The new Farrington Garage/Shop build

[SSLance]

Looks good. I don't see any floor drains though. Are you sloping the garage area floor to the overhead door?

Good foundation like that is a perfect recipe for a building that should last a long LONG time. Much prefer a build like this over the typical pole barn design.

I see a sewer drain out the back side, are you tying into an existing septic system or putting a stand alone small tank in?

[tommycomfort]

Looks good. I don't see any floor drains though. Are you sloping the garage area floor to the overhead door?

Good foundation like that is a perfect recipe for a building that should last a long LONG time. Much prefer a build like this over the typical pole barn design.

I see a sewer drain out the back side, are you tying into an existing septic system or putting a stand alone small tank in?

Yep Lance, just got the same question over on chevelles.com so I will copy and paste my reply.

We have a floor drain in place for the painting area that is opposite the machine area. Note that I said painting area, not booth. I'm not trying to lead anyone to believe I have any painting skills. It drains to daylight and we can wash cars in that area too. We did put in a sewer rough in for a future connection to a septic system and also roughed in for a water line. Down the road for sure. Right now being able to walk up to the house (or woods) will be much easier than the running to the gas station that we are used to. I can probably gain two hours of work out of Deb everyday not making that trip!

I asked the concrete guy to make the floor as close to perfectly flat as possible with no slope. A lot of people have said we would have been better off financially to build a pole building, but framing is what we know and wanted to stick with it. I think we're building it to withstand some hard use and weather.

[Nicks67GTO]

In general, you get service boxes in 100A increments, right? So I'm saying not to get 100A, but step up to 200A.

What kind of things might be going on simultaneously in your shop? Let's go through a list and see where we end up:

1. Refrigerator -- 15A
2. Freezer -- 15A
3. Lights -- 30A
4. Garage door opener -- 15A
5. TIG welder on aluminum -- 70A
6. Torch chiller -- 10A
7. Compressor -- 30A
8. Lift -- 25A
9. A/C -- 20A
10. Heater -- 40A
11. Mill -- 40A
12. Lathe -- 40A
13. Various 110V power tools -- 15A.

If you're welding aluminum, with the A/C running, the fridge and freezer running, the compressor kicks on, with lots of lights and torch chiller going, and somebody opens the garage door, while somebody else is running the mill or cutting some metal... you're well over 100A, and coming up on 200A. Plus a 200A service will have enough space for all circuits you'll need for multiple welding outlets, 20A 110V circuits and tons of lights.

Typically, you get one chance to pull the electrical service in. Just sayin': don't skimp there.

Agreed on running a good sized service out there. I read "minimum" as in he might not get by on a 200A service. A 200A service would be plenty assuming hes not going install a grey iron foundry in there??!!

[CFster]

Also have to keep in mind the start-up amperage for anything with a motor - could be twice as much as rated.

[SSLance]

I did a poured wall foundation on mine, 36" footers with an 8" stem wall...then put 9' stud walls up on that.



Here is the inside



You can see how I ended up with a 12' tall door with only 9' walls.

I ran a 12' floor drain down the middle plumbed to daylight and tried to slope the floor to it from all sides...which you can see here. You can also see the blown in foam insulation.



What ended up was the floor was level about 10' out from all of the walls, then sloped to the drain. Okay I guess, but not really what I planned. I can see now the advantage of a perfectly level floor. If I'm brooming or squeegeeing the water off of the floor anyway, might as well have a level floor for other reasons.

10 years later, I ended up putting an apartment in the back of the shop that my Dad lives in.



In case you didn't know, no matter how big you build them, they are never big enough... Seems the mores pace you have, the more crap accumulates inside them.

Good luck with the rest of the build, I love the progress so far.

[Ron S]

Holy crap, that was a lot of stone to get to grade. I see what you were talking about, looked level, until they started grading. Man I hate buying stone just to cover it up, CR6 is damn near concrete prices around here.

That is going to be an awesome building.

[Martin71RS]

I don't know how it's done in the US since building methods are different from what I know, but will the concrete floor have reinforcement or is the floor supported by the gravell? Overhere usually it's like this:


how thick will the floor be?

seriously....it will be an awesome shop!

[tommycomfort]

I don't know how it's done in the US since building methods are different from what I know, but will the concrete floor have reinforcement or is the floor supported by the gravell? how thick will the floor be?

Nothing that fancy Martin. Our concrete will just be poured on the washed pea gravel fill with a visqueen vapor barrier separating the two. 4" thick except where the posts for the two post lift will be. I'm getting ready to remove some gravel to make that area about 8" thick.

[SSLance]

My floor has half inch rebar tied on 24" centers throughout, 4000 PSI floor is 4-6" thick.

Tom, do you plan on cutting the floor with relief joints?

[tommycomfort]

Just as promised, the flat work guy came out and checked the grade of the pea gravel and spread the visqueen. They will be back at 6 am and start pouring at 7:30. Pretty exciting!

[parsonsj]

I'm digging this. Keep the pics coming.

[silvermonte]

What is the reason for the cement blocks as the foundation walls over just doing solid cement? Is it just price or is there another reason for it, knowing my luck someone would back a car into the lower side of the shop and break the blocks and then the gravel would slowly leak out till I got it fixed. And any plans for some heated floors? Its adds about $800 per 1000 sq ft here or flooring.

[Yelcamino]

The shop progress is looking good Tom. Yours will probably be done and running before mine! Speaking of which, do you have a completion date in mind?

[PhillipM]

I don't know how it's done in the US since building methods are different from what I know, but will the concrete floor have reinforcement or is the floor supported by the gravell? Overhere usually it's like this:


how thick will the floor be?

seriously....it will be an awesome shop!

Depends on how much $ you want to spend here really. This is how our floors were done but I have seen it done with much less reinforcement as Tom is doing many times as well.

[bmbrzmn101]

Looking good Tom. Last year I built a 40x60 shop and was built to match our house. It was considerably more expensive than a pole barn or metal building but I don't regret it a bit. She is insulated quite well and has been plumbed for restroom and wash area with a drain. The best part is I wired it for internet and in ceiling speakers. Absolutely the best thing for enjoying your tunes while working. Seating in my shop typing this right now.

Looking forward to the progress pix.


Chris

[brownz]

You guys just might have to have a Farrington open house/car show... looks great!

[tommycomfort]

No surprise, I fell behind on updating pictures.

Just as promised the pouring started early on the morning of 9-04.


Here's the less than cautious clown that drove too close to the foundation and broke out some of the blocks. A few years ago I may have lost my cool, but in the end it would have solved nothing. The flat work guy came up with a solution for the repair and we agreed it was the best option.


Concrete poured and relief cuts done by the end of the day. Also had the engineered floor joists delivered for the floor and also the rafters for the same area.


Here are a couple of pictures that give a better perspective of the grade we had to deal with.



Our trip to LS Fest was cut short mid day on Friday due to my part time job. Once that obligation was met we took advantage of the situation to pick up lumber and start to lay walls out.


Hopefully more updates tonight!

[Jetfixr320]

Jealous of the whole spread! Looking good! :-)

[parsonsj]

Nice work. Glad the idiot driver didn't cause a long delay.

[CarlC]

Tommy, you're going to make Lance and I bail out of California if you keep posting pics like that. Need any new neighbors?