Ground water under my foundation for a 10x10 log cabin

Hello! My partner and I are working on our first cabin build in rocky nova scotia and we are trying to figure out how to make a sufficient foundation. The furthest we seem to be able to dig is a little under 2 feet and about half a foot of ground water pools into each hole.
Our plan was to fill these holes with gravel or other small rocks then put a concrete or a mortar and rock pier on top.
We don't plan on having any plumbing or electrical, so a little bit of movement isn't an issue. We just want to be sure we are doing the best foundation possible for as little money as possible of course.

I wonder, do you think that you hit a spring or does the property have a high water table?

It seems to me you might have to move the location of the cabin.

Try some test holes on other places on the property to see if you get the same results.

If that were my property I would find the highest elevation and put my cabin there if there is not a water table problem.

I think that we have a high water table. We unfortunately already have about half of our logs in this location, and there isn't really anywhere else we could go. I'm thinking I might try using French drains to direct the water away from us. I am also going to use lots of hope

French drains is a very good solution.

Is it possible to have dirt brought in to raise the level of the ground?

I had an uncle who did this when he had his house built due to flooding during hurricane season.

It might be that you will need to have the house raised higher than you planned.

Have you been able to observe how the rain washes across the property when it rains?

The only kind of foundation I have built with are concrete blocks with a crawlspace.

Do you have rock available for a raised foundation?

If so you might find this thread helpful:

https://permies.com/t/107843/Natural-foundation-log-cabin

Alex Renaud wrote:I think that we have a high water table. We unfortunately already have about half of our logs in this location, and there isn't really anywhere else we could go. I'm thinking I might try using French drains to direct the water away from us. I am also going to use lots of hope

Bare with me Alex, and think this over carefully...

I know of someone who built a "house boat" using the special concrete houseboat foundation that I think is more like aircrete than regular concrete - so very light and designed to be moved and float. He owned a small island and had been told he couldn't build a house on it - not enough elevation from high tide. So he registered his "house boat", floated it across the inlet, beached it on his island. Every time there was a storm along with a high tide from the correct direction, he pulled it further up the island until he had it where he wanted. Then he added a deck and has been living there for at least 10 years.  I have seen the house from a distance, but never visited it. (I'm BC, but Nova Scotia is beautiful and I have a friend on St. Margaret's Bay I have visited.)

You're in Nova Scotia, so I'm betting you can find someone who makes the equivalent of this. Considering the water table you're encountering, I would want my house foundation to be as waterproof as possible, so that humidity alone, doesn't do it harm.  Rather than worrying about building piers which could shift badly with freeze thaw cycles if the water table's that high, I would find a way to chain the building down with more like anchor technology. With a high water table, I would worry about flooding. If it looked like a bad flood, you could lengthen the anchor chain and float. Nova Scotia's been having more hurricane and flooding events. There was talk of using similar technology in New Orleans after the really bad Hurricane that hit there.

So this may sound way outside the box - for good reason. But I hope you will at least consider it as a possibility?

Here's my 2c. With a water table that high, the foundation will always be moist. Whatever you use for the first level of your foundation, it will have to be seriously rot resistant. I am not aware of natural wood in NS that would qualify. But if you want to do a rubble trench, perhaps you have access to broken rock from a quarry or broken concrete from sidewalks or demolished buildings. Bricks, cinder blocks, are also scrounge-able options. Personally I would consider pressure treated lumber on top of that.

Normally the soil under a building will dry out somewhat, but not with that much shallow groundwater. I think you will need good ventilation between the soil and your structure. Otherwise it will be vulnerable to rot and mold, which may adversely affect indoor air quality as well as the structure. You may not love plastic, but a heavy vapour barrier on the ground under the cabin may be necessary.

I guess the other wild card is how the water flow varies with the seasons. If you have solid rock at 2.5 ft. this is worth looking into.  Is there a way to divert water at a higher elevation so it moves away from your building site, using a swale or French drain as suggested above?

Douglas Alpenstock wrote: Normally the soil under a building will dry out somewhat, but not with that much shallow groundwater. I think you will need good ventilation between the soil and your structure. Otherwise it will be vulnerable to rot and mold, which may adversely affect indoor air quality as well as the structure. You may not love plastic, but a heavy vapour barrier on the ground under the cabin may be necessary.

Unless that plastic is encased in something to protect it, rodents of all varieties are likely to chew through it.

I'm going to assume you are talking a 10' X 10' floor plan....and further that this is more of a 'getaway' dwelling versus a more permanent or long-term abode...?  Taking a cue from what others recommended and from our own battles with high water tables, I would 'pre-fab' build the floor/foundation into one 10 X 10 wooden/insulated/steel-clad slab of ~1.5 - 2 ft thick.  With rot resistant wood flooring and beams of your choice sandwiching insulation of your choice, steel cladding on the sides and very bottom of the foundation would be quite impervious to rodents and cold temperatures with the insulation provided.  Do all of the foundation framing, insulation, and metal cladding with it upside down, then flip it over onto the location you wish for it to be on.  Finish closing it up with the flooring.  Even though you would not be using ground as an insulator, some leveling bricks should keep it out of the water and adding/subtracting bricks as the ground heaves over the years would be your low tech leveling system.  The top face could be treated plywood or flooring and the framing for the cabin built up from the flooring.  The structure could be anchored against wind/water/thievery for times of concern.  Sounds like fun!...