Bullschidt. The US Forest Service has chunks of pressure-treated wood buried in the ground, they've been digging it up every ten years, they've dug it up four times (fifty years). Still sound.
The wood has to be treated for "ground contact", that yella wood schidt at Lowes's is not.
Banks won't loan money on 'em in AK either. Doubt if anywhere. And even pressure treated wood will rot eventually, more so in wet conditions with poor soil drainage probably.
The house I live in now has a concrete footer, but the foundation walls are all-weather wood. Mt. Mckinley bank had no problem giving me a mortgage. My previous house was the same and Wells Fargo financed that one. Both in the Fairbanks area. All-weather wood foundations are quite common here, especially houses built in the 70's and 80's. Mine has poly sheeting and foamboard insulation below ground on the outside so there's no direct contact with the soil. The foundation wall above ground is covered with galvanized metal flashing. Inside of the crawlspace, under the insulation, the interior of the wood looks as new as the day it was put there. I've been through a couple of earthquakes with them without a problem...unlike one of my neighbors whose concrete block foundation wall developed a crack from top to bottom from the 2002 quake.
I have seen a log cabin built in 1850 in Moultrie Georgia that had a wood foundation. The foundation was still intact and looked as good as new. The foundation was made of heart pine. This is the "Heart" of the Southern Yellow Pine. They would cut down a 400 year old, five foot diameterk pine tree, and make blocks about 18 inches in diameter, square, and about 2 feet high. They put one of the heart pine blocks about every 8 feet and built the cabin upon it.
Heart pine is full of sap and resin and it is bug-proof.
Make a foundation in south Georgia out of oak, poplar, or hickory, and termites would wipe it out in five years.
Banks won't loan money on 'em in AK either. Doubt if anywhere. And even pressure treated wood will rot eventually, more so in wet conditions with poor soil drainage probably.
The house I live in now has a concrete footer, but the foundation walls are all-weather wood. Mt. Mckinley bank had no problem giving me a mortgage. My previous house was the same and Wells Fargo financed that one. Both in the Fairbanks area. All-weather wood foundations are quite common here, especially houses built in the 70's and 80's. Mine has poly sheeting and foamboard insulation below ground on the outside so there's no direct contact with the soil. The foundation wall above ground is covered with galvanized metal flashing. Inside of the crawlspace, under the insulation, the interior of the wood looks as new as the day it was put there. I've been through a couple of earthquakes with them without a problem...unlike one of my neighbors whose concrete block foundation wall developed a crack from top to bottom from the 2002 quake.
There are a lot of houses in Alaska built with All Weather wood foundations. Whole subdivisions in Eagle River, over 30 years ago. The foundation was called Bowen All Weather Foundations. They last well if done correctly. I haven't heard of one failing. In Barrow the pilings they build houses on aren't even treated and don't fail. Things don't rot up there. They do have a tough time drilling for pilings. They have to do it when it's frozen otherwise the hole keeps sluffing off.
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Seen too many of them where gophers and groundhogs built up mounds of dirt underneath them, eventually burring the floor joist and termites destroyed the entire floor. Doesn't work well in California.
Phil
had a house outside Lancaster was built in 1907. had some brick piers but mostly just a 2x4 sole plate on a brick. over the years of tremors and gophers it buried itself to the floor boards. a few of the floor joist and stem walls in the ground got eaten but none rotted. was hell digging all that dirt out and putting a foundation under it. still coughing up silt 30 years later!
the consolidation of the states into one vast republic, sure to be aggressive abroad and despotic at home, will be the certain precursor of that ruin which has overwhelmed all those that have preceded. Robert E Lee ~Molɔ̀ːn Labé Skýla~
certain woods work better then others. here in north Idaho I have taken down 100 year old log houses with old growth larch sil logs that had 0 rot. was shown larch fence post on a neighbors ranch that were sunk in 1899. neighbor's grandfather soaked them in brine. put in the ground wet and strung wet because after they dried they were like rock.
Larch is far from the most decay resistant and your examples speak more to the quality of the circumstances than the decay resistance of the wood. Do the same with hedge apple and skip all the fussing and they would still be there.
Larch is far from the worst, also...
Mark Begich, Joaquin Jackson, and Heller resistance... Three huge reasons to worry about the NRA.
No way, I would build on a ground contact wood foundation. Even treated will rot in no time. One option is to pour concrete piers, then treated posts on top of the piers. The piers need to be a min. of 18" off the ground and posts will last a long time if protected from the elements. The posts don't set in the concrete but in a bracket attached to the pier.
The advantage is that one man can build a foundation in this way, and the forms for the piers can all be cut to level height very easily. I don't know about the loan requirements on such a foundation but I would bet it would be hard to get one.
We build alot of houses here on the coast on pilings, no concrete footers or piers. This is in either pure sand or sandy soil. The pilings are "friction pilings". They don't set on anything.
In Florida, a good number of beach homes are built on stilts, that is pilings driven into the sand. They seem to last just fine. Along some interior rivers, such as the Sante Fe or Suwanee, they also use this method.
South of Miami, off Key Biscayne, there is a community of homes built on pilings. They call it Stiltsville, and you can only get to those homes via boat. Been there for many years.
Built the BIL's house back on the mountain on creosoted telephone poles set in rock. Treated 2X12 beams and floor joists. That was 1980. No settling or shifting so far.
--- CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE --- A Magic Time To Be An Illegal In America---
In Florida, a good number of beach homes are built on stilts, that is pilings driven into the sand. They seem to last just fine. Along some interior rivers, such as the Sante Fe or Suwanee, they also use this method.
We only drive them when we have to. Usually just jet them in and let settle for a week or so. The ones on the rivers, creeks and bays are the worst. A new contractor will come to town, build a beach house, make a few bucks and decide this is easy. Then they will use the same bid method 5 mi. inland. Now you're talking augers, pile drivers, track hoes etc. They don't last long (the contractors). Cypress stumps and the like can be a real problem.
Wooden foundations will work under certain circumstances. There are many factors involved in how long they will last, climate, soil conditions, and quality of wood treatment to name a few. I would always prefer concrete if possible.
If you live where alkaly in the soil is aproblem you dont want concrete. Turns to rubble in about ten years.A good wood basement is a pleasure. You might have to replace the floor but the walls stay nice. ED K
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