Can We Put A New Foundation Under Our Cottage?

Q:

Our Cottage is on wooden piers, can we put a new foundation under it?

A:

Yes you can. It’s not an easy thing to be done, but it can be done.

A lot of cottages were built on piers or they were built slab on grade. Over the years with the winter frosts the cottage moves up and down. This causes damage to the inside and the outside of the cottage, the level of damage can vary depending on the overall construction of the cottage and the finishes that are used inside and out.

What you are going to have to do is hire a company to jack the cottage up off of its original piers.

This is accomplished by using house jacks and long steel beams that are placed under the cottage.

Once the cottage is suspended above the ground and the existing piers then the existing piers are removed and a perimeter trench is dug around the foundation. It is usually done in sections for safety reasons instead of all at once.

Once you have your trench new footings and foundation walls are installed either using concrete or concrete block (for the walls).

Once everything is installed for your new foundation then the cottage is lowered down on top of the new foundation.

Because of the risk factor this process is not a cheap one, things must be done slowly and carefully to insure that nothing goes wrong so that there is limited damaged to the cottage and any of the workers that are doing the work.

Rob Abbott
Village Builders Inc.