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Well it's happening...my 48x60 build

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OH_Varmntr

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The survey is done and I'm all set to begin. But before we break ground I'm going to clean my front yard up a bit by having my current overhead 25kva service primary buried. Before my house was built there sat a trailer in my front yard and it was fed via this overhead service. When the house was built they buried a new feeder to the meter on the house.

This was years before I bought the house and now that we are building a pole barn I wanted the front yard nice and open for the kids to play in while dad is in the shop. It would also be nice for when the adults get to playing whiffleball and football.

So here's the current service setup. As you can see it really takes away from the view. The transformer pole and the pole near the road will be removed and an underground primary will be buried nearly 325' from the road pole to a pad mounted transformer. You can see the survey stakes in the background as well as the pink flags marking the proposed layout of the shop. Most of the front yard is utilized by the two septic leech beds that are required around here so I barely have enough room to squeeze a 48' wide building in there.
Untitled by B.Shuman, on Flickr

The power company marked the current house service entrance but I can't drill my post holes for the new meter base until the ticket for the call before you dig service is fulfilled on Monday. Good thing to do it as you can see here it's anything but a straight buried line.
Untitled by B.Shuman, on Flickr

Here's the 400 amp meter base structure I built. The posts are 4x6 ground contact rated with GC rated 2x8 crossties up top to mount my enclosures to and a GC rated 2x6 across the bottom to secure my conduit to. Expansion joints will be utilized in all the conduits except for the grounding conductor. It will be used to mount the meter base as well as 2 individual 200 amp feed through lug breaker panels. One to act as a service disconnect for the house and the other for the future shop. These are outdoor Nema 3R rated panels. My current house underground service will be tied to one of the panels so I don't have to re-feed the house. Our current meter is on the house so the POCO will jump and blank the existing meter and utilize only the 400 amp meter base I'll be installing.
Untitled by B.Shuman, on Flickr

We're getting hit with some rain from a thunderhead rolling by so I'm taking a break from building the panels at this time. Since the survey has been completed it should only be a few weeks until my builder gets started with things.

I started another thread with some proposed layouts and thanks to some suggestions from here this is what I'm shooting for.
View attachment 668028

More to come!
 
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OH_Varmntr

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Speaking of pictures, I see all the ones I posted from my phone are of terrible resolution.

I'll try to remedy that shortly.
 
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OH_Varmntr

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Ok well since the photobucket bend-everyone-over situation has arisen, I'm using flickr now. Still learning here!

So here's my 400 amp meter base and 200 amp breaker panels pre-wired with 3/0 copper. The service entrance wire is aluminum as are my house and future shop feeder. Ohio code says 2 awg grounding wire for the 400 amp meter and the local Kendall Electric had to order it so it will be here in the morning.
Untitled by B.Shuman, on Flickr

Tomorrow I'll be setting this in the ground in concrete and digging trenches for conduit to and from the transformer. The POCO will come and wire my transformer and tie in the meter base to it once the new primary is buried. I'm responsible for the load side of the meter base and I'll now be taking over ownership of the house feeder since the POCO only "owns" up to the meter base.
 
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OH_Varmntr

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Well usually each of the disconnect breaker enclosures are grounded with a 4 awg wire since that's what required for a 200 amp service and they had that in stock. Also I live in Ohio less than a mile from the OH/IN state line and the Kendall is in Indiana so the location of the store could have something to do with it. The print I received from the POCO required a single 5/8" copper plated ground rod and a single 2 awg grounding conductor to ground the 400 amp meter base to.

Grounding of the 200 amp breaker enclosures is achieved via bonding screws in the enclosures, and since the neutral in the meter base is grounded via that single ground rod, the bonding of the panels is all that's required to achieve the required grounding.

Clear as mud eh?
 
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barnee

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OH_Varmntr said:
Ok well since the photobucket bend-everyone-over situation has arisen, I'm using flickr now. Still learning here!

So here's my 400 amp meter base and 200 amp breaker panels pre-wired with 3/0 copper. The service entrance wire is aluminum as are my house and future shop feeder. Ohio code says 2 awg grounding wire for the 400 amp meter and the local Kendall Electric had to order it so it will be here in the morning.
Untitled by B.Shuman, on Flickr

Tomorrow I'll be setting this in the ground in concrete and digging trenches for conduit to and from the transformer. The POCO will come and wire my transformer and tie in the meter base to it once the new primary is buried. I'm responsible for the load side of the meter base and I'll now be taking over ownership of the house feeder since the POCO only "owns" up to the meter base.
Click to expand...

Is that the closest you can get the disconnects to the meter base? I'm getting ready to install the same setup at my house but would like it more compact.
 
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OH_Varmntr

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Due to the depth differences between the meter and breaker enclosures, you'll have to install what is called a meter offset between the enclosures since the center lines of the conduit knockouts are not inline with each other. That is what you see in the above pics. Otherwise you'll have to shim the breaker enclosures out so the conduit knockouts will be properly aligned.

Added: The enclosures are spaced 5 5/8" apart. You could get them another inch closer by cutting the conduit piece between the meter offset and the threaded box adapter an inch shorter than what I did so the fittings would mate up to each other.

Here's a shot of the offset from the underside, showing the necessity of it.
Untitled by B.Shuman, on Flickr
 
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OH_Varmntr

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Thank you it's been a while since I started planning this to where I am now.

I had Morton quote me and although a friend of mine had one built by them early this year and it's a beautiful building, I could almost have my builder build 2 of them for what Morton wanted. This isn't a business and I won't be making any money out of it so I can't justify to increase in price.

I'm in NW Ohio and the builder is a local guy I came across while looking for other quotes. My neighbor has had multiple buildings built by Cleary and they are nice but I never got in contact with them after I found my current builder. Lester was also on my mind but honestly I was a little scared after seeing your thread!

My builder is coming out tomorrow morning to finalize some plans.
 
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OH_Varmntr

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I was outside deepening some trenches for conduit today and noticed a wet spot in the front yard by the well.

The well pump line that feeds the house loosened up at a previously made splice. I'll take some pics of the mess but it looks like there previously was a shallow well pump there and instead of running new line from the new well straight to the house, they spliced into this line for some odd reason. The tee in the line isn't leaking, rather it's the STEEL FITTINGS they used to place a valve at some point or another. Frost proof spigot or ??? This one still has me baffled. :headscrat :rant:

The POCO is coming out tomorrow morning to mark the trench and placement of the transformer. I'd like to have had my trenches done and conduit ready so when they place the transformer they can wire it up to the meter base. That way when they return to transfer power it won't take as long.

Looks like I'll be renting a trencher Saturday morning.
 
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OH_Varmntr

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Thank you! I'll be so much happier once it's to the same stage of progress as your build.

I'm trenching for the new pad mounted transformer Monday. Of course I waited until the last day to reserve a trencher and they're all reserved for the weekend already. Once the service has been switched I'll start hauling slag for the driveway since the old power poles being removed will open up the space needed for the drive.

I work at a steel mill and the mill generates slag as a by-product of the manufacturing process. It is then offered in different grind sizes as an aggregate and sold for road base, berms, driveway fill, etc...and is 25% what crushed limestone costs. It never breaks down like limestone either. I will haul it with my dump trailer about 7 tons at a time.
 
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motodad224

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barnee said:
Is that the closest you can get the disconnects to the meter base? I'm getting ready to install the same setup at my house but would like it more compact.
Click to expand...

Or you could use a meter combo like this
 

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OH_Varmntr

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Primary is being trenched in from the road. Where the POCO truck is sitting is where the old house-trailer sat. Hence the location of the transformer pole.

7,200 volts on the primary
Untitled
 
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OH_Varmntr

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Thanks I can finally get going on the driveway now.

Ahhh I'm having image posting problems. I'll get it figured out.
 
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OH_Varmntr

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Whoops, got a little ahead of myself posting pics.

Transformer terminations
36284039672_5e19da0a42_b.jpg


Digging for the riser
36315229431_e20eb354b8_b.jpg
[/url]

Then after they set the transformer on the riser, made their terminations and back-filled
36406734196_fe9dbcca26_b.jpg
 
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OH_Varmntr

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Builder came out today to drop off the drawings to make sure everything looked good.

Wife and I took the boy to Menards to order the building. Wasn't as easy as it sounded but it got done. The computer program didn't like the 4' OC trusses on anything wider than 40' so we had to get a truss engineer involved for a custom quote. Also it's more of a standard building to build it 64' long so the final dimensions on the building will be 48x64 with 14'6" sidewalls. I'm happy with that. All in all it will be a more solidly built building for the little extra it will cost in the long run.

Upgraded the OH doors to their 5-Star 2" thick polyurethane-insulation R-19 doors in gray color. Also getting the heavy duty hinges and 54" high-lift door tracks.

Colors will be light gray for the wall siding and soffit vents, charcoal gray for the 36" wainscoting, roof and the rest of the trim.

Looks like beginning of September is when the building is estimated to be ready for shipment.

I'm a little excited to say the least! Oh and did I mention they had their 11% off everything sale going on? So yea I'm a bit excited to get my rebates in the mail too!
 
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OH_Varmntr

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Also as a side note, the manufacturing division of Menards, Midwest Manufacturing, has a plant about 30 minutes from my house. If I recall correctly they roll steel, build trusses, manufacture the laminated posts and other engineered lumber and do concrete work out of that site as well.

The steel mill I work for makes and paints the steel the local Midwest Manufacturing plant buys so it's pretty awesome to be able to buy finished goods my steel goes into making.
 
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OH_Varmntr

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It is indeed. The standing seam roof I put on my attached garage last year after installing attic trusses was also from my mill. A lot of local builders and steel roof/siding rollers use it.

Gotta keep that demand for good ol' American steel up or the Chinese import steel will elbow its way in and that's bad for business!
 
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OH_Varmntr

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The POCO came out last week and finished the service switch over and dropped the poles. Yet again, the boss man was making sure they were terminating correctly.
Untitled

I've started digging my drive for the shop that branches off my drive to the house. Shooting for 8" depth, then I'll lay down geotextile fabric to keep the clay silt from permeating my base rock. Shooting for a depth of around 10" final driveway thickness. I tilled up the topsoil and spread it around some low spots in the front yard and I still have more to go.
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I also ordered my 36" exhaust fan so it will be here in time for the build. Much easier to do this as we build than to add it later. Also getting the galvanized hood for it. This is a 3-phase unit that will be run by a 230v single-phase input to 230v three-phase output VFD since 10,000CFM is a bit of overkill for the shop. This way I'll be able to slow it way down or really crank it up when needed. These VFD's can be found for ~$100 used on ebay. I'll be installing an electric shutter operator so I can reverse the direction of the fan.
https://www.industrialfansdirect.com/products/vf36dm3cf
 
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OH_Varmntr

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After 38.5 tons of slag from the mill today I have the base aggregate in and one load of the top.

These are the screens used to separate the aggregate at the plant.
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Getting loaded.
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Piles of aggregate with the crawler crane in the background that is used to break up the slag into more manageable pieces. It has a magnet that picks up a large wrecking ball and drops it with a muffled thud.
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100' of driveway has been lined and base aggregate is down. The last load I hauled today was the top agg and I spread that where the drives meet for a transition. Once the building is erected I'll finish the drive and approach to the building.
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The 2.5x0 base agg.
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The 1x0 top agg.
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OH_Varmntr

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Hauled another 36.75 tons of the 1x0 to top the drive off.

Yesterday all of my building materials minus the garage doors were delivered. One of my custom doors was damaged in shipment so they're replacing it for me.

Builder should be out Monday to start the site prep.

Excited!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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OH_Varmntr

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Poles all staged and ready to go. Tomorrow we will be setting the poles and getting things ready for setting trusses on Monday. It's so weird how the site doesn't look that big, but I'm betting that will change once some dimension is given with the framework.

https://flic.kr/p/YrdXN7
 
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DirtyMerty

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It is crazy how deceiving the pad can look. I just took down my 32x48 barn and the pad is still there and as I walk around it I'm wondering how I fit all my **** in there. Walls up, completely different
 
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OH_Varmntr

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DirtyMerty, I can usually visualize thing fairly well, but had a hard time seeing it. But man the height gave it perspective for sure.

Purlins going on today.
Untitled

Check back later!
 
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OH_Varmntr

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Standard I believe is what the prints called for.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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OH_Varmntr

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Thanks LXCam!

Ran into a bit of a snag today. Nothing major, it's just that Menard's must not have accomodated the 10x10 OHD when figuring out how many 2x8x16' truss headers I needed. So I took a buddy of mine that helped us today out for dinner and grabbed a few more headers from Menards.

Pretty good progress, it's really starting to look sizeable, especially with the skid steer parked inside! I've got work the next 6 days so I won't see the builder this week, and even worse I won't be able to help him out. I really like the fact that he's okay with me helping on the build.
Untitled
 
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OH_Varmntr

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The weather turned for the worst so setting trusses is postponed until next Monday. In the meantime, other framing and possibly wainscotting will be worked on.

I ordered 16' of Polylok trench drain and LED lighting for the shop.

From one of the lighting threads, these lights were recommended for a 40x56 shop for 106 fc at 30" work height, but should work fine in mine at a slightly reduced intensity. I ordered 20 of them, which will be cheaper in the long run considering I would need 60 of the 4' LED ready florescent fixtures. I'd much rather wire 20 fixtures than 60. :D
 
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