Bath House Episode 1: The Foundation
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- čas přidán 11. 09. 2024
- After selling our old farm, and moving on to vacant land, I chose to build a bath house, first. This building is a testing ground for a variety of natural building techniques. The best approaches will be incorporated into the main house. In this video, I explain the rubble trench foundation, pouring a concrete bond beam, and installing anchors for the timber frame.
The price on that mixer has gone up, but here is a link that pays me a small commission:
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There is a playlist on my home page that will house all episodes in this series.
At last! An expert installing a French drain under the foundations…wonderful. I wonder why so many others forget this measure
I’m very curious why you put a French drain under the foundation. We always put the French drain at footing depths on the outside perimeter but never under the foundation. Please tell me why Thank you
Blackbirds on your creek are nice background soundtrack
So many species of wild birds around here. Love those black birds, but the sand hill cranes are my favorite.
I really enjoy your content. Please consider making more .
Just found your channel and really enjoy the innovative methods you have used in several videos! We are just getting started on our land in Cochise County AZ and doing our research so very glad I found you!
I’m so glad to be helpful. Good luck with you project!
So nice to see you and Cameron together!
We sure had a blast!
Thanks! There were some very helpful details there. I think French drains are crap and clog up, but I suppose they're helpful for a decade or so while looser soil around the foundation isn't compacted yet. Really nice bond beam!
Thanks! Yeah, the French drain is not the magical thing most think it is. I'm down to do it if it's cheap, or ground water is an issue. But, I agree that they are not going to function for the life of the building.
I was sure we were subscribed but you tube must have kicked up off. lol So we got yall now. lol
Must be your Arizona Month. Old precast concrete guy. Sounds like you are taking interest in making Concrete.
excellent!! thank you
😎
This is the first time I have ever seen anyone put a French drain under the foundation. Why? I have been in construction my entire life I have built many houses and home additions and out buildings and garages. I did all of the work myself and I worked with contractors to learn how to build from different perspectives and techniques. I’m very interested in the French drain will you please tell me why you do it and how you came up with this idea. Why the depth width I’m truly wanting to understand this please enlighten me
Very interesting! If I understand correctly, your timber framing has the posts attached to the concrete base, right? If i join the posts at the base with wooden joists, like a traditional timber frame, could i place the joists over concrete "pads", instead of building a continous concrete base?
Wouldn't laying the ground cloth in the trench be better? I thought the whole idea behind it was to keep silt out of the gravel.
Did you end up doing any insulation on the slab? Thanks.
I poured 6" of aircrete in the floor, then did 2" of reinforced deck mud (5:1 sand to portland) over that, then tile. worked well, but aircrete is not the best for that application. I'm building an addition which will have 6" of lava rock for insulation in the floor. there will be an adobe floor in that section. I'm using the methode detailed here: czcams.com/video/TSIsEF3nybA/video.html
Very helpful, thank you! Can you point me to resources for designing a foundation like this? There's a lot out there about how the rubble trench works but I can't find much about the specifics. Like how big the grade beam needs to be for a given load and how that varies for point loads like you have.
The engineering on this one was purely instinctive, and not mathematical. There are no building codes where I live, so the only party involved is me (as it should be). If you are uncomfortable estimating, or need plans that meet “code” you may need to consult an engineer, or at least and engineering text book. For the record, this foundation has performed flawlessly through a full year. Odisea, Llc of Paonia, Colorado has designed these for me, on larger projects. They do a lot of natural building engineering, and may answer specific questions, for you. Good luck!
@@radicalgastronomy Cool that helps. I may just copy you then because my building is a little smaller. Thanks for the reply!
@@MrWoodsli Demensions are nominally 6x12 inches with two 3/8 rebar. Should work great. 😁👍
@@radicalgastronomy Saguache County? I've heard they don't have building codes. I've also heard Cochise County in Arizona allows owner builders to opt-out of building permits. Places where you can be responsible for yourself are, sadly, drying up.
@@mondavou9408 It’s such a scam. The code is written by building material manufacturers and trade unions, then lobbied to county commissioners. I solves problems for mediocre bureaucrats, so it just gets adopted without comment. Not a fan.
Outstanding! Was this a permit required bond beam foundation? How did Frank Lloyd Wright just use 3" minus rubble gravels to build on in such harsh climates? French drains? Mason stone blocks?
I do not live under the tyranny of building codes, thank God. Foundations in my region tend to have problems caused by bentonite and heaving. This approach makes the most sense, to me.
Love the video!!! This is @mugwortexpress from Instagram! Told you I'd watch 😁. I wish I had looked at this earlier, before we mixed our concrete for the pillars of a pole barn... I wanted the mix to be just moist like yours but working with friends who seemed like they knew better we had a very wet mix!
Anyhow, I liked how you explained everything you did. Thanks.
But two questions, in a rubble trench foundation like this one, do we need to dig past the frost line or is it that with everything sloped away from the building and gravel filled is enough?
And in the bond beam, couldn't you have placed some rocks or something like that to lift the reinforcement rebar? Oh also, that this rebar end up about half way up the bond beam?
Thanks again for the inspiration. Following your work
The Land of Dreams Homestead The French drain should be below the frost line. The perforated section should be level, and the non-perforated drain line should slope at least 2 degrees away from the building. Rocks can be used to lift the rebar. I prefer to pull it up into the pour because I am needlessly paranoid about moisture wicking up the joint between a stone, and the concrete and rusting my iron. It’s not a real concern, but just how I am. The rebar is roughly centered in the beam. As long as it is completely within the pour, tensile strength is the same is it’s one third up, down, or centered. Reach out here, or on IG, if you ever want to bounce ideas around!
@@radicalgastronomy very good, thank you so much for your reply and the invite to bounce around some ideas! Will do eventually... right now winter is coming and we have a lot of work ahead of us here 😁!
Do you guys in the states have concrete CHAIRS to hold the reo at the half way point?
We do. I would use them for a slab.
Thanks for sharing! But I have a couple questions. I looked through your videos to see if you ended up using this foundation for your house and didn't see anything. Did you end up using this for your house? Two, how did your building inspector react to this technique? Would you personally recommend an RT foundation for a 2k sqft house?
The cordwood portion of my house is on this foundation. You can see me stacking logs on it in the cordwood video. Personally, I would use this foundation style for any home. A structural engineer can calculate the appropriate dimensions for your build. Mine has not moved in three years.
I have the joy of living in one of the last counties in America without building codes, so there is no building inspector to satisfy. In most jurisdictions, stamped plans from an engineer will be accepted for a variance from the nonsense in “the code”.
How do you decide how far apart your posts go?
There are tables to help calculate the load a span will carry. On this one, I use 6x10 glue-lam beams rated to span the whole length of the building, so the intermediate posts are not technically necessary.
What was the price difference between bagged portland vs that bulk pile you got?
It’s been too long to remember, but a ton of gravel currently costs me $12, if I haul it myself. Ready mix is mostly gravel, and it runs $6 for each 80# sack. Portland cement is $12/bag, and will produce the equivalent of 5 1/2 bags of ready mix. Mixing on site is less than half the cost of buying ready mix, and about 1/10 the cost of calling for a pour. Hope that helps!
Are you for hire? I want to build a bath house off grid western Montana.
Don’t tempt me with a good time. Anything is possible, but we’d have to go big. Like workshop and a small film crew big. If you are down for that, let’s talk.