Concrete foundation without a cement truck

[RoyKing]

If it doesn't freeze and no fear of flooding mud slide just use the precast porch piers and spend some time leveling them and leave room to crawl in to wedge out any settling. Think of how mobile homes are setup, so much simpler in fact find some old frames and use them.

 

[watermelon]

It seems to me that this is a great solution in this situation.

 

[deezler]

If it doesn't freeze and no fear of flooding mud slide just use the precast porch piers and spend some time leveling them and leave room to crawl in to wedge out any settling. Think of how mobile homes are setup, so much simpler in fact find some old frames and use them.

My wife wants me to build a she-shed office tucked into the woods on the far side of our driveway, and I plan to do it exactly this way. First I will excavate two shallow trenches along the major axis of the shed, level and fill and compact with sand, then 3-4" of gravel, compact again, then use the porch piers to build a bottom frame of the shed (IE, a cabin) somewhere between 1-2' off the ground, with insulated floor and treated plywood and flashed bottom to keep the critters out. Who knows, we may want to move this cabin to a different spot on the property someday, and a full foundation just seemed like overkill and a place for critters to burrow into/under.

 

[PILOON]

When I built my log cabin we had no road so we'd boat everything in.
We did have electricity so a mixer was purchased.
Sand was boated in 5 gal buckets, cement by the bag,
Ground was 'hardpan' or bedrock so we only needed to remove topsoil (and clean) to make footings.
Once footings cured the walls were from cement blocks.
Now that was in late '50's and that cabin is now a daily user since we now have roads.
Oh, and the 'basement' is now used as a family room/guest BR.

Topsoil is minimal and simply covers solid bedrock in this area.
Those that insist on full basements face mega $$'s of blasting generally using air track drilling machines.

Frost is 4 ft here but once on solid bedrock who cares.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

Since you have rock just pour some square pads and do a pier and beam. Never seen cowboys on a concrete slab. Old house between me and my neighbor built in 1813 on big rocks. It's pier and beam. I build houses and if I had a remote project I ain't hauling concrete. Concrete would be at the bottom of my thought process. All these cabins on the rocky rivers around here are pier and beam, every one. I have stayed in many. This last 4 th of July on the Ouachita river, whole family, good time.

 

[not2old]

Sometime in the 60's or 70's when concrete delivery wasn't available in the area I assisted my ex's father to pour a concrete foundation for their new house. It was about 1000 square feet with 8 or 9 foot walls at the rear and sides, about 3' at the front. We used 3 mixers and 3 men on each mixer with three more men available when some needed a break. We started early in the morning and finished in the early evening, about 10 to 12 hours, so it's doable but needs lots of help from reliable people with no beer until it's done.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Considering the OP hasn't been on here since April of 2017 (4 1/2 years ago), he either has the cabin built already or gave up on the idea.....

not sayin this won't help someone else, but I think this was a "dead thread"

 

[3Ts]

Realizing this is a "dead thread" but to provide another option if someone searches this, is helical piers. The machine is relatively small, can work on hillsides and does not need concrete. The piers are screwed into the ground until the proper torque (as specified by an engineer) is reached. Then the building is built like any other pier and beam.