We have a cabin that we wish to add on to. It was built in 2 parts. One part has about a foot high footing under it. On the west side, of this structure, we have had some problems with the footing buckling. We want to add on to the north end of the cabin. My husband plans to pour a cement piling under the part with the footing and put in a steel beam from south to north. Then he is going to build a false floor to bring the two sides of the cabin up to the same level. Then the north side will have footings and he will add a room to each side going out towards the north. He will remove the old roof and put a new roof over the complete structure.
Answer:
If the footing goes only a foot or so deep and some of it sits on railroad ties, you should expect frost heaves and the concrete will start to break up. Your addition idea will work but with footings that don't go beyond the frost line, heaving will continue as before.
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