We recently purchased a cottage that is resting on three rows of cement block piers (about 9 piers in each row). We checked some of the piers, and there does seem to be at least a bit of cement under them. The cottage needs to be leveled as one corner is lower, but the piers are generally in good shape. We contacted a company that specializes in this work, and they recommended that we:
1) Add three 2×8 three (or four) member beams underneath the cottage. Right now, the joists are just resting on the cement blocks of the piers, and were were told to be careful about adding much more weight to the cottage.
2) Redo the piers to have three rows of five piers each (vs. the current “sea of piers”). They would remove the existing piers and concrete, and dig down about a foot under each new pier, fill with gravel, top with a 18x18x4″ pad and rebuild the piers with new blocks.
3) Raise the cottage slightly – it is pretty close to the ground right now (about 2 blocks high). The suggestion was to add one block plus the beams.
Lifting the cottage and doing this work is pretty expensive ($10-12K cdn). The company has a good reputation, and before renovating we want to make sure we are building on a solid base, but we also want to reality check these recommendations.
Thoughts? Suggestions?
Thanks!
Replies
Not having the option to see this in person, the suggestions they made seem reasonable. I'm assuming you are in a location where deeper footings for frost are not required. Given the scope of this project their estimate is not out of line. They will have to jack this building up to be able to even begin such work.
This king of situation is very common with cottages that were not built for long term use, or by DIY folks.
Thanks for your insight. It is located in the Haliburton, Ontario (Canada) area.
We will be converting it to a 4 season place. It was originally a boat access cabin and was built in 1965. The structure is in good condition - dry and not rotten.
It would be nice to have a perimeter wall but that's $35K and not in our budget.
Thanks again!