[Illustration: CABIN FOUNDATIONS]
Foundations are the backbone of your cabin. From the structural
standpoint they are probably the most important part of the building.
So, just because they are going to be hidden, don’t skimp or hurry
through with them because you want to get started quickly on the cabin
itself. If the basic framework is out of line, the whole house will sag
and tilt at odd angles. As one cabin expert says, “Wear out your spirit
level and try-square—don’t save them for another job.”
One of the simplest foundations for the amateur builder is made by
resting the sills on supports made of two large somewhat flat boulders.
If your cabin site is on solid rock, then all that is necessary is to
bed the bottom boulder securely on the rock. But if the terrain is
ordinary earth, you should dig down past the “forest floor” of black
humus until you reach rock, sand, gravel or other solid ground below the
frost line. Then you pour concrete piers to the grade level and seat
your boulders thereon, as shown in Fig. 3. _Do not_ use any mortar
between the two boulders. Dampness will creep up past the first boulder,
but if it is not bonded to the top boulder with mortar, the dampness
will stop there and not reach the post supports or sill timbers of your
cabin. Of course the concrete piers themselves, if built above grade,
are perfectly good supports for the sills. But the boulders have more of
a cabin “look.”
[Illustration: Fig. 3]
FLAT TOP BOULDERS
CONCRETE PIER
FOOTING
[Illustration: Fig. 4]