Speaking of footers...sort of...
I've got a bunch of post holes to create and fill with posts. The
ground is frozen. The soil is sandy. And I got to thinking that this
might be a whole lot easier to do with frozen soil than with the
unfrozen type.
Agreed?
-jc
On Mar 14, 2005, at 11:37 AM, creighton wrote:
> Hi Bruce
> Make sure you have a real footer under your post. I go oversized
> for these, it always seems to be a little shifty under these side hill
> houses. 3' x 3' should be plenty if the post is gone and nothing big
> fell down. Dig down 8" to undisturbed soil to keep the 8" high footer
> out from under foot. ( I assume it's warm down there). Lay down 12"
> long 2x12 pressure treated on top of the footer. Yes- concrete filled
> lally column, cut to size after lifting floor just past where you want
> it. Use the steel plates that come with column at top and bottom.
>
> Does any one out there have any information on a house built by
> Addison Mizner for Jerome Alexandre? The house is in Colebrook CT
>
> I hope spring comes - I'm burning the furniture. ct Brown
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Bruce Marcham
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: Monday, March 14, 2005 11:31 AM
> Subject: [BP] Question about a jackpost base
>
> Another actual histo presto question or two:
>
> The Setup:
>
> Last night while getting a tour of the fine plaster crack repair and
> repaint work done in my parents' roughly 1890's Italianate house over
> the last six or seven weeks we stepped into the dining room. Within a
> matter of seconds we felt a heavy thump under our feet and one part of
> the floor seemed to be unsupported (a small area of the flooring moved
> down about a half inch when you stepped on it but sprung back into
> place when you got off it).
>
>
> We went down to the basement and figured out that one of the jackposts
> had probably rusted out at the base and dropped about 1/2" all of a
> sudden. The post was still in place but the wood blocking at the top
> of it (used to pick up a couple of floor joists) was loose and the
> bottom of it was jagged with rust.
>
> (Disclosure: I weigh about 300 pounds and I was probably standing
> directly above the jackpost when it gave way.)
>
> Question #1:
>
>
> Since the bricks and CMU's that are commonly used as a base for posts
> wick moisture what is the recommended base for a Lally column/jackpost
> to prevent the bottom from rusting out or a wooden one from rotting? I
> think my structural friend told me at one point that a true Lally
> column should be filled with concrete but I doubt that even this is
> the last word unless the bottom is kept dry. The basement floor is
> moist much of the year and seems to be rough concrete covered with a
> thin layer of dirt (maybe accumulated from what has been tracked in
> from the yard or a combination of that and the dust of the ages). The
> house is situated on a steep hill (the 400 block of East Buffalo
> Street in Ithaca, NY--for those familiar with Ithaca this is the steep
> lower part of the hill but not the upper part between Stewart Ave. and
> Eddy Street which is even steeper) and there is little that can be
> done to keep the moisture out of the basement (very little chance of
> excavating for an intercepting system on the uphill side). At times
> there seems to be a spring in one corner of the basement and it gets
> routed to a floor drain.
>
> Fortunately the only thing that seemed to be affected was the flooring
> as the adjacent plaster walls bears on masonry wall in the basement.
> This should mean (I hope) that the plaster will likely not be affected
> unless the person restoring the floor support gets carried away with
> jacking on the new post and lifts the floor (and baseboard molding) to
> the point that the wall starts to raise as well.
>
>
> Question #2:
>
> Can anyone recommend an on-line resource or, perhaps better yet, a
> sort of a "architectural field guide" for house styles? What I am
> interested in is a book that can help the relatively unsophisticated
> layman (me) to distinguish between an Italianate, Colonial, Federal,
> Queen Anne, Georgian, etc. I imagine architecture students have to buy
> a big picture book that probably weighs a ton, maybe covers the
> history of architecture, and goes through the distinguishing features
> of these styles, no? A lighter one (perhaps not as small the the field
> guides for birds or plants) would be nice (maybe 11"x8-1/2" format, an
> inch or so thick) so it could have maybe a page or two on each style,
> maybe a description of what blended into what on the cosmic timeline,
> etc.
>
>
> Sorry to put two queries in one post but I'm...
>
> Bruce (I've got a million of 'em) Marcham
>
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