Pier and Beam Vs Slab Foundation

If you would like to read the entire blogpost about slab vs pier and beam
click here: learnthisbuildthat.com/?p=1202
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[@D70340]

This fella nailed it! Thank you for taking the time to make a video this great, Jon!

[@stanmarymee4230]

Because you explained it so well and the way you did, I’ve decided to build Pier and Beam for my off grid house in San Luis Colorado. Since I’m doing everything by myself, it’s the best choice from all the videos that I’ve watched. You just explain it a little better to where I understand exactly what’s pro and what’s con. Thank you very much for filming this. 😊

[@andreycham4797]

Use bell auger for your piers

[@yourmomsdildo3938]

In the process of building my homestead. Got a quote for a slab of $16k and some change. Just rented an auger and put in 24 piers for $1774.78 in materials and $434.88 for 3 days on a skid steer with an auger. I ended up doing peir and beam for several other reasons than price but was blown away at what they wanted to do a 30x60 slab

[@badawesome]

They charge $10 per square foot for slab where I live in MT

[@madman432000]

Pour a slab or sidewalks under the P&B home for easier mobility under there if you have to do work. Getting around on a creeper is easier than scooting in the dirt.

[@badawesome]

Then just go with slab on grade if you have to worry about spending your time on a creeper.

[@Frank0games]

Can you use metal studs/ beams instead of wood for the pier and beams? So no mold or rot?

[@stephanvonwolf5666]

Loved it, solid logic. Thank you. ❤

[@johndoumas3603]

Good stuff Jon. Thanks for sharing!

[@eliinthewolverinestate6729]

I did both. Cmu block piers and a slab for my post and beam cottage. Insulated the piers and under slab. Find pier and beam raised off ground to be worse for bugs and rodents here in the north. I basically have a pavilion right now. Gonna finish walls this summer. Pier and beam cost more for radon mitigation. Code here masonry needs to be expose or breathable 18 inches above grade. To dry out. Better insulation factor with slab than pier and beam. All the wood causes thermal breaks. So same insulation thickness in pier floor means lower r value. Another con on pier and beam is frost heave. Which I see on a lot on pier and beam cottages up north. I have 70 psf snow loads and 6 foot frost depths. Another pro for pier and beam is use as a root cellar or cold room. Most sky scrapes have piers and slab.

[@nedoscarsandfishingvideos5500]

I think I go whit pier and beam just the fact I don’t have to worry about plumbing to much

[@Vidz0022]

Very informative and interesting video. Thanks

[@JonDawson]

Thanks!!

[@vieuxacadian9455]

Well done Sir .

[@tuvia4082]

Another thought. Slabs are used in the north but with pex tubing coiled in the slab to run warm liquid through providing radiant heat. Same in Switzerland and the Netherlands.

[@surewhatever8843]

I’m in your area! I bought a couple of run down houses to renovate and they’re my first pier & beams. Gotta’ say, I miss my slab foundation, but I’m working with what I got and I’m learning as I go. I appreciate your insight regarding the benefits of p&b. The houses are ~70 years old and I’m preparing to spend some time underneath with very little clearance and a pretty high level of claustrophobia. Wish me luck!

[@badawesome]

most snakes are not venomous

[@surewhatever8843]

@@badawesome Yeah, not terribly worried about snakes. It’s working in such a tight space with claustrophobia. Houses are set low, with very little clearance - like belly crawl low, the plumbing is not well organized and there’s junk and trash scattered about that I want to clear.

[@columbuspalmer846]

I agree with you when it comes to pier and beam. You have access your utility

[@anthonymurphy2540]

Wish you wrote a book!!

[@latonyalee7821]

Check out his BLOG. The link is in the description. I wish he was in Florida and I would pay him to do my Pier and Beam set up.

[@jimdrechsel3611]

What’s the best way to insulate? From the bottom? Seems like fastening plywood or something underneath and placing insulation from the top would be easier. How would you prevent mice and insects from getting in from underneath? Would you put plastic down under the floor and then cover with blue stone for moisture? Great video. Thanks for sharing.

[@donnaspakes2861]

Do you do consultations on pier & beam?

[@jerryronke6434]

What are your thoughts on open web floor trusses with post/pier to beam foundations?

[@joshua840]

Thanks for the vid Jon! Question - you are using a 1 ply framing on top of 4x6 for your build. One of the pics there uses 3 ply right on top of concrete pier. What are your thoughts on pros and cons of each approach and why did you go the frame on beam route?

[@JonDawson]

I like the beam attached to a bracket that is lagged to the concrete personally. it’s more secure in my eyes. But many people do it with 2 or 3 ply 2x12s. I don’t see too many major issues or differences in ether

[@joshua840]

@@JonDawson Did you end up beefing up those bottom girders? I thought you started w 4x6 in one early vid but the pics now look like there are 2x10 on each side?

[@dmcd1038]

Thanks for the video. I bought land in the mountains with a grade. Do you still think a higher pier and beam foundation is cheaper vs a walkout basement foundation?

[@donnaspakes2861]

Same. Would love to hear the response on this.

[@badawesome]

@@donnaspakes2861 A basement is the most expensive followed by pier and beam followed by slab if you hire someone to do it.

[@ericowens964]

Wife and I are in our second p&b house. Both built in 50s. Would never live on slab. Ease of repair along is worth it all.

[@marloniai]

What's your take if you do a concrete and steel beam for a pier and beam solution

[@marloniai]

Instead of using any wood for the pier and beam

[@tuanas458]

Pier and beam ftw!

[@kwms3804]

I wanna build a p&b home in philly

[@silvergt4254]

Can u use steel instead of wood?

[@badawesome]

titanium would even be better

[@tatsianapalchekh5326]

In continental Europe it's mostly slabs. What I don't understand how plumbing can go just under the house in this crawl space and not freeze in winter? I mean it's basically street temperature there

[@badawesome]

Put insulation around perimeter and temp stays above 50 degrees year round which is the temperature of the earth below frost line.

[@anthonymurphy2540]

Thinking doing a pier and beam,moving to Florida!!

[@latonyalee7821]

I live in Florida and I'm doing a Pier and Beam and with the hurricanes, I think it's a better option. The cost for a slab is ridiculously high for 400 feet (around $20,000)! Pier & Beam ($3,000). What part of Florida are you moving to?

[@anthonymurphy2540]

@@latonyalee7821 milton/pensacola.. where did you build your home?

[@latonyalee7821]

@@anthonymurphy2540 I heard that area is nice and Destin is very Tiny House friendly, which isn't far from Pensacola.

[@dappa211]

How about using concrete colums

[@badawesome]

that's the same as a pier

[@tuvia4082]

Good video. 10 years in Houston in a 1200 sq. ft. slab home, meh. Bugs, yes. 20+ years in Dallas in a 1200 sq. ft. pier and beam. I'll take the pier and beam. Not many bugs and if I saw one, bug bomb in the crawl space. The house was 25 years old and the underneath was good, probably still is. The only problem was the attached slab garage and driveway. Cracks.

[@badawesome]

concrete has been known to crack

[@jameslyons1661]

👍

[@7th_CAV_Trooper]

they run plumbing under slab in Florida

[@badawesome]

and everywhere else

[@7th_CAV_Trooper]

@@badawesome I'm not in construction, but I read that places run plumbing in the attic.

[@dianayukindez7857]

Pier and beam all the way. Another pro is not having to worry about tree roots from garden getting in slab.

[@tatsianapalchekh5326]

How plumbing doesn't freeze in winter under the house?

[@dianayukindez7857]

@@tatsianapalchekh5326 upinor plumbing, well insulated offcourse.

[@tatsianapalchekh5326]

@@dianayukindez7857 extra costs then

[@dianayukindez7857]

@@tatsianapalchekh5326 its an investment. Totally worth it. 🙂

[@historygradstu]

I dont understand the rot, mold thing.....get those piers up high enough to walk under neath it.....ok, look at homes on the sc/nc coast...they pour some concrete in a hole and drop treated 8x8s up 12x12' into the hole...its not even a concrete pier....thye build 3 stories code compliant...they park cars under the homes... They seal the bottom of the floor joists with plywood and simply paint them. Usillay the center of the home under the pier is a utility type room which contains hvac and pumbing compontes going to he ground.....no mold, no rot, no termites....its OFF THE GROUND, getting the home off he ground is key to not having mold, rot and termites!!!

[@tatsianapalchekh5326]

Slab is good for a cabin in a forest used in summer for holidays. Real home needs a real base, come on

[@YouTube_can_ESAD]

lol.

[@snappybabby4646]

Slab is ridiculous. Piers, beams and stem walls is far superior. Slab also can't do any type of earthquake rollers, can't access any of the buried utilities, cement is cold on the legs and feet. Wouldn't even consider slab. One can also put piers in themselves. Less cement.