I'm not sure how to deal with this or account for it. Since the site is pretty darn flat, I'm not as worried about this. It seems like another danger is that the cabin might 'walk' off its foundations. Does anyone have experience with frost heaving in a relatively temperate climate with a freestanding structure? My hope is that if it happens, we could use a car jack to prop up an edge of the cabin, and just slip some wood/rocks under the supports to balance things out.Ģ. Even though our land has no restrictions, I'm reluctant to contact local authorities for an answer, just to avoid the rigamarole. I've seen some maps say 6in, others 12in.
I can't find the exact frost depth for our area on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee (the nearest towns are Monteagle and Sewanee). It's my understanding that the main dangers of this are as follows:ġ. My hope is that I could get away with a compromise, like digging down 6in or so, putting in a couple inches of sand/gravel, and using precast concrete pavers/cinder blocks/deck blocks, sort of like what this person did: We're on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee, and our soil is extremely hard clay and full of sandstone rocks. In the meantime, tent camping whenever we're up there is getting a little old.)Īnyhow, I am hoping I can avoid the trouble of building a cement pier foundation. (We still need to turn our trail into a drivable driveway, add a well, etc., but it might take us a few years to get all that done. Continue until deck surface is covered.I'm planning to start building a smallish cabin (12x16, no second floor) on my land as a temporary dwelling, so that we have a way to spend more time up there comfortably while we work on getting the land livable full-time. Use a tape measure to space it ¼ inch from the first. Place your second deck board beside the first. Drive two screws, or nails, through the decking board, into each deck joist, where they meet. Position deck boards, starting even with the outside face of one side rim joist. Cut enough decking to cover the entire surface, with ¼ inch space between each piece. Measure and cut 1 1/4 by 6 inch decking boards to fit parallel to the side rim joists, so that the ends of the decking boards are flush with the outside faces of the front and back rim joists. Nail, or screw the pieces in place, driving the fasteners from the outside of the rim joists into the ends of the deck joists. Measure and cut one piece of two-by-six inch lumber to fit horizontally between the two vertical side pieces of your frame, every 16 inches on center from the front to back of your deck as joists to support the deck planks. Adjust, as needed, by either digging out from under, or adding dirt underneath the blocks, until all four corners are level. Use a level to check that the blocks are level with each other by placing the level on top of the wooden frame. Position the frame you just built on the corner blocks so that the boards set into the grooves in the tops of the blocks and the corners of the frame align with the blocks. Use a drill and screw bit with screws, or a hammer and nails to fasten the corners together. Set one narrow edge facing up on each board.
Set the four rim joists on end to form a square or rectangle, depending on the dimensions of your deck.