Between 705 & 1200 SQ/FT ZMotorsports Home and 50x60x16 Shop/RV Garage

[madison069]

I have to check if fiber is available at the other house. We have fiber here at the current house and it’s nice! But like you, I’m not happy with how the installer drilling the hole. But I did seal the hole and I still need to put a plate over the interior entrance. But since it’s behind the desk, I’ll wait til we move the desk during the move.

 

[CMB41]

Phew! 2,761 posts and done. That was quite a ride and very inspirational! Amazing stuff. And to think you have been working full time on top of this! I’m feeling very inadequate….

 

[zmotorsports]

Phew! 2,761 posts and done. That was quite a ride and very inspirational! Amazing stuff. And to think you have been working full time on top of this! I’m feeling very inadequate….

Thank you. I'm sure going through all 70 pages of my build was daunting, it was almost overwhelming doing it in real time.

Thank you very much for reading through it and commenting. It's hard to believe that in a few weeks it will be nine years we've been in this house already and began shop construction. Although it doesn't seem like yesterday when we were building the shop, it surely doesn't feel like nearly nine years either.

 

[bagsanthony]

Mike, what an awesome shop and home! Although I do think that general overall workmanship and quality could be improved .... You know, maybe add some lime green kitchen appliances, some-brown **** carpet, toss in a few used appliances in the front yard! And you seem to be the type who would like wall-to-wall wallpaper to go with some orange, linoleum kitchen countertops! Perhaps Christmas lights left up till July?

All jokes aside, I have a wry sense of humor... what a fantastic shop and home. I think it's every car guy's dream. Your build has really given me a ton of ideas. And man, do I need to step up my lawn care and landscaping after seeing your place! And for workmanship.... yours is truly second to none! Many car guys (including myself in my earlier days) only care about the shop and the house is secondary, sometimes lucky to still be standing.....

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike, what an awesome shop and home! Although I do think that general overall workmanship and quality could be improved .... You know, maybe add some lime green kitchen appliances, some-brown **** carpet, toss in a few used appliances in the front yard! And you seem to be the type who would like wall-to-wall wallpaper to go with some orange, linoleum kitchen countertops! Perhaps Christmas lights left up till July?

All jokes aside, I have a wry sense of humor... what a fantastic shop and home. I think it's every car guy's dream. Your build has really given me a ton of ideas. And man, do I need to step up my lawn care and landscaping after seeing your place! And for workmanship.... yours is truly second to none! Many car guys (including myself in my earlier days) only care about the shop and the house is secondary, sometimes lucky to still be standing.....

Thank you for the kind words and for reading through the whole thread. It's hard to believe that in July of this year it will be 9-years since the shop's completion. WOW, how time flies.

Funny you brought this thread back to the surface today as I picked up a new battery for the mower today and I'm planning on performing my first mow of the year tonight.

Also, I've been wandering around the yard the last couple of days thinking of making a few changes and want to run them past the wife when she returns home tonight. Of course, that will mean more work for me digging in the yard, which if you've learned one thing about me while reading through this thread, digging in the yard is one thing I despise......

But I have a minor change I'd like to make and although it will be a lot of work, I think it will pay off long term and look quite nice. And yes, I too know car guys that their only focus is on the shop and the cars and although I consider myself a true car guy and gearhead, I look at all of my assets and treat them as one as they're all important to me.

Glad to hear that you were able to come up with some viable ideas to help in your own property. Thank you for stopping by and checking out my shop build.

 

[zmotorsports]

First mow of the season completed. Not bad for mid-March mowing. Not fully green, but getting close.








Next will be a few minor alterations to the back yard so more digging in the yard, which I love sooooo much.

 

[Nolift911]

First mow of the season completed. Not bad for mid-March mowing. Not fully green, but getting close.








Next will be a few minor alterations to the back yard so more digging in the yard, which I love sooooo much.

Beautiful!!!

 

[zmotorsports]

Beautiful!!!

Thank you Jeff. Yours is sure coming along nicely. I'm jealous of your view of the Tetons....

 

[Nolift911]

Thanks - between your lawn and @cccoltsicehockey lawn - I have friends with lawns, kinda like having friends with boats and I am ok with that

 

[M.Brane]

First mow of the season completed. Not bad for mid-March mowing. Not fully green, but getting close.








Next will be a few minor alterations to the back yard so more digging in the yard, which I love sooooo much.

Is the local golf course jealous?

I like playing in the dirt, but that's because I'm sitting in the seat working the controls.

 

[zmotorsports]

Is the local golf course jealous?

I like playing in the dirt, but that's because I'm sitting in the seat working the controls.

Yeah, my experiences digging in the dirt is with shovel in hand, so not as pleasant. But I don't trust anyone else to do it the way I want it done, nor do I want to pay someone. So I'm in a pickle....

 

[ntsqd]

Neighbor two doors down rented a trenching machine to run power & sewer out to where his 78' long triple axle toyhauler sits. How cool is that? A 9 HP Honda powered chainsaw for the dirt! Like a chainsaw, a scary tool if mishandled, and he had a no-slip dead-line. I wonder how many wrongful death lawsuits Home Depot has had over those things?


I might have exaggerated the length a little, but not by much. Sad thing is that he puts the toys on the back of the Volvo Class 8 that he tows that trailer with, only thing that goes in the rear of the toy hauler is the empty hot tub.

 

[Nolift911]

Neighbor two doors down rented a trenching machine to run power & sewer out to where his 78' long triple axle toyhauler sits. How cool is that? A 9 HP Honda powered chainsaw for the dirt! Like a chainsaw, a scary tool if mishandled, and he had a no-slip dead-line. I wonder how many wrongful death lawsuits Home Depot has had over those things?


I might have exaggerated the length a little, but not by much. Sad thing is that he puts the toys on the back of the Volvo Class 8 that he tows that trailer with, only thing that goes in the rear of the toy hauler is the empty hot tub.

My neighbor rented one of those to sink drain spouts - he chewed through the main power line to the house and nicked his sewer line. $4k to repair. I think he is on the HOA watchlist for that one...he did escape alive though - death comes cheap.

 

[madison069]

Neighbor two doors down rented a trenching machine to run power & sewer out to where his 78' long triple axle toyhauler sits. How cool is that? A 9 HP Honda powered chainsaw for the dirt! Like a chainsaw, a scary tool if mishandled, and he had a no-slip dead-line. I wonder how many wrongful death lawsuits Home Depot has had over those things?


I might have exaggerated the length a little, but not by much. Sad thing is that he puts the toys on the back of the Volvo Class 8 that he tows that trailer with, only thing that goes in the rear of the toy hauler is the empty hot tub.

Those trenchers aren’t too bad really. If I recall it has a handle safety built in that if you let go the machine will shut down. I used one to trench my water and gas line from the house to the garage. It will find anything that’s buried if you didn’t know about it. I found my downspout run with it!

 

[gearhead1960]

My neighbor rented one of those to sink drain spouts - he chewed through the main power line to the house and nicked his sewer line. $4k to repair. I think he is on the HOA watchlist for that one...he did escape alive though - death comes cheap.

I bet they didn't call the One Call system....stupid home owners....

 

[Nolift911]

I bet they didn't call the One Call system....stupid home owners....

He has been my neighbor for 20 years - everyone refers to him as Clark Griswold. He is a menace with a leaf blower. I think his backyard is like 20X20 the size of a two car garage. 2 trees. He blew leaves for roughly 5 hours. I think he went through 3 tanks of gas.

 

[ntsqd]

Those trenchers aren’t too bad really. If I recall it has a handle safety built in that if you let go the machine will shut down. I used one to trench my water and gas line from the house to the garage. It will find anything that’s buried if you didn’t know about it. I found my downspout run with it!

My neighbor is an electrician for one of the local wastewater districts. Which means he doesn't leave his bed w/o a roll of electrical tape on or near his person. Guess what he did with that tape?
He's not as bad as NoLift's neighbor, we don't usually watch him for fun or excitement. Or the need to call 911 on him. And he did already know where the other underground runs were.

 

[madison069]

I bet they didn't call the One Call system....stupid home owners....

Not If it’s private, One Call won’t get the private part of the utility marked.

 

[gearhead1960]

Not If it’s private, One Call won’t get the private part of the utility marked.

That is not entirely correct...coming from a field of expertise....let me clarify what One Call is supposed to do...as it is confusing to many. Private property vs. private utility.....
-private property is not a prohibition from marking utilities...the owner has to allow them onto the property and in some case give them access (fenced in yard or locked gate).
-One Call once they are allowed onto private property should be marking the utility up to the property owner's structure as the Utility owner owns their facility until it hits the meter or box on the property. If the meter (water is a good example) is at the edge of the property, then they would stop there. Electric or gas meters are typically on the house or building and One Call has to mark up to the meter.

Does One Call use the property line as a lame excuse not to mark onto property? Yes they do. Anything to get out of a ticket since they usually have too many to do in a given time period.

 

[madison069]

That is not entirely correct...coming from a field of expertise....let me clarify what One Call is supposed to do...as it is confusing to many. Private property vs. private utility.....
-private property is not a prohibition from marking utilities...the owner has to allow them onto the property and in some case give them access (fenced in yard or locked gate).
-One Call once they are allowed onto private property should be marking the utility up to the property owner's structure as the Utility owner owns their facility until it hits the meter or box on the property. If the meter (water is a good example) is at the edge of the property, then they would stop there. Electric or gas meters are typically on the house or building and One Call has to mark up to the meter.

Does One Call use the property line as a lame excuse not to mark onto property? Yes they do. Anything to get out of a ticket since they usually have too many to do in a given time period.

Your area might differ since different company do things differently.

One of my hat at work is answering one calls. Gas and water company has their shut off valve installed by the street in the right of way. They will mark their lines to those shut off valves but pass that it’s private and they won’t mark it. Doesn’t matter if the meter was installed at the house, that shut off valve with the fancy pentagon bolt is where their ownerships stops.

Communication such as Verizon/comcast will mark the line to the house since it’s theirs. Power company usually mark their underground lines to the house but I’ve seen some where they didn’t due to their ownership stopped at the junction box and past that box it’s private.

I mark Stormpipes and traffic lights wiring, I don’t mark downspouts coming from the homes unless there’s records that the municipality installed it. We also have private inlets and stormpipes that connects to the municipal owned inlets, but I don’t mark private stuff as it’s not mine to mark. If I mark it and I marked it wrong then the municipality will be on the hook for repairing it and I don’t care to go down that path.


Like I said, your area might be different but here they don’t all mark it to the house.

 

[gearhead1960]

Your area might differ since different company do things differently.

One of my hat at work is answering one calls. Gas and water company has their shut off valve installed by the street in the right of way. They will mark their lines to those shut off valves but pass that it’s private and they won’t mark it. Doesn’t matter if the meter was installed at the house, that shut off valve with the fancy pentagon bolt is where their ownerships stops.

Communication such as Verizon/comcast will mark the line to the house since it’s theirs. Power company usually mark their underground lines to the house but I’ve seen some where they didn’t due to their ownership stopped at the junction box and past that box it’s private.

I mark Stormpipes and traffic lights wiring, I don’t mark downspouts coming from the homes unless there’s records that the municipality installed it. We also have private inlets and stormpipes that connects to the municipal owned inlets, but I don’t mark private stuff as it’s not mine to mark. If I mark it and I marked it wrong then the municipality will be on the hook for repairing it and I don’t care to go down that path.


Like I said, your area might be different but here they don’t all mark it to the house.

@madison069 I think the concept is the same....stop where the ownership changes from the Utility Owner to the private owner. I think the difference between PA & VA is where that demarcation might be and that is up to the Utility Owner....

 

[Nolift911]

My neighbor is an electrician for one of the local wastewater districts. Which means he doesn't leave his bed w/o a roll of electrical tape on or near his person. Guess what he did with that tape?
He's not as bad as NoLift's neighbor, we don't usually watch him for fun or excitement. Or the need to call 911 on him. And he did already know where the other underground runs were.

I went through half a bottle of bourbon on a lazy Sunday watching him install a Ring camera - show started at 9am and didn't end until 4pm. I always hide when I am in my garage because he will stop by and give me a "watcha workin on - need a hand, btw could I borrow a a...?"

His wife caught me in the driveway one time when she was pulling out and told me explicitly - "do not under any circumstances loan Harold any tools - hand, electric or gas powered" She was dead serious.

 

[T444e]

That is not entirely correct...coming from a field of expertise....let me clarify what One Call is supposed to do...as it is confusing to many. Private property vs. private utility.....
-private property is not a prohibition from marking utilities...the owner has to allow them onto the property and in some case give them access (fenced in yard or locked gate).
-One Call once they are allowed onto private property should be marking the utility up to the property owner's structure as the Utility owner owns their facility until it hits the meter or box on the property. If the meter (water is a good example) is at the edge of the property, then they would stop there. Electric or gas meters are typically on the house or building and One Call has to mark up to the meter.

Does One Call use the property line as a lame excuse not to mark onto property? Yes they do. Anything to get out of a ticket since they usually have too many to do in a given time period.

From my experience, in two adjoining states, the one-call locate marks utility owned lines up to the point of demarcation. Anything past that point requires a private locator. I've had a few projects requiring a private locator due private lines on the property; gas, power, water, sewage, steam...

 

[T444e]

First mow of the season completed. Not bad for mid-March mowing. Not fully green, but getting close

Mike, it's great that you are seeing spring rapidly approaching. By me, grass is just starting to show green in areas and was 60 last Friday. Unfortunately, we are forecasted to get upto 6" of snow on Sunday, and I'm sure it will be the wonderful wet heavy stuff and I took the snow tires off the car last Friday. I know I'm ready for spring.

 

[Snapped-off]

First mow of the season completed. Not bad for mid-March mowing. Not fully green, but getting close.








Next will be a few minor alterations to the back yard so more digging in the yard, which I love sooooo much.

****, we were sub 70 last week for a couple days and now I've got a few snow flakes coming down, with snow forecasted for tomorrow.

Are you landscape borders poured concrete, or blocks? I like how they're low to the ground.

 

[zmotorsports]

****, we were sub 70 last week for a couple days and now I've got a few snow flakes coming down, with snow forecasted for tomorrow.

Are you landscape borders poured concrete, or blocks? I like how they're low to the ground.

Yeah, we had high 60's last week then highs only around upper 40's all weekend. By the end of this week it's supposed to be 80.

The curbing borders around the house and the kidney out front is concrete curbing. Funny you asked about the landscaping curbing as that is what I will be adding more of next week.

 

[Blackbyrd]

What a spectacular view Mike!

 

[zmotorsports]

What a spectacular view Mike!

Thank you. We quite like it.

 

[Finallygotit]

Yeah, we had high 60's last week then highs only around upper 40's all weekend. By the end of this week it's supposed to be 80.

C'mon out here. Next Thursday through Sunday it's supposed to be 102°F to 105°F. Stupid hot for this time of year. Normal high is 76°F.

 

[LXCam]

C'mon out here. Next Thursday through Sunday it's supposed to be 102°F to 105°F. Stupid hot for this time of year. Normal high is 76°F.

/ me plans on being home from Wednesday on now.

it’s 20 degrees cooler where i live. Muhahahaha

 

[ntsqd]

95* forecast for here tomorrow. That's almost 40* warmer than normal for this time of year.

 

[zmotorsports]

We're all over the place this past weekend and into the week. We had daytime highs over the weekend only in the upper 40's and our furnace went out, lost a gas valve. I was able to precure one yesterday and installed it last night but looks like just in time to switch over to AC as it is supposed to be 80 degrees by the end of the week.

On a side note, I had my 4 yards of rock show up yesterday.





At that point I went around the back yard and marked the sprinkler heads to the curbing crew doesn't hit any, about 8 of them will be removed and capped off anyways. I then aired up the tires on the old yard cart and began hauling rock from the pile around to the front to add to the existing landscaping where things have settled a bit over the course of the past 9 years. I may need to get more rock delivered as I think I probably used almost a yard alone just in the front yard adding to existing rock beds.




Thanks for looking.

 

[Finallygotit]

That's it Mike, baby steps.

 

[SilverJimmy]

Sorry Mike, but I have to ask as I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a nice, orderly, manicured pile of rock before. Was this freehand or did you use surveyor tools?
All kidding aside, can’t wait to see this next project done!

 

[madison069]

Sorry Mike, but I have to ask as I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a nice, orderly, manicured pile of rock before. Was this freehand or did you use surveyor tools?
All kidding aside, can’t wait to see this next project done!

He minimally used a broom to push those rocks in the nice circle!

 

[zmotorsports]

Sorry Mike, but I have to ask as I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a nice, orderly, manicured pile of rock before. Was this freehand or did you use surveyor tools?
All kidding aside, can’t wait to see this next project done!

He minimally used a broom to push those rocks in the nice circle!

Ding, ding, ding. Cody nailed it, just a push broom to push the stragglers back into the pile. Actually, the driver did a pretty awesome job of placement to begin with.

That being said, I think I used a little more around the front of the yard than I expected to last night. When I calculated the rock I would require to fill the new curbed areas around the back corner of the house and along the shop which measured approx. 100' in length by roughly 3' out from the foundations, I calculated about 2.75 cubic yards at 3 inches deep of rock. I thought I would use maybe another yard or so to fill in some low spots in existing rock beds between the front and back yards so I ordered a total of 4 yards. However, I hauled about a dozen or so yard carts full of rock last night to the front yard and I still have a front side yard to add to. Then looking at the amount that my pile shrunk, I thought maybe I should have ordered a little more than just 4 yards.

Upon doing some rough calculations after dinner, I think I already hauled at least a yard alone just last night to the front landing and front section around the foundation. My fear is coming up short for the new curbed landscaping and not having enough to do all of that plus fill in a few low spots in the back corner of the back yard and under the deck, so I called and ordered another 2 yards to be delivered tonight. Seeing as how they don't have this rock all season long, I fear of needing more and them not having it. So, I may as well just order it now and not run short.

 

[ntsqd]

I'm thinking that you need yet another semi-expensive hobby for all of that rock. LOL

I'm speaking from experience with one of those. The buy-in is inexpensive enough, but avoid looking at or thinking about upgrades. Just don't do it! By the time that I was done mine had 3 stock parts left in it. So I bought replacements for those and rebuilt the stock buggy back into a fully functional unit and gave it to a friend with no budget, but some interest in them.

 

[Mr.zippy]

The benefit of too much rock is that you have plenty of places to scatter the excess. I like the color of it, works well with the house colors Mike.

 

[Firstram]

Ding, ding, ding. Cody nailed it, just a push broom to push the stragglers back into the pile. Actually, the driver did a pretty awesome job of placement to begin with.

That being said, I think I used a little more around the front of the yard than I expected to last night. When I calculated the rock I would require to fill the new curbed areas around the back corner of the house and along the shop which measured approx. 100' in length by roughly 3' out from the foundations, I calculated about 2.75 cubic yards at 3 inches deep of rock. I thought I would use maybe another yard or so to fill in some low spots in existing rock beds between the front and back yards so I ordered a total of 4 yards. However, I hauled about a dozen or so yard carts full of rock last night to the front yard and I still have a front side yard to add to. Then looking at the amount that my pile shrunk, I thought maybe I should have ordered a little more than just 4 yards.

Upon doing some rough calculations after dinner, I think I already hauled at least a yard alone just last night to the front landing and front section around the foundation. My fear is coming up short for the new curbed landscaping and not having enough to do all of that plus fill in a few low spots in the back corner of the back yard and under the deck, so I called and ordered another 2 yards to be delivered tonight. Seeing as how they don't have this rock all season long, I fear of needing more and them not having it. So, I may as well just order it now and not run short.

I know the feeling, we had 20 yards of mulch delivered a week ago…



We need 10 more!

 

[zmotorsports]

The benefit of too much rock is that you have plenty of places to scatter the excess. I like the color of it, works well with the house colors Mike.

Agreed. Too much would just be a little extra in all the rock beds, a much better problem to have them not enough.

Thanks, the wife picked out the rock 9-years ago and I think it matches the exterior colors of the house well too. I think after a few rain storms and some time in the sun the different tones of the rock will be undetectable.

My goal all along when we bought the house and started with the building of the shop and putting the yard in was to make it look like everything was constructed at the same time and nothing was an afterthought and I think that theme is still working.