Hey all!
I’m working on a small cabin in NE PA built in 1970. It sits on concrete block piers, with the piers down about 5′ below ground level. The builder (my friends Dad) used 55 gallon drums as footing tubes built up the piers to the level he needed then filled the drums with concrete. Amazingly the cabin hasn’t moved at all and is still “almost” dead level.
That said, I’d like to use the house year round and an trying to decide how to close in the underside of the cabin around the piers. The lot slopes… with one end of the house about 2′ off the ground and the other side 7′ off. I plan to roll out thick mil plastic on the bare ground and cover it with stone to help keep out moisture and have a few ideas on next steps…. but could *really* use any/all thoughts, ideas, suggestions or comments.
Thanks in advance to all!
Replies
Greetings ray
As a first time poster Welcome to Breaktime.
Recommendation:
Use boraxed-for-insects foamboard insulation between and over the flooring joists that are exposed towards the ground
and cover with a 4x8 sheathing board like plywood. Forget using fiberglass batts and tyvex or the animals will love you.
That's a relatively small area and the cost won't be that extreme.
Yep, it'll be a custom fit going around everything but you do it only once.
Box in and make your water feed-in well insulated and accessible from the first floor with a plugin for heat wrap that can be used during winter.
Plastic vaporbarrier needed only where closest to the ground.
If you so inclined loose walls to the ground on the perimeter of the 'basement' to cut back on wind chill but not so tight as to make a terrarium in there.
Edited 6/13/2009 1:05 am ET by rez
Thanks a million Rez, great ideas! that I'll be putting to use in the coming months.
I dont think the plastic on the ground is going to do anything for you. you cannot close the uderside of the house so tight that you create a mushroom farm. you're going to need some ventilation.
take a lesson from the skirting around a mobile home. PT or borax just to below grade. just a wind screen
and you're going to need to insulate the floor then cover it with some thing that will deter rodents like masonite or some PT sheetgoods. cut it all in close then fill any gaps with great stuff foam in a can. mice dont eat through that (usually)
Thanks maverick, will do !
Hi Ray,
Welome to Break Time. Good bunch of knowledgeable guys here, as you can probably tell. I've been learning new things here, day by day, for quite a while.
I used to build summer homes in NE PA, mid-seventies. Just for nostalgia sake, what town(s) is the cabin near?
I'm thinking the place for the plastic might be at bottom of joists rather than on the ground.
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