Building a house on sonotubes

[Johnshan1]

I am in the market for my first home, I have found a perfect place right on a local lake here. I found out that it has no basement or slab but rather was built on sonotubes, which I found are basically concrete pillars the house sits on, I assume for flooding reasons? I did some research and cannot see any flood history with this home that was built in the 1950's, the surrounding homes are either slabs or basements. Theres a few others on sonotubes but its not the norm.<br /><br />Any thoughts on this? Pretty nice house with an acre of land on the water and some nice features. Thanks for any thoughts on this "foundation"<br /><br />-John

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Building a house on sonotubes

Where is it? Any freezing in the winter?<br /><br />When I was younger one of my first jobs was replacing telephone poles that held up houses on a beach (all sand) and we used sonotubes and concrete blocks.<br /><br />Is the slab tied into the sonotubes or will it move seperately?<br /><br />Sonotubes are very good if installed properly and considering the house is almost 50-55 years old you might be fine. What are the surrounding homes like?

 

[Mark42]

Re: Building a house on sonotubes

How high up is the house? Could be just to get a level location, or lower priced construction on a vacation home.

 

[ED21]

Re: Building a house on sonotubes

A properly designed foundation built on piers is not a problem.<br />If it is out of the ground enough the space below can be used for storage or parking.<br />A few years ago Isabell brought flood tides that hadn't been seen for 75 years in my area.<br />The point is that can happen any time from this year to 50 years from now. If it does you'll be glad you are up high.

 

[Johnshan1]

Re: Building a house on sonotubes

Thanks guys, the house is about a foot off the ground in the front and about 5 foot off the ground in the rear of the house, making it basically useless dead space. The lot needs work, I would bring fill in to level things out a bit and then get make a new driveway and pave. We looked at it again today and decided that even though the lot is in need of help (no grass to speak of and a driveway that will barley fit my truck) its still a good buy and with some landscaping will be beautiful. The cathedrial ceilings throughout, fireplace, and general look of the house kind of seals the deal, not to mention the house itself is perfect ready to move in.<br /><br />From the looks of things this was someones summer cottage and they turned it into a year round home, it has new electrical service, and new siding. It is 1200 square feet, not huge but since we have no kids, its perfect.<br /><br />We figured we could spend 5,000-10,000 on landscaping. How much work could one do for 10,000, a fair amount or is fill and grass seeding expensive? As this is my first home i am unsure, it doesnt need a ton of fill, maybe 2-3 dump truck loads to just get the front yard the way we would want it. Hard to say without seeing it I know, but mainly is it reasonable to assume we could get a good amount of work done for 5-10K? Would like a short (15x20 paved driveway as well and I think we figured that into our 10K budget.<br /><br />-John

 

[mattttt25]

Re: Building a house on sonotubes

i think your estimate is actually high, especially if you do the work yourself. you can shop for the best price for topsoil. have them dump it and you spread it. you can rent machinery and have a blast doing the work yourself. asphalt for an area that small won't cost more than a grand. you can save yourself even more by defining the driveway with gravel (have it dumped and you spread yourself), and then driving on that for a while. gives them a solid base they don't charge you for. and then seeding and watering is cheap and easy. i placed topsoil and seed on an area approx 35' x 30' this spring and was very surprised that it is now thick with green healthy grass.

 

[SELLADAM]

Re: Building a house on sonotubes

Johnshan1<br /><br />Before you go out and pay for fill, spend an afternoon driving around the area and look for any new construction. It may just be the case that if the structure being built has a basement they are looking to get rid of some dirt. In many areas, they may have to pay a dump or some other party to take the dirt so this could work out for both of you. My father did this when he was building his house a few years back and got a couple of truckloads for free.

 

[Johnshan1]

Re: Building a house on sonotubes

Thanks a lot guys- great ideas for sure. I looked further into it, and I dont think I will need as much fill as I had thought until I build a garage.<br /><br />We made an offer and got the house for $7500 less then asking price, we are thrilled to be getting our first house! Just need to get the house appraised and inspected, if all goes well we will be in on July 22. <br /><br />On a sidenote, we have 30' of waterfront that we share with a couple other homes, mooring balls dont seem to be used, whats the general rule to getting one? Can you put a mooring ball anywhere in front of your shared land or does it usually not work that way? Do I need to apply with the town? No clue on this as you guys can see, thanks!<br /><br />-John

 

[ED21]

Re: Building a house on sonotubes

Not a clue where you live, but that wouldn't help anyway. <br />Ask new neighbors what people do. Real estate agent might know too.<br />Buying a new house and all your thinking about is-How does this affect my boat! <br />It won't be long before you own 7 or 8 boats.

 

[Johnshan1]

Re: Building a house on sonotubes

I dont know about 7 boats! Maybe a jetski for my fiance, or thats what she keeps saying anyway and I will stick with the good old center console. We went furniture shopping, picked out a bedroom set, dining room set, and a living room set, $4800 later that is I wont even mention the new kitchen that we are going to do.... unreal amount of money no wonder I havnt been sleeping at night.