Can I use railroad ties for piers on my house

[johndeere2210]

A number of years ago, I worked for a farmer who came by a whole semi load of new RR ties. We immediately went to work building a corral system using the ties for posts. After several weeks of hard labor, the corral was finished and useable. After about five years there were several loose posts. Upon investigating, we discovered that the posts had significant moisture damage below the ground line. Even though we had used gravel in the bottom of the post holes for drainage, the ties had rotted about 6 inches below the ground. The reason ties last so long on the rail road is that they are laid horizontally in a bed of coarse gravel that raises them well above grade for drainage. I would not recommend using them for piers under a house where the conditions are most likely to be damp and dark. Just my two cents worth. Good luck.

 

[hitekcountry]

Stevenf

There are many different approaches to accomplish what you are trying to do, and someone will no doubt suggest other good ideas. But here is a technique that I’ve used a number of times because it is so simple.
First drill/dig the holes for the footings. Then position the beam in its final position above the holes. Brace it in place. The bracing will be placed so that you have room to work around the holes. The beam is now about 3 feet (based upon your statement for a 3 foot crawl space) above grade, perfectly level, centered above a row of empty holes. Now cut each post support to length from the bottom of the beam to about a foot above grade. Next attach the posts to the bottom of the beam centered above each hole. You now have the posts each hanging above an empty hole. Next cut your sonotube to length (about a foot long) from grade to the bottom of the post. Someone could hold the sonotube in place when you pour but it is a nicer job if you can fix it in place. Next pour cement and be sure to pack it in under the bottom of the post.
Simple

Fred

 

[stevenf]

Fred I'm probably not the sharpest crayon in the box but I'm not sure I understood your sonotube installation instructions. Let me wiz this by ya and see what you think or anyone else following Steve's Homebuilding 101 discussion. I figure I should drill about a 12" hole down 3 feet or so and then with a digging bar bell out the bottom for footings. Pour about a sack of mixed concrete in the hole with some supported rebar in the footings and some sticking out in the center a foot or so to tie the sonotube column to the footing. After footings have cured since I've got so many to do it will be a multiple day project just on the footings so no down time, I will put the sonotube on top of the footings braced up square and level and shoot them with a transom or lazer and put a hole or mark at level on all tubes then put rebar cages in each sonotube and pour to my level line and put a j bolt in the top for attachment of beams. Wallah! a month or so later /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif I'm ready to construct and attach beams as nights, weekends and holidays are my only time to work on the house. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[MarkLeininger]

I would encourage you to go get a structural engineer (or architect if they can do it in Texas) to design the foundation for you. I paid a guy $50/hour to do the structural design on my house and it ended up costing a couple hundred dollars.

If you decide to use sonotube you can pour the footing and column at the same time for something this small. I'll post again if you decide to do it that way.

 

[hitekcountry]

Stevenf

Notice that I was only presenting a process and not a design. You suggest a different process and that will work also. As I said there are a number of ways you can accomplish what you are trying to do.
I purposely left out suggestions as to the number and spacing of support posts, depth of hole, size of footings, rebar, brackets, hold downs, bracing etc. . I’m not qualified to comment on design issues for your area. Besides not everyone would want to build the way I do. I have a tendency to massively over build things


Fred

 

[SPIKER]

Ive been reading & following the post and replyed to the cutting of RR ties. anyhow I got/get mine free from a neibor who works for the RR company (42 yrs now I think he has been working for htme) anyhow it all dependson the area that they were working in and or at for the wood species that were used. also same goes for ha=ow far they were treated through. (ones Ove recieved are fully treated to the core, and cuting one is next to cutting petrafied wood! new shapr chain saw blade will make 3~4 cuts on the ave 8x8 tie. then it needs shapening and the core os even harder not only denser wood but the treatment seems to be harder like someone said pour oil into the cut while cutting helps. I used a mixture of oil and dish soap/water shaken to a foamy texture to cool and oil the chain later in my cutting stages still ATE 2 chains and a BAR on a 100 buck poulan I bought specifically to do the job, the saw still is working great with a new bar & chains. and yes it through a LOT of sparks while cutting on nothing more than the center core of the ties. I used a 90 wt gear lub squeeze botttle & tip for my cooling mix and kept a 5 gallon bucket of the mix and often dipped the running saw bar/chain into the bucket to help cool it... (oh don't rev it up when doing this and don't ask me why I say thin! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

when you cut the ends in an exposed situation like a fence post, cut them at an angle and OIL the ends. flat cut will pool water and let it penetrate into them. this is advice from the vetrain RR worker. utility poles are not treated nearly as well as RR ties, as they often only treat the lower end of the pole to a good retension level and the upper half is treated lightly and some times barely at all...

anyhow I would think the sono tubes and crete woud be #1 way but the ties should last 50+ yrs like you wanted under the house in a texas weather. make sure that eves are run well away form foundation and keep good ventelation under there so they stay dry... (also dry stops bugs best.)

MarkM

 

[Poncho]

I would be very cautious about taking railroad ties onto your property and particulalry to use for any structure. Here's an excerpt from a website concerning termites: "The Formosan subterranean termite has the potential to spread throughout the whole state. Young colonies living in potted plants, landscape timbers, or infested trees can easily be transported. A good example is given in Louisiana and Georgia where their spread was aided by homeowners who accidently brought termites to their homes by buying infested railroad ties at home and garden shops. Alates (winged reproductives) also can swarm from infested boats into new locations as the boats travel from place to place." These little boogers are referred to as super termites.

Here's the website: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/MG064

 

[8N_John]

Just saw your post. It probably won't make much difference now, but just wanted to let you know that I recently used RR ties and telephones poles for piers to build a 24'x16' outbuilding. I augered holes about 30" deep and filled them up about 1/2 way with quickcrete and the top half with soil. The poles and RR ties cut fine with my chainsaw. It was the right alternative for me since I'm on a limited budget. Plus, those used RR ties and telephone poles were a lot more dense and appeared sturdier than other treated lumber I have used in the past. I saved several hunderd dollars by going this route rather than using other building materials for my piers.

 

[RedRocker]

I know for a fact carpenter ants will eat RR ties, I have a retaining wall that is almost ruined from those little *@#&*@#!!