along the front of the house. They're all floating on the ground at the top of a fairly steep slope,…
Steve
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Ground preparation for deck pier block

I am planning to extend my deck, which uses pier blocks as below photo I cannot tell what's underneath this pier block because it was just dirt. There was no pour concrete for certain. So my question is: if I extend my deck and use the pier blocks,…
HP.
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Concrete pyramidal base with threaded steel deck support

I saw a store-bought deck support recently that resembled this: Roughly 2ft x 2ft concrete base Threaded steel rod Steel U-channel for holding two pieces of 2-inch wide lumber What is this device called? Not to be confused with a 4-way Deck…
User1974
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20x32 pier and beam structure on clay soil. What spacing should I use?

I have a 20x32 tiny home I am planning. Each beam consists of 2x10x20(2) and 2x10x12(2). The 12 is butted up to the 20. This is setup so there's a 4' overlap so that these things are sandwiched together tightly. The ties are 4x4" adjustable…
Jadon
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Floating deck substructure—which is the better approach?

I'm planning a 16x19' ground-level floating deck, using deck blocks (they work well in my area). A big box store gave me a rough deck plan and materials which I've laid out (option 1), but I've seen a number of plans online (e.g.) where more deck…
Tenz
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Do my piers need footings?

I'm building a 10'x16' shed/dry cabin. I am planning for a pier and beam foundation with 6 piers. It's way off grid and pretty small so I'm hoping to not overbuild and I want to use EZ tube pre cast piers without the base sections. Going from 15"…
Foopysfarm
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