Site Preparation: Foundations, Utilities, and Permits
We at Zook Cabins have gone through all of the initial stages with you. We help you to get your cabin designed and customized with a floor plan. Now you have your formal estimate that you are happy with and fits your budget! Now there are a few things that you will need to do in order to prepare for your delivery day. The preparation of your site ensures a smooth, hassle free delivery that will allow you to start using your cabin as quickly as possible. With our extensive experience with log cabins we are here to help you know how to prepare a cabin foundation for your custom cabin.
When you took the time to design your cabin you made sure that everything came together correctly. It is very important to put the time and effort into getting your site properly prepared. Proper site preparation gives your modular log home a solid, level cabin foundation and makes delivery go as smoothly as it possibly can.
With any building purchased, we will give you a schematic, in this drawing we will have an image showing the foundation that we expect to see when we arrive for delivery. Consider the following options when deciding how to build a foundation for your cabin.
Watch the following video to better understand how your property will need to be prepared for the delivery of your Zook Cabin.
Foundations for Certified Modular Homes
A certified modular home requires a solid foundation, you can either do a crawl space foundation or if you want to add more living space or just plain storage the basement option is a great value.
Basement Foundation
Crawl Space Foundation
Don’t forget:
For your Basement or crawl space foundation our plans will call for your site contractor to install a pressure treated wooden sill plate on top of the concrete foundation wall & also down your center supports (or steel beam if used for a basement) That way our on-site crew can attach the floor joists to the sill plate.
Foundations for Single-wide Recreational Buildings
A Stone base is the easiest and most cost effective cabin foundation for a non-certified single wide building, a concrete pad is a common foundation as well but either of these are sufficient and will be a great value to the structures lifetime.
Please Note: All Double-wide buildings are required to sit on concrete foundations.
Stone Pad
Concrete Pad
The minimum requirements for your cabin foundation will vary based on your building style, size and some of the other custom options.
Included in the drawing will be details about where you will need to have an access pit to allow for the hookup of your water and sewer. The access pit should be roughly 6’L x 3’W x 3’D with 3′ of the pit going under the cabin (most likely under the bathroom). Since its 3′ deep or below frost level in your area, the ground temperature keeps the pipes from freezing.
Hooking up Your Utilities
Your local electrician and plumber would be responsible for hooking up your utilities: electric, sewer, and water. Our modular cabin design makes it easy and straightforward for them to have it completed quickly. After they are all connected, turn them on and you will be able to enjoy your cabin right away – there is no reason you should have a drawn out construction process like you would with a kit or stick built home!
The Permitting Process
Before you get too far into the project you will want to check with your local municipality to see whether you will need a permit for your project. Permit requirements vary a great deal from state to state or even within the township ordinances and the best way to find out what you need is to ask you township. (HINT: A quick search on-line will give you a phone number or email address to the local township where you are looking to build)
Zook Cabins Helpful Hint:
Keep in mind your local municipality will have a period of time to review the permit before they need to approve or deny. Ask them when you can expect an answer and make sure everything you submit is correct.
You’ll want to anticipate some obstacles that you may run into along the way and we can help you with that. Some municipalities will only require you to fill out a simple form. Others will expect to see drawings and plan designs. The majority of the modular log cabins we build are done with those engineered drawings included at no charge! You can talk to your Zook Cabins Project Manager about this.
Once you have presented your local township with everything they need, you are now ready to process your deposit on your new Zook Cabins Modular Log Home!
Here is a simple checklist for obtaining your permits:
- Call your local zoning office and find out what permits you need and what will need to be submitted with them.
- Call us and get all the information you need for your permits. Remember: Architectural Engineered Sealed Plans are included at no charge!
- Fill out all the permit paperwork. Make sure you take your time and fill everything out correctly and include any necessary drawings.
- Pick up your permit at the office when it has been approved.
