Above 1200 Sq/FT Swiss Garage / Workshop / House Build

[JDMjunkies.ch]

sitting here just in awe at how houses are built there. when you are used to seeing stick framing and drywall, the monolithic poured walls that are being shown here and at GeorgeKs thread are quite interesting to follow along with.

looking forward to more updates.

Thank you for your kind words. To be honest, i really like the way you build your "sheds" or garages in your climate zones. It's a lot cheaper, faster and easier to remodel later if needed. At least it wouldn't cost me a kindey, but that's life and i think we made the best out of our options

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

I only had time for a short visit on the site today and since they were still working under full force and i hadn't my hard hat or dirt-clothes with me i just snapped a few pictures from the outside of the area. Since my last update two days ago, this is what happened (at least what i could see, without talking to anyone):
On our part of the house, the formwork for the slab / garage ceiling has already been removed and work prepared for formwork of our ground level living area walls:

The outer formwork of our future living room corner was under preparation during my visit:

It also appears that they had poured the concrete in the in-laws first wall as well:

Will have to check out more detailed during the next days, whenever possible...

 

[Ronin22]

That's a nice update! It must be nice to see the upper levels taking shape, bit by bit.

I'm really eager to see how this progresses once the whole structure is done, specially after reading that it is gonna be an automated home!

 

[GeorgeK]

Thank you for your kind words. To be honest, i really like the way you build your "sheds" or garages in your climate zones. It's a lot cheaper, faster and easier to remodel later if needed. At least it wouldn't cost me a kindey, but that's life and i think we made the best out of our options

I do prefer the full concrete/brick builds. Makes for longer lasting buildings. Of course, planning has to be thorough, as it is more difficult to modify steel strengthened concrete than studs/drywall.

 

[jalbrecht55]

This is really interesting to watch, thanks for sharing this build with us.

I had a question about insulation. Do you have an idea what effective "R" value they are building to in both the basement and above ground walls, and what are they doing to insulate? Will there be exterior or interior rigid foam or is the concrete itself (airated? Impregnated?) with something to improve its insulation qualities?

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

That's a nice update! It must be nice to see the upper levels taking shape, bit by bit.
I'm really eager to see how this progresses once the whole structure is done, specially after reading that it is gonna be an automated home!

Thank you. I will keep you updated, even if it's not so garage-related. Let me know if it's too much "non-garage" stuff...

This is really interesting to watch, thanks for sharing this build with us.

I had a question about insulation. Do you have an idea what effective "R" value they are building to in both the basement and above ground walls, and what are they doing to insulate? Will there be exterior or interior rigid foam or is the concrete itself (airated? Impregnated?) with something to improve its insulation qualities?

You're very welcome

If you mean "thermal restistance" with R-Levels, i can tell you, yes. My architect had to make a 40+ page document where each different part of the house has to be proven it's within a certain insulation range to get approval from the government. (they really try to reduce energy consumption for heating on new houses). However in switzerland we mostly work with the "U-value". Nevertheless, both are shown in the document below.

There will be Rigid foam on the outside and towards the garage for the living areas.
The workshop / garage will not be insulated to the outside itself, but since it's mostly inside the hill and inbetween other (insulated) areas, it won't be too cold during winter.

from that insulation proving document here's the part for most of the living area walls (living area towards outside). The R-Value is 5,3m2K/W (see table below). In the schematic below from left to right, the build-up of an outside wall is:
10mm Inside plaster & Paint
200mm reinforced concrete
180mm goEPS F20 Rigid foam insulation
15mm outside plaster & Paint (+ Additional water protection)

Oh i forgot: The ceiling in the uninsulated garage / workshop / basement area has these fiber-panels on the inside for thermal and noise insulation and moisture protection

You will see more of the insulation soon, when its applied (normally done when the base structure is done)

 

[jalbrecht55]

Thanks for the info! I think we multiply the SI R value you listed by 5.678 to get it in the "US customary" units for R (hr-ft^2 F/Btu)... so by US convention you have about 7" of rigid foam insulation and a total R value of approx R30. Neat! My house is only insulated to approx R13, (although that is not very good by US standards either, I think code in my zone is now R20). The above also answers my question about the insulation properties of the concrete. At R.5 it's "not very good" but it does have a lot of "thermal mass."

 

[LeeLeadingham]

Subbed. Just spent a whole hour reading through from first to current page. Interested to see finished product!

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Thanks for the info! I think we multiply the SI R value you listed by 5.678 to get it in the "US customary" units for R (hr-ft^2 F/Btu)... so by US convention you have about 7" of rigid foam insulation and a total R value of approx R30. Neat! My house is only insulated to approx R13, (although that is not very good by US standards either, I think code in my zone is now R20). The above also answers my question about the insulation properties of the concrete. At R.5 it's "not very good" but it does have a lot of "thermal mass."

Im not an expert here, but that sounds legit Like stones i think concrete can store a lot of thermal energy (guess that's the thermal mass?) but ain't really good at insulate, that's why you put additional foam on the outside...

Subbed. Just spent a whole hour reading through from first to current page. Interested to see finished product!

Thank you sir. I guess you have to follow me some more months then, to see the final thing. It's planned to be finnished by early summer 2019

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

had my saturday-walk-around on the site today to inspect the work of the week. What happened was that our Living-room area walls have been concrete-poured:

The formwork on the in-laws living-room area has been removed and the wall is finally revealed. You can see the "cutouts" for the roof beams. I'm impressed with how well the "fluid concrete" flowed into all the areas of the formwork

So the site looks like this from the top now:

We also got some pre-fabricated reinforced concrete light-wells delivered for the underground areas (picture only shows part of the delivery):

On the outside some insulation work has started and been covered with plastic sheets (water protection), and the drainage pipes for ground water (black) and roof water (green) have been laid down:

On the inside, the formwork for the stairs from the basement (workshop) to the house has started. It will be poured in concrete too, since it was a bit cheaper than purchasing a pre-fabbed piece with the right dimensions. If you have a close look, you can see the marks on the wall where the steps will go...

And while there, the father-in-law started to cut down the bushes and weeds on the little hills aside from our house, because next week another excavator should show up to remove some of the remaining soil to install the water tank and lay down the freshwater-lines to the communal lines, which are below the street (some part of the street needs to be dug up):

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

The living area keeps growing and more walls appear from the formwork, and new formwork is done daily. Don't want to bore you with details so here comes a bunch of pictures:

Eagle-eyed readers may have noticed two squared holes in the wall (fresh air vents for the fireplace) and one round hole below in the slab (suction tube for the down draft steam ventilation in the kitchen)

They brought along two excavators (a bigger one and a tiny one) so they were able to start filling the gaps again.

then they used this yellow compacting machine to compress everything:

Next thing is to choose a window supplier which is a bit tricky. We got some cutout models for comparison:

 

[Ronin22]

Nice update!
I think that the only place where you wouldn't bore people with details about a garage/house construction, is this forum!

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Nice update!
I think that the only place where you wouldn't bore people with details about a garage/house construction, is this forum!

Thank you, sir.
Well i thought it's a GARAGE-forum after all, so maybe most of you aren't interested in the construction of the living area.
But i think most of you are, so i just keep on posting until you tell me to stop or to focus on the garage part of the build.

 

[wasfast]

Re: window sections, any ideas what the colored (blue or red) portions inside the extrusion are for?

 

[rixtrix1]

Re: window sections, any ideas what the colored (blue or red) portions inside the extrusion are for?

They look like thermal break insulators to me, but...

Sent from my SM-J320V using Tapatalk

 

[Lotusnut]

Re: window sections, any ideas what the colored (blue or red) portions inside the extrusion are for?

They are the structural strength in both the stationary frame and the moving frame. It looks like they are vinyl casement window samples and the vinyl has no real linear strength by itself and must be provided by metal in the isolated cavities.

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Today i have some good and some bad news as it seems.
Was super happy with the progress:
the last walls and formwork for the ground level floor have been set up:

Some gravel was put around the house for better water drainage:

More soil was filled behind the house and the light duct was installed for the workshop:

A hole was drilled for the fresh-water supply tube:

The formwork for the stairs from the basement to the ground level was completed:

So far so good. then at home when i went through the pictures i realized a hole for the window above the cat-flap hole is missing.. damnit..
Now i'm really curious how they plan to fix it. Cut it out from the concrete or redo the wall?

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Re: window sections, any ideas what the colored (blue or red) portions inside the extrusion are for?

They are the structural strength in both the stationary frame and the moving frame. It looks like they are vinyl casement window samples and the vinyl has no real linear strength by itself and must be provided by metal in the isolated cavities.

Exactly. The coloured parts are metal tubes to reinforce the plastic structure. they are only colored in the sample pieces to show the different elements of the Plastic (PE aka vinyl from what i undestoud) window to people with no clue (aka me).
Some other brand we got offered didn't have it, and we got told that it may warp the window due to thermal influences and their own weight without this additional strenghtening.

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Just got an update from the architect. The contractor already realized they forgot to put the window forms into the concrete. so now they will have to cut it out from the wall again with a diamond concrete saw. Lucky they have to do it on their own cost

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Ready for your daily dose of concrete update?
Finally got the possibility to walk on the ground level deck during daylight and take a picture of our future living area from the inside:

On the opposite corner, one of the poor guys had to cut out the window from the concrete again which the accidently missed to put into the formwork:

But now we have the missing window-hole in the wall

The Location of our water collection tank was measured and marked:

Some formwork of the already dry-enough slab-parts were removed (needs total 28 days to cure / dry)

The remaining walls on the ground level got concrete-poured today and the stairs from the basement workshop / garage area to the living area as well:

Tomorrow and next week we should have some nicely visible progress, so will definitely keep you updated

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

More walls were finnished and are visible now when the formwork is gone:

Stairs are finnished as well:

Lots of formwork has been removed already, so the garage entrance is visible now:

Next they have to remove all the nails etc..

In the workshop area the moisture / heat / Noise insulation fiber plates are visible at the ceiling (still quite wet from the concrete, needs to dry now):

And at the office i managed to swap the two grey low Vidmar drawers with a much newer, nice and blue Lista drawer. Smaller footprint but same storage space. And it will fit my blue Lista Workbenches

 

[Balor]

Hi JD, I'm enjoying your build but have a question, are you able to use the space under the stairs?

rngr1

 

[GeorgeK]

Nils,
Looks very nice. The workshop furniture as well.

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Hi JD, I'm enjoying your build but have a question, are you able to use the space under the stairs?

Thanks a lot. Yeah i will be able to use the space under the Stairs, allthough its a very unpractical space. Will probably end up beeing the storage for some cardboards or something. I will try to take a photo next time im on the site.

Nils,
Looks very nice. The workshop furniture as well.

Thanks

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

So today a lot of small works were started, but unfortunately nothing was finnished and almost everything needs a little rework here and there. But at least we had a nice sundown when i arrived

What they did is, they dug the hole for the 4000l roof water collection tank (mostly for garden watering during summer), but the position is wrong. Currently the Manhole is straight in front of the main entrance, which is not exactly nice. Will have them take it out again tomorrow and move the hole / Tank:

Next to it the air duct (1 of 2) for the heat exchanger heater got installed (not finnished yet, as you can see):

The we got some more bricks delivered for the upcoming masons work:

And also some more iron for the next upper level slab concrete work. It the parking lot next to the street they dug a little hole to find the freshwater-line that should be there according to some old plans.

Which appear to be wrong, since there was no freshwater-line there... I hope they're able to find it soon.

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Today the masons showed up and started with the brickwork. well a bit at least. due to the rainy weather today they left after a few hours with still a respectable result:

Tomorrow the weather should be better so i hope they get back to work and put up the remaining walls, or at least part of it:

They added some gravel on the outside to make it smoother and less dirty during winter:

They finally found the (black) Pipe for the freshwater connection in the street. but unfortunately the hole they dug is exactly where the pipe has a connecting piece and a bend, so they won't be able to put a junction piece there. so they need to expand the hole and put the junktion a bit higher up the line:

On the inside more of the formwork from the stairs was removed

and the formwork in the lift-area was removed too, so it looks like a garage now. allthough still a bit dark, wet and dirty for the moment

 

[GeorgeK]

That's a great feeling when you can actually see where you will put your tools/stuff. Feels very real from there on.

 

[Ronin22]

I can picture the EK9 or the S30 in that last photo!

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

That's a great feeling when you can actually see where you will put your tools/stuff. Feels very real from there on.

Yeah it does. but then there's still so much to do and several months of work ahead.

I can picture the EK9 or the S30 in that last photo!

That space in the last picture is for the S30Z with the lift. it has the extra high ceiling and extra space left and right to move around the lift with the bigger parts.. Cant wait to see it there

 

[1/2 Cup]

JDMjunkies.ch great progress as usual

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

So i was fighting a heavy flu over the last days and wasn't able to visit the site.
Felt better today so i thought i have to check out all the mistakes that happened over the past days. Surprisingly not much to complain - even with a lot of progress:
A lot of ground has been moved again and prepared for the scaffolders to install the scaffolds early next week:

This also included partially digging down the Water collection tank and filling the hole with watered sand to secure it:

And also included smoothening the garage entrance way (at least partially):

on the ground level the brickwork has been completed:

And as you can see the formwork for the ceiling / Slab has already started:

On the outside the freshwater supply line has been connected to the network and the hole in the parking lot has been temporary closed with gravel (the tar work will be done at another point)

which means we now have freshwater supply in the house:

And since someone asked: This is how the space below the stairs looks. formwork of course still needs to be removed, but the space below the stairs can be used for storage:

Oh, and now the fun begins to select all the tiles, colours, hardwood floors, etc.. Our house starts to fill with samples of all kinds

next week the scaffold should be installed and the upper level slab prepared. we'll see

 

[Ronin22]

They are moving fast! How many people currently working on site?
I'm more hyped about this house/garage construction than I am about the next Batman flick, and that's a lot! Lol

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

They are moving fast! How many people currently working on site?
I'm more hyped about this house/garage construction than I am about the next Batman flick, and that's a lot! Lol

Haha lol, i guess that's a big compliment then - thanks

Currently we have one main contranctor for the Shell of the house (concrete and surrounding work). Their crew consists of a foreman, two workers and a tower crane operator.

Whenever rebar is needed a crew of approx 2-4 Rebar guys appear from a subcontractor, and whenever brickwork is needed two masons appear from another subcontractor.

So depending on the work there are between 3 and 8 people working on-site at the same time. mostly 4 people.

 

[Ronin22]

Oh, ok! I would have sworn you'd say an average of ten people. They do work fast then At least for what I'm used to!

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Oh, ok! I would have sworn you'd say an average of ten people. They do work fast then At least for what I'm used to!

Haha yeah, most of the subcontractors only can do one job, but that pretty fast and in good quality. However they will refuse to do anything that is not that one thing they do

The subcontractors also are paid on a flatrate base. so the faster they complete their job, the faster they get the payment and can move on to the next job.

And i have to admit our foreman is a really great guy who keeps his workers going at a fast pace...

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

So we spent the day in Austria choosing some hardwood floors:

When we arrived back in the afternoon today, the guys on the construction site were just finnishing the work for today. Scaffolding was put up by the scaffolding subcontractor, to make the safety inspector happy. From this view you can start to imagine the two independant houses (ours and the inlaws part) on top of the basement:

Also the formwork for the slab was almost finnished again. So again you can start to imagine how the rooms will look when finnished.

And they started to pour a little concrete base for the coming landscape "terrace" support wall. Still have to figure out the details.

over the next days the procedure from the base slab will be repeated: formwork for the upper slab goes into together with a ton of iron, wire-hoses and blumbig, before more iron goes on top and then concrete for the first level ceiling slab will be poured.

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Todays short update:
The scaffolding subcontractors worked hard again and according to the material they brought to the site, they have planned to install at least the same amount of stuff in addition what is already up

This gives mit the opportunity to climb around like a monkey and have a birds view on the in-laws part of the house:

on our side the top level slab part formwork has started:

and we finally know how the views will be when there will be windows
the lights you see far in the background is where we live now...

Formwork from the ground level. Again with the ceiling kind of installed you really get the feeling of the size and looks of our future home:

On the outside they started the formwork for the outside supportive landscaping walls:

In the garage area (finally something garage related for the GJ forum), they removed the remaining formwork. while there is still a pile to get away, you really start to get the feel of the look and size of the whole underground basement garage / workshop area. While it still looks like a WW2 Bunker, it will be much better with all painted, lighting up, and all the tools and cars inside, i promise

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

It gets tricky to make good pictures for me after work before it darkens too much at this time of the year, but i'll try my best. nevertheless:

Formwork on the Second wall of the upper in-laws house part has started:

View from our future first floor:

On our part the slab-form for the first level floor was filled with the lower layer of rebar, and again all the wire-tubes, lighting-places, outlets, plumbing etc were installed.
This time this included the special in-ceiling Speaker housings which you see here (those two big boxes):

The hole for the laundry chute (not visible here) and the chimney connection for the fireplace:

However what is probably of the biggest interrest for the follower in this forum is probably that i finally was able to get some (almost) clean shots of the garage and workshop area, since now all the formwork is removed. Still needs some detailling, but this is the current state and i'm more than excited to put my cars and tools in here in a few months:

View from the garage door / entrance:

Parking space (left) and Lift-working area to the right:

Workshop area (entered through those steps in the previous picture):

will try to get better pictures on saturday when there is more light

 

[Ronin22]

That garage is gonna be bat-cave-esque when finished. I like it. A lot.

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

That garage is gonna be bat-cave-esque when finished. I like it. A lot.

Haha, you're really a big batman fan, aren't you?
I guess i need to start to look out for a Bat signal generator then, soon...