[Shop-talk] Pole barn and deck footers

[Steven Trovato]

You know, I can give you my opinion from here in NY, but I think this 
is something that you really want local expertise on.  You can't be 
the first one to ever build in that area.  Local contractors must 
know how it is done.  I know if I wanted to build those things, I 
would have to go to my building dept for a permit.  I would have to 
have the footings specified the way they want, and they're not shy 
about telling me so.

At 11:12 PM 7/31/2008, Brian C. Kennedy wrote:
>I have a cottage on a lake. Water level is down about 2 feet. I want to put
>in a deck ~20x16' and a pole barn type garage about 20x20'. Question is what
>do I use for footers? People have told me that normal 12' cement footers
>with a 4x6" post will sink and heave. I'm in MI so the freeze/thaw has a
>tendency to pop things out of the ground. I'm thinking something like a flat
>rebar reinforced concrete pad might be better.