In Christendom, there is a hymn, “The Church’s One Foundation”. Its verses share how Christ, as the very foundation of the Christian church, will bring it through trials and tribulations to emerge triumphant (http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh545.sht). It demonstrates how important a good foundation is to any structure, how a solid foundation helps in good times and in bad.

Interestingly, one knows little about a foundation because it is typically buried and out of sight. For the cabin, the foundation is extremely important.

Let’s do some math. Assume each log weighs (compliments of www.woodweb.com) about 2,500 pounds. Each wall would have about 20,000 pounds resting on it. 10 tons per wall. Multiply the 10 tons by four for the total weight of the walls of 40 tons. Add another 5 tons for the roof, flooring, sheet rock, interior walls, plumbing, etc. it comes out that the foundation will support about 45 tons.

Next, add the weight of the foundation, footings, and slab. The foundation design calls for walls over 9 feet tall, 11.5″ thick, resting on footers that are 28″ wide and 12″ deep. These components require about 45 cubit yards of concrete. Since each yard of concrete weighs 3,500 pounds, this adds another almost 80 tons.

The slab, 30′ x 30′ x 4.” requires about 18 yards of concrete or about 30 tons. The total weight on the soil? 45 + 80 + 30 or 155 tons!.

155 tons. I call it the “bomb shelter”.

Intimidated by the forecasted 45 tons of weight bearing down on the foundation that I was planning,  I decided instead to let someone else do it. Cowardly? Perhaps. I prefer “wise”. I let bids to foundation subcontractors.

There are three primary choices for the compostion of the foundation – concrete blocks, poured concrete, and ICF (insulating concrete forms, see – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insulating_concrete_form  ).  We choose the poured concrete to avoid the cracks and leaks common to cinder block. We did not choose the ICF because of the added expense (over twice – that included all labor and although high, it saves money in later construction phases).

Having a contractor is a key step but the site has to be readied before they come. It still amazes me how complicated things get in this project. Since the site is on a hillside, it has to be excavated. Additionally, since it is forested, it has to be cleared. Oh, there are lots of rocks too.

So I contacted my gravel/grading contractor to clear the trees, dig the hole, remove the rocks, enhance the drive to the site, etc. His name is David B and he has been great. He came with his bulldozer and track-hoe and went to work.

You may wonder, “what is a track-hoe?”. It is similar to a back hoe but instead of just a bucket on the end of the arm, it has an “opposable thumb” that scoots things into the bucket and holds them there. Pretty neat to watch. When David had a tree to remove, he would dig around the base of the tree, cutting roots and loosing the soil. He would leave the tree uncut at this point. Once it was loosened, he would push it over. The weight of the tree would help rip the roots out of the ground. Next we (his helper Benny and I) would cut the tree away from the stump and section the tree into pieces and remove them for later use as firewood. Finally, David would dig under the stump, bring the thumb down on top of it, and lift/pull the stump out.

Yes, it was remarkably similar to the removal of a tooth except it didn’t pop out and bled very little. (I had my 4 “12 year” molars extracted with local anesthesia over two sessions when I was in high school. Even as I get older and my memory fades, I still  remember that dental procedure.)

All the branches, stumps, etc. were pulled, dragged, pushed into a burn pile. What is a burn pile? Check out the next post!

Frank