Foundation Depth - Upstate NY

[Anthony 1968]

Greetings,
Been reading and getting my plans together to start a build this spring in Upstate NY. Our frost line is quite deep between 32" and 48", I'm hoping others will share their thoughts and experiences from builds in this area as I'm uncertain how deep we should go on the foundation.
Thank you!

[RandyJ]

It all depends on soil type and how much frost heave you get. I did a floating slab that was a foot thick around the edge and 6" thick in. The middle and it has not moved at all. But if you are going to put in footings then you need to go the full depth or it is worthless. Good luck

[Anthony 1968]

Randy,
Thank you for your thoughts. My plan was to pour slab on grade with 12" or so inches of crusher run / gravel, and debating on 6" or 8" on the slab. With our Upstate NY conditions much like that of yours in Minnesota I'm confident that what worked for you would work here. The area I'm planning is well drained, and the soil is sandy / loam, generally void of clay.

[RandyJ]

Yes that is exactly what my conditions are like. I did the cupped slab so it would hopefully not move as i cut it in to the existing patio for part of it. Now in 3 winters it is still dead level with the patio, so it can work.

[Chach]

Im in Chicago and i did 8" grade 7 stone compacted in 2" lifts on a compacted sub grade and poured an 8" slab. This is the first winter so we will see...I talked to a guy that has a landscape company and does those landscape block fireplaces and he said what i did is way more than you need...he does less and never had any issues and those fireplaces way over 10,000 lbs. Time will tell. I put electrical distributions on a 6" pad and those weigh about 2000 lbs and they never move. I'm pretty confident.

[RandyJ]

I know all ovens are different but my napkin math came in at a little over 20,000#. Not a problem but these things get heavy.

[Chach]

Wow! The fireplace I made at the other end of my build weighs around 18,000lbs...these items are no joke they are extremely heavy.

[RandyJ]

I did a full stone enclosure si that adds up and i got a little carried away on a few things so it adds up fast.

[Chach]

Stone adds up quick...many tons of stone concrete and block....we must be insane lol. I read your an electrician?

[RandyJ]

Wow that is a beautiful area you have there. Yes i am a industrial electrician. I am lucky and get to work on some very cool projects. I am at a paper mill now and get to work with rigid aluminum and stainless steel conduit. I really love to build things luckily I get to do it at work.

[Chach]

Thank You! Very cool Rigid aluminum is so light its crazy but super easy to bend as its a very soft metal its an electricians dream I like using that in parking structures as it does not rust only oxidizes.....I am an electrician myself as well. I am an IBEW Electrician and the company Im currently with mostly stays out of industrial with the exception of a few places like Ford and Aleris rolled products but mostly commerical, schools, universities. I work mostly on mechanicals like New installations of 4160v chillers. Changing old starters for motors/pumps to VFDs ...very interesting. I did notice as I started my trade 20 years ago that I learned a lot of how to other things by watching the other trades. I can honestly say I can pretty much work on anything or build anything after being out in the field and seeing what I seen. We do work closely with the other trades I think that's why we can learn and do so much. Everything consumes power so we are in everything plumbing, HVAC, Fire Protection...

[RandyJ]

I am also a IBEW member. Yes aluminum is a dream to work with as long as it doesn't gual and freeze up, but as long as you use some anti seize its not a problem. I have gotten to do a few 13.8kv substations and wire up some top secret stuff for a major manufacturer. It is a fun career .

[Chach]

Yes it's been real good to me and my family for sure. Yes the top secret jobs hahaha between that and Federal work we can really write a book and people still wouldn't believe what they read...

[Chach]

Sorry Anthony for Hijacking your topic. My apologies.

[Anthony 1968]

No apologies necessary...glad to have my questions answered.