I would highly recommend some sort of auger instead of digging by hand. You can probably rent a walk behind unit if you don't have your own piece of equipment
Thank you so much ,I am building a small front porch with roof and I couldn’t find a good footing video,yours is perfect,love the family around you ,hard work for sure ,but very well done ,blessings !
Sonotubes below frost is the way to go. Did a deck on my rental house in 2023...only deck in the neighborhood with a decent foundation. I was joking at the time that the deck will be standing after the apocalypse, and I'll be kicking zombies in the head from it!
Great job bro with your work and with the detailed information very helpful. Don't listen to any criticism or negative comments. Keep posting videos. GOD Bless.🎉
Just put four 12" diameter 48" sonotubes in for a gazebo. The hardest part was using the predator auger to dig the holes....darn rocks the size of my head I kept hitting.
I’m so glad I found this video. I’m building a tree fort. I’ve got my holes dug, needed a little skid steer with an auger to get through the roots. I’m making my frames for the sono tubes tonight/tomorrow. I like your design better than the one I was using, and I have enough lumber to do it. The bucket/measuring tip is huge! I was pressed about eyeballing consistency with a hose. Thanks so much for all the good info, the timing was perfect.
I'm getting ready to do an add on with piers and doing as much research as I can to get it right. Very much appreciate this video and answers to the questions! Learned a lot thank you! Always good to have kiddos to help too!
So theres no flashing on this video as its an addition and wouldnt need it, I show how to do a deck ledger in this video from another project; th-cam.com/video/cVl88wVx2fI/w-d-xo.html
Question for my brother! If I’m doing a simple studio shed, would it be okay if I cut the tube down to about 2 feet into the ground? Or is that a bad idea. Southeast US
Put it as straight as possible, it really doesn't matter a ton. its only locking down the bracket, when you crank on it, it will get tight even if its not perfectly plumb.
Did code require the sono tube to go the full 4 feet? Seems that you could have cut the tube at 15-20” and then supported it for level the same way you did. The concrete pouring into the hole with the odd shape of the earth will hold them very well versus the perfect round tube. Just curious. Great work. Very sturdy for sure.
The tubes are only like $10, i guess you could do that but I don't really see why you would want to do that. I would imagine frost could affect the pier more without being the perfect tube.
You are correct!! There is no need for the donations to go in the ground. Actually it is better to pour the concrete to the earth instead of the sonatube. It would be much stronger poured to the earth.
Of Course thanks for subscribing! It depends how deep you are going with the tubes based on your frost line. Heres a calculator where you input your tube size and depth; www.omnicalculator.com/construction/sonotube
It really depends on your snowload and which way youre building it, I would go on the simpson strong tie deck planner to get a good baseline. Also depends on how many beam you need for whatever joist size and span you choose. deckplanner.strongtie.com/ols/surface/contentbuilder/deckplanner?&_ga=2.104112512.1620887843.1720872471-860990309.1720872471
You could do that by running a 16ft board across them to get level, i didn't care if there was a slight variation as I used my 6x6 posts to make the difference which wasn't too much.
Initially you put 4 pieces of rebar into the concrete, then at the end of each pour you put something down in the concrete that is barely sticking out of the top.. what is this?
Did you put the level on the string line when adjusting height for sonotube? To make sure they were all the same height? Bc I seen when you cut the 6x6 for the beam you only measured the outside 6x6 and not all three.
No, i just left them at ground height and used three separate 6x6 measurements to support the beam. That way one didn't have to go in the ground more and risk having ground contact with the posts.
Concrete is weak in tension but most of the load on this would be compression, which concrete is really good at. I guess you could potentially have shearing forces from frost?
Just over 5 80lb bags per 12inx48 hole. We used a calculator, www.calculator.net/concrete-calculator.html?holediameter=1&holediameterunit=foot&holedepth=4&holedepthunit=foot&holequantity=1&holecal=Calculate#hole Thanks for supporting our build!
Great video! Does one fill in the empty space on the outside of the sonotubes with sand after the concrete has hardened? What keeps the piers from not tilting sideways when a little horizontal pressure is placed onto them since the concrete is pushing against the inner wall of the tube and not the inner wall of the hole?
We just backfilled with the sand dirt mix that we had pulled from the hole as the home site was raised when built. We tied all three piers together with a beam and then with joists so it really cant go anywhere. But they're more sturdy than you'd think.
Just a few inches, depending on your frost line, remember you dont want the watershed to be running over your bracket onto the wood so a bit over is better than not enough. Quickcrete tubes say they are rated for up to 3 ft above grade 👀
My building inspector said one but based on the diameter i felt it was worth using more as people online recommended more.m Pretty easy to get it, and if you dont want to cut it you can buy the pre cut stuff at the big boxes.
Nope, I just used the Simpson strong tie deck planner to plan the footers framing and cantaliver. Then checked loads and spans on charts online. Only submitted a sketch for the building permit
@@BreakFreeHomestead thank you for eh detailed response. I will double check maybe I can get away with the same thing. Fingers crossed. Greta job again !
omg how did you make such a huge mess? just mix it in a wheel barrow, man. shovel it in its easy af.. you got more concrete on the ground than in the form..
I never seen a mixer like that before. They would save my back and arm from lifting high for all these new mixers. Which idiot designed those new mixers that requires Lifting hundreds of bags above your chest and cements dusting flying back to your face is a good idea
Sonatube is for above ground not in the ground!! It’s better to pour concrete to the earth and not the Sonatube!! Pouring to the earth will make it more stable.
Thats a weird claim... Directly from Sonotubes website "Sonotube Builder’s Tube concrete forms are designed for below-grade use, but may be poured up to three feet above backfill line. No bracing is needed unless used two feet or more above ground line." www.sonoco.com/sites/default/files/technical-files/Sonotube%C2%AE%20Concrete%20Forming%20Products%20brochure.pdf
@@BreakFreeHomestead explain to me what is the purpose it has in the ground? Installing the sonatube in the ground leaves voids on the outside of the tube. If you just use it on the part that is above grade and let the concrete fill up the hole you dug there is no voids. They are just wanting you to buy more Sonatube by sticking in the ground.
@BillHickman-s3e I understand what your saying and do get the choice for using in this application and not using. I'm trying to decide right now whether to. The only benefit I can see is that it will create the perfect cylinder shape in the ground & not the upside down triangle shape which we know is common and helps the concrete to push up with frost.
If you use scraps to temporary your Deck frame in place before you waste time locating your footings... You will save time by 10x as well as accuracy. The only time pros locate footings beforehand is when we are building a house or commercial building. This gave me a good laugh though ....😂😂😂😂
Make sure you check our 14x14 Home addition Playlist;
th-cam.com/play/PLpFnPv0S_lFt_OJKpV4BHIdVedoTYd388.html
Your little girl brought memories of myself with my dad. So precious...❤
I like that shed in the background....nice! I also thought it was awesome your daughter was trying to help dad!
Getting ready to use sonotube/concrete for shed. Thanks for the information
I'm building a major ground mounted solar array and have to do 48 of these holes. This was a huge help- thank you.
How are you digging 48 of these? one hole tired me out and i'm just watchign on youtube!
I need to dig 18
I would highly recommend some sort of auger instead of digging by hand. You can probably rent a walk behind unit if you don't have your own piece of equipment
Thank you so much ,I am building a small front porch with roof and I couldn’t find a good footing video,yours is perfect,love the family around you ,hard work for sure ,but very well done ,blessings !
Very helpful, thank you sir. Nice and simple.
Sonotubes below frost is the way to go. Did a deck on my rental house in 2023...only deck in the neighborhood with a decent foundation. I was joking at the time that the deck will be standing after the apocalypse, and I'll be kicking zombies in the head from it!
Great job bro with your work and with the detailed information very helpful. Don't listen to any criticism or negative comments. Keep posting videos. GOD Bless.🎉
I take my hat off to you brother.
Digging those hole by hand is not easy.
Been there, done that!!!!!!🤙🏼💪🏼
You are the man!!
Yeah, there has to be some longer handle post hole diggers 😂😂😂
Just put four 12" diameter 48" sonotubes in for a gazebo. The hardest part was using the predator auger to dig the holes....darn rocks the size of my head I kept hitting.
I’m so glad I found this video. I’m building a tree fort. I’ve got my holes dug, needed a little skid steer with an auger to get through the roots.
I’m making my frames for the sono tubes tonight/tomorrow. I like your design better than the one I was using, and I have enough lumber to do it.
The bucket/measuring tip is huge! I was pressed about eyeballing consistency with a hose.
Thanks so much for all the good info, the timing was perfect.
I used your tsonoube wood frame idea and worked like a charm. It made it very easy to layout and level
Great to hear! 🤘
Love your hard work despite a family commitments
I'm getting ready to do an add on with piers and doing as much research as I can to get it right. Very much appreciate this video and answers to the questions! Learned a lot thank you! Always good to have kiddos to help too!
Thanks Jason! We appreciate the support.
Do not do it like this, suspend short tube over hole, fill hole up through tube, bottom of tube few inches under grade height not full length...
Great video! I'm pouring a bunch of deck piers, and I appreciate your tips and advice.
Todd, glad it helped. Good luck on the project and thanks for supporting our channel!🤙🤙🤙🤙🤙
outstanding ... the explanations in plain terms. Thank you. Great camera anglkes also.
Thanks for the support! Glad it helped!
Some of the best videos. Plus the wife ane daughter help out. Nice job
Thanks so much!
Do you need to make sure the height of the tops of the sonotubes is flush with the bottom of the ledger board?
Excellent work, a real inspiration my friend, thanks a lot.
Thank you so much for sharing that knowledge bro.. beautiful family God bless you all 🥰
So nice of you, Thank you!
Hey, you don’t have an instruction video on ledger, underlayment membrane and metal flashing?
So theres no flashing on this video as its an addition and wouldnt need it, I show how to do a deck ledger in this video from another project;
th-cam.com/video/cVl88wVx2fI/w-d-xo.html
I might have fast forwarded and missed it but did you put gravel in the base of the tube before pouring the concrete? I thought that was recommended.
Yes, usually just use that bagged all purposes gravel
Well done brother digging those holes by hand is tough... I wont do it anymore rent a machine now.
Question for my brother! If I’m doing a simple studio shed, would it be okay if I cut the tube down to about 2 feet into the ground? Or is that a bad idea. Southeast US
Most likely, if you search your area for the frost depth or footing requirements it should show you your minimum.
Good quality extra safety measures= job well done
Thanks 👍
How do you ensure that the bolt you put in at the top is vertical? Or does that not matter too much.
Put it as straight as possible, it really doesn't matter a ton. its only locking down the bracket, when you crank on it, it will get tight even if its not perfectly plumb.
If you pour a footer could you have gug them shallower. I noticed you were 4' deep. Thats very deep for porch pairs.
Yeah four feet sucks especially when digging by hand but that’s what is required in most of new hampshire
Did code require the sono tube to go the full 4 feet? Seems that you could have cut the tube at 15-20” and then supported it for level the same way you did. The concrete pouring into the hole with the odd shape of the earth will hold them very well versus the perfect round tube. Just curious. Great work. Very sturdy for sure.
The tubes are only like $10, i guess you could do that but I don't really see why you would want to do that. I would imagine frost could affect the pier more without being the perfect tube.
Code is to go to local frost line. I do believe the tube actually protects the concrete from the elements. What he did seems pretty textbook to me 👍
You are required to go the 4’ up here where I live, gotta get below the frost level to stop heaving
You are correct!! There is no need for the donations to go in the ground. Actually it is better to pour the concrete to the earth instead of the sonatube. It would be much stronger poured to the earth.
How many bags of concrete did you use for each hole?
How many cement bags per sonotube? I’m doing a project just like your, except my addition is 9x14. I appreciate your content!
Of Course thanks for subscribing! It depends how deep you are going with the tubes based on your frost line. Heres a calculator where you input your tube size and depth;
www.omnicalculator.com/construction/sonotube
How far apart were the tubes set? I want to build a game room behind my garage. How many tubes do I need to use on a 22x 10 ?
It really depends on your snowload and which way youre building it,
I would go on the simpson strong tie deck planner to get a good baseline. Also depends on how many beam you need for whatever joist size and span you choose.
deckplanner.strongtie.com/ols/surface/contentbuilder/deckplanner?&_ga=2.104112512.1620887843.1720872471-860990309.1720872471
What is the difference between a pier and a footer?
Very deep holes!
Yea, in New Hampshire the frost line requirements are fun 😉
@@BreakFreeHomestead Big Joe is worried it will fall down on ye😄
Very good. Thanks
Can you use the same sonotube posts on a 20x20 addition?
Yeah you're probably going to need more though.
I live in Oregon will you come up here and give me a hand?
Nice video great job. Thanx
Thanks Zach!🤙🤙🤙
Dads rule 🤘
Thank you. We are about to expand our Shed home. This was very helpful.
Nice! Always exciting to get more space 💪. Thanks for the support!
How do you make sure that all the piers are the same height and level with each other?
You could do that by running a 16ft board across them to get level, i didn't care if there was a slight variation as I used my 6x6 posts to make the difference which wasn't too much.
to be squared do the 3,4,5 method
Initially you put 4 pieces of rebar into the concrete, then at the end of each pour you put something down in the concrete that is barely sticking out of the top.. what is this?
Nice. Do you have wide base footing at the bottom or just 12" sonotube from top to bottom? Thanks
Yup, just continuous 12”
Nice job. How deep did you dig to be below the frost line?
Thanks! I went 4 feet!
@@BreakFreeHomestead cool. I’m doing a similar project in Southern NH soon, this was helpful!
Nice! Are you doing an addition or just a deck?
@@BreakFreeHomestead just a deck........for now.
Hi. Thx for video. I know you went 4’ deep but what was your frost line depth? And why did you go 4 feet? Thx
Did you put the level on the string line when adjusting height for sonotube? To make sure they were all the same height? Bc I seen when you cut the 6x6 for the beam you only measured the outside 6x6 and not all three.
No, i just left them at ground height and used three separate 6x6 measurements to support the beam. That way one didn't have to go in the ground more and risk having ground contact with the posts.
So, how did you remove the sonotube?
What do you mean remove the sonotube?
He just leave it in site. As far as I understand, there is no need to remove it for this application.
Looks like at 8:30, you talk about them being lined up. Its clearly visible the middle is not lined up.
Did you need a permit to start? Does it cost money for inspectors to come out and check your work?
I would say 99% that you need a permit. Usually your town or city will have a fee, and that covers the required inspections.
Curious why you used rebar in the concrete?
Is it required by local building code?
Concrete is pretty weak without rebar.
Watch this video; th-cam.com/video/cZINeaDjisY/w-d-xo.html
Concrete is weak in tension but most of the load on this would be compression, which concrete is really good at.
I guess you could potentially have shearing forces from frost?
How many bags of concrete per pier? Thanks great videos
Just over 5 80lb bags per 12inx48 hole. We used a calculator, www.calculator.net/concrete-calculator.html?holediameter=1&holediameterunit=foot&holedepth=4&holedepthunit=foot&holequantity=1&holecal=Calculate#hole
Thanks for supporting our build!
@@BreakFreeHomestead That what the question I was looking for - bags-to-tubes. Thanks for the reply to this question!
Great video! Does one fill in the empty space on the outside of the sonotubes with sand after the concrete has hardened? What keeps the piers from not tilting sideways when a little horizontal pressure is placed onto them since the concrete is pushing against the inner wall of the tube and not the inner wall of the hole?
We just backfilled with the sand dirt mix that we had pulled from the hole as the home site was raised when built.
We tied all three piers together with a beam and then with joists so it really cant go anywhere. But they're more sturdy than you'd think.
Hey buddy, it’s me again 😅 how many inch of footing is protruding past the top of the earth?
Just a few inches, depending on your frost line, remember you dont want the watershed to be running over your bracket onto the wood so a bit over is better than not enough.
Quickcrete tubes say they are rated for up to 3 ft above grade 👀
@@BreakFreeHomestead appreciate you boss! Bc my city in ma says I have to dig 48” which brings my sonotube flushed with the earth
You could just hold it up an inch or whatever, the bottom part will be fine
@@BreakFreeHomestead 🫡
Do you really need the rebar?
My building inspector said one but based on the diameter i felt it was worth using more as people online recommended more.m Pretty easy to get it, and if you dont want to cut it you can buy the pre cut stuff at the big boxes.
Better to üse about 12 inches supported in the top of the hole to form a nice round Circle àbote the ground
Should have watched before I did mine 😭😭, great video
OH NO, did it not go well?? Thanks for the support! 🤙🤙🤙🤙
Nice job
Thanks Robert! 🤙🤙
Quick question.Did you need an architect for the plans? If not is there any way you can share them.
Nope, I just used the Simpson strong tie deck planner to plan the footers framing and cantaliver. Then checked loads and spans on charts online. Only submitted a sketch for the building permit
@@BreakFreeHomestead thank you for eh detailed response. I will double check maybe I can get away with the same thing. Fingers crossed. Greta job again !
Thanks a lot! Let me know how it goes! 👌👌👌
You should have put on a heavy dose of no scent moisturizing skin lotion, it worked for me, hope it helps.😊
I think you don’t need the sonotube all the ti the bottom
I think you’re trying to say that I don’t need the sonotube all the way to the bottom? Yes in this region it calls for 48” maybe not where you are.
Clean up the spilled concrete before adding from mixer?!!
Spilled concrete is part of the game.
Good Job ❤
Quite the display for 3 piers.
Glad it helped you. Thanks for supporting our channel!
How deep did you dig those piers?
48" in our area.
deeper than the holler
Stronger than the river
Higher than the pine trees growin' tall upon the hill
9:59 No offense, but what's going to get in there? Concrete is porous so it's always going to have water in it.
Its not encapsulated and could deteriorate quicker.
@@BreakFreeHomestead
That makes sense. Thanks!
Thank you infinitely! HareKrishna.GodBless❤️🙏😀
Our pleasure! Thanks for the support! 🤙🤙🤙🤙
omg how did you make such a huge mess? just mix it in a wheel barrow, man. shovel it in its easy af.. you got more concrete on the ground than in the form..
It wasn't the easiest mixer, but it wasn't too bad.
I never seen a mixer like that before. They would save my back and arm from lifting high for all these new mixers. Which idiot designed those new mixers that requires Lifting hundreds of bags above your chest and cements dusting flying back to your face is a good idea
I felt like this one was actually kinda akward. 😂😂😂
Sac's Vallejo
The best 🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘
That concrete pour brought shame to this house.
Thanks for the great input 😂
That kid sliding down the open Bilco door is stressing me out.
What is a Bilco door? 👀
@@BreakFreeHomestead Those slanted exterior doors that cover the stairs leading into a basement.
@@JDDV69420doesn’t look that dangerous?
I wish people quit using these small diameter cheesy anchor j bolts. They aer not that expensive for 3
Sonatube is for above ground not in the ground!! It’s better to pour concrete to the earth and not the Sonatube!! Pouring to the earth will make it more stable.
Thats a weird claim...
Directly from Sonotubes website "Sonotube Builder’s Tube concrete forms are designed for below-grade
use, but may be poured up to three feet above backfill line. No bracing
is needed unless used two feet or more above ground line."
www.sonoco.com/sites/default/files/technical-files/Sonotube%C2%AE%20Concrete%20Forming%20Products%20brochure.pdf
@@BreakFreeHomestead explain to me what is the purpose it has in the ground?
Installing the sonatube in the ground leaves voids on the outside of the tube. If you just use it on the part that is above grade and let the concrete fill up the hole you dug there is no voids. They are just wanting you to buy more Sonatube by sticking in the ground.
@BillHickman-s3e I understand what your saying and do get the choice for using in this application and not using. I'm trying to decide right now whether to. The only benefit I can see is that it will create the perfect cylinder shape in the ground & not the upside down triangle shape which we know is common and helps the concrete to push up with frost.
hey bro what size or # of rebar did you use for the 12" diameter sonotube ?
I believe this was half inch and three should be sufficient per tube.
@@BreakFreeHomestead thanks you brotha !
You love the sound of your own voice huh
Thanks for pushing my video 👍
Way to deep !! Ridiculous
Maybe you should check your code. Seems like a pretty ignorant thing to say considering code is 48” here in nh.
Frostline
If you use scraps to temporary your Deck frame in place before you waste time locating your footings... You will save time by 10x as well as accuracy. The only time pros locate footings beforehand is when we are building a house or commercial building. This gave me a good laugh though ....😂😂😂😂
so like an addition? It worked out perfect.
Was it really that funny, douchnozzle?
4' deep? holy crap why so much
Frontline is deeper