Circle 41

[PASSMORE]

As I have lurked, I have pickd up on the tip to 'name' the structure, so in lieu of something fancy schmancy, I just labeled it with our livestock brand.

Some background...

This structure was originally designed to house and service our vehicles, trailers, tractors, etc. as well as to be a general shop with both metal and wood areas w/room to hang out and have a drink... Also, it is to serve as a harbor point for my wayward motorcycling buddies so it would include a locker room of sorts where you can get yerself clean, yer clothes clean, and drop the kids off at the pool. Adjacent to this locker room is the weight room so I shant wake the missus with my penchant for Metallica or Jay-Z pumped up loud @ 5am (once we get the casa built). Finally, we had some space in the rafters above said locker room, weight room, and metal/wood areas that we thought we would frame out to use as a guest house/future office/bowling alley/home for wayward motorcyclist/you get the idea...

Well... Our plans have changed somewhat seein' as we only like to do things once (and do it right) and that I am a broke ******* right now we have put off the construction of our home for a time and transformed the upstairs portion into our primary residence until we recoup from this monetary hemmoraging.

Let's get to the facts now:

Fact #1 - my wife is the best in the world as she is fully on board w/getting the 'men's den' built prior to the 'hen's nest'. Practically, the shop will be awfully handy as we delve into the casa construction in the future and she gets this

The basic layout is this (early rendition and much has changed - plans go to permits on Monday) so you get an idea of where we are going with this. Foot print is 50x100 w/a 40x15 'side shed'. The residence upstairs is approximately 2000 sq ft.

We laid road, scraped/leveled/compacted the pads for the house and the shop.

Roadway to the casa/shop pads in place - temporary housing on the left in the second picture.

A first class co-pilot for the water truck is very important to proper water distribution ya know...

Compacted barn pad

Don't forget the ever important septic tank for all the beer whiz!

We got a tad of a false start last spring (mom had a stroke so progress was halted till now), but here you see the foundation being laid out...

The well and 900 gallon tanks (with us in the background working on the transformer pad). We are bringing in 3 phase power going to an 800 amp panel.

We had to run close to a mile of 4" Schedule 40 conduit for the electric and the same distance of 2" for the telecom. Electric company spec'd a 2' wide x 5' deep trench, so given the distance we brought in this...

Which did this...

Thereafter we laid lots of this...

Rambling a bit now...

roofing will be this...

I got a call from my electrical supplier saying my switchgear is in, so more photos to come...

I will also post final plans when I get them later this week.


To the founder and members of this site - thanks! Terrific site!!! I am looking forward to tapping this base of knowledge as I go forward...

 

[Itzkwik]

Just one word for ya, DAYUM!!!
Welcome to the site. Keep the pics coming.

 

[jhchoppers]

Awsome.... Are you my Dad ? I have been looking for you!

 

[PASSMORE]

Awsome.... Are you my Dad ? I have been looking for you!

Son! I knew I would find you!

I have been searching for you to come provide free labor! You are skilled right?

 

[73survivor]

Son! I knew I would find you!

I have been searching for you to come provide free labor! You are skilled right?

Good one PASSMORE, good one.

 

[DynoDave]

What a monster place! Thanks for sharing your build with us.

 

[JMURiz]

Think it'll be big enough, haha. Of course it is! Nice looking set of plans, everything nicely laid out.

 

[REFLEXX]

You must live in heaven! I can't flush witout my neighbors complaining about noise. That's a niec buffer zone between you and the people next door.

Keep the pics coming!

 

[89vert]

Wow....I'm almost speechless....

 

[Down Under Bloke]

Yep everything is bigger in the USA

 

[PASSMORE]

You must live in heaven! I can't flush witout my neighbors complaining about noise. That's a niec buffer zone between you and the people next door.

Keep the pics coming!

We do have a fairly nice buffer with 82 acres, however all the land you see in these photos is not ours. Our neighbor to the west is between a 1/4 and a 1/2 mile away - terrific folks! In fact, all of our neighbors are really great and most are here to preserve their 'elbow room'.

It has been an adventure thus far to take it from a raw piece of land on toward what we have envisioned.

More updates when the final plans come in from the engineer and architect.

 

[W-Cummins]

Looks like a great start!
50'X100', live in apartment and 800 amps of 3 phase, did you go to the Cummins school of building??

William....

 

[FarmerSid]

That must a cost a mint to run the hydo in that far.

 

[PASSMORE]

That must a cost a mint to run the hydo in that far.

"hydo"?

 

[BoCRon]

Wow!!!
Great layout and what a great set-up you'll have. I can't wait to see more pics as the project moves forward.
Annette

 

[PASSMORE]

Well, I picked up the switch gear today. Puckered me a bit w/the thing being so tall and top heavy (98" tall by about 6' wide and 1800ish lbs). You know you have strapped well to the flatbed, but still a bit nervous envisioning the thing tumbling off in a turn or off the forklift when I got back to my place - either would have been one heck of an expensive 'accident'

I will shoot some photos of the plans and the box tomorrow.

 

[Der Bugmeister]

Looks like a great start!
50'X100', live in apartment and 800 amps of 3 phase, did you go to the Cummins school of building??

William....

I was actually starting to wonder if you were related, or something...

 

[wilbilt]

PASSMORE, that is truly an impressive undertaking.

82 acres is pretty adequate for elbow room, I'd say. I'm about an hour north of you on a half acre of swampland amongst the rice fields and mosquitos...

My Metallica competes with the Mariachi music on the weekends...

 

[cdrewferd]

That's going to be an amazing place. I can't wait for more pics.

 

[PASSMORE]

Final plans...

Howdy,

I took some photos of the final set of plans. Sorry for the 'photos', but I am a computer dummy sometimes so I am not aware of how to take shots from my screen (AutoCad) and convert them to something I can host, then post . So, photos you get...

 

[wrigh003]

That's a heck of a structure, there. And this part comes first, house later? Well done!

 

[6567GTO]

Give your wife an extra special big kiss and hug tonight for being a saint!
Awesome project.

 

[Matt2point4]

That's enormous, I can't wait to see the photos of the progress!

 

[PASSMORE]

To be honest, it all started out much more modestly... We planned on doing the 50x100' with the trusses being done in a fashion that could accomodate future uses such as an office for us. Nothing more, w/the intent being that we would build the house pronto.

Well, plans change... Upon further evaluation we decided we would finish out the upstairs of the 'barn' and live their till we recuperated from the financial bleeding, save some duckets and hopefully build the home someday on cash.

Sooo, the upstair living space started out around 1200 sq ' but then as we navigated the engineering challenges, we ended up around 2000 sq '. This is good. Costs more, but also gives us a place that accomodates w/more than we need (guest room, office, etc) so we have no need, nor any rush to build the future home.

What am I learning? Plans change... Roll w/it and have a fantastic wife to roll with you

More to come...

Switchgear should be installed next week. Thanks for coming along with me on this and for those that are, please feel free to critique and suggest.

 

[SCOOTER]

To be honest, it all started out much more modestly... .


What am I learning? Plans change... Roll w/it and have a fantastic wife to roll with you

More to come...

.

That about sums it up right there............all-tho mine is a bit modest..at only 28x36....

 

[PAToyota]

To be honest, it all started out much more modestly...

I can identify with that! I started out thinking about building a garden shed for the lawnmower and yard tools... Then decided I could easily add some space to get the woodworking tools out of the basement... Then decided I might as well do a garage with the cars on one side and the yard and wood tools on the other... Then ended up with over 1500 s.f. with cars, metalworking tools, Bobcat, and stuff downstairs and woodworking shop upstairs...

 

[PASSMORE]

Finished setting the final box for telephone wiring over the weekend (still need to run the conduit to/and set the tele panel).

As soon as we run the secondary conduit to the switchgear/backfill the ditches, we'll be ready to rock the transformer pad, set the pad, and the transformer

Then.... We can set this.

That's it for progress right now. Racing the weather to get the foundation poured now.

 

[PASSMORE]

Just a quick update and some random thoughts as I am progressing along...

We are on the schedule for electricity in early February. I hosed up a bit on spec'ing the switchgear - no provision for 2 meters (one for ag rate electricity). I am looking into a few different solutions and trying to figure a clean solution.

Our plans are now at the county and we just got the first comments back. No big issues aside from the county only allowing a max of 3000 sq ft of garage to be attached to a residence. The plan reviewer suggested just putting a wall to divide and satisfy the code, but I do not want a wall, nor do I want to deal with tearing it out after we get our CO. Sooooo, I am looking for some creative solutions to this as well - might label it 'covered patio'????

 

[twostory]

The plan reviewer suggested just putting a wall to divide and satisfy the code, but I do not want a wall, nor do I want to deal with tearing it out after we get our CO. Sooooo, I am looking for some creative solutions to this as well - might label it 'covered patio'????

If the "plan reviewer" suggested just putting a wall in to solve the problem, DO IT. An internal non-load bearing wall will take 1 hour to built, just seath the 2x4s with osb and call it done. After my hassle with getting a building permit, a quick build wall, that I remove later is a easy solution.

The planning people have a narrow mindset that is not easily changed, just do what they suggest if it will get you towards you goal.

 

[bmwpower]

800A of 3 phase? Why so much power? Is the cost differential worth going for 800A instead of the next step down (lol...not even sure what that would be)? Just seems like a big expense that might not be warranted.

Three phase sure would be nice though....

 

[cdrewferd]

WOW, that's going to be an amazing place when you get done. Don't forget to update with pics as we like pics.

 

[1320stang]

800A of 3 phase? Why so much power? Is the cost differential worth going for 800A instead of the next step down (lol...not even sure what that would be)?

I'm guessing for the 'grow lights". LOL!!

 

[PASSMORE]

Pics for ya'll...

Setting the switchgear

in place

In other updates, I have all but wrapped up walking our plans through all the checks (water resource board, environmental, etc, etc, etc...) and am only waiting for my architect and engineer to respond to the very few comments that were returned to us.

Concrete will be flowing soon - thanks to mother nature for an unusually dry winter

 

[PASSMORE]

If the "plan reviewer" suggested just putting a wall in to solve the problem, DO IT. An internal non-load bearing wall will take 1 hour to built, just seath the 2x4s with osb and call it done. After my hassle with getting a building permit, a quick build wall, that I remove later is a easy solution.

The planning people have a narrow mindset that is not easily changed, just do what they suggest if it will get you towards you goal.

2story - I think you and I may be polar opposites!

When someone may not see things the same or says no, rather than go with it, I ask "why"...

In this case it paid off.

Building a wall only to tear it down was unacceptable to me for a few reasons. One was that I did not want to, nor did I see the need regardless of of the code he was spouting. Second, there seemed no reason to incur the cost (50' of wall with 1hr fire rated drywall, etc), and finally, I did not want to patch all those ugly holes in my nice new floor after I tore it down. Besides, it would be an 'illegal' building then...

Soooo..... I ask why. Why was it written this way and what was the root/spirit of the code? I found out it fire and zoning related (more to the residential neighborhood side). Well, we are drywalling to a 1hr fire rating and sprinklering the garage area regardless, so I felt we had that issue covered. Next I delved into the zoning issue. My plan reviewer suggested I call the chief of inspections for our county. after understanding our project and location as well as our use (Ag zoning and setbacks/neighbors are not and issue - us will be vehicle/mech related and not animals) he came up with a solution for me to try and get the planning department to pass off on (they have final say on the matter). The solution was to get a mixed use permit allowing for an Ag building to be attached to a residence with the provision that the same fire considerations be followed. The planning department saw no issue with it so PRESTO! No changes, we build as planned.

Generally there is always another way to skin a cat

That said, I did 'give' on classifying the weight/storage/bathroom area that is conditioned as dwelling space. I could have argued it on several points, but at the end of the day it is only a $5k hit on impact fees and the space will then be legal should I ever make changes and have it set up to swell in.

 

[PASSMORE]

800A of 3 phase? Why so much power? Is the cost differential worth going for 800A instead of the next step down (lol...not even sure what that would be)? Just seems like a big expense that might not be warranted.

Three phase sure would be nice though....

Beamer Power - yes and no...

3 phase had to come in for the pumps (current is a 3 phase 15 hp and the upcoming one is 40hp) - we could not get around it. I prefer to have my utilities clustered as much as possible rather than boxes all over our property (we really do not have that much property where it is unrealistic to do this).

The three phase also allows us to run more efficient aerators for our ponds which is nice as well as the option to aquire compressors/lathes/etc for 3 phase as well.

As far as the switchgear go back to the idea of the utilities all in one place and then take a look at the site plan. Our future home is roughly slated for 400 amps which will be run off this panel as well. So, while we an excess of capacity at the moment, we will slowly consume it over the years as we continue the development of the property (possible stable/ranch hand house on the table in the future as well - powered off the same panel). Cost begins to get get negligible between 600 and 800 amp panels and the long term plans that might require an upgrade. We are hoping that money spent up front in this case is money saved in the long run.

BTW, nice garage you have put together

 

[twostory]

2story - I think you and I may be polar opposites!

The solution was to get a mixed use permit allowing for an Ag building to be attached to a residence with the provision that the same fire considerations be followed. The planning department saw no issue with it so PRESTO! No changes, we build as planned.

Generally there is always another way to skin a cat

Glad to hear it all worked out.

After taking over 3 years to get my building permit. I tried getting around their rules (mostly an environmental rule issue involving "impervious surface") So after that hassle I would just do whatever the planning & dev. would suggest/accept. (provided it was not a major deal)

BTW, after my garage is finished, the impervious surface area on my property will be exactly the same sq ft area as before. But my drive way is now two thin strips and my neighbor is a few thousand $ richer after he sold me impervious surface credits off his empty lot.

Goodluck building...

 

[PASSMORE]

Glad to hear it all worked out.

After taking over 3 years to get my building permit. I tried getting around their rules (mostly an environmental rule issue involving "impervious surface") So after that hassle I would just do whatever the planning & dev. would suggest/accept. (provided it was not a major deal)

BTW, after my garage is finished, the impervious surface area on my property will be exactly the same sq ft area as before. But my drive way is now two thin strips and my neighbor is a few thousand $ richer after he sold me impervious surface credits off his empty lot.

Goodluck building...

I feel your pain re: the different hoops one has to jump through for a permit. Had I not laid the ground work prior to now, there is no way that I would be able to get our permit done in 4 weeks (estimate and looking accurate now). Sacramento county is also excellent to work with.

The environmental aspect at times seems like nothing more than a way to fun those in the environmental industry. Prior to breaking ground, we had to complete an environmental survey including a search for indian artifacts, wetlands, Swainson's hawk, burrowing owl, oaks, wetlands, etc, etc, etc... This all translates to about $6k to a bunch of folks to stomp around our property, eat granola bars, and plug a few things into a boilerplate report. No offense to those who do it, but in our case it was an utter waste of money.

 

[ersatzs2]

I feel your pain re: the different hoops one has to jump through for a permit. <snip> Prior to breaking ground, we had to complete an environmental survey including a search for indian artifacts, wetlands, Swainson's hawk, burrowing owl, oaks, wetlands, etc, etc, etc...

I guess misery loves company, because I find it encouraging to hear this. After taking ~3yrs and ~$15K to get my project permitted in my 250 yr old Northeastern University town, I had been looking with envy on what I imagined was the easy development of the untamed land to the west... I gotta confess as painful as it was, no one asked us about Indian burial grounds or exotic wildfowl here in NJ...

 

[W-Cummins]

Just a quick update and some random thoughts as I am progressing along...

We are on the schedule for electricity in early February. I hosed up a bit on spec'ing the switchgear - no provision for 2 meters (one for ag rate electricity). I am looking into a few different solutions and trying to figure a clean solution.

Looks like your moving ahead!

As for the metering I assume that your running @ 240V and your all reddy CT metered on the 1st base you have installed. If so just add another meter section to the panel to hold the meter head and another set of CT's and pass all the ag stuff through them. I guess that you could also run all the non ag stuff through the CT's if your running a lot of ag circuits ( I also assume that your going to have a sub panel in the shop)??

William.....

 

[wilbilt]

We recently installed a very similar panel at work. It powers an entire elementary school...LOL

Did PG&E require you to provide a phone line at the meter? They wouldn't power us up until we ran a 4-pair out there. Supposedly it is so they can read the meter remotely, but the school has been open since August and the line still isn't connected to anything.