How to Pour Concrete Footings With Piers Using Sonotubes

[@butopiatoo]

AI would have NEVER thought of the innovative use of a Bob's Plumb Wrench. What a CLASSIC MIXER!

[@SomethingToday30]

Finally someone who understands how to use a sono tube. It always amazes me to see people who dig out a huge hole just to put a tube in it so it can be back filled.

[@trigunnn2]

This may not mean much but know that you help someone in the world. Ty so much for the post =)

[@politicalpartyagnostic268]

If you want it done right, you have to do it yourself!!!! Great work guys!!!!

[@johngraham5755]

This is a really great video and it answered exactly what I was wondering!

[@BenjaminSahlstrom]

Glad it was helpful!

[@effortdludla1835]

I like the way you discribe it make us to be educated

[@SerratedAMG]

Cool, this has the same concept for concrete walls (a footer below the wall). Which increases surface area for which the pillar of concrete sits on.

[@lawrenceinks4810]

Can you attach 2x 4 foot sonotubes together? I need 6 foot tubes but buying by the foot from stores is absurdly expensive compared to mass produced 4 foot tubes.

[@tokyojoeskarate8227]

I'd love an answer to this, too. Frost line is 5' here.

[@jz3712]

I hope so, because I’m about to..

[@ScoutSniper3124]

Is that a Metric or Standard sized Plumb Bob?

[@esay7403]

Just what I needed. Thank you

[@John-Adams-Can]

Seth MacFarlane Jr.! Thanks for the info man, we are building our cottage this way.

[@gokblok]

😂😂😂

[@randyjerrett3385]

Nice job!!!!

[@sylviaknutcecily]

"Plumb bob - or rather plumb wrench. It's Bob's plumb wrench" lol!!!

[@cyotedude]

Good information, thanks. I use a plumb socket btw.

[@jonprice7481]

For electric gutters, plumb truck key

[@Mrdubomb]

How much time do you generally have from digging to setting/filling the sonotubes? Could you wait a week or so?

[@robertbrooks98]

that plumb wrench is priceless!! been there

[@seanfagan8490]

It’s like a Fred Flintston Build.

[@gocart09]

Is that a new Holland in LS 125 in the background

[@dylanmilks]

It would appear that the bottom of the hole is wider than the top. Is that right?

[@designerd77]

Why does the concrete look so wet? Adding one extra quart of water per 80lb of concrete mix decreases the strength 40 percent

[@naum900]

Would you recommend rebar for a concrete post without footing used for a 6x6 wood post pergola?

[@kristopherjewell5259]

Absolutely

[@j.a.r.family2576]

Basically the same as sonotube????

[@woodspirit98]

excellent video....especially for those of us who need this..ie. ME I have 12" concrete sono-tube posts under my cabin and the middle ones of course are being pushed down the hill due to the grade of the land. the bottoms have been pushed down the hill, not the tops???? there is no gutter on that side of the house so all the snow and water from the roof and slope of the land send every drop under my cabin on the uphill side. I think it was built in the 70's. So the middle of the cabin is lifted about 1" higher than the sides. I'm wondering if they didn't go down far enough on the middle of the cabin figuring that the outside posts are more important to dig deep enuf. I 'm no engineer but I'm thinking someone cut corners, got lazy and just figured it'll be someone else problem someday. any suggestions?

[@jacobificationable]

Sounds like frost heave

[@acreageliving]

My suggestion is to fix your water issue, you need gutters when you live in frost country, they help alot, you do not want water around your building at all. That just makes for more expansion when freezing. I would also install drainage tile in the ground to direct ground water away from the cabin. After that, you will need to go under your cabin and install some adjustable jack posts either onto new poured footings or possibly onto the old ones if usuable. Adjustable posts, allow you to move your foundation is any heave does happen. Getting rid of the water flowing under the cabin will help a lot. Even footings dug deep enough can heave if the footing is bigger at the top. Frost closer to the surfaceis actually what lifts foundations out, as the frost starts there first. A big no no is having your cement foundation bigger at the surface, you want it biggest at the deepest part in the ground, so it cant be pulled out. If you have a cone shaped foundation with the biggest part of the cone near the surface, the frost will grab onto that like nothing and lift it up, when its lifted, soil falls under the foundation, and the foundation will never settle back in the same spot again. Thats why over the years it gets higher and higher. Good luck!

[@Steve-ns2hb]

@@jacobificationable Yeah thats what I thought

[@sandywjo5]

The sonotubes stay in the ground permanently or you remove them?

[@samueladams4145]

The Sonotubes don't extend into the dirt very far. Pouring against undisturbed dirt is always best.

[@loganhall6660]

That's a hell of a mixer haha thank you for the video.

[@SimgoWood]

I plan to do the same thing but the maximum size drill I can have is 12''. how did you drill the holes?

[@kellywhite9278]

Depending on your project you also have the option to set your anchor bolts in to your wet concrete if you're able to do that I would think it would be easier than drilling.

[@BenjaminSahlstrom]

Thankfully I have access to a skid loader with a 18" post auger. Definitely speeds up the process that way!!!

[@Ed-uu9eo]

@@kellywhite9278 Anchor bolts? I think he meant how he drilled the holes in the ground.

[@skadelbai1]

👌 Awesome way.

[@isaacvelazquez931]

Hey Ben I find your videos very helpful and I was wondering if your tube footing can this be used for a lake deck

[@kellywhite9278]

I don't see any reason why you couldn't. You probably don't need that large of a diameter that he's putting in for just a deck, you probably could use more like the diameter size that he took out if you're just supporting a deck.

[@meandnature6452]

what if i find ground water in the hole?

[@DeanCF1]

Concrete will still cure in water.

[@meandnature6452]

@@DeanCF1 ok thanks

[@cyotedude]

use a very big hair dryer

[@darylg.4270]

What region is this?

[@BenjaminSahlstrom]

Hi Daryl! We are in Southwest Minnesota. Frost depth of up to 4ft or so. Where are you from? Thanks for asking and I hope you'll subscribe if you haven't yet. Blessings, Ben

[@darylg.4270]

@@BenjaminSahlstrom Massachusetts, great work guys! I was just wondering

[@ccaaproduction105]

Thank you for your sharing information

[@bikinibuilders1184]

way to deal with the adversity!

[@jeffreycase285]

So I would maybe add using sonotube all the way down is not the best way to go basically dig a hole diameter to pier with a wider base than top then maybe cut somotube with exposure at level line extending down into hole 2x the reveal the rest should be earth formed provides better grip place rebar not less than 3 in from sides and not more than 5 in from top saves a lot on sonotube cost.

[@boots7859]

Not if you have to worry about frost/heaving. Don't cheap out, the tube helps keep the entire column above the 'bell' uniformly round and with a minimally 'grabby' surface for the earth to grab onto when freezing and potentially lifting it. The 'bell' helps of course, but you still want as smooth a surface on the column as possible.

[@michaelhoward4983]

I IMMEDIATELY discounted this video when he said “cement”. When I heard that- I KNEW this guy doesn’t have a clue.

[@BenjaminSahlstrom]

That's correct! Michael knows best! ;)

[@jimhuskins8506]

Ditto!

[@hayesmyers2259]

Hi Michael, your pedantic take on life is amusing, at best.

[@angelyair1121]

well done guys, how old were you when this video dropped?

[@EdwardT9]

There’s 3 of them, as long as 1 of them knows what they’re doing it’s OK. I don’t think the deck will fall down anytime soon.

[@yankkesrule]

Is that mixer OSHA approved?

[@BenjaminSahlstrom]

Haha of course!

[@perpetualfarmer8635]

Question your soil looks like clay. I'm in East Texas and I'm trying to figure out how deep to go in the ground. Any info you can provide would be great. Great video!!

[@acreageliving]

you literally just need a footing able to hold the weight of the structure, you have no frost in Texas. lol

[@SouthDFWrep]

I'm in North East Texas, the ground is a mix of sand, iron ore rock, and clay. We have 100 year old cabins on our place that sit still sit on cement foundation blocks, just leveled on top of the ground, and the houses have not moved in 100+ yrs.

[@stevesmith-wc2gb]

It’s actually called concrete

[@wayneclermont1950]

It is not cement, it is actrually concrete, which is made with several ingredients including cement. The metal tubes will not perform in the long term as a sonotube would. Sonotubes are waxed or oiled allowing the exterior medium be it some type of soil to move up and down as the moisture content changes and freezing and thawing happens. There will be fixing of their project in just a few years.

[@boots7859]

That steel will work fine, it will rust out pretty quickly though. As long as the concrete is relatively smooth, it will help resist heave. That sono tube degrades and is gone after a year or so anyways. Aside from being pedantic, everyone slips and calls it cement on occasion, Sono tubes are meant as a temp help in keeping the concrete column uniformly smooth, why you think it will somehow help years later is crazy.

[@wayneclermont1950]

The petroleum in the Sonotubes remains and that is what helps woth frost heaving. Surprised most do not know such.

[@patty109109]

Sonotubes are made out of carboard and, of course, will rot. They are not intended to live the life of any project. Just to keep the concrete in shape until it cures. The wax inside is to keep the concrete wet while it cures. It has nothing to do with providing a slick medium to allow heaving earth to move independently of the concrete.

[@tiotetabutoa6830]

interesting.

[@YankeeinSC1]

48" frostline?!!!! Jeeze "that" folks is why I moved...

[@Carl-LaFong1618]

Hi from So. Cal. One question... what is frost?

[@DD-lr6ne]

@@Carl-LaFong1618 So. Cal probably requires 6" wide flange I beams pounded 30' into the ground on 12" centers welded to 8" channel iron to make a 6' square deck for earth quake preparedness. I used to live in So. Cal. Was there for Whittier earth quake. Now I live where the frost is.

[@CmoreAnts]

eventualentropy haha

[@stellafromthenorth9678]

We are from northern Minnesota. We are currently digging three post holes for a deck extension. 54 inches deep!

[@TheSoftspokenShaman]

pregnant women need Sonotubes, not sonograms lol

[@MB-ye4el]

Just to be clear, your title states Sonotubes and you are using metal duct, so you are not using a brand name product but using something else similar to it made of metal and not made of some sort of paper product, the hole is not being filled with "cement", cement is an ingredient of concrete, concrete is going in the hole.

[@BenjaminSahlstrom]

Right right. Glad you got that off your chest. :)

[@idiggplants]

Hammering the rebar into the ground is a huge no-no. Exposed rebar rusts and will continue to rust into the structure. Bad practice to be teaching others.

[@carlosreyes6448]

Do you recommend rebar cages?

[@idiggplants]

@@carlosreyes6448 they are more expensive, but they work fine. You can just make your own cages instead. The important part Is keeping them up off the ground so they aren't exposed to corrosion.

[@ИльнурГалявиев-б9е]

Bla bla bla