Building a pier and beam foundation for our cabin in the woods - Cariboo Adventure Vlog #10

For our dream cabin in the woods we built a pier and beam foundation. It was the perfect solution for constructing with a limited budget on a mountain slope.
In this video we'll show you every step we took from clearing the land, up to the point of finishing the foundation.
#caribooadventure #cariboobc #britishcolumbia #explorebc #explorecariboo #pierandbeam #cabinfoundation
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Follow our Cariboo adventure here:
instagram: / caribooadventure
facebook: / caribooadventure

[@Kdawg101]

One of very few proper foundation builds I've seen on KZbin! Great job! U guys went well below freezing level in most states! This cabin will not sink in several hundreds of years!

[@CaribooAdventure]

Aww, thank you so much!! The frost level is 4 feet in the Cariboo so we felt we barely made it. 😂 But 2 winters later, everything is still level so we’re golden. 😀

[@OurNewLand]

Great job, guys! That's looking really nice. Beautiful property.

[@CaribooAdventure]

Thanks for subscribing :)

[@victorkhong6103]

Wow so much hard work yeah? Fantastic!!

[@CaribooAdventure]

Thanks Victor!

[@marshallworden4092]

From the south-western mountains of B.C 🇨🇦 new to your channel keep up the great work. Will now go back to see your past video's.

[@CaribooAdventure]

Thank you!

[@Diego_Leon]

You have an amazing piece of land , good job!

[@CaribooAdventure]

Thank you!

[@ronnyaelbrecht6240]

Incredible

[@CaribooAdventure]

Thank you!

[@jontuckermustdie]

Excellent work!

[@CaribooAdventure]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@gordgardener8629]

New sub from the North Okanagan. Can't wait to see how you grow. Best of luck!

[@CaribooAdventure]

Thank you!

[@tpoe81611]

Great job!

[@CaribooAdventure]

Thanks!

[@parkerfinley1347]

That’s great you made it look easy as far as the planning and leveling, sometimes I wish I knew more than being an electrician

[@CaribooAdventure]

Thank you! It certainly wasn’t that easy as it looks afterwards. We had to redo some of the boards, dig more in some of the holes and it felt very stressful until it was finished.

[@MrMattsmith1985]

New sub from Uk, looking forward to watching your journey

[@CaribooAdventure]

Thanks for subscribing :)

[@jshepard152]

Very nice work. Looks like you took the time to do a thorough job. Liked and subscribed.

[@CaribooAdventure]

Thank you very much!

[@wasimkhan7663]

Good job. I love wood vaben.

[@wasimkhan7663]

Caben

[@CaribooAdventure]

Thank you!

[@nonnonno-sx5mk]

대단하군요

[@CaribooAdventure]

Thank you!

[@brmobilesawmill9681]

Hey guys, great videos. Looking for a little help on the concrete anchors you're using. We're building a similar structure and our Building Dept wants to see 3, 2" x 12"'s in a U shaped bracket like you're using. Problem is that I can't find that size U bracket, I can only find 3.5" or 5.5" and we need 4.5". Greatly appreciate a little guidance. By the way, we're also using the Big Foot bell housings for our footing's. Thanks in advance.

[@CaribooAdventure]

Thanks for the comment! We had the same issue, so we ended up using 5.5” anchors. To fill the 1” gap, I took some scraps/cut-offs from the beams (so pressure treated lumber) and planed them down to 1” and jammed them into the anchor next to the beam. Just to fill the gap. Then I drove the fasteners through the whole stack and it’s very stable and solid. Hopefully that helps! Good luck with the building!

[@dustincampbell8775]

Hey guys, I've been watching your channel since the beginning, and its great! Loving the progress so far. I'm actually building a cabin just over the mountain in Likely. I was curious what was the charge to get the concrete pumper truck out to Horsefly? It's about the same distance out to Likely and I'm not sure what I should budget for... I poured some concrete last year and I am trying to figure out if it'll be worth the extra money for a pumper to come in. Thanks

[@CaribooAdventure]

Aww, thank you!! Very exciting you’re building too! We paid $232.50 for transportation. (So for the concrete truck + pumper truck, it doesn’t distinguish between them on the bill) Hopefully it didn’t go up too much with today’s gas prices. Good luck! 😊

[@bishmasterb]

Love your videos! What is the make and model of your cast in place steel beam ties?

[@CaribooAdventure]

Thank you! They’re simpson strong tie post saddles.

[@vipuldesai4556]

What is the square foot age of your cabin? What is the width of your piers? What is the width of your pier footings?

[@CaribooAdventure]

It’s 16 x 20 feet, so 320 square feet. :) The piers are 12 inch and the footings 28 inch.

[@sierrahamilton7232]

@@CaribooAdventure Could you use this method on a larger home? say, 700sqft?

[@CaribooAdventure]

You sure can! As long as you stick to the building code requirements! (The span table for floor beams) We’ve certainly seen much larger builds than ours.

[@rockingwithrockdog9236]

I built a 2 story 20x56 house in a very small town on piers to move later when I find the perfect spot in the country in 2018 total cost of piers and concrete labor and equipment was less than $2000 for 16 piers 12 inches diameter 3 foot deep and 3 foot exposed plus 8 piers poured to ground level to block up to floor down middle on a steel beam so removable And trailer can pulled under it when house moved later. It was so easy to work on it when building in town versus out in the country 20 miles from home or a Lumber store

[@jr08th]

Hi guys fantastic job, how much did you guys spend on the concrete pour with the concrete company ?

[@CaribooAdventure]

Thank you! We spent about $1600 for 3 cubic meters of concrete (definitely had leftovers) and that included the additional pump truck + their transportation fee.

[@jamesdeluca6657]

Der ,what are the. Dimensions??

[@CaribooAdventure]

It’s 16 by 20 feet. 😊

[@jamesdeluca6657]

What's great is you did your research and didn't cut corners,good luck an blessings for the rest .

[@ShikokuFoodForest]

Lots of hand digging all those holes for your piers. Hard work, but you did it! What is the frost depth in your area? I expect you made sure to dig well below the frost line. Did you design the basic 3, 3, 3 pier layout yourself? I like the footing forms you used. Many people don’t use these, but your foundation will be much more stable with those footings. Smart decision. Good work making sure everything was plumb, level and square. I’m considering some different foundation designs including yours. Did you ever consider concrete stem walls and an insulated crawl space? Was the cost of the extra concrete, simply too expensive? My only concern with the completely open crawlspace is keeping the floor warm. Most cabin builds are on pier foundations. Yours is one of the best I’ve seen.

[@CaribooAdventure]

The frost debt is between 3-4 foot. (4 according to the building code) Jelger (it’s Tanja writing this comment, hehe) did design the 3-3-3 layout, but he did consult the BC building code for everything he could. Jelger thought the concrete stem walls were too hard on a slope + with the digging. For our 10 year plan larger structure, we’re hoping to do a full concrete basement. (But we might need an engineer for that, because our slope is… alive 😂) We agree that insulation wise our current platform isn’t ideal, haha, but can always enclosure it later.

[@ShikokuFoodForest]

@@CaribooAdventure Your frost depth is deeper than I expected. But, good you checked this. 4’ is quite deep! I tend to agree with Jelger on his assessment of the difficulty to build stem walls on a slope. But, I thought the excavator leveled it for you, didn’t he? Your floor can still be insulated either with reflectix or spray foam. As you said, perimeter skirting can be added later to help keep it warmer.

[@Offgridtrucker]

Do you what size metal brackets those are and what make these are? I can’t find any that will work for 3 2x8s nailed together in a beam.

[@ridinrancher9443]

Awesome video! I am looking at doing something similar on my property. Where did you guys get the forms from for the piers A link would be greatly appreciated.

[@CaribooAdventure]

Thank you! The forms are available at any building supplies store (Home Depot, Lowe’s…). They go by different names: sonotubes, building forms, or concrete forms. Here’s an example at Home Depot: www.homedepot.com/p/Quikrete-QUIK-TUBE-10-in-x-48-in-Building-Form-Tube-692202/302440303 We put them on ready-made footings called Bigfoots, which are a Canadian brand. Here’s an example in the US: www.homedepot.com/p/Redi-Base-8-in-x-24-in-Disposable-Plastic-Footing-for-In-Ground-Concrete-Column-RDB1/204622716 Alternatively, you can skip the footing form, and pour some concrete in the hole, let it settle then put your tube on top of it, and fill it with concrete. As long as the foot is wider than the tube you’re good. Best of luck!

[@ridinrancher9443]

@@CaribooAdventure thanks a million. I got clearing to do first but wanting to start collecting supplies.

[@CaribooAdventure]

Sounds like you have a lot of work ahead, so enjoy and good luck!

[@a.wgilbert5001]

Hello.. Where can I find those post anchors? Thanks in advance

[@CaribooAdventure]

We got them from our local Rona, but I’m sure you can find them in any hardware store that sells the Bigfoot concrete supplies.

[@chrisruiz1215]

What laser light did you use I'd like to buy one

[@CaribooAdventure]

We got the Dewalt green self levelling cross line laser label model Daw088CG. Very happy with it, we use it all the time! Got it in Home Depot but if you feel like Amazon: www.amazon.ca/DEWALT-DW088CG-Cross-Laser-Green/dp/B01MQPYPO3?crid=3DHYM749Y9WKQ&keywords=dewalt+laser+level&qid=1690817009&sprefix=dewalt+laser+level,aps,196&sr=8-3&ufe=app_do:amzn1.fos.d0e27fc4-6417-4b26-97cb-f959a9930752&linkCode=sl1&tag=caribooadve07-20&linkId=12ac0ff558bb99607e0ab1bea719a6bc&language=en_CA&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

[@christiankane9951]

About how much did it cost or the material and the pour?

[@CaribooAdventure]

We made a video about the costs! (Because we get a lot of questions and I forget the details 😂) At 01:27 we talk about the costs of the piers and concrete/delivery etc. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rpCzlWaOjLuKr7s

[@08rabbott]

What MPA concrete did you use? And did you use 5mm bar for reinforcement?

[@CaribooAdventure]

From what I could see on the concrete firm’s site that we used, 28 MPA. The rebar was 10mm.

[@08rabbott]

@@CaribooAdventure Thank you so much. We just placed our order today for the concrete for our cabin at Canim Lake. Your build looks great and your videos have been so helpful.

[@CaribooAdventure]

@@08rabbott that’s so exciting!! :) Good luck with the building! And thank you for the kind words!

[@08rabbott]

@@CaribooAdventure Thank you.... one more question if that's okay. We have our first inspection scheduled for Tuesday. any advise? Did you backfill the soil or did you leave the holes open for the first inspection. Just curious because the first inspection is Tuesday and if all goes well we will pour Wednesday. Thank you in advance. :)

[@CaribooAdventure]

@@08rabbott We're very fortunate to not have mandatory building inspection in our area! We only need inspection for our electricity and for septic systems. So I have no idea! :( Hopefully another enthusiastic builder can answer you! Best of luck!

[@SBecktacular]

I didn’t see any rebar 🤔

[@CaribooAdventure]

There are 3 pieces in each post 😃

[@CaribooAdventure]

Actually, you can see him put one in at 4:15 😂

[@cuocsongothailantv1747]

Hello

[@lationixclips3336]

Shame you used concrete in nature

[@CaribooAdventure]

Unfortunately there were no durable alternatives, but we minimized the impact by using piers instead of a slab.

[@lationixclips3336]

@@CaribooAdventure you can use wood instead of concrete, cedar can last u to 100 years

[@bertveldhuizen8699]

What about steel screw, nails, brackets, vinyl windows etc.? I can go on and on...

[@honuswagner9348]

@@lationixclips3336 lol shut up.

[@jr08th]

@caribooadventure

[@vipuldesai4556]

What is the square footage of your cabin? One-story or two-story?

[@CaribooAdventure]

It’s 320 square feet and we have a second story with pony walls.

[@tamicakenyon5934]

@@CaribooAdventure what are pony walls and what are the sidewalls ans center measurements?

[@CaribooAdventure]

@@tamicakenyon5934 pony walls are short walls. Our second story walls are only 4 feet. The width of the cabin is 16ft and the length 20. The structural wall we have in the middle is 8ft on the second floor. (There’s a video later on that shows the pony walls etc)