Question on building a porch

[Tim Morton]

Living in vermont we need to be concerned with frost heaves and so we are required to go down below the frost line and generally that is 48" when installing the porch posts. I am hiring a contractor to do the digging and installing the porch posts and frame the rim joists. This is mainly to allow him to attach and properly seal the ledger board for the floor and roof. I will do the rest myself. I have hired someone who comes highly recommended and is a friend of a friend. Got all that? Now here is the question. I am doing a 40'x8' porch and he is anchoring the floor with 8- 6x6x60" PT posts. But rather than pour footings he is going to dig down below the frost line and place a concrete block and set the 6x6 on that and back fill. To me this seems like a poor choice but he says that it is just as stable and long lasting as pouring concrete into sonatubes and stubbing those at the ground level and placing the 6x6 on the cement at ground level. In theory it makes sense...but I am still concerned.

[David G Baker]

Tim,
Many pole barns in Michigan are built this way. I haven't heard of any problems with this type of construction. You are paying the bill for the construction so if you want poured concrete footings then that should be your decision. It may cost more to do it your way.

[Tim Morton]

Tim,
Many pole barns in Michigan are built this way. I haven't heard of any problems with this type of construction. You are paying the bill for the construction so if you want poured concrete footings then that should be your decision. It may cost more to do it your way.

Thats kind of what he said too. I am paying him by the hour (not the job). So obviously it would not be in his best interest to make less money for an inferior job. Plus I don't have a desire to pay an extra $500 bucks for him to spend an extra day dealing with the concrete...I did ask about adding stones around the posts to keep water away, and am waiting on his response.

[Ben Grunow]

Anything attached to your house should be built on concrete that extends out of the ground as it is the only material that has indefinite life when buried. A post on a block is not only a code violation (here anyway) and would not pass inspection, but it is guaranteed to fail eventually and require tons of work to fix (inagine digging 8 holes 4' deep under your sagging porch- after moving your mature plantings).

Spend the time, as the cost is not too much more, to put in the concrete and use a post base so the wood stays out of contact with the concrete

see here and get at local lumber yard for about $12

http://www.strongtie.com/products/connectors/AB-ABA-ABE-ABU.html

Ben