John Dewey's Workshop

They started work on my retirement home today. Many years in the planning, I am finally getting a "correct" playhouse. 40' x 50' steel building with a 24' covered overhang on the front. Cleared the trees and brush and laid the driveway base material today. Should be laying forms & concrete next week. The hardest part was that I had to work today and couldn't stay home to "supervise".
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1388_1.jpg
    IMG_1388_1.jpg
    225.3 KB · Views: 605
  • IMG_1381_1.jpg
    IMG_1381_1.jpg
    210.7 KB · Views: 554
Re: And so it begins...

Day 2: Land cleared & leveled; all debris/stumps hauled away; driveway base material done; forms delivered for concrete slab. Tomorrow brings the power company to look at the feeder line path. Making good progress.

Steamerbill: I have several automotive projects that I will finally get some attention, plus Fran has piqued my interest with his creativity.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1407_1.jpg
    IMG_1407_1.jpg
    207.1 KB · Views: 458
  • IMG_1425_1.jpg
    IMG_1425_1.jpg
    204.1 KB · Views: 426
Re: And so it begins...

Day 3: Forms started, trenching begun; met with power company (bad news) and need to run 4 new poles to shop from street. Concrete is expected to be poured by end of next week.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1434.jpg
    IMG_1434.jpg
    229.6 KB · Views: 403
  • IMG_1447.jpg
    IMG_1447.jpg
    258.9 KB · Views: 427
Re: And so it begins...

Day 3.5: The crew shut down at noon for Fiesta. After all, we do live in San Antonio! They finished most of the forms and started the pier and beam bagging for the foundation. The end of the bagged section closest to the camera is approx. the depth of the shop. The rest will be a covered area in front of doors. I am happy with the progress so far.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1473.jpg
    IMG_1473.jpg
    236.9 KB · Views: 435
  • IMG_1476.jpg
    IMG_1476.jpg
    258.8 KB · Views: 427
  • IMG_1480.jpg
    IMG_1480.jpg
    246.8 KB · Views: 415
  • IMG_1456.jpg
    IMG_1456.jpg
    203 KB · Views: 436

Randy V

Moderator-Admin
Staff member
Admin
Lifetime Supporter
Re: And so it begins...

Thats a lot of concrete John...
Make sure that you have sufficient PSI and thickness where you plan on mounting your lift..

Congratulations!
 
Re: And so it begins...

Thanks, Randy. We are exceeding the Rotary recommendations for the lift mounting points. Slab is 5" - 3000psi everywhere, deepened (is that a word?) to 8" at the specific lift mounting points (2' x 2' for 4-post and 4' x 4' for 2-post lift). It limits my flexibility to reposition the lifts if I change my mind on locations later, but it was a trade off for the increased cost of the concrete.
 
Re: And so it begins...

Day 5: Today they almost have the pier & beam bagging completed for the shop area and have filled about 2/3 of the covered parking pad in front of the shop, with a beam around the perimeter to anchor the pad. I expect they will finish the fill for the concrete tomorrow and start laying up the rebar grid.
The garage part of the shop is depicted by the bagged sections, with the covered parking pad in front of that area.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1483.jpg
    IMG_1483.jpg
    180.6 KB · Views: 394
  • IMG_1495.jpg
    IMG_1495.jpg
    187.6 KB · Views: 399
Re: And so it begins...

Day 6, Apr 24: All of the bagging & fill done. Sewer line in. Side pad for HVAC heat pump and air compressor framed. Rebar delivered but not yet started. Garage building section is the rear area with all of the cross beams. The covered parking area is the front area without the crossbeams. The pits at the front are the piling mounts for the front vertical building support beams. The odd spacing is so that they are aligned to not block the entry way to the garage doors. Concrete pumper is scheduled here for Friday morning.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1500.jpg
    IMG_1500.jpg
    198.2 KB · Views: 368
  • IMG_1518.jpg
    IMG_1518.jpg
    216.1 KB · Views: 398
  • IMG_1520.jpg
    IMG_1520.jpg
    238.9 KB · Views: 411
  • IMG_1535.jpg
    IMG_1535.jpg
    259.5 KB · Views: 423
  • IMG_1534.jpg
    IMG_1534.jpg
    249.4 KB · Views: 375
Re: And so it begins...

Day 7, Apr 25: They covered all of the fill material and installed all of the rebar today, including the steel plates that will be used to weld the vertical support beams to when they start erecting the building. The separation between the building and the covered parking area is shown as the last beam/pier area and has a temporary form they will use to level the garage floor. Tomorrow they will put in the water lines and Friday they will bring in the concrete pumper at 6:30AM and start pouring at 7AM.
<!-- / message --><!-- attachments -->
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1542_1.JPG
    IMG_1542_1.JPG
    193.1 KB · Views: 368
  • IMG_1553_1.JPG
    IMG_1553_1.JPG
    189.6 KB · Views: 398
  • IMG_1569_1.JPG
    IMG_1569_1.JPG
    232.6 KB · Views: 410
  • IMG_1571_1.JPG
    IMG_1571_1.JPG
    206.5 KB · Views: 385
Re: And so it begins...

Day 8: Not to much to show for today. Everything is getting ready for pouring of the concrete tomorrow. They did install the fresh water lines today and had the electrician ground the rebar/slab to earth. Concrete tomorrow and the steel building material is scheduled to be delivered next Wednesday.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1576_1.JPG
    IMG_1576_1.JPG
    180.2 KB · Views: 373
  • IMG_1582_1.JPG
    IMG_1582_1.JPG
    147.2 KB · Views: 328
  • IMG_1585_1.JPG
    IMG_1585_1.JPG
    178 KB · Views: 404
  • IMG_1580_1.JPG
    IMG_1580_1.JPG
    107.7 KB · Views: 416
Re: And so it begins...

Day 9, Apr. 27: They showed up at 5AM this morning with the pumper truck and we had 3 concrete trucks pumping concrete by 5:30 AM. (concrete guys are special!) Work went quickly and the concrete was all in by 9:30. They spent the rest of the day leveling, floating and pulling some of the forms. They guys worked hard and did a great job! Still have some forms to pull. The garage door openings have a ramp style entrance rather than a raised section into the building. That way I don't have to push things (like engine hoists) up over a 1.5" raised lip.

The steel for the building is scheduled to be delivered next Thursday (5/3) and they will start erecting the building the same day. I ordered the powered roll-up garage doors today and they should be here in about 2 weeks.

Picture set #1 of 2
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0390_1.JPG
    IMG_0390_1.JPG
    72.7 KB · Views: 400
  • IMG_0407_1.JPG
    IMG_0407_1.JPG
    117.6 KB · Views: 398
  • IMG_0412_1.JPG
    IMG_0412_1.JPG
    186.5 KB · Views: 366
  • IMG_0419_1.JPG
    IMG_0419_1.JPG
    209.4 KB · Views: 366
  • IMG_0421_1.JPG
    IMG_0421_1.JPG
    190.3 KB · Views: 428
Re: And so it begins...

Day 9, Picture set #2 of 2
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1596_1.JPG
    IMG_1596_1.JPG
    188.5 KB · Views: 362
  • IMG_1599_1.JPG
    IMG_1599_1.JPG
    147.4 KB · Views: 366
  • IMG_1610_1.JPG
    IMG_1610_1.JPG
    94.1 KB · Views: 396
Re: And so it begins...

Day 10: They finishing removing all of the forms today and cleared the ground, brush, etc to run the lines to the septic tank and water line from the garage.
<!-- / message --><!-- attachments -->
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1626_1.JPG
    IMG_1626_1.JPG
    150.2 KB · Views: 351
  • IMG_1629_1.JPG
    IMG_1629_1.JPG
    120.5 KB · Views: 415
  • IMG_1635_1.JPG
    IMG_1635_1.JPG
    170.6 KB · Views: 386
  • IMG_1636_1_1.JPG
    IMG_1636_1_1.JPG
    176.5 KB · Views: 371
Re: And so it begins...

Day 12: I got home after dark last night and couldn't see what work was done; however, here are today's photos. They worked on the disposal plumbing yesterday and today, running from the shop to the existing house septic tank. The contractor called me today to say they ran into a rock the size of a school bus and he needed to get a hydraulic jack ram to break it up enough to put the pipe into the ground enough to keep the flow running at the correct angle, otherwise we would have to add a "poop pumper" between the shop and the septic tank. As a result, he had to invoke the "rock clause", which was not un-expected. They still have to run the fresh water line from the house main line, and I expect it will also have to go thru rock. I was also told that the power company may have to use the "rock clause" to install the poles.

They brought in the lift equipment and the large fork lift for tomorrow's delivery of the steel. The unloading of the steel and the start of the building erection will begin tomorrow morning.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1651_1_1.JPG
    IMG_1651_1_1.JPG
    181.8 KB · Views: 398
  • IMG_1642_1_1.JPG
    IMG_1642_1_1.JPG
    238.3 KB · Views: 370
  • IMG_1648_1_1.JPG
    IMG_1648_1_1.JPG
    193.4 KB · Views: 380
  • IMG_1637_1_1.JPG
    IMG_1637_1_1.JPG
    105.8 KB · Views: 378

Randy V

Moderator-Admin
Staff member
Admin
Lifetime Supporter
Re: And so it begins...

I am so jealous John.. That's going to be a great shop!

Poop pumper... Hmmm... That sounds like a messy situation. Good thing the rock cooperated!
 
Re: And so it begins...

Day 13, May 3: Steel was delivered today, plus roof & wall panels and insulation. This is a "weld-up" building, and they have started sizing the beams, cutting the angles and welding all the tabs to the main beams for the cross "pearlings" or whatever they are called (I have learned that the same material is called different names depending on where/how they are used.) I also picked up the 21,000 cfm exhaust fan to be mounted high in the side wall.

On another note, the power company finally sent me their quote for running the power from my existing power lines (already on my property) to the new shop. I will need 4 poles, including a meter pole. They will not let me mount a meter on a metal building or a "loop" from the pole to the building, so we will have to run an underground feed to the building from the meter. They would not start until I paid for the work, so I paid it within an hour of getting the quote. Then they told me that I also needed to get a septic tank waiver to allow them to install electricity (???). So I went to the county to get the waiver. They told me that they had to come out to inspect my house septic tank to make certain that it didn't need to be pumped and met current requirements and I needed to pay an additional fee for a septic tank renewal permit. I have built the house 23 years ago and have never been told I need to have a renewal inspection/permit, and I can almost guarantee that a 23-year old septic system doesn't meet the current requirements. What a "crock". All of this because I want to have electricity run to my shop. More to come...
<!-- / message --><!-- attachments -->
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1657_1.JPG
    IMG_1657_1.JPG
    120.5 KB · Views: 358
  • IMG_1670_1.JPG
    IMG_1670_1.JPG
    149.4 KB · Views: 324
  • IMG_1673_1.JPG
    IMG_1673_1.JPG
    122.2 KB · Views: 328
  • IMG_1676_1.JPG
    IMG_1676_1.JPG
    161.3 KB · Views: 342
Re: And so it begins...

Day 14: Today they started erecting the steel frame. I am impressed with the progress of the assembly of the building. The size really doesn't show in the photos, except for the photo with me standing next to the beams. The cross beams are 7' from the slab floor. The side walls of the building are 16' at the low side. To refresh, the garage building is 40' x 50' and the front overhang is 24' x 50'. The best part is that you cannot see any of the building from the road. I have also included a view of the building from the front porch of the house. They also spliced into the fresh water line today and started the trench to the shop, but it still has a way to go. Shop should be totally erected by next Weds. (3 weeks + 1 day since they started clearing the land.)
<!-- / message --><!-- attachments -->
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1684_1.JPG
    IMG_1684_1.JPG
    137.1 KB · Views: 382
  • IMG_1691_1.JPG
    IMG_1691_1.JPG
    148.8 KB · Views: 407
  • IMG_1699_1.JPG
    IMG_1699_1.JPG
    126 KB · Views: 331
  • IMG_1701_1.JPG
    IMG_1701_1.JPG
    167.2 KB · Views: 343
  • IMG_1678_1.JPG
    IMG_1678_1.JPG
    232.2 KB · Views: 376
Re: And so it begins...

Day 15, Saturday, May 5: As I was leaving the house this morning at 7:30 (Saturday morning), the construction crew was coming up the driveway to start work. I did not expect any Saturday work. When I got home this evening, they had completed all of the steel work (except for the fan and window framework) and perlings as well as painted all of the steel. They had bolted down all of the door frames and the angle plates at the concrete to mount the wall sheeting and installed the steel "people" door. Remember, this is a weld-up building and that is a lot of cutting, fitting and welding. It was mid 90's and 80-90 % humidity today. I felt sorry for the guys, but they did a heck of job and worked a really full day.
<!-- / message --><!-- attachments -->
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1728_1.JPG
    IMG_1728_1.JPG
    140.9 KB · Views: 349
  • IMG_1735_1.JPG
    IMG_1735_1.JPG
    134.3 KB · Views: 379
  • IMG_1736_1.JPG
    IMG_1736_1.JPG
    148.7 KB · Views: 336
  • IMG_1739_1.JPG
    IMG_1739_1.JPG
    163.4 KB · Views: 321
  • IMG_1742_1.JPG
    IMG_1742_1.JPG
    145.3 KB · Views: 310
  • IMG_1748_1.JPG
    IMG_1748_1.JPG
    137.5 KB · Views: 359
Re: And so it begins...

Day 18, Weds, May 9: After working on Saturday, the crew has not been able to work the last 2 days due to severe thunderstorms. The steel building was hit last night about 4:30 in the morning, but no damage. (Talk about getting my attention!!!)

They worked this afternoon after the rain stopped and put in the steel purlings for the windows and the exhaust fan. They also installed the windows and the fan shutters. The fan wll be installed after the building can stay dry with a roof & walls. They also welded in the steel flange along the roof line (not sure what that is for - I'll have to wait and see what they do). Tomorrow is supposed to be severe thunderstorms all day so I have no expectations for any work.
<!-- / message --><!-- attachments -->
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1756_1.JPG
    IMG_1756_1.JPG
    161.4 KB · Views: 319
  • IMG_1757_1.JPG
    IMG_1757_1.JPG
    156.9 KB · Views: 349
  • IMG_1758_1.JPG
    IMG_1758_1.JPG
    173.2 KB · Views: 298
  • IMG_1759_1.JPG
    IMG_1759_1.JPG
    167.4 KB · Views: 368
Back
Top