Need piles.... screw or concrete

[Sneeze]

I am a bit concerned about both your structure and the 12' pile requirement.

It looks to me with a slight change to the structure you could get away with only two piles.

No matter what a city inspector says, unless there is a specific bylaw you are required only to build to ABC. If your building outside the building code (which you are not, this is a simple deck) there is no requirement for engineering)

Instead of worrying about 12' piles, why do you not just install 48" x 48" pad footings under a 4' pile? It meets ABC? I can agree that a 4' pile is not sufficient in our climate for any significant loading.

If you would like, send me a PM and I can let you know what your going to need to save some time, money and headaches.

[Ice Fishing Maniac]

Originally Posted by 257wbyhunter

i had to use engineered screw piles for my house it took 20 piles same specs as what you said 12x12 and just for the piles was 7000$ and i had a family friend screw them in with a skid steer so i saved there i find it crazy for what there asking for just a deck around hot tub

No way to test the torque placed on the screw piles using a skid steer for loading. Bet the Municipality wants a certification on the screw piles for load.

For belled piles, you need to be in an end-bearing soils type for the bell. The load on the pile is on the bottom of the bell not the boreshaft walls like a skin friction pile.

As previously mentioned the norm is - the top 5' of soils in the pile is not used in the calculation for skin friction due to frost action (frost jacking) so therefore you have only 7' of pile in the ground out of the 12'. Depends also that the soils are native/natural and not a uncontrolled fill soils placed during construction. If in uncontrolled fill or poor soils conditions, your piles may need to be deeper.

Pain in the but YES. I sure am glad the house I bought a few years back had concrete piles with pile caps so when I built my new deck, everything was good to go.....mind you my deck floor is about 5' above ground.

[Map Maker]

Thats a real shame.
The building inspector is probably correct that if you want ZERO heaving then 12' piles are the way to go. But its a wood structure and can take a little flex and you can alway replace parts that need it.

I wish building inspectors would do their job and just make sure that the plans aren't a hazard to home owner or their neighbours.

I too, would just go with concrete pads on surface and call it a temporary structure and not connect it to the house.

[Zuludog]

Originally Posted by abwtfanatic

leave an inch between your deck and the house, then it's not attached and no pilings required. I just saved you a pile of money.

^^ THIS. Free float it and you can use pier blocks or what ever pilings you chose.

In Beaumont they only ask for 12"x12' piles for decks over 6 feet off the ground. I called the inspector and asked him, since the town website shows a diagram with 12x12 piles. He told me there is not actually a code for decks per say, so they have to use the codes for pilings used in basements and floors etc. That is why it is over kill.

Don't attach your deck and you will be fine.

[rugatika]

So...was starting to plan on building a deck on my house in Leduc. Started thinking I will likely need a permit, and went to their website. 12 foot piles? Must be a misprint. Nope. 12 foot piles for a deck. Did some googling, and what do you know...this thread comes up.

I know my neighbour had screw piles used on his deck while the house was being built. Leduc calls for torque specs etc as well. But they were put in with a skid steer.

Looks like I'll be planning on doing a detached deck. Talk about ridiculous.

[Mistagin]

Years ago I built many decks as part of my business. Ran into the same issues when clients wanted decks attached to the house. If at all possible I did detached decks. Never ever had a problem.

[Bucky89]

Screw piles would be best!

[Sekh Smith]

Thanks for sharing information regarding screw piling. I find it very useful and this will really help me. So just keep sharing this kind of additional information.

[Ice Fishing Maniac]

Originally Posted by glen1971

We did a shop in Medicine Hat and they wanted 12 - 8" x 5' deep concrete piles under the floor complete with rebar.. We did it and had the inspector come by and he was good with it.. When the concrete showed up Saturday morning, so did he and he remeasured each one and waited until we had half of them in the poured before he left..

A friend of ours that had done lots of concrete work around the city asked WTF for?? Dad said it was because when he applied for the building permit, they asked if it was going to be heated and he said yes...

For continuous heated buildings, industry is usually minimum 4.5m deep piles for interior piles . Any exterior perimeter piles or non-continuous heated structures it is 6.0m deep, dependant on pile loads. Top 1.5m is not included in bearing capacity of the soils for skin friction piles due to frost. Would be deeper if you had “uncontrolled fill soils” conditions.

[Trochu]

Originally Posted by Sekh Smith

Thanks for sharing information regarding screw piling. I find it very useful and this will really help me. So just keep sharing this kind of additional information.

Just wondering what it would cost to get fourteen 12' deck piles installed if the contractor was mobilizing out of Sydney?

[Au revoir, Gopher]

Originally Posted by Trochu

Just wondering what it would cost to get fourteen 12' deck piles installed if the contractor was mobilizing out of Sydney?

Must be cheap... why else would he dredge up a three year old thread to shill for a company in Oz?

ARG