glennjanie

Hi Bethany:
To me, the difference in a deck and porch is the roof on the latter.
Yes, fill the basement windows with concrete brick or some old bricks you may have around.
The shallow foundation sounds good to me.
The 2 steps 7" tall will work real well; be sure they have approx. 12" treads.
Have the whole house treated for termites, emphasizing the shallow foundation. You are doing well.
Glenn

bethany14

Argh. The stinkin county won't allow the FPSF!
They have code amendments that address it, but for a heated space. So, I asked the engineer if I ran PEX (radiant heat) in the porch floor if that would cut it. I got a big fat no. As a matter of fact, in the 30 minute conversation I had with him, he kept saying no, no, no, absolutely not. I started to feel like he wasn't even listening to me...then he says, "What is FPSF anyway?" When I called him, the FIRST thing I said was, "Are you familiar with FPSF?" He was a jerk to act like he knew what I was talking about when he had no clue. How RUDE.

On the low end of the yard the shallow foundation will only save me 14" of digging & materials, but on the higher end it'll save me 2'! Since it's just me and a shovel (can't get heavy equipment up here) I'd REALLY like to go the shallow route.
Anyone know how to update local codes?
Flaming bags of poo at his front door probably isn't the way to go...right?

glennjanie

Sorry Bethany:
They have their codes and for whatever reason, they'll hang on to them untill you and I die. "We can't beat city hall".
Glenn