Frost Heave Puns

I have a cabin, more specifically a Norwegian “stabbur” (see here for an example) that is starting to lean. I suspect this is due to “frost heave” and am trying to figure out how to fix it. The house does not have a poured foundation - it’s just sitting on top of some big rocks that are right on the ground. This guy fixed his by propping it up with some pressure treated wood, but is this really the best way? Seems like a bandaid, or just overall unstable. I’d love to hear suggestions for both the best way to fix this where cost is not a factor, and for the most practical solution that is most cost efficient. Thanks in advance!

I'm re-positioning my deck stairs which will require the two 4x4 stair posts on the last bottom step installed on something that's not grass or dirt. Code in my town requires 4 feet deep footings for deck posts but not for the stair posts. Code only requires a 36 inch landing depth and for the bottom step to not be sitting on grass or dirt. I was planning to dig shallow footings and use a post stand-off but most all my neighbors deck stairs land on a concrete pad and they seem to think that a 4 inch deep 40 inch square concrete pad will move less than two 8 inch sonotube footings that are 2 feet deep and I was then planning to use pavers as the landing. 4 feet deep sonotubes is A LOT more work and seems way overboard for this. Looks wise, I would very much prefer the pavers as a landing, but don't want to have any heaving and have to re-do this project anytime soon. Anyone have thoughts, recommendations, or experience with this scenario?

Adding on a two story addition to my house on sloped grade. The addition will be sitting on 6x6 wood beams 2ft into the ground. I was wondering if Frost Heave is something I need to worry about living in northern part of Arkansas? Will building on the slope create for better water drainage so that this is something I will not have to worry about? Thanks and God Bless..

Live in central Illinois, asked by lady I'm renting from if I could build her a small deck. She would also like to use the recycled plastic lumber for the decking as well. I've never done a project like this, and was curious what you guys would consider best. I don't know if with it being so small and low to the ground if heaving would even be an issue? Her Sunroom door just opens up into the backyard and is a single step down. She would like the deck built out from there.

I am going to be installing a 6 ft privacy vinyl fence. The posts supplied are 8ft long and stay hollow because the fence top and bottom rails are inserted inside. The posts used to be 9ft, but the company shortened them to save money. Now it will only have 18" of post in the ground, but I need to a base that goes down 30" for frost line. I called the fence company and they said I can just put 18" of stone at the bottom and rest the post on that. Will the post heave up if it does not have concrete down to the frost line? They said the stone being that far down would be ok. I live in Ohio, and we have a frost line of 30". It seems to me that you would want the concrete down 30" with 6" of stone under it. The company said it's not necessary, and that the stone being that far down would be sufficient. But they couldn't supply any paperwork on that, it was more of a suggestion.

Recently purchased a gooseneck basketball pole, and I want to make sure I install it correctly so it will not move. I live in Minnesota, and am concerned about frost heave. My soil is a combination of clay and sandstone.The pole is 4.5" diameter and weighs about 250 pounds. I have dug a hole about 4 feet deep, and 2 feet wide, as I needed to break a lot of rocks in the soil. I have looked up how to do this online but I see several flaws with the different methods.

   <--- 2' --->
___            _________
  |            | ^
  |            | |
  |            | |
  |            | | 4'
  |            | |
  |            | |
  |____________| v

So far the best suggestion I have seen or heard of is:

1. Figure out how deep the pole needs to be buried to make the rim 10 feet exactly when installed.

2. "Bell out" the bottom of the hole and pour a footing with rebar coming from the top that would be at the exact height where I need the pole to set. Wait for this footing to harden.

    ___            _________
      |            |   
      |  REBAR     |   
      |  _      _  |   
      |   |    |   |  
      |___|____|___|  
     /  __|    |__  \ 
     |__FOOTING_____| 
   

3. Lower the pole into the hole with a sonotube around it and pour it full of concrete, while filling the outside of the Sonotube with dirt again.

     ___     PPP      _________
        |DDS PPP SDDD|   
        |DDS PPP SDDD|   
        |DDS PPP SDDD|     White areas are concrete
        |DDS PPP SDDD|     S = Sonotube
        |DDS PPP SDDD|     D = Dirt
       /  __|    |__  \    P - Pole
       |__FOOTING_____| 
   

4. Then I would level the pole and wait a week for it to cure.

The questions I have remaining:

1. Will the 2 pours of concrete join together enough with the rebar?
2. Will I still have to worry about frost heave?
3. What else might I not be thinking about?
4. Will my kids even want to play hoops with me?

Hello,

First off - Northern Minnesota, USA. It gets cold!

I am putting a bedroom in my basement (which is a full walkout on the east side of the house, which is where the big window is in the picture below). The building inspector approved my rough in but recommended to not insulate the area that's under ground any more than it is right now (just R4 tongue and groove polystyrene glued to the wall) as I could potentially face heaving of the foundation/basement walls (which is standard concrete block).

Here's a picture of what I'm talking about: http://imgur.com/dVXMpif

Basically I'm wondering if this is a thing? I know that frost heave is real but just had never heard of an over insulated basement causing it (but I'm an IT guy, not a contractor!). I'm planning on doing unfaced R19 bats in the walls prior to drywall. Obviously I don't want to over insulate and cause foundation problems, but at the same time this is a bedroom so comfort is high on the priority list...

Thanks,

David

I have never worked with any sort of masonry before. There is standing water at the bottom of the pit.

Is this something that a somewhat handy person can fix on his/her own? How would I go about doing this? What should I be careful of (other than making sure I don't let the tub drop (it will be dry until this issue is fixed)

Thank you so very much for your help and advice!

Let's say you have some water that you pour in a crack of rock. The room (and water) are at 1` C. Then the temperature of the room decreases to (which is actually energy leaving the equation), and the water freezes. It breaks apart the rock with some amount of force.

Where did that energy come from?

Hi there, My lawn is fairly "lumpy" for lack of a better term and I'm really not sure where to start to try and correct the problem. I don't know a whole lot about lawn care/maintenance but am want to learn. I believe the lumps are from frost heaves as I see no visible sign of rodents or grubs. In some areas, especially around 2 maples in my yard, it's gotten to the point where there is no grass anymore, just soil (no clay). Should my first step be to fertilize and seed my lawn then roll it? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!