40' x 80' shop/garage in SC

[racer83]

I am finally starting my 40' x 80' x 14' steel shop. The shop will be used to store all my "projects" and serve as a small race shop. I have never done any type of construction before, but I'm the type of person that is convinced I can figure it out and do it all myself. I'm also doing it to save money, but I know my limits and some things will be left to the pros. I will keep updates coming as I progress, but they may be slow since I am a one man show. here are some shots from my first weekend of work.

 

[930dreamer]

Welcome, please keep the pics coming.

 

[racer83]

two more, you can see in the last pic how much dirt I had to move:

will probably have to add more once i compact the soil but for now, 90% of the pad area is level at 8" below the string line.

Hopefully I can compact the soil and dig the footers next weekend when i have the mini-excavator.

updates to come....

 

[streetstar]

Cool ! -- did you have to rent the skid steer , or do you own it?

 

[CrashTestDummy]

I'm guessing your surveyor is waiting for you?

Keep up the good work. We're still 'finishing' up ours, and the shop has been standing for two years.

Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas

 

[tinbender 66]

Nice size shop! That looks like a really nice piece of property. I really like the DIY approach.

 

[racer83]

Cool ! -- did you have to rent the skid steer , or do you own it?

My grandparents own a small rental company so I have the equipment available on the weekends at no cost. they don't have large equipment like bull dozers etc. but they do have skid steers and mini ex. I ended up just buying the laser transit for $350 bc the local rental place wanted $95 a day and $240 a week...doing it myself I would loose money on that deal

 

[lodemia]

Subscribed. Can't wait to read more

 

[racer83]

So it's been raining here the past few days so nothing has happened, but looking forward I have a question:

If you notice I had to use large metal stakes to run my leveling strings, this is because the clay here in SC is almost as hard as the concrete itself. I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to hammer a wooden stake in the ground every 2 ft once I start to build my forms. There are a lot of smart people on this forum who have done this before so anybody got any good ideas? all suggestions appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[RCH99]

So it's been raining here the past few days so nothing has happened, but looking forward I have a question:

If you notice I had to use large metal stakes to run my leveling strings, this is because the clay here in SC is almost as hard as the concrete itself. I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to hammer a wooden stake in the ground every 2 ft once I start to build my forms. There are a lot of smart people on this forum who have done this before so anybody got any good ideas? all suggestions appreciated!

Thanks!

2x4 stakes and a BIG sledge. Hopefully the rain will soften it up just enough to help. My formsetters often have to run sprinklers overnight on lots here in the Houston area in order to drive stakes if we aren't setting on a pad. That red clay gets hard as a rock. ....it *****

 

[jonese]

How about rebar? You'd just have to figure out how to attach the forms to it.

You must be in northeast sc. I'm jealous of all the clay. I spent about $1200 on getting clay for my build. I respect your DIY attitude. I almost went that route but knowing myself I wouldn't be happy with the result. I left it to the experts and paid dearly for it.

 

[67camaro02]

So it's been raining here the past few days so nothing has happened, but looking forward I have a question:

If you notice I had to use large metal stakes to run my leveling strings, this is because the clay here in SC is almost as hard as the concrete itself. I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to hammer a wooden stake in the ground every 2 ft once I start to build my forms. There are a lot of smart people on this forum who have done this before so anybody got any good ideas? all suggestions appreciated!

Thanks!

short answer is you don't use wooden stakes. In fact, I never have when I do concrete. You want to use concrete form nail stakes. They are similar to what is in your pictures but they have holes in them so you can nail them to the forms.

 

[Nighttrain]

Man nice size shop, what two zip codes are you building that thing in?

 

[richtersrodz]

I wish I had the guts to do my own pre-slab work. I have a 25x36 barn that needs a
concrete floor. I might attempt it one day, if I get really brave.. I just don't want to
be "that guy" that makes the pro laugh when they show up to pour the slab.

 

[lodemia]

As mentioned before use or borrow some steel nail through stakes for your forms. I can't imagine doing it any other way and having any sanity when I was done. Also, if this is your first time doing flatwork, test on a smaller area first, it's not as easy as it looks, but also not as hard as some make it out to be.

 

[racer83]

As mentioned before use or borrow some steel nail through stakes for your forms. I can't imagine doing it any other way and having any sanity when I was done. Also, if this is your first time doing flatwork, test on a smaller area first, it's not as easy as it looks, but also not as hard as some make it out to be.

Thank you for the quick responses so far. I've seen the steel nail stakes and was considering them, here they are around $3 a piece for 18" stakes (Lowes), which for a one off form I'm not sure if the investment would be worth it. Maybe there is a cheaper place to get them, I don't know. i might try to find a place i could borrow some from too.

Don't worry, I know better than to try and pour and finish this slab myself. That's the part I'm going to leave to the pros. Just figured I could save a little $ and learn some stuff along the way by doing the prep work myself. Unfortunately the finishing is still the most expensive...

 

[racer83]

2x4 stakes and a BIG sledge. Hopefully the rain will soften it up just enough to help. My formsetters often have to run sprinklers overnight on lots here in the Houston area in order to drive stakes if we aren't setting on a pad. That red clay gets hard as a rock. ....it *****

I was using an 8 lb sledge and I used to put up the huge wedding tents in high school (thats where the stakes came from) so I'm not new to swinging a sledge....the problem wasn't the sledge though...the ground was so hard the stake was splitting in two!!!! haha!

 

[racer83]

How about rebar? You'd just have to figure out how to attach the forms to it.

You must be in northeast sc. I'm jealous of all the clay. I spent about $1200 on getting clay for my build. I respect your DIY attitude. I almost went that route but knowing myself I wouldn't be happy with the result. I left it to the experts and paid dearly for it.

Nope, I'm in the Upstate, (Greenville, SC) so Northwest...but yeah the clay is a pain to work with, but once the pour is done, I don't think I'll have to worry too much about it settling (plus here it's free!) ...haha

I wish I had the guts to do my own pre-slab work. I have a 25x36 barn that needs a
concrete floor. I might attempt it one day, if I get really brave.. I just don't want to
be "that guy" that makes the pro laugh when they show up to pour the slab.

Yeah I don't wanna be that guy either, but I'm gonna be sure that someone who knows what they are doing a little better checks everything off before the concrete truck shows up...

I have a horse barn and if I put a floor in it that was actually "level" and "sturdy" it would just be out of place....pretty sure my barn isn't up to code! haha!

 

[racer83]

Man nice size shop, what two zip codes are you building that thing in?

yeah, it's big, but the original plan was to build a small living space in the garage that i could basically pay for in cash, then save for a few years, get married, and then build the house on the same property. The first property I got was the last property in the city limits and to make a long story short, the zoning board wasn't happy with my plans...regardless, I love my house and property I live on now and it's unzoned and outside city limits. Still getting married next year and still building my shop, just have more bills now than I wanted...haha! So you can see why I'm motivated to save wherever I can, it would be nice to have some $$$ left to actually work on some projects once the shop is up!

 

[Nighttrain]

yeah, it's big, but the original plan was to build a small living space in the garage that i could basically pay for in cash, then save for a few years, get married, and then build the house on the same property. The first property I got was the last property in the city limits and to make a long story short, the zoning board wasn't happy with my plans...regardless, I love my house and property I live on now and it's unzoned and outside city limits. Still getting married next year and still building my shop, just have more bills now than I wanted...haha! So you can see why I'm motivated to save wherever I can, it would be nice to have some $$$ left to actually work on some projects once the shop is up!

Yeah can understand trying to do it by yourself to save some money. I'm in year three of my build and almost done. Payed cash as I go. My inlaws are in Six Mile SC, just north of Clemsen. I thought that clay looked familiar.

 

[jonese]

Oops, I meant to say Northwest. I went to school in Clemson so I'm used to seeing all that clay everywhere. And to think, people thought I was nuts for building my "huge" 30x48 garage. Good luck with the build!

 

[racer83]

Oops, I meant to say Northwest. I went to school in Clemson so I'm used to seeing all that clay everywhere. And to think, people thought I was nuts for building my "huge" 30x48 garage. Good luck with the build!

Really? I graduated in 2010 for Mech. Engineering at Clemson. Depending on when you graduated I might know you.

(Evan Sanders)

 

[MSRTom]

Awesome. Was going to ask "Piedmont?" before I saw that you were in Greenville. I have relatives in Simpsonville.

Can't wait to see some progress!

 

[jonese]

I left Clemson back in 2002 but I was also doing ME. I'm actually back in school to try to finish that degree, unfortunately I'm forced to attend USC this time around. With a wife and kid it wasn't an option to move back up to Clemson.

 

[streetstar]

My grandparents own a small rental company so I have the equipment available on the weekends at no cost. they don't have large equipment like bull dozers etc. but they do have skid steers and mini ex. I ended up just buying the laser transit for $350 bc the local rental place wanted $95 a day and $240 a week...doing it myself I would loose money on that deal

Awesome ! Oh what fun i could have with weekend skid steer use !

I am a motocross enthusiast so having my own track would be the cat's meow

 

[racer83]

Picking up Mini-Ex and Plate tamp today.....another "relaxing" weekend ahead of me.

The Plan is to dig the footers and use the good clean clay to finish filling in the low side of the plot. Then I will do my final grading and start compacting the soil. My grandparents don't have any type of rollers so I'm doing it all with a vibrating plate tamp. Hope it works ok on the clay....

Updates to come as I finish things up

 

[dnroe]

Racer,

Looking good so far, I look forward to keeping up with your build. Good luck with with everything. Oh I guess you could say I am your garage journal neighbor over here in Easley. I am also a Clemson grad, 07 construction science and management.

 

[racer83]

Well it's been a few weeks since an update and I've made a lot of progress since then. Lost a few days to weather but back on track now.

I managed to get the area 90% graded and started the footers last weekend. I was having trouble keeping a constant depth and I just had this overwhelming feeling that I was gonna screw something up badly and end up buying a ton of extra concrete to correct it.

As it turns out, a guy's dad who I was on the motorsports team at Clemson with owns his own concrete service. I decided to get some help from he and his crew to help me finish up. They have been GREAT! He's not the cheapest, but also not the most expensive, but the real benefit is he is letting me be involved in all the steps and is taking time to teach me how to do each step myself. I've learned lots of tricks and feel much more confident to do it myself in the future. I really wanted to do it all myself, but it's way too big a job for one man and I'd like to have this shop up before next winter...haha

Updates to come...

 

[racer83]

Inspector comes today, here's where we left the pad yesterday....

 

[racer83]

continued..

 

[novaboy009]

Howdy neighbor! I thought that clay looked familiar as well. I'm down I-26 about 45 minutes or so from Greenville in Newberry. Hopefully the nice fall weather will hold out for you. Better building it now than in August! Looks like it will be an adequate sized shop. Are you a drag racer, roundy rounder or mudding type guy?

Kev

 

[racer83]

So I needed 48 3/4" bent anchor bolts....the local hardware store only had 44, the only other place I could find them was Fastenal.....Luckily they had 4 on the shelf.

Unluckily they about gave me a heart attack when they told me the price!

3/4"-10 x 12" @ local hardware store: $3.50 ea (w/ nut washer)

3/4"-10 x 15" @ Fastenal: $10.50 ea (excluding nut and washer)!!!!!

I will say that the quality of the anchor bolts from Fastenal are extremely nice, but lets face it, I'm burying them in concrete and don't really care as long as they hold my building up!

anyways, at least I only needed 4 bolts from Fastenal, I laughed a little inside when I read the note on the counter that said they were a "wholesale" dealer though!

 

[racer83]

Howdy neighbor! I thought that clay looked familiar as well. I'm down I-26 about 45 minutes or so from Greenville in Newberry. Hopefully the nice fall weather will hold out for you. Better building it now than in August! Looks like it will be an adequate sized shop. Are you a drag racer, roundy rounder or mudding type guy?

Kev

I do a little of any type of racing I can get involved with. Lots of asphalt roundy round (street stock car), some open wheel road course stuff (My favorite!), some karting, some mudding, no drag racing really (just not into straight line 10 sec runs, I like the wheel to wheel)

 

[stick004]

I do a little of any type of racing I can get involved with. Lots of asphalt roundy round (street stock car), some open wheel road course stuff (My favorite!), some karting, some mudding, no drag racing really (just not into straight line 10 sec runs, I like the wheel to wheel)

Looking good. Now let's see those race cars of yours!

 

[TR65]

Lookin good Evan. Nice size shop. I am going to be real jealous before your done.

TR

 

[NUTTSGT]

So I needed 48 3/4" bent anchor bolts....the local hardware store only had 44, the only other place I could find them was Fastenal.....Luckily they had 4 on the shelf.

Unluckily they about gave me a heart attack when they told me the price!

3/4"-10 x 12" @ local hardware store: $3.50 ea (w/ nut washer)

3/4"-10 x 15" @ Fastenal: $10.50 ea (excluding nut and washer)!!!!!

I will say that the quality of the anchor bolts from Fastenal are extremely nice, but lets face it, I'm burying them in concrete and don't really care as long as they hold my building up!

anyways, at least I only needed 4 bolts from Fastenal, I laughed a little inside when I read the note on the counter that said they were a "wholesale" dealer though!

Yeah, you've noticed fastenal's prices too. They would rather sell in bulk than a few here and there. Wholesale dealers, yep, somebody that's going to pass the cost off to another party that's having the work done.


Over 40 bucks for those anchor bolts, I would have taken a 30 mile drive over buying them.

 

[Soldier]

racer83,

Keep up the posts, I've enjoyed reading about your progress. Am also in SC, Lexington, Clemson '77. Had my own hobby shop built after 34 years in the Army and have spent the last couple years finishing it up myself. Will have to say I've enjoyed improving the building as much as just working in it.

 

[racer83]

Looking good. Now let's see those race cars of yours!

I'll dig up some pictures soon and post them, they are on my other computer

 

[racer83]

racer83,

Keep up the posts, I've enjoyed reading about your progress. Am also in SC, Lexington, Clemson '77. Had my own hobby shop built after 34 years in the Army and have spent the last couple years finishing it up myself. Will have to say I've enjoyed improving the building as much as just working in it.

I am def. excited about the upgrades to the shop. Looking forward to "treasure hunting" and acquiring tools and such for around the shop. Just looking for the light at the end of the tunnel right now though!

 

[racer83]

Updates from Yesterday, Half the slab poured, raining today, will finish up on Monday!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/69089295@N05/sets/72157627872021131/