45' x 74' Coach Garage

[stevewi]

I have enjoyed all the different types of garages, shops, and ideas that have been posted on this forum. This is the building that I designed, and at this point it is still a work in progress.

I started planning this building shortly after purchasing 5 acres in Aug 2007.
Despite my best intentions of doing everything as correct and as inexpensive as possible I had a challenging time with both.
I've never actually designed a building before and the concept of what I wanted to do (raise a quonset up on wood 6X6's 3' off the ground) was thought of by the 2 engineers I talked to as being next to impossible (actually "nuts" was the term they used).
Concrete foundation was suggested as being a possibility, which I turned down (I thought the cost of concrete was "nuts").

Keeping their educated advice in mind I forged ahead with my idea of using wood anyway.

The quonset that I bought was assembled at one time on the ground but only half was ever put up.
The guy that originally owned it got half of it up (23 out of 46 arches) and it collapsed (he didn't follow the directions).
The next guy bought what hadn't been ruined (the remaining 23 arches) to use as an airplane hanger. But decided not to use it.
I bought it and decided to expand on it.
The quonset is 45' wide X 48' long X 17' tall.

Anyway the quonset was what I decided to design my building around.
Why would anybody want a quonset you might ask............this may clear it up..............I paid $2000 for the quonset and also included a complete rails and hangers sliding door assembly (packed it into my 7'X16' trailer), so I figured I was already within my "as inexpensive as possible" plan.

These are the pics of the property before anything got started, I was establishing where to position the building and roughly where the horse shoe driveway would go. I needed to have plenty of room so I could maneuver a 34' Coach with a 8'X20" trailer attached (about 58' total length) in and out as well as back into the building.
The drive ended up being about 250'.

The van is parked at the south exit, the north entrance and building will be to the left of the van (pic is facing east).



The north entrance will go in here and the building will be to the left.



Looking at the south entrance (facing east).



The drive will go thru here and when it's done you would be looking at the front of the building about 150' straight thru (looking north and bldg will face south).



This overview about a year later gives you an idea of what I'm planning to have happen.

 

[stevewi]

I am now at the beginning of April 2008 and I have things as thought out as I'm going to get at this point.

First thing I realize is that there is no way that I am capable of actually building this alone. I can scheme and design all I want but actually climbing around and banging away on this myself just ain't gonna happen.

I have done business with a few of the guys in the Amish community about 45 mi. away and so I started talking to them to see if they knew of a crew that would be willing to help me and I was successful. After going over what I had drawn up they told me they could start in about 4-6 weeks.

Went to the county to get a permit. I had researched the codes and setbacks etc. but I wasn't expecting to get a permit without changes to my plans (remember some over-educated pros called them "nuts").

After a lengthy explanation of all that I had planned to do I got the permit with no problem, the only thing that I wasn't aware of was that I needed 4X14 concrete pads (cookies) for my posts, I had been thinking 3X12.

Now I need to get serious about clearing the site!! So the next couple weeks my wife and I moved saplings out of the way and cut down 70' tall jack pines as well as some oak trees.



Cleared out dead ones first.



Then the bigger ones.



The stakes are approx where the building will go to my right and the drive entrance will be straight ahead of me.



Sometimes a wedge and a PERSUADER are necessary!!



Getting messy again.



The Ariens will make short work of it.



Getting more out.



The Ariens hauls!!!



This is the brush carrier I made out of some junk 2X4's and shock cords.



The tractor is under there, I should have rigged up overhead mirrors to see where I was going.



The building is goin' in here.



Time to relax!!!

 

[stevewi]

It was blatantly obvious as I was clearing the trees out, that my tractor and Johnny Bucket Junior were not going to level the site and clear out the stumps.....rats!

I drove up the main highway a few miles and stopped at the first excavation place I found. The guy came out the next day (Saturday) and we discussed what we needed done to get things rolling. They would be able to start in a week to pull 50+ stumps, bring in a load of breaker for the north entrance and approach to the building, bring in fill, and level.

I was told that they would start at about 9am Monday...............they lied...........they had all the stumps out and loaded before 9am and were already ripping off the top soil and had breaker dropped at the entrance, these guys were fast!!!

It took 16 quad truckloads of sand fill by the time it was done!!!



The site is ready.



The deer used the pad for volleyball tournaments and square dancing nightly!



I had to get the tractor out and touch things up you know!!!

 

[stevewi]

There were 23 perimeter post holes to start with, all 4' deep and wide enough for a 4" x 14" concrete pad (cookie). I dug all the perimeter holes using only a post hole digger.


Well I do have this one hole here that I used my ice auger with a 10" attachment and opened it up wider with a post hole digger. But only this one hole, the rest were all done without the auger................. really, no kiddin'.



Actually all of the holes were dug with the auger and post hole digger as well as a pail with a rope attached to the handle to lift the sand scraped from the sides (to make them 15" wide for the cookies) out of the holes. It was in the 90 degree temp when I had to get this done (I left a lot of me on the sand if ya know what I mean).

It's really sad, but I've drilled more holes in earth than in the ice with my auger, some day this has gotta change.

 

[stevewi]

The 6x6's on the sides are the "piers" that the shelf for the quonset will sit on, they will be about 3' high when complete.
The 6x6's in the center will be cut off at floor girder level, the girders (2x10's) will run across from each 6x6 on the sides and attached to each of the shortened 6x6's (5 of them on each girder) in the center as they stretch across what will be the floor area.
The outer side 6x6x3's (6x6x7 actual size, 4' in the ground 3' out) will all be connected with 2x12's and everthing is bolted and/or lag bolted together.



The cookies in the center holes are a little smaller 3"x12". We were very careful not to put the cookies in the holes with the wrong side up (this might have gotten screwed up a coupla times).



One of the 2x10 girders running side to side.



Here you can see the 2x12's attached to the 6x6's around the perimeter.



The shelf on the sides for the quonset base connector and the joists are in place for the floor.

 

[stevewi]

This is the floor in place and the base connector attached to the shelf.



This is how the girders are attached to the short 6x6's. The center of the floor is cut back to accomodate the length of the coach that will be parked there.



This is how the 2x12's are on the 6x6's outer perimeter. There you can also see how I placed the girders that run all the way across the floor and attach to the 6x6 shelf piers each side, each girder is also attached to the short 6x6s under the floor (5 - 6x6's on each girder).

Each outer 6x6 shelf pier has a 12" long 2x8 fastened on the bottom inside of the post (that is buried forming an upside down "T" shape). You can't see it in the pics because the poles were buried before I took the pics but the reasoning for this is to retard any outward movement of the base of the quonset on the sides. My thinking was that if the sides had a tendency to push out then the bottom of the 6x6 piers would push toward the center and this should prevent that from happening. Actually if this was to happen the entire floor with all 2x10 girders and some 4' deep 6x6's would all have to heave upwards and out of the ground...........I'm relatively confident that this ain't gonna happen!!!



Here the base connector for the quonset has been bolted to the shelf.



I also fastened 1/4" wire mesh fabric 12"-15" wide all around the 2x12's on the perimeter under the sand to stop digging critters from gaining entry under the building.

 

[stevewi]

The quonset, as you recall had been laid on the ground by the original owner and when the part he tried to put up collapsed the arches that I got had been taken apart and stacked dirty. So every single arch piece was scrubbed and pressure washed prior to being laid out for assembly.



We assembled the arches as half arches rather than trying to hoist a full arch up into position.



The first arch had to go up as a full arch though. So with scaffold assembled and ropes gathered here we go!



This first one only took almost 2 hours to get up (simple!) and in the process bent about 1/3rd of the way up in an inverted fashion!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I thought the whole thing was toast!!



I was ready to give up and turn it into a water slide. But we screwed around with it for another couple minutes and I looked back up to where it had bent and it had at some point straightened itself out with no sign of any disaster having happened!!



We finally got it tied in place (between the trees) and rested it on the scaffold, hoped for no wind and called it a day.



That's my son on top of the scaffold...........if it hadn't been for him I'm not sure this would have been accomplished. I really needed the support of a "never give up" kind of guy; and he will not give up on anything!

 

[stevewi]

OK now we're really gonna slap this thing together! Well, not quite, it's still slow going getting the hang of putting them up and about the time you get on a roll you have to stop and pull the arches together or bring it back to square (lucky we had the trees to tie and position the arches with the ropes).



Here is a half arch going up and into the base connector.



Here is the last one going into place!!



Now all that's left to do is put the rest of all the bolts and nuts on..............and then tighten all FIVE THOUSAND OF THEM (as in 5000)!



It's beginning to take shape.



From the road.

 

[stevewi]

This is the front pole building portion. I designed it moniter style with 3 bay doors (2 - 10x9 & 1 - 13x14). The pole building will be covered with ship lap log siding with a metal roof. I got 3 skylights for $20 each and 4 - 3'x6' windows for $25 each so I incorporated all but 2 of the windows into this part of the building. I picked up a service door for $90 at Home Depot and used that also. Here are the pics......
Oh yea, more holes!!



More of the 1/4" wire fabric to keep unwanted critters out.



Skylights are framed in.



I added the port windows over the doors, I thought it added dimension to the design and you can always use the light they provide.



I put tongue and groove car siding on the top and soffits. I wanted the quonset part 1' higher than it is but codes limit it to 20' so the sunburst type pattern on top didn't show up as nice as I'd hoped, as it's hidden by the roof.



You can see that I have the center section out 4' farther than the lean-to sides. I liked the dimension that it added and I wanted more length in the center for the coach storage.

 

[Dragster Racer]

Looking good. Man, you really got a heap of work done with that size of tractor. Way to go!

 

[uniongoon]

Interesting and bold. I hope to see you here over time to see how it stands up.

 

[Old61]

Looking good! Keep the updates coming!

 

[cyclopsblown34]

Way cool build, I'm subscribed.

 

[RbrtAWhyt]

Can you park anything in the quanson hut?

 

[Kevin54]

With a wood floor that close to the ground, are you not having worries about termites or any moisture? I can see if it was all treated lumber, but the flooring looks just like standard OSB and the joist look like standard non treated joist. That sounds like the perfect dining spot for the termites

 

[stevewi]

Thanks for the interest and compliments.

The little tractor is over 1600 lbs when I have all the weights and attachments on and it's 20 HP with a 3 point hitch and PTO's front, center and back. They aren't made like that anymore in this size.

You could park a vehicle on the glued OSB floor (I drove a van up on it) and I've had the tractor on it many times, but it isn't intended to be used for vehicle storage. I will be putting a shop area in the back quonset portion as well as misc storage. The 3 bays, which are intended to be used for vehicles, 2 (under the lean-to sections) are 13' x 22' each and the center bay is 19' x 32' for the coach ( it will over-hang the wood floor 5' or 9' depending on if you drive it in or back it in).

The girders and posts that are in contact with the ground (sand) are treated as in all pole building construction. The joists are white construction 2X's and OSB isn't treated as was mentioned. Termite infestation doesn't concern me one bit (there aren't any here). Moisture hasn't been any problem either. The sand stays dry under the building, if you were to dig down quite a ways it is damp but nothing that will create any problem at all with the joists which are not in contact with the sand. The girders, that the joists sit on, are in contact with the sand and are dry as well. If there ever is an irreparable problem you could rip it all up and replace the floor several times and still be less money than concrete, or rip it up and pour concrete if you wanted that type of floor..............I prefer a wood floor for the shop area.

I hope to get the next stage posted soon, thanks again.

 

[autoclassicnut]

Great job... I think mine had 9500 bolts and nuts... I know what you went through...

 

[stevewi]

Here you will notice the windows between each 6x6 pier on the quonset, I wanted them for light and ventilation. I know that some of them may be blocked occasionally because of things getting stacked along the inside wall so that's why I put them in between every post, now I don't have to be concerned about a few of them being inaccessable once in a while. I don't regret doing this one bit, it was one of those last minute ideas and I'm real happy with how they worked out!



Siding is taking shape. All the car siding (soffits) was stained before it was cut to fit and before it was fastened all the ends were stained as we went along.



This is how I connected the two structures together, it worked out better than I anticipated.

 

[stevewi]

Great job... I think mine had 9500 bolts and nuts... I know what you went through...

I think this used just shy of 6000......................you really gotta appreciate 18V drills!!!!

 

[stevewi]

All the T&G car siding, ship lap log siding and rough sawn 1x12's & 1x3's were purchased from a saw mill that was very close to the site. The back of the quonset I covered with rough sawn board on batten. My wife and I stained everything before it was fastened and as it was cut and fitted the ends were stained. I used the last of the plate glass windows on the back, but I wanted windows that opened for circulation as well as light and I wanted a sliding glass door rather than just a service door. The day before I framed it in luckily we came across some at a dealer who had exactly what I was looking for. They had been an order that had been canceled a year prior and so the price was better than I'd ever hoped to find ($400) for two double windows and a sliding door, so it was a good deal for all.

All I had to do now was make a decision on the placement of everything at the last minute.

All the boards stained and ready to go.



Framing it in.




I left the area between the windows in the event that I added a wood stove I could run the stack up the outside.

 

[Stargeezer]

Really cool building you dreamed up. I like it. It is different and does a job you needed done.

 

[stevewi]

I decided to use roll up doors as I don't plan on getting serious about heating the pole building section. I also thought that they were a reasonably priced alternative to sectional doors.

However the size of them was a bit daunting to say the least, and they are heavy!

I couldn't find any "pro" who could install them except one who evidently gets away with ripping people off without being called to the carpet or just thought they could insult what little intelligence I have left.

Anyway I luckily was referred to someone who thought he could do it, if I helped, and he had a tractor with a scoop. The scoop didn't quite go high enough but we managed to hike the curtain the rest of the way up with "come-alongs" and everything went pretty smooth. We put the two small ones (10 x 9) in one day and the large one (13 x 14) in the next morning.

 

[autoist]

Overhead Doors did the installation on my 2 roll-up doors.

Nice idea the way the outside flows - & from it, you wouldn't realize it is a wide open space....nice.