Finally time to pull the trigger . . . starting on the New (much anticipated) SHOP - Build

[747mopar]

Yeah, I definitely would have ordered it.. 1 day of sweating and a week of looking at it finished haha. I hope pouring it spread out like this doesn't cause you any problems, it will definitely be weaker than if it were poured all at once.. rebar is going to help.

 

[conv67bdere]

Well . . . I think I'm too far into this thing to make it worth calling them . . . and I'm getting some great exercise too . . .

Just finished up another session of 21 bags . . . and this time I waited till later when the sun was behind the trees - BIG difference.
Got the 21 bags done in just over an hour . . .

You can see how I stagger the height over a large distance to allow the next pour to (hopefully) better blend in . . .

Basically the money that I saved doing it myself almost paid for my lumber . . . Was it worth it ? ! ? ! ?

Maybe next time I'll pay someone to do it . . . But while I can still do it, I'm going to get 'er done myself !

 

[conv67bdere]

Had a good day . . . and you're NOT going to believe this . . .

Here's the results of my morning session . . . 21 bags . . .

Made it all the way to the corner . . . that felt good to get that done and see the progress . . .

So I decided to go at it again for the afternoon session (even after saying I wouldn't do that again . . . )

And finished off the other 13' section . . . talk about seeing the light at the end of the tunnel . .

Even made it around the corner here too . . .

Ok - so I'm a glutton for punishment . . . decided to try an evening session . . . yes, another 21 bags . . .

and got about half way on the empty sections . . . and could not believe it . . .

That's 63 - 80 pound bags of concrete . . . and about 4 changes of clothes in the wash right now . . .

Tomorrow - will be the last 21 bags and these footing should be done - then on to getting the center section done . . .

Time for some more Advil . . .

 

[conv67bdere]

The morning session . . . and hopefully the last one . . . the last 21 bags . . .

Finished up with the last 21 bags . . . and . . . I'm short . . . ARGH ! ! !

My guess is 10 more bags . . .

Going to get some lunch, hopefully a little more energy, 10 more bags . . . and wrap this thing up . . .

More later . . .

 

[eldubb440]

proof it shrinks

 

[conv67bdere]

My "guess-timate" was that I needed 10 more bags . . . so that's what I got . . .

That did it . . . put a fork in it ! ! !

Got all the footers done now, next get the center section dug out and crushed stone in and compacted . . .

Sure glad to see this . . . 1 week in the waiting - and a bit of work to boot. What a great site !

Here's all 211 bags in the dumpster . . .

And . . . after cleaning up the area, it's sure looking nice . . .

The protruding rebar will have the wire mesh attached, so the slab and pad are tied together.
Concrete will go up to the top of the wood forms, so I'll have at least 4" on top of the existing footers for additional strength.

That will be happening . . . soon . . .

Final tally:
221 - 80 pound bags of concrete mix - 17,680 pounds

 

[conv67bdere]

proof it shrinks

Actually . . . 1 yd is 45 bags, not 42 - 42 is a pallet. So I was 15 bags shy by buying pallets.
IF I would have bought 45 bags at a time, I would have been right on - and this was a WAG . . . Wild Arse Guess . . .

 

[conv67bdere]

Weather today - after a week of 95+ and very high humidity . . .


80's, cooler, and a lot less humidity . . . . FIGURES ! ! !

 

[conv67bdere]

The peach tree that is out back by the (someday to be) shop makes it nice to go work . . . and enjoy dinner . . .

Didn't get but a few this year ( see the wire mesh behind - that's to keep the squirrels out)

NOW - for the construction work . . .

Looked up the "required minimum" of compacted crushed stone under a garage floor, and it says shoot for 4 inches.

By stringing a line between the tops of the wooden forms, it was easy to see that 3/4 of this area was already there.
So I started digging it by hand to not disturb too much of the ground below . . . and I made great progress . . .

In this area only 1" was removed from the top of the existing level . . . I'll take it . . . close enough . . .

After about an hours work . . . this is all that I have left to complete it - and then get the crushed stone . . .

Looks like that'll be happening by the end of the week . . . though we are expecting rain tomorrow
(that'll sure help to loosen up this adobe brick that we can get in the heat of the summer here)

More to continue . . .

 

[Coronet_Arch]

Make sure to remove all Gras and other organic matter. It will rot and cause the slab to settle. We usually remove all top soil from under slabs.

 

[conv67bdere]

Yesterday I got all of the elevated stuff done . . .

The poor old man keeping an eye on my work - and inspecting it . . .

Got quite a bit of grass still there . . .

 

[conv67bdere]

Had I known it ALL had to come out . . . I would have thought this through a little earlier . . .

My concern is the Rebar/wood forms that I've got protruding from the footers and "how" to get the tractor in side ? ?

But . . . I made it work . . . and if I can catch it just right, it rolls up in very big sod rolls . . .

Think I've got about 2/3 of this thing knocked out already . . . see the big sod roll . . .

Looking good . . . ran out of daylight . . . hope to get crushed stone delivered tomorrow, and the mesh will be delivered.

More later . . .

 

[conv67bdere]

Rain prediction changes to a lot earlier than originally expected . . . left work a bit early to try and beat it . . .

Good thing I did too . . . got all the grass out, got the tractor out and under cover . . .

And . . . the first dump of crushed stone . . .

Didn't get too far before the rain started . . . but I've made some progress . . .

More later . . . rain expected all day tomorrow ( plans to visit my daughter in the hospital tomorrow )

Got 14 tons of stone ( about 8 yds ) that I need to get into the center of these footers . . . got my work cut out for me . . .

 

[ct71rr]

Looking good! I still can’t believe you mixed all that concrete

 

[747mopar]

That's crazy, I've pulled a blade many, many times over the years and you never roll it up like that in Ohio, the roots go deep!

 

[conv67bdere]

Well . . . finally had a good weekend to get things done . . . kinda . . .

Went to check with a local company to get some upgrades on my Jeep on Saturday . . .
Knew is was bound to happen here . . . but this was the first time - 20 minutes from home . . .

Oh well . . . I didn't melt . . .

Got the entire pile of crushed stone in the footers . . .

Rented a compactor, kept wetting the stuff down, and compacting it . . . and I think I'm good . . .

Time now to get the metal mesh in place and ready for concrete . . . but we have a chance of rain all week with the storm . . .

More Later . . .

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Well, thats it, I'm beat.. Every time I open this post my back starts aching and I feel wore out.... LOL You sir are an Animal!!!!! And I say that with the upmost respect!!

 

[conv67bdere]

Ran some lines to check this for level . . . and I was NOT happy . . .

It might "appear" to be "okay" . . . but there was quite a bit of height differences . . .

Rented the compactor again and worked the lines the entire length of the forms to get it better . . .

NOW it has a pretty solid 4" depth the entire surface area - it had as much as 1 - 1 1/2 inches of difference in places
( of course all of them were high - which meant only 2 1/2" - 3" of concrete thickness . . . did not want that )

Plans for today . . . get all of this mesh wired into the rebar, wired together, stand offs holding it off the ground,
And ready for a concrete pour . . .

More to come . . . and hopefully a picture of concrete SOON ! ! !

 

[conv67bdere]

Got a little bit side tracked today . . . but had a success ! ! !

Had a "huge" Crepe Myrtle in my backyard . . .
For reference - the "cage" around my peach tree is 6' tall . . . so this is 18' tall . . . Problem is - I don't like it.

So one day out came the chainsaw . . . and Hurricane Larry . . .
(BTW - if this Hurricane season gets far enough, hurricane Larry is on the List)

And an hour (+/-) later (didn't time it), had it all cleared out and back in the wood scraps . . .

Well . . . that stump is massive . . . and the thought of digging it out . . . so it SAT . . .
Till this morning - rented a trencher and trenched around the thing . . . the I wondered IF it would come out . . .

My Chevy Silverado (with 370,000 mile on it) has been good to me . . . and it pulled (pun intended) through again . . . .

Had to make sure I could drag it out of the hole . . .

Now what to do with it . . .

Anybody wan a huge Crepe Myrtle root ball ? ? ? I swear, you can't kill these things . . .

Back to work again on the wire mesh tomorrow . . .

 

[conv67bdere]

Well . . . had so much "fun" with this task, I didn't even want to revisit it to post it . . .

So I'll just have to post it up today . . .

Needed to get the huge Crap (spelled that way intentionally) Myrtle out of my yard . . . so . . .

Red Neck engineering at it's finest . . .

It sure was heavier that I thought it was, and my truck was not too happy about it . . . either . . .

But . . . it's now moved and gone . . . FINALLY . . .

This was the same "method" that I used to move my Hemi and get it dropped into the Belvedere . . . and I'll have to do it again.

More later . . .