The Problems With the Mountain Log Cabin Foundation

Wood

• Many mountain cabins rely on a wood-frame foundation. As always, the wood must be properly treated with a copper or zinc coating, and it needs to be strong enough to hold both the weight of the cabin as well as the weight of the mountain slope. Building directly on a mountain slope is not uncommon, but this automatically means that one side of the house is under tremendous soil weight. Wood might not be the best choice in these cases. Depending on the home access roads, poured concrete reinforced with rebar is essential for such cases.

Trees

• The more remote wood cabins are surrounded by trees. This can be both good and bad. Tree roots can absorb much water, helping to drain foundations that are struggling to keep out moisture. Roots can be bad when they snake their way into a foundation, undermining its integrity by growing under and through it. Tree roots must be monitored at all times and cut back if necessary. In many cases, growing smaller shrubs against the foundation wall might serve to drain the soil without damaging tine foundation.

Sealants

• If your cabin foundation is concrete, then using a proper sealant is essential. Always monitor concrete block foundations for cracks, since these can permit water seepage through their vulnerable water joints. Several different epoxy sealants can help here. Available also is a rubber membrane method of waterproofing that goes on like a liquid, but upon drying takes on the qualities of a rubber seal. Since moisture is a constant problem in mountain wood homes, sealing the foundation exterior every few years becomes a necessity.

Drainage

• Sealants do not work alone. They must work with a drainage system that keeps cabin foundations -- whether wood, stone or concrete -- dry. Grading the immediate vicinity of the foundation is essential, forcing water to go around, rather than through, the foundation structure. Slope cabins are particularly vulnerable to this, but many methods of trenches and redirection of falling water are available. Many trees upward of the cabin are an important way to redirect water away from the home. Tree roots above the foundation up the slope will control water drainage down the mountain and protect the foundation structure.