How to Raise a Cabin on Concrete Blocks

Building a dream cabin is a dream shared by almost everyone. Even if it's not a cabin in the woods, the steps to get it started are pretty much the same throughout the country. The first step is to use a set of architectural plans. You need to know the size and shape of the building's footprint. Once you have the site layout figured out, you can decide on the foundation. A cabin built on top of a concrete-block stem wall is an excellent way to start.

Things You'll Need

• Wood stakes
• Hammer
• Construction line
• Architectural drawings
• Rebar steel
• Concrete
• Concrete masonry unit

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Instructions

1. Layout the footprint for the cabin on the ground. Use batter boards and construction lines for this step. Batter boards are wooden stakes driven into the ground outside the footing area that will remain in position during the cabins construction. Construction line is a highly visible twine used to mark boundaries and are attached to the batter boards. Construction lines can be restrung as needed to establish the exact location of the exterior of the foundations wall. When determining the direction that the cabin will sit, views, wind direction and the sun, access to the site are all considerations that need to be taken into account. Use the property's plat to see if there are any site restrictions, setbacks or easements.

2. Dig the footing for the cabin. The top of the footing needs to be below the frost line. Call the city or county permit department to determine the requirements for structures in your area. Refer to your architectural drawings for footing details. Make sure that your foundation plan is for a concrete masonry unit (CMU) block wall. The footing needs to be dug by a professional who uses heavy equipment.

3. Pour the cabin's footing and ensure that the rebar steel is correctly placed to tie the footing into the CMU block wall. A CMU block is 16 inches in length, so the rebar has to be placed in increments of that dimension, so it will fall within the cavity of the CMU block.

4. Pull the string line for the first section of CMU block that will make up the stem wall. Use that string to set the outside edge of the CMU block. The CMU blocks that have rebar coming up from the footings need to be filled with concrete. This will tie the stem wall to the footing.

5. Set the CMU blocks out in layers. Stagger every other row of the CMU blocks so that there are no rows where the end joints line up with each other. The stem wall needs to be a minimum of 24 inches above the the ground line within the foundation. This ensures that there will be a minimum of 24 inches of crawl space within the new cabin.

6. Fill the top layer of CMU block with concrete. This layer of CMU blocks is different from the regular CMU blocks. It provides a space to add reinforcing steel rebar and to hold the concrete to provide a solid flat surface for the cabin's flooring system to sit upon. The foundation is now ready to build the cabin on the raised concrete block stem walls.

Tips & Warnings

• Hire an expert to help you layout the foundation. Any small error in this process can cost you a lot in a change of orders and modifications by the various subcontractors used during the course of construction for the cabin.

• Wear safety glasses while operating power tools.

References

• Small Cabin: Selecting and Building Your Small Cabin Foundation
• Scandinavian Cabins Direct: Foundation Types
• Bob Vila: Stem Wall Foundations