Soil level on to building foundation?

[JOsmund999]

Hello,

I suspect this has been covered but I could not find my answer in the search feature.

I purchased a place with a 30x40 Morton Building which was built in the 90s. The building is very well built and I'm pleased with it to date. When purchased, I noticed the ground level was allowed to contact the steel siding. I promptly hand dug the soil off the siding by removing 1-3" in places. Thus, I have a small trench around parts of the building. My plan is drop the grade and gravel.

It appears there was a 4x4" or 4x6" wooden frame or a floor sill which the concrete floor was poured into. This wooded frame / sill is still in contact with the soil.

I had a Buddy out last night who said I needed to get all of the surrounding dirt off the wood sill plate or it will rot. This will require a fair amount of dirt work to drop the grade 4-5" and allow for drainage.

Any thought on this advice?

 

[getbent4x4]

The wood may be the forms for the foundation they were suppose to remove after it dried.

 

[finn]

The wood may be the forms for the foundation they were suppose to remove after it dried.

May be different in different parts of the country, but here, at least, a pressure treated board around the perimeter is nailed to the posts, the floor is poured using the board as an outer form, and the board is left in place after curing.

 

[JOsmund999]

May be different in different parts of the country, but here, at least, a pressure treated board around the perimeter is nailed to the posts, the floor is poured using the board as an outer form, and the board is left in place after curing.

The above describes how my building was built. With this in mind, do I pull the soil below the perimeter board and grade it from there?

Thanks,

 

[finn]

Oh need drainage. I’m certainly not an expert, but when we poured the floor in my shop lean to (the lean to is pole construction on a stick built main building), we just left the sand or crushed mine rock against the lower portion of the board. It’s mostly exposed along most of the length, and the extremely sandy soil falls away quickly, so there is no pooling of water.

The other side of the building has a swale for drainage away from the slab. It’s maybe six inches deep X 75’ long, tapering about six feet from the slab.

No water issues of any significance, except a littleseepage during snow melt in the spring. I can live with how the building was sited by the previous owner, even though it’s not perfect.

I also have generous eaves around the entire building. I think it will be there after I am gone...

 

[NUTTSGT]

Along my addition, its higher than I really want but it does have a decent slope away. It's also not dirt for the first 12-14" but stone, river rock, with a drain tile underneath to carry the water away.