thrashingcows

Augie....The upright footings are 4' high x 8" thick as well..!!! Not sure how many yards but the lower section was one concrete truck, and today was two trucks. And yes the slab will be poured inside the footings, down a few inches from the top of the foundation wall.

Blue Goose

that's gonna be sweet!

nonrev

Augie, the footings @12"x12"should have taken about 6 yds and the walls around 16yds


TC are they contracted to do the floor as well? and is this a package deal. The reason I ask is most company's will pour what they call a 4" slab with 5 sack mix on the existing grade, and it will take about 20 yards of concrete, while that's ok for your average garage floor I personally would not do it. I would pay the extra money for them to use at least 4" of 5/8 crushed driveway rock and have them compact it before pouring over it, remember the better your sub grade is the better chance your slab has of not shifting and cracking. I would also use rebar on 2' centers with a 6" slab which will be about 8 to 10 yards more. Will it still crack, possibly but now the rebar will keep the the pieces from shifting and if you saw cut your lines in it the cracks should stop there. I know you have waited a long time to have this shop and want to enjoy it for many years to come, so talk to your contractor and ask him if what I suggested makes any sense and what the added cost will be. JMHO

NJTman

Hey TC.


Did you see that your neighbor was staring at the guys the whole time ? Looks as though he's happy too !

nonrev

Plenty of storage for those picnic baskets

bigragu

Good points. Vern. Maybe even go with a 5 1/2 sack mix.

You know, Vern, we ought to quit advising TCows, as the guy is probably on a budget, like I for sure would be. Sometimes I think the folks like myself that did these things years ago on a really tight budget, want to advise others of “what we wish we would have done”, lol!

This year is gonna be a costly year as far as maintenance for me. I’ve gotten 5 roof estimates, 3 estimates for a re asphalt pave for my driveway, House has to be painted, and I just got done dumping some $$ in a bunch of pressure treated 4x12’s, 2x12’s, and 1,500’ of PVC decking for a bridge and dock I need built. Those Simpson V-Max joist hangers aren’t cheap, as I recently learned!!

I know all about sticking to construction budgets, lol. Back in 1997 I went as frugal as possible on my 32 x28 garage. I shaved on costs by way of trading for sheet rock, and electrical outlets with guys on the job site. Copper pipe, for vodka, you name it.The concrete and wood frame are the two things I dumped the majority of the cash on, as I didn’t want any cracks or misc. type failures.
To this day, as my eyes have gotten weaker with age, I hate my el cheapo fluorescent 4’ shop lights. But, at the time, looking back, it was all part of being on budget.

There’s this saying you all may have heard- “pay once, cry once”. In the end, when the construction loan finally gets paid off, you’ll be glad you invested in the best you can afford, rather than be saying the “I should have’s”, lol!

thrashingcows

I had engineered drawings done up that the construction company is working off of and I'm pretty sure I saw that there was several inches of aggregate for under the slab.....plus up here with the winters and frost we get everything is well engineered or it does not get approved.

Budget...Yup there is that and one of the reasons I'm putting the sweat equity into the shop from the roofing all the way down to drywalling, and only having an electrician come in to advise me on power and plug layout and then final panel hook up.

I was considering doing everything myself but after watching what is involved with getting the foundation done so far I am very glad I paid to have it done right the first time!

bigragu

I, too, did the sweat equity thing, but relied on book after book on codes and install practices. I wish I would have had someone to consult with, lol. Occasionally, I’d pick the brains of the pros on the job site, in exchange for a role of good duct tape.

TC, when your electrical is all done, map out a diagram that shows which circuit feeds what, wire run locations at true, actual locations, and always allow for more circuits for future big tools.

When it’s all rocked in, 10 years from now, you don’t want to be scratching your head wondering where the large amperage wires are at in the walls.

Oh, and do attach the Simpson anti screw plates on the studs, anywhere you are running wires, so you don’t accidentally drill a sheet rock screw into your wire, lol. These go on before the sheet rock gets installed.

I have a question, as I do not know your local codes- are you allowed to attach the main ground onto the rebar that you had in the footings? It’s allowed here in some areas, other areas want you to drive in a copper ground rod, I believe 10’ into the ground. It used to be back in the day electricians grounded the main panel onto the galvanized plumbing that came from underground up thru the slab. But, with the coming of folks installing in line plastic whole house filters, plastic pex piping, and such, once they cut into the copper lines it broke the ground. This caused a dangerous situation as the ground did not now have a continuous loop.

bigragu

If you did install a plastic filter housing you had to run a jumper wire from copper back to copper, I believe at least a #6 or better.

Seems out of all codes, the national electrical code is always changing, more so than building codes(unless you live in earthquake areas)

thrashingcows

Good idea on the anti-screw plates....will look into those, and a drawing showing the layout of t he wiring is a great idea as well. I'll be taking lots of pics too so that will help as well.

Pretty sure the ground has to be a copper bar driven into the ground.

thrashingcows

So they started nice and early today stripping the forms....were done about noon.

Front of shop....16' wide main door and the man door.



Rear of shop with 11' wide door.



Layout for the interior slab....lower line to grade then 5-6" concrete slab.





No going back now....

bigragu

That’s looking great, TCows. Man, that crew doesn’t dink around!

oliver foster

NICE! Thrashing that is looking great.

bigragu

Wanted to bump this back up, to see if there are more progress photos to drool over, TCows.
How ‘bout it?

thrashingcows

Sorry forgot to update....nothing much happened this week. Had a minor disagreement with the contractor over what was agreed upon in the quote....I ended up being right, but I know they are not happy about it.

So they installed the rigid insulation on the walls and then hooked up the drains for the gutter down spouts and then back filled.