Grasshopper's New Home - "The Hangar"

[Ezzie]

Grasshopper's New Home - 60' x 100' x 16' "The Hangar"

I have been lurking for a couple of weeks (since I stumbled across this forum) and reading through a lot of the posts and checking out the projects. I thought I would share with you the project I have undertaken this year to build my dream garage.

Here's a little background to help you all understand where I am coming from. I have been building circuit racing and rally cars for the past 30 years and never felt I had enough room. In my early days, I had a 36' x 36' shop which would comfortably hold 6 cars but after I started collecting more tools, equipment and spare parts, it was simply not big enough. Then due to marital issues, I spent the next few years "in the burbs" with only access to single or double residential garages and didn't get to persue my hobby much. I have 3 sons who are now all getting into motorsports (bikes, cars) and about 4 years ago we completed a couple of project cars out of a standard 2-car garage (about 20' x 20'). Last year I decided it was time to get out of the city and move back to my roots in the country with the plan to find a property big enough to build a new shop of an "adequate" size.

My wife & I found a nice little 10 acre hobby farm about 100 km. NW of Toronto in the rolling hills of the Hillsburgh moraine. It was being sold by an 80 yr. old couple that had been there for 35 years and it was a bit run down so I got it for a really great price. A sight was selected and we decided to build a 60' x 100' x 16' farm storage building (we've since got a couple of horses) in which I will have a 28' x 32' shop, 16' x 32' wash bay and a 16' x 32' lounge/washroom area with a rec. room/office upstairs.

It will probably take me a couple of years to get everything set up and functional but here is a photo documentary of the build.

 

[Will67]

Wow...looks relatively flat/level no trees to take down, sweet. I am jealous.

Until I start my own build, I am living vicariously through others here, so keep the pictures coming. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Ezzie]

Thanks Will67... I'm still dickin' around trying to upload bigger pics. The slight only "looks" flat from this shot - I've got a 6' drop in elevation across the 100' depth of the building to contend with. It's going to take a helluvalot of fill to get the floor height up. Problem is, the whole property has a gradual slope down to a river bed in the back.

My contractor and I have decided to do a "stepped" foundation to allow us to get down to undisturbed soil for the footings. By this I mean the higher elevation will have a 4' wall, mid area 6' and the back 8'. Since I am in the "Great White North", I need to have my footings below frost line.

 

[Will67]

Too bad i live so damn far away (Sacramento, California). I have to get rid of about 50-60 cubic yards of clean fill for my build. It's free for the taking.

 

[russlaferrera]

Ezzie, It would be nice not to fill to floor hight and instead make a "basement" in the garage. Double the space 1/2 the footprint. The down side 2X the $$. It would be nice.

Your plan sounds great. We all are envious!

 

[Ezzie]

Footings poured on one side. Due to the size of the building, the crew decided to do one half and then the other half the next day. You can see one of the "step's down alomg this wall to adjust the foundation to the slope of the land. The black pipe sticking up will be for my water lines and also serves as a temporary power feed from the horse barn about 150' away.

 

[utah997]

Looks great man! That's gonna be a helluva space...

 

[Ezzie]

We also got the trenches dug and some forms set to pour the footings on the other half tomorrow.

... and this is a trench I dug to get a water line over to a hydrant I want to install for water for the horses in a future paddock we'll put on this side of the shop.

 

[sr71]

Now that will be special..... looks like you have a great spot there!!

 

[Bib Overalls]

Impressive project. I'm going to follow this one closely.

 

[Ezzie]

Thanks guys ... here is a few more pics of the progress. Finished off pouring the footings on the west side of the building and started building the forms for the walls.

Couple of Tonka toys here....

... and the guys hard at work finishing off the footings

 

[kbs2244]

Isn't a "Grasshopper" a kind of UltraLite airplane?
And you call it "The Hanger"
But all you talk about is cars and horses.
Something is missing here.

 

[Ezzie]

LOL!!! I was waiting for someone to ask that question.

I'm into cars, my wife is into horses. The nickname of "The Hangar" was coined by a friend who was awestruck by the size of the building plans...


... and this is "Grasshopper" in action at the 2006 Targa Newfoundland tarmac rally.

 

[Mr. Welsh]

6,000sq. ft.? Awesome!

 

[Ezzie]

Here are some pics of the forms that are being set for the foundation walls. We decided to create a thermal break in the walls (top 2') by placing 1 1/2" SM board in the forms. The contractor has made up some plastic spacers that work really well to hold this stuff centered in the 8" form. On top of the foam, he put some stainless "U" channel to protect it during the pour. I thought this was a pretty trick idea!

I'll be installing radiant heat tubing in the slab for the front 1/3 of the building (2000 sq. ft.). The thermal break is necessary in this climate to prevent the heat from being conducted out.

Here is a view of the east wall which consists of 3 steps (4', 6' and 8' wall height).

... and a detail view of how the SM board is suspended in the form.

... here's a shot of the front wall showing the foam in the form before the inside part of the form was set up. Here you can see the stainless "U" channel on top of the foam. The hole here is the bottom of where the front man door will be.

 

[cdrewferd]

Great progress. Can't wait to see the finished project.

 

[CRAZYASTRO]

so, u guys are putting foam inbetween the concrete??
never saw this done before, but it seems cool.
over here they're putting foam on the outside and then plaster on top...

 

[Ezzie]

Here's some more updates. Got the east wall and half of the back stripped and the forms up to pour the west wall. Due to it's size, the contractor didn't have enough 6' forms to do the whole job in one pour.

.. and another view

A better view of the forms set ready to pour the west side. We needed to leave an opening in the front for now so we can get the cement truck into the back. We'll do the front footers/wall on the next pour since we can access the site from the front.

.. and a view of the NW corner showing the elevation change - this is an 8' wall which I will backfill and build a ramp against to allow me to drive directly through the building with large vehicles (truck/trailer combo). That's my dog "Piper" (a sheltie) who seems to follow me everywhere and like to be in the pics!!

 

[kbs2244]

I am still confused on the foam in the middle of the wall.
Why?
If you put it on the outside of the wall and ramp up the outside dirt to slab level then you have an insulated slab and wall.
If you put it on the inside of the wall, between the wall and floor, then you have an insulated floor.

 

[Ezzie]

This is because I am going to be installing in-slab radiant heating. The foam is used to create a thermal break so that heat is not convected out of the slab through the concrete wall and to the outside soil and air. The problem with putting it on either the inside or outside of the foundation wall is you have to do another step to provide additional protection for the foam. On most agricultural buildings, this leads to additional cost due to the size of the structures. Inside, there is going to be 6" of the wall exposed above the slab. On the outside we won't be backfilling up the entire side of the wall due to the elevation change - about 3' of wall will be exposed along the rear portions of the building. It's a fairly common building practice here in "The Great White North".

 

[Ezzie]

Here are some more pics ... almost done the foundation walls. The west wall has now been stripped and the final forms set to complete the portion along the front of the building. There will be a man door and 12' x 14' overhead doors at each end of the building.

... and a closer view of the west wall showing the steps of the foundation

... and looking at it from the opposite direction (towards the south)

 

[Jerm]

Thats gonna be nice. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Ezzie]

Foundation walls done.

My contractor has now headed off to another job for a couple of weeks while I get the backfilling done and add fill to the inside to build it up to level. Rough estimates are that it is going to take about 850 cubic meters of fill. I have a local pit that has some nice bank sand we'll haul in and compact it as we go.

I also have to put the weepers in as well as rough-in the tiling to catch the downspouts. Since the building is 100' long, we'll split it into 50' sections of eavestrough with a downspout in each corner. I'll also need to put weepers along the footings on the inside (on the lower two walls (west & north sides) to prevent any buildup of ground water under the floor. I'll also need to do the rough-in for a floor drain for the wash bay area. Going to be a lot of work!!!

Here's the updated pics. Site view...

Front wall with openings for the man and overhead doors.

... and another shot looking at the left side.

 

[Ezzie]

Been busy with the "water-works" stuff. This site is fairly wet in the spring (actually sits over an aquifer) so I'm going to put 4" weepers around the entire outside of the building. The contractor also suggested putting weepers along the footings on the inside as well - just the lower elevation back and left side walls. Since we're backfilling with compacted sand, this will help to prevent any water wicking up to the floor from the subsoils.

To pull the water away from the building, I have trenched back from each side and will dump it into a catch basin as a "collector". From there, I'll run a 6" down off the property to a creek bed - about a 400' run.

Here are the trenches off each side.

... and towards the building site

.... and a pic of the placement of the catch basin. These concrete pipes I actually pulled out of an old water well before I extended the casing and filled it in. I'll drill some holes to bring my weepers in/out to make it a collector. There is also an exisiting field drain I'll tie into this catch basin as well.

... and a view of the outlet ditch from the catch basin

 

[ranger_dood]

Canadian building codes do have it right when it comes to foundation sealing and weeping tile systems. I watch as much Holmes on Homes as I can get my hands on, and it's interesting to see how different things are there than they are here, even with the similar climates.

I can think of many homes around here that could benefit from a good weeping tile system... My dad's brand new house is one of them. Sure, they put footer drains around the house... but they don't put the wallboard system in to direct the water down to the drains!

 

[Mr. Welsh]

Only 2 overhead doors? Seems a little light for such a large multi-use building.

 

[Ezzie]

Only 2 overhead doors? Seems a little light for such a large multi-use building.

The idea here is to make the exterior of the building look plain and like a typical farm building for this area. There are a couple of reasons for this - to draw as little attention to it as possible (theft issues) and to get around the exhorbitant permit fees. In most of the municipalities in Southern Ontario, they now levy "development" fees on all new construction to offset the lack of provincial funding for new roads and infrastructure to support growth. In this area, it is $1.38 per sq. ft. for this type of structure. Since the building is for "farm" use, it is exempt from the $1.08 per sq. ft. county portion and I only had to pay the $.30 per sq. ft. municipality levy. For a 6000 sq. ft. building, it is some serious $$$ (over $6 grand) and money that I can put toward building my shop inside.

For flexibility (within these constraints), the idea is to have enough room inside (hence the large size) so that I can get all of my toys inside and not attract any attention. I want this place to look like a small horse/hobby farm from the casual passer-by. I will not be putting any windows in it at ground level either (except for one high up on the front for an upstairs office area). The 12' x 14' overhead doors at each end will allow me to drive right through with a large truck/trailer combo. I will even be able to get an 18 wheeler into and through this thing which should make it attractive to "owner-operator" truckers should I ever sell the place in the future.

Off to each side from the center will be a 28' x 32' workshop with two bays, a 16' x 32' two-story office/lounge/washroom section and the remainder a 60' x 66' storage area to hold the cars that are not being worked on, trucks, 2 car trailers and a horse trailer, backhoe, turf equipment and hay storage.

 

[29bowtie]

LOL!!! I was waiting for someone to ask that question.

I'm into cars, my wife is into horses. The nickname of "The Hangar" was coined by a friend who was awestruck by the size of the building plans...


... and this is "Grasshopper" in action at the 2006 Targa Newfoundland tarmac rally.

Is that the 510 that "Grasshopped" into the weeds at that event?

 

[Ezzie]

Nope..., not the weeds --- it was a 6" spruce. Good thing though, it was about 300' drop down to the Atlantic Ocean (Harbour Mille stage)!!

This car just appeared in the Steelback Beer commercial that is currently running with the NHL hockey games. Here's a link to the TV spot on Steelback's website.

http://www.steelbackbrewery.com/tvspot26.asp

 

[Ezzie]

.... and the rains came!!! A bit of a setback. I wish the rain could have held off until I got the tiling all done - but we needed it.

 

[Ezzie]

Just a quick update - things dried out and I got my weepers all set with a decent layer of 5/8" clear crushed gravel on top. Also set the conduits for electrical I will need and roughed in for sewer and drains. What a physically tough weekend!!

The site work contractor arrived Monday morning to start backfilling and building up the sub-floor area. They used an excavator to place the stripped topsoil up against the outside walls and is hauling in bank sand from a local pit. To get good compaction, he is spreading about a one foot layer at a time and running two small plate compactors over it before putting the next layer on. The estimate is it will take around 850 cu. meters of fill to bring it up to level. He is then going to put about another 6" of "A" gravel on top for the final grading.

Here's a pic ... it will take about three days to complete this phase.

 

[Will67]

With the excavator inside the foundation it gives a real sense of size to your build. Now the moniker Hanger really makes sense.


I eagerly await more pictures and drool with envy at your build.

 

[Ezzie]

Well, the site contractor finished off backfilling and building up/compacting the inside sub surface. Just in time to since the framing crew is due back to start the next phase.

But..... they had some trouble. They hit the foundation wall with the excavator in a couple of places. This is the front corner from the outside...

... and from the inside

 

[Ezzie]

... and this is the really bad one. The bozo operating the excavator wasn't watching where he was going and hit the rear wall full on knocking a big chunk out. They are going to fix it at N/C but it might slow us down a little bit. They cut the foundation down about 3' and about 20' along. The concrete crew is coming back today to reform and pour these two areas so they can begin the framing this week.

Here's a shot from the inside..

.. and from the outside

This is the offending piece of equipment in the background.

 

[Will67]

Are they just going to replace the concrete and foam to match only, or are they also going to dowel and epoxy rebar in too?

 

[Ezzie]

Are they just going to replace the concrete and foam to match only, or are they also going to dowel and epoxy rebar in too?

They are going to dowel the rebar as well as repour the concrete & foam structure. The building contractor and the site contractor agreed to a repair cost at $1000 providing the site contractor cut out the damaged section (as shown in the photo). It took the site contractor about 4 hours to cut it and he went through 3 blades!! Expensive mistake.

 

[Ezzie]

WOW... what a difference a week makes!! I was away on a business trip and this is what greeted me when I got home Friday night. I still can't get the smile off my face...

... and from the west side

... and the back

There apparently were ten guys there today and they put up ALL of the roof trusses with a big crane. It's a 60' clear span on 32" centers (commercial grade truss).

 

[Ezzie]

Here is what the repaired wall area looks like that the site contractor damaged when backfilling

... and the front section that was damaged.

 

[bluesman2a]

Wow.
Just... WOW.
Lookin' good there Ezzie, that place is HUGE

 

[Ezzie]

And here are some pics from the inside. This thing is HUGE!!!

Looking toward where the 2 story office/washroom/mechanical room will be.

View from the front entrance toward the rear door area.

... and a pic of the "Zoom-Boom" for size reference.