Cinder Block Pilings?

[hard8]

I am considering building a streamside cabin that will need to be built on pilings and am giving serious consideration to Cinder Block instead of salvage utility poles. My first concern is the proper footing/spacing of each piling. Is there a standard practice for a 24 x 36 building? The other issues are how to attach the sill plates to blocks stacked 4 ft. high and the durability of immersed cinder blocks . Any insight is appreciated....

[Rich]

We built a cabin in that same situation and we used gravel, a concrete pad, and cmu blocks to make the foundation piles. Is what we did for the attachment and structure was poured grout mix into the cmu and poured a metal strap into the cmu blocks. Then we used 6x6 p/t for the structure and then typical floor framing above that.
Trying to recall but I believe we went 8' o.c. both ways for the pilings. We also left shim space so if the building began to shift or whatever the owner could easily shim a little here or there.
We placed gravel in the bottom of our holes which were 24" deep and then a 24"x24" concrete pad and then a 16"x16" cmu column on that.
Hope that helps.
Take my word for it now though - get an engineer to look at your details just for a higher comfort level. If you can get him to stamp it even better. :lol:

[hard8]

We built a cabin in that same situation and we used gravel, a concrete pad, and cmu blocks to make the foundation piles. Is what we did for the attachment and structure was poured grout mix into the cmu and poured a metal strap into the cmu blocks. Then we used 6x6 p/t for the structure and then typical floor framing above that.
Trying to recall but I believe we went 8' o.c. both ways for the pilings. We also left shim space so if the building began to shift or whatever the owner could easily shim a little here or there.
We placed gravel in the bottom of our holes which were 24" deep and then a 24"x24" concrete pad and then a 16"x16" cmu column on that.
Hope that helps.
Take my word for it now though - get an engineer to look at your details just for a higher comfort level. If you can get him to stamp it even better. :lol:
Are you saying you used 6x6 P/T posts for your floor structure instead of typical 2 x 8 sill plates/floor joists or did you use both? Sounds like a good idea but I am curious about the load bearing and cost comparisons of these construction methods. Any insights?

[Rich]

Yes we used 6x6's to span between the pilings and then 2x8 floor framing on top of that. Depending on your pile spacing will depend on what your beam size will be.

[hard8]

Yes we used 6x6's to span between the pilings and then 2x8 floor framing on top of that. Depending on your pile spacing will depend on what your beam size will be.
What is the rule of thumb for Piling spacing on a 24x36 single level construction (Siding/metal roof etc)? Pilings will be approx. 4 ft. above ground.
Thanks!

[Rich]

I couldn't tell you.. we had an engineer look at ours beforehand. Like I said I believe it was 8' o.c. for ours.