shop foundation issues

[Martin Tanner]

Hey guys, just recently purchased a new home, and it came with a pretty nice shop. One major issue with it however, it seems the gravel pads that the beams for the building have not been properly attached(see staples in images), and are seperating. I have never seen this type of foundation, what is it called? The inside of the shop is all poured concrete, why during construction wouldnt they have built the building on the poured slab? Any of you guys familiar with this type of foundation, and know the proper steps moving forwards?319633319634319635

[Kevin Jenness]

It's hard to tell what's going on from the photos. The building may be built like a pole barn, with posts embedded in the earth and a slab poured later. A little more exposure is in order both inside and out to clarify the construction. Putting a proper foundation under the building will be a major project if needed- get some trustworthy professional advice.

[Tom M King]

I'm not sure at all from what I'm seeing, but it looks like that plywood was just part of some form that they didn't take off. I've never seen anything built like that before.

[Jerome Stanek]

It looks like a pole building and the ply wood is just concrete forms. I built many ploe buildings this way but always removed the forms.

[roger wiegand]

Not sure what I'm seeing either, but you want that wood out of contact with the ground lest you provide a superhighway for the termites.

[Yonak Hawkins]

I can't tell if there's anything behind it. Is there really a foundation back there or is it off the ground and the plywood is skirting ?

[Matt Meiser]

Kind of looks like a pole barn to me too. Here they use thicker T&G pressure treated material there though.

[Peter Aeschliman]

In the third picture, it looks like there's a concrete slab behind the board that's falling off. Is that correct? If so, it looks like the boards that are falling off are either aesthetic, or were the forms as others have said.

However, it looks like it's literally just a slab on the ground with no footing around the perimeter. I've definitely never seen that before, but I've also never been inside of a pole barn with a concrete slab. So I'm not the one to ask. To me, the freeze/thaw cycle could cause that slab to heave and crack badly. But I'm no expert.

Best advice here is to get a professional to look at it in person.

[Lee Schierer]

From where I sit, it appears that what you are seeing is a poor attempt at a foundation. It appears they built a plywood and 2x4 frame on grade and partially filled it with crushed stone, poured the concrete on top of the stone and built the building. I have a pole barn with a concrete floor. After I built the barn I dug a shallow pit inside, put in a sump and drain piping, filled the pit to within 3.5" of the top with crushed stone. I placed forms around the perimeter to hold the concrete and poured the floor. The barn and floor have been there for over 20 years. I get some slight heaving in the winter when it is exceptionally cold for a long period of time, but the concrete has not cracked. I live in NW PA.

The frame of the pole barn is 4 x 6 posts set 42" into the ground, then connected together with 2 x 10's at the top and bottom and 2 x 4's in two rows in between. Trusses rest on the upper 2 x 10 and support the roof.

Can you see any type of framing inside that you can show us? Can you dig down below the ply wood at a corner to see if there is a post into the ground?

[Matt Meiser]

Often here they'll build the barn at grade put some skirting boards up (not sure the real name for those) then fill inside with some stone and pour a floor. Then outside they'll grade some dirt up to the barn. When its done the barn looks like it sits higher but they look really weird until then.

[Lee Schierer]

That's probably done for drainage and it may be what the OP has, only they forgot the back fill with dirt step. Once he determines if he has a pole barn frame he might be able to grade some dirt up against the outside and be bone worrying about it.