brick piers??????

[bingoshelley]

hi all im looking in the asa for the standards relating to brick piers but cant find them if anyone knows what page to look on that would be great.also has anyone done brick piers as this is our first owner builder stage i need all the help i can get.our soil is reactive clay we have to have 1mtr deep holes not sure how wide or if i can fill them with concrete then build piers from ground level upwards any help would be appreciated but be nice guys sometimes you can be brutal.!!!!!if you dont ask youll never learn!!!!!!

[Brickie]

hi all im looking in the asa for the standards relating to brick piers but cant find them if anyone knows what page to look on that would be great.also has anyone done brick piers as this is our first owner builder stage i need all the help i can get.our soil is reactive clay we have to have 1mtr deep holes not sure how wide or if i can fill them with concrete then build piers from ground level upwards any help would be appreciated but be nice guys sometimes you can be brutal.!!!!!if you dont ask youll never learn!!!!!!

Most brick piers are built from the ground level up.

Not sure Ive seen anything Asa on brick piers, brickwork in general yes, but piers?

[bitingmidge]

Brickwork is exactly the wrong material to be using in reactive clay anyway!

Why not use steel piers, they won't crack?

P

[Brickie]

Brickwork is exactly the wrong material to be using in reactive clay anyway!

Why?
Most of the older houses in Melbourne are built on them.

[echnidna]

If the concrete comes to ground level (or a tad below) the bricks aren't in the reactive soil

[Brickie]

If the concrete comes to ground level (or a tad below) the bricks aren't in the reactive soil

Arhh, now I see, you are asking if the bricks will disintegrate in the reactive soil.

No they wont.
Modern bricks are burnt so well when fired that they are impervious to almost most things on the planet.

[bingoshelley]

Brickwork is exactly the wrong material to be using in reactive clay anyway!

Why not use steel piers, they won't crack?

P

the reason were using brick piers is its the cheapest option for us as budget is virtually non existant i got quoted 13k for a slab and just under that for steel doing it ourselves so we have to do brick as its a hell of alot cheaper.if we do them properly and take our time im sure they will last the test of time

[bingoshelley]

Arhh, now I see, you are asking if the bricks will disintegrate in the reactive soil.

No they wont.
Modern bricks are burnt so well when fired that they are impervious to almost most things on the planet.

thanks brikie i did see a picture of a brick pier in as1684 under concrete footings but no imformation like what width of hole needed what size metal tie rod (12y?) if the hoop iron goes under first or second row of bricks and with the ant cap how do you put it on if the tie rod is sticking up do you cut a hole in middle and slide over?wouldnt that effect the performance of the ant cap or do you plug the hole somehow.also where does the damp proofing go?????sorry so many questions ive looked everywhere but cant find simple answers.

[bingoshelley]

If the concrete comes to ground level (or a tad below) the bricks aren't in the reactive soil

thx echidna thats what i thought but is there a particular strenght of concrete i need to order and how do i work out how much i need?????

[autogenous]

Whats the pier doing? I is it holding up anything (load bearing)?

Do you have a picture of where it is to go?

Because you are in clay some footings have to go down to non-reactive soil. However an engineer really needs to provide you with a footing detail for you particular location (your plot)

I would say the footing will extend 150mm from the outside of the pier in any direction.

eg: 350mm x 350mm pier would 650mm x 650mm footing

The footing depth is the tricky one without seeing anything.

An ideal pier would be 350mm x 350mm with a galv 10mm rod up the centre from the footing, core filled with 25/15/80 concrete.

[bingoshelley]

Whats the pier doing? I is it holding up anything (load bearing)?

Do you have a picture of where it is to go?

Because you are in clay some footings have to go down to non-reactive soil. However an engineer really needs to provide you with a footing detail for you particular location (your plot)

I would say the footing will extend 150mm from the outside of the pier in any direction.

eg: 350mm x 350mm pier would 650mm x 650mm footing

The footing depth is the tricky one without seeing anything.

An ideal pier would be 350mm x 350mm with a galv 10mm rod up the centre from the footing, core filled with 25/15/80 concrete.

hi autogenius the building inspecter told me to go down 1mtr deep we are building a house so they will be load bearing above ground will be 450mm so i figured i could dig the holes 1mtr fill with concrete well nearly full then build brick piers up to 450mm was planning on doing 2x2 bricks not even sure what bricks i can use for load bearing i have some solids also ones with 3 holes in them.as you can probably tell absolutely no experience here but due to finances have no choice but to try and do it ourselves.its all very well for people to say get a tradie so its done properly but getting a tradie for anything up here is a nightmare and an even bigger one when you get the bill.laying a 8.4 mtr x 15.0 mtr slab on flat as ground was as the concreter said a rough qoute of 13k maybe more so its out of our market.thx for your help though

[Brickie]

Ive been out Wyche way a few times and have taken notice of the area and sort of taken notice of the ground, most of the advice you will get here is the advice they give to the city folk, they dont take into consideration the needs of country people.

I know the Building code is supposed to encompass all, but it doesnt, Ive lived in the country long enough to see that there is a difference from country to city codes.

[echnidna]

I assume the building inspector wants a 600 x 600 footing 1 metre deep

[echnidna]

Al, its more like difference in interpretation of codes rather than different codes.
In some place the "building inspector" isn't qualified as such, he's the health inspector etc etc.

[Brickie]

Al, its more like difference in interpretation of codes rather than different codes.
In some place the "building inspector" isn't qualified as such, he's the health inspector etc etc.

I know Bob, Ive lived out in the bush for over 20 years, so I know what its like....