How Do I Prepare for Pouring Concrete into a Form Tube?
After completing the layout, drilling the holes and putting form tubes we are ready to pour concrete. Before you pour the DIY pier and beam foundation, stick 3 height length pieces of rebar in the form tube, it will go into the pile of gravel at the bottom. Run wire through the bottom of the simpson strong tie and tie it to the end a piece of rebar in the tube form. Make sure the wire is long enough so the simpson strong tie can sit on the ground outside the tube. You are now ready to start pouring concrete!
You should have a grid of level and straight form tubes with gravel and rebar in them. If you decide to hire out for concrete you can have the truck show up and pour into the holes for you.
How many bags of cement per pier
| Number of piers | 10 piers | 20 piers | 30 piers (consider getting cement truck) | 40 piers (consider getting cement truck) |
| # of Bags of cement 2 feet deep | 40 | 80 | 120 | 160 |
| # of Bags of cement 3 feet deep | 60 | 120 | 180 | 240 |
| # of Bags of cement 4 feet deep | 70 | 140 | 210 | 280 |
Mixing the Concrete
Or if the project is smaller and less piers you can mix by hand in a wheelbarrow. Wear a respirator, long sleeves and gloves when handling concrete mix, it is toxic to breathe in. Pour 5 bags of mix into the wheelbarrow and wet it with a hose. Mix the concrete in the wheelbarrow with a shovel or trowel. It should be a wet goopy consistency.
Fill The Pier by Shovel
Then shovel the concrete into the pier form. You can also pour the concrete from of the wheelbarrow by tipping it over. Work in rows and don’t start a row you can finish that day. Fill the form all the way to the top with concrete then take the simpson strong tie hanging out of the hole and push it into the top of of the tube of concrete.
The bottom half of the strong tie with with wire on it will be put in the concrete while the top where the post sits will be poking out.
Add Simpson Strong Tie
Go down the row filling with concrete and putting strong ties on top of each pier. When done with a row use a string line to make sure it is running through the center of every strong tie. It is very important all the ties line up perfectly otherwise you wont be able to lay posts straight. Mixing and pouring concrete is hard work!
When you are done with all of the piers let them cure for a week before putting weight on them. Concrete becomes harder when it retains water so make sure to “water” the pier multiple times a day for a week.
How do I attach a strong tie to a post?
When the concrete has hardened the posts should slide easily into the notches of the simpson strong ties. Lay the pieces butt to butt in rows. Make sure the posts are laying flush against the strong tie on the pier. There will be holes in the strong tie where you run a bolt to attach the strong tie to the post.
You must attach the post to the strong tie by drilling a hole through the post with a drill and running a thick bolt through the hole. Tighten down the nut onto the bolt securing the strong tie and post together. Attach bolts to every simpson strong tie. Double check the posts with a level to make sure everything is going smoothly.
How to Build How to Build Floor Joists DIY
The end goal is to build a strong flat level subfloor to construct the rest of the house on. To do this you need to build a frame of floor joists across the wood posts. Follow guidelines on spans when deciding on the width of your floor joist. Personally I wouldn’t be comfortable with anything less than 2x10s. The design of your floor joists will depend on the shape of the house. The joists will run perpendicular to the posts.
Make sure the ends of the floor joists sit on the post and are connected with a rim joist at the end. You can attach the floor joist frame into the posts be toenailing it in to start and then eventually adding brackets to hold it on more securely. For me I made a grid of 8 foot 2x10s run perpendicular over 2 rows of 4×6 posts. As seen below.
How do I lay subfloor on DIY pier and beam?
The floor joists are the platform that the sheets of OSB will be laid on. The best choice is half inch thick 4×8 oriented strand board. Run the sheets perpendicular to the direction of the floor joists. Put construction glue on the top of the floor joist before the OSB sheet is laid and nailed. The glue will help cut down on floor creaking noises when walking on it. Nail the sheets down down into the floor joist.
You will probably have to cut some sheets in half for the end of a row of subfloor sheets. There should be no gaps between the sheets of OSB Make sure each piece is adequately supported on its edges so there are no unsupported parts in the subfloor.
Once the subfloor is laid on the floor joists and adequately nailed in you will have a flat surface to build the rest of the house on. You have successful built a DIY pier and beam foundation. Its amazing how simple tools can build a house from the ground up.
Conclusion: DIY pier and beam
We have now built a stable DIY pier and beam foundation! We are ready to start framing up the rest of the house.
More resources: https://plasticinehouse.com/how-to-build-shed-foundation-on-skids/