Shop Build. Finally Broke Ground. (1 Viewer)

[1911]

Grading/excavation sub got started on the rear retaining wall too. Nice to see they placed fabric and perforated pipes behind the walls, without me having to ask. Pretty much all rock came from on site, which saved a bit too. Crazy how much large rock costs, and not including transport fees..

Love the native rock use for the retaining wall, that looks great!

I have several piles of good-size pieces of limestone (too big to lift by hand) from our excavation, that I have been wondering what to do with. I'll need a retaining wall one one end of our driveway, and maybe in front of the house too, so now I know what to do with them. Thanks for the idea!

 

[BadReligion]

Weekly update... It was mostly the electrician on site this week. Spent quite a bit of time walking the site with him and going over outlet placement and shop equipment. He likes to run a lot of conduit under the slab, which is fine with me. He is doing two large electric troughs on either side of the shop to access the conduit, which will also make future wire additions or changes very easy.

First level of the rock wall is done. Turned out incredibly well. I told them it didn't have to be perfect, but that is probably the nicest rock wall I have seen. I'm guessing the 24 packs of beer I drop off every Friday afternoon are starting to pay off. Too bad the wall will mostly be hidden behind the shop. It was neat watching the guys make it. They would drop the really large boulders in place with the big ex, then use chains and the mini ex to place the rest. Lots of sledgehammer work to shape them just right too. It was crazy, the did it with no eye, ear, or respiratory protection. Not even gloves.

Septic system is pretty much done too. Just have a final inspection and then they can close it up.

Thank you to @ZackR and @cruzinfj1 for the ideas on the hot water hose bib and floor anchors. Plumber is running a hot water line to the hose bib, and the concrete sub is going to set 12 of these for me when they pour the slab.

Champ Floor Anchor Pot and Instant Floor Plate for New Floors - https://www.ideaautorepair.com/product/champ-anchor-pot-instant-floor-plate/brands-champ-frame-equipment?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=free&utm_campaign=shopping&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAy9msBhD0ARIsANbk0A8bt8PVx877bW4gyw8fWrASMmDDM0v1FdwDKJhU66mDCiAaO80gPosaAkZQEALw_wcB

Next week is vapor barrier, 2" foam board, rebar, and pex lines....weather dependent.

 

[ZackR]

It was crazy, the did it with no eye, ear, or respiratory protection. Not even gloves.

Project is looking good! Cool to see how much progress is being made.

I try not to be over the top about regular safety stuff but when I'm having work done on my place I always make sure folks (including myself) are at least using basic PPE to keep from getting hurt. I could see handling rocks without gloves but whenever the hammer comes out I'd at least throw on some eye protection

 

[BadReligion]

Weekly update. Snow delay. Hopefully it warms up next week. At least the skiing is good now.

 

[BadReligion]

It took a few days for the snow to melt but we made a little progress this week. Vapor barrier and foamboard insulation were placed. The plumber is scheduled Tuesday for the pex. He said it will take them 5 days for the pex runs. We are going to try to pour the slab on February 2nd if all goes well.

Obligatory landcruiser in the background picture.

Floor drains are set. I did two 12' drains, about 1/2 way into the shop, in between bays 1/2 and 3/4.

Cut out some foamboard for the mini footings for the lift. Probably no point removing the dirt (there is concrete from the footings under the exposed vapor barrier) since the slab will be 6", the foamboard is 2", and the pex channels are 2", so that gives me a 10" slab in that area, where Rotary only requires 4.5". Most important part is that the plumber will see NOT to run pex in these areas.

 

[cruzinfj1]

Something else that came up today for me, is tire machine. Not sure if you are planning on one, but if you are, kinda map out your pex so you can put anchors in for that also. I used my tire machine for the first time today, and it wasnt bad, but mounting a 40", I did wiggle it around and would have been nice if it was bolted down.

 

[BadReligion]

Something else that came up today for me, is tire machine. Not sure if you are planning on one, but if you are, kinda map out your pex so you can put anchors in for that also. I used my tire machine for the first time today, and it wasnt bad, but mounting a 40", I did wiggle it around and would have been nice if it was bolted down.

Tire machine is on the wish list. With the slab 6" thick and pex below that, I should be able to epoxy in some 4.5" anchors.

 

[BadReligion]

@cruzinfj1 Floor anchors showed up today. Thanks again for the idea. Ordered a case of 12. Should be enough to drop a few in each bay.

 

[cruzinfj1]

@cruzinfj1 Floor anchors showed up today. Thanks again for the idea. Ordered a case of 12. Should be enough to drop a few in each bay.

those are NICE!!!!!

 

[BadReligion]

Well everything is more or less ready for concrete...except the weather. It was 70* last weekend and into the start of this week, but now the forecast is calling for 18" of snow on site. We were not quite ready to pour when it was nice. Probably missed the "window" by just 1-2 days. Concrete sub got everything covered again with the blankets, and we'll see what happens at the end of next week.

The pex manifolds seem to be holding the 100psi they were charged to so no rebar punctures. A boom pump will be used for the pour, so that should minimize additional foot traffic (and puncture risk). The pictures don't show them, but the rebar mat was elevated about 2" on chairs. The plumbers said the foamboard with the pex channels made their job quite a bit easier. It also kept the pex out of harm's way for the concrete crew during rebar installation.

While it would have been nice to get the slab poured this week, it really doesn't change much for the overall project schedule. Building kit was ordered but fabrication is going to take 10 weeks. Estimated ship date is early April. We did get the order placed for the windows too since Anderson was doing a 5-6% price increase. Lead time on 100 series windows is only 4-6 weeks, much better than the 4-6 months from a year ago. With nowhere to store anything that arrives early (at least until the building is erected), I ended up buying another 20' container, since the orange 40'er is full of household crap and the light gray 20'er is all full of Landcruiser parts. For anyone looking at containers, prices are definitely down a bit. Also, the 1 trip containers are well worth the slight price premium. Per my wife, I have to sell the 40' container once everything is done. Her allowing me to keep the other two is a win in my book.

Hopefully my next post shows a finished slab!

 

[1911]

Well everything is more or less ready for concrete...except the weather. It was 70* last weekend and into the start of this week, but now the forecast is calling for 18" of snow on site. We were not quite ready to pour when it was nice. Probably missed the "window" by just 1-2 days. Concrete sub got everything covered again with the blankets, and we'll see what happens at the end of next week.

The pex manifolds seem to be holding the 100psi they were charged to so no rebar punctures. A boom pump will be used for the pour, so that should minimize additional foot traffic (and puncture risk). The pictures don't show them, but the rebar mat was elevated about 2" on chairs. The plumbers said the foamboard with the pex channels made their job quite a bit easier. It also kept the pex out of harm's way for the concrete crew during rebar installation.

While it would have been nice to get the slab poured this week, it really doesn't change much for the overall project schedule. Building kit was ordered but fabrication is going to take 10 weeks. Estimated ship date is early April. We did get the order placed for the windows too since Anderson was doing a 5-6% price increase. Lead time on 100 series windows is only 4-6 weeks, much better than the 4-6 months from a year ago. With nowhere to store anything that arrives early (at least until the building is erected), I ended up buying another 20' container, since the orange 40'er is full of household crap and the light gray 20'er is all full of Landcruiser parts. For anyone looking at containers, prices are definitely down a bit. Also, the 1 trip containers are well worth the slight price permium. Per my wife, I have to sell the 40' container once everything is done. Her allowing me to keep the other two is a win in my book.

Hopefully my next post shows a finished slab!

The boom/pump trucks are not cheap, but so worth it. Hope you get good enough weather to pour soon.

Glad to hear the price of shipping containers is coming down; I would eventually like to get a couple to store equipment that I don't want taking up space in the shop or the garages.

 

[BadReligion]

The boom/pump trucks are not cheap, but so worth it. Hope you get good enough weather to pour soon.

Glad to hear the price of shipping containers is coming down; I would eventually like to get a couple to store equipment that I don't want taking up space in the shop or the garages.

Thanks! I'd say 50/50 chance for end of next week.

The containers are nice for additional storage, especially for items that you don't want mice to get into. Hang some shelves up and you can store quite a bit in them. If you pick some up, definitely get ones that have a single lever on one side (vs 2 levers on each door). These are so much easier to open. My wife cannot open the 40'er on her own, but even my 6yo can open the other two.

 

[BadReligion]

We got a slab! And a pasture.

Poured last week during a break in weather and it was actually a perfect day. High of 50*, and the low for the next 2 nights was 33*. They poured with hot water and accelerator and placed blankets after. Even 4 days later, the slab was still warm to the touch under the blankets. The concrete sub said a colder weather slow cure actually gives you more final strength than a quick cure in hot weather. They left the blankets on for a whole week and I didn't get a chance to look at the slab until yesterday. Pex manifolds stayed pressurized so that is good too. I had nightmares the night before the pour that someone punctured the pex lines and then they got covered in concrete before they could be fixed or marked. Thankfully that did not happen!

I had the excavation crew grub out a 3/4 acre corner for an animal pasture. I still need to move some rocks but at least the area is fairly level. They also dug the water line from the well. Our well flows at 12gpm but I want to irrigate the pasture with some big 1.5" sprinklers that suck up 50gpm each so we will have to place a 5000 gallon underground water tank. I was going to use a transfer pump from the tank directly to the pasture (with a second connection for a fire hose) and then still run traditional pressure tanks in the shop for domestic water, but after talking with the pump and well guy, he said they like to run domestic water from the tank too with the transfer pump, which will eliminate the need for the pressure tanks. Since the pressure tanks were almost $2k each (had 4 planned), and the transfer pump is $6k, I will actually save money there.

We finalized the power supply with the local utility company and can get away with a pole mounted transformer (50kva) right at the property line, then do the secondary run underground to the shop (about 90') and the house (about 230'). They said voltage drop to the house should not be an issue. This is going to be a lot cheaper than the 900' underground run and pad mounted transformer we originally had planned.

Now is about time to start shopping for equipment too. I'm pretty much settled on a Kubota SVL75 track loader and KX 040 mini ex. I was asking the excavation foreman a lot of equipment related questions and he said the tracked loaders do better than the wheeled ones in most conditions. Kubota is currently offering $6k off new equipment which is tempting, but for the price of 1 new track loader, I can buy a used one, and still have money left over for the mini ex and an equipment trailer. There are some really good deals right now on GovPlanet.com. Prices on used trucks and equipment are finally starting to come down.

Other than letting the excavation crew clean up around the slab and getting the water system designed and connected, now we just have to wait until the building kit shows up at the end of April.

 

[BadReligion]

We had a rendering of the shop and house done and just got those back. The shop rendering turned out ok. They were supposed to show the bay doors in a different color and we had a 6' stone wainscoat across the front, and some of the windows are missing transoms, but it gives us a better idea of what it will look like. My wife is actually pretty excited about it now.

 

[Waorani]

Great scenery!

 

[BadReligion]

Great scenery!

Thanks! We really lucked out on the location of our property. The views are great 360*, and will be even better from a second story.

 

[cruzinfj1]

Thats gonna be really nice when its up!!

I know EXACTLY the knot in your gut and sleepless night before the pour because of the PEX!!! I helped with my pour, and think it actually made it worse as I cringed/freaked out every time I saw someone walking off the planking or it moved a little bit when a buggy was dumped.... lol

What animals are you planning on?

 

[BadReligion]

Thats gonna be really nice when its up!!

I know EXACTLY the knot in your gut and sleepless night before the pour because of the PEX!!! I helped with my pour, and think it actually made it worse as I cringed/freaked out every time I saw someone walking off the planking or it moved a little bit when a buggy was dumped.... lol

What animals are you planning on?

I almost scheduled the pour day off from work, but then realized that it would probably be best if I was not there! The concrete sub is coming back to pour the rear patio, and I'll pull the kids out of school early for that so we can write our names in the concrete.

For animals, I do a lot of wilderness backpack hunting so I want some llamas for pack animals. We'll do some chickens as well, and maybe a few goats. Our problem is that if it gets a name, we have a hard time eating it...so no pigs or sheep.

 

[greenbeast]

Don't let the wife get ducks!!! I speak from experience!

 

[BadReligion]

Don't let the wife get ducks!!! I speak from experience!

Ha. No pun intended, but i see why they are called fowl. I had to clean up after a few for a high school summer job.

We are going to stick with just the chickens. Maybe a few chukar to train the dog with.