https://imgur.com/a/EW9ltD7
Here is my stab at an Oehler-inspired foundation for a wet climate like Tennessee.
The drawing is basically a mix of pier-and-beam foundation with an Oehler structure. The main thing I was trying to achieve was not letting any wood directly touch earth or concrete.
I set the main supporting round wood timbers on a concrete pier separated from physically touching the concrete by a rubber gasket, hopefully preventing any wicking of moisture from the pier. The timber is held in place with a rebar pin. I understand that the lateral forces from the earth can cause hinging at the point where timber meets pier. So my thought was to use a steel bar to brace the bottom, hopefully preventing any hinging.
The foundation slab itself will be pitched in order to allow any water that did enter the building to be directed to a low point and pumped out. The slab would be wrapped in rigid foam to provide insulation and set on crushed rock to allow any ground water to drain way from the foundation.
We didn’t want an earthen floor and we also didn’t want a concrete floor so I decided to use piers with timber hangers to create a wooden floor with essentially a crawl space beneath. Since the floor joists are separated from the concrete piers by the metal hangers we shouldn’t have any wicking issues here. My one concern about this setup is condensation forming on the bottom side of the floor from temperature differences between the crawl space and main living area. Does anyone see a problem with this?
The walls of the structure are pretty much straight from Oehler’s book. PSP style. Support posts, wooden plank shoring wrapped in a waterproof pond liner. A layer of sand will be added to protect the pond liner from puncture then another layer of rigid insulating foam. Finally a French drain to funnel water away from the walls of the home. Then bury the whole thing in dirt.
Anyway just thought I’d put this out there to see what people thought. I’d love any thoughts or criticisms.
Thanks
