Between 705 & 1200 SQ/FT Cliff Mine Rd. My new 28x30 something.

[383 240z]

Well Monday went almost according to plan! I needed to drill 17 holes for the shop and 4 for the gazebo I'm putting in the patio area.

Jumped in the skid steer, pulled out 10 4x4 fence posts, removed a bunch of brick garden walls, back filled the retaining wall and leveled the patio area.

Time invested about an hour. Off to a great start!!

My buddy and I laid out the hole locations, finalized the door sizes and location, put up strings and quadruple checked everything, then painted the ground.

Another hour well spent!!

I dropped the bucket and put the auger on. Next project drill to depth.

Holes #1-6 no issues. Auger ran straight and true, soil was rocky as expected drilled very well. Hole #7 we caught a root, got through it with little actual issue. Holes #9-13 went great. #14 was solid shale. Drill got through it with a little extra down pressure. The auger wasn't bringing up much in the way of spoils so I fired the hose down the hole and made mud, the spoils stuck to the auger and the hole came clean, we hit depth. This repeated on holes #15 and #16.

Another 2 hours in and 16 holes drilled to depth!!!

Sun is starting to go down, but there is only one hole left for the shop. Easy-peasy right??

Wrong!!

Hole #17 I hit something hard! Drill teeth are in great shape, but the drill will not advance past about 10" Max down pressure on the rig, the auger is just spinning like it is on a bearing. I hand dig the spoils, large flat shale deposit. We trying shifting to the left and the right hoping to grab an edge. no luck. At work today I found a hard rock auger that I can borrow, or I will just rent a jack hammer and punch through it. I really hope we don't have to fight like this all the way to full depth!!

 

[Robey5]

So far, so good.


Your handle “383 240z” leads me to believe that you have taken or will have a 350 and stroke it to a 383 and then dropped that stroker into a z-car: is there a story there?

BTW: Findlay ....Ohio?

 

[Jeff95TA]

When I put my deck in, I think I used a hammer drill more than the auger.

 

[383 240z]

So far, so good.


Your handle “383 240z” leads me to believe that you have taken or will have a 350 and stroke it to a 383 and then dropped that stroker into a z-car: is there a story there?

BTW: Findlay ....Ohio?

I used to shove SBC's into small Japanese cars. I had a TPI 350 in my '74 260Z, a 383 TBI stroker fuel and spark managed by Megasquirt with Ford EDIS in my '72 240Z (along with a TON of other mods like a Dana 44m from a 1982 Corvette with one ton half shafts, Willwood brake system with 16"x1.5" rotors at all four corners. I also had a pretty stout carb'ed 350 in my 1988 Mazda RX-7 with a full road race suspension from Ground Control that ran Firehawk GTU in E-mod. Plus a bunch that I built for customers.

When I put my deck in, I think I used a hammer drill more than the auger.

I was fine every where but along that left wall where I had to dig back into the hillside.



Last night between another round of Covid tests (work related) and playin 9-ball I was able to rent a big Hilti jack hammer, clear my obstruction, jump in the skidder, drill another foot, find another rock, jackhammer through it, back to the auger and drill some more.

I was able to get close to my intended depth, but I did not reach it. My thoughts are:
1- It is a line post not a corner
2- The post on either side of it are about 10-12" deeper than prescribed
3- The adjoining posts are only 7' away from the shallow hole.
4- Its sitting on flat stone, no danger of sinking
5- I'm backfilling with crushed limestone, I will spend extra time compacting that hole.
6- If and when that will side gives way some, the post will be pinched horizontally between the spoils and the slab.

I am ok with this post being a bit shallow.

I was able to hit depth without issue on the 4 holes for the gazebo/hot tub area.

I'm dealing with some family issues this weekend so no progress expected until Monday after work.

Not a bad first few days of construction!

 

[383 240z]

In the short break between work and sleep I managed to get one thing done. The big issue was how to move the 20' 6x6's back to the site by myself. How I did the first one was not pretty, nor was it safe. So my process needs re-worked. But progress is progress! Post 1 down. Only 16 more to go. (plus the 4 for the gazebo).

Backfilled with gravel and straight. Now I have something to build off. I doubt anything will happen tonight or tomorrow, but I know I'll be at it Friday after work and the weather looks good for the weekend to be productive.

 

[383 240z]

Well my weekend did not go as planned. Ended up doing a tie rod end and brakes on the girlfriends car, ran a bunch of errands for Mom, went out with friends to celebrate some good news on Friday, picked up my second dose of Covid vax on Sat, but I got some progress to report. The corners are set. Those were rough because I wanted them as close as possible to spec. Turned out pretty decent for doing them by myself.
I'm still pondering how I'm going to lift the trusses up there. Might have to build a jib boom for the skidder, might rent a telescoping forklift.

I also managed to get the posts and headers up for the gazebo project.

Like I said, not a lot of progress, but some!

 

[383 240z]

Well after a few interruptions by real life, I'm back on this project. My car was totaled, a few shake ups at work, a few minor medical things and picking up and customizing my new (to me) pickup.

The posts for the back and side walls are all in, kick boards are going up quickly (should be finished tomorrow).

I made a few errors when I laid out front wall. I drilled for the posts for 16' on center rather than the proper 16' inside to inside for the main door.

My ridge runs front to back. The trusses run parallel to the front wall.

My original plan was (going from left to right) was to sink a post at the corner, them one at 4', at 14', at 18', at 26', and the corner post at 30'. That would give me a 4' gap, a 10' door, a 4' space, and 8' door and a 4' gap to the corner. This is a 30' wall. I was able to use the 4' and the 26' post holes. I'm going to attempt to drill next to the 14' and 18' holes, opening them up some fill them with concrete and set the posts with wet set anchors.

 

[racer-john]

I'm going with the laminated posts

...and your reason is...

 

[383 240z]

...and your reason is...

I have a hard time finding straight, knot free 6"x6"x20' posts. Plus the laminated posts are stronger than the solid equivalent.

 

[racer-john]

Thanks for the quick response. Makes sense.

 

[383 240z]

UPDATE!!!!!

I got a call from the Detective working this case. It turns out my personal low life "contractor" is currently serving time in Portage Co. Ohio for a few small infractions. Upon his release he will be moved to stand trial in Mahoning Co. If found guilt he will serve time there. If not, or after he has served his time, the AG of Allegheny Co. (My AG) will have two Sheriffs deputes waiting to arrest him and bring him to Pennsylvania to face my felony counts. Either way, he will be facing the judge for his actions here in Pa.

 

[Chrisb62]

Good news on paying to society for illegal actions but
unfortunately doubt you will see a dime.

Grew up just up the road in Evans City, Butler County moved south in '79.

 

[383 240z]

Good news on paying to society for illegal actions but
unfortunately doubt you will see a dime.

Grew up just up the road in Evans City, Butler County moved south in '79.

I know I will never see a dime. I just want to look him in the eye and say "I got you" he was taunting me before I got the law involved syaing that the law wont do a thing to him.

I know Evens City pretty well, I lived in Beaver Co, for a long time.

 

[Chrisb62]

Lived behind John’s Bar and Grill later and out on Mars Evans City rd on a small farm before that. Tornados that came thru in 85 took down my father’s buildings.

I fully understand wanting that moment to look him in the eye to say to yourself or him “look at you now” was it worth it.

Your new building is moving along well and wished I still lived up that way to help. I will have to read about the last place as I don’t remember reading it.

 

[383 240z]

Lived behind John’s Bar and Grill later and out on Mars Evans City rd on a small farm before that. Tornados that came thru in 85 took down my father’s buildings.

I fully understand wanting that moment to look him in the eye to say to yourself or him “look at you now” was it worth it.

Your new building is moving along well and wished I still lived up that way to help. I will have to read about the last place as I don’t remember reading it.

It's coming slowly. I'm in heavy construction, I've been pulling 50 hour weeks for about 10 months now. Some nights I just cant find the energy to go swing a hammer for a few hours after work. I did manage to get the header up for the 15' door last night. I rented a man lift and have some friends coming over Saturday. I'm hoping to the the rest of the headers up and if I'm lucky I will be able to get the trusses lifted up. I won't be able to flip and install them, but at least they will be "on" the building.

 

[383 240z]

It's been a hot minute since I've posted any updates, mainly because I haven't had much to share.

I did however hit a major point on Saturday. I got the rim joists up!



I started putting the stringers up. I knock out a couple lengths of 2x4's on the nights I can. I also put a temporary header in for the shop door.

I will swap it out once I pick up the lumber and build a proper beam. My self imposed dead line is to have the roof on by Thanksgiving,
I rented a 35' articulated man lift to get up and put the rim joists on. I have a F-750 with a jib crane on it that I can use to get the trusses up on the building. I plan on renting the man lift again to flip, and set the trusses in place.

 

[383 240z]

I had to have my wisdom teeth pulled on Friday I wasn't allowed to do much on Saturday. My company was kind and gave us Wednesday and Friday off for Thanksgiving, so I decided to burn two days of vacation and put some time in on the shop.

I rented a 7k lb 42' boom tele-handler for Friday. I'll use that to lift the trusses onto the roof. I got all the scrap cleaned up and moved to a burn pile, all the extra height on the posts is cut off. I moved 75 2x4's to the work site today. I got all the grass cut around the jobsite.

I put a couple of 2x6's up on the back wall to act as a safety for the first truss. I was able to get some more of the stringers in place.

I also put in a little time on the hot tub gazebo, I was able to get 4 more rafters up on that.

I have a small to-do list for this week. On Saturday I have a few friends coming over to help with the install of the trusses. My girlfriend has a 15lb pork **** in the brine. She will put in in the smoker to make pulled pork and her famous home made macaroni and cheese for everybody. I'll pick up pastry and danish for everybody to chew on for breakfast.

Hopefully by the end of the weekend, I will have all the stringers, trusses and purlins in place. I have a line on an Amish crew to put the metal on the roof. I was doing some volunteer work at a animal sanctuary last weekend, I was lucky and met a guy who was also volunteering, turns out he is a concrete contractor and wants to bid the floor. I also have another contractor that did my buddies 28x40 garage floor for what I feel is a very fair price.

 

[383 240z]

Major milestone achieved. Trusses are all up! I had some really good friends donate a Saturday to me and we knocked it out. My girl made us a major league dinner of pulled pork, home made Mac and cheese, muffins, fudge, coleslaw, cheesy potatoes, plenty of hot coffee and mulled cider to ward off the chill.

next up I need to finish up the stringers and purlins

 

[383 240z]

RFQ's are out to a few roofing companies. I will have one picked out and hopefully a contract signed before the end of the week. I was hoping to work on the stringers tonight but I'm going after some new seats for my old pick up.

 

[383 240z]

Well the roofing quotes came in bunch higher than I expected. So it looks like I'm heading up on the roof.

I hired a guy to help me by cutting and passing up 2x4's. I ordered up a bucket of 6" screws to attach the purlins. My plan is to build out the eaves and overhangs, put down the drip edge, roof panels and ridge cap.

I know this is the backwards way of doing it, that I am creating more work for myself by coming back in later to do the trim. I just cant afford to lay that much cash out right now.

 

[383 240z]

Scaffolding I borrowed. Please ignore the big dent from a drunk driver who decided to do a hit and run on me on Thanksgiving. She has since been caught (thank you surveillance cameras). I'm still dealing with her insurance company. Side note, state minimum car insurance companies like "The General" are an absolute bear to deal with!!!

 

[racer-john]

Much like 'State Farm".

 

[383 240z]

It figures, I have a week off and its rained 3 days so far. I was able to get a batch of purlins put up while my helper put up some more stringers for the side walls. Nothing worth taking a photo of yet.

 

[383 240z]

I got a few hours of work done between the almost never ending rain.
All the stringers are up! Small milestone reached,

I have the rat tails on the right side completed, along with 3/5's of the purlins for that side.

I think I am going to get the wainscoting ordered this week. I know I didn't get much accomplished with my week off. it has rained 7 of the 9 days, but anytime I can work in 50* weather at the end of December in Pittsburgh, I will take it!!

 

[383 240z]

Work is going full tilt. I am however finding a little time to work on my building. The weather is starting to break here. 1/2 of the purlins are up, a proper header is in for the 15' door. Rain for the next 7 days, big surprise there. I need to pick up another 50 2x4x8's Damn price shot back up on those. Hopefully it will dry up some soon. I want to get up there and knock out the left side of the roof. I want to get the metal ordered ASAP.

 

[383 240z]

Ordered the wainscoting for the building yesterday, I hope to pick up another load of 2x4's tomorrow after work. Had a great weekend of weather, I however had to go out of town for most of it, and when I got home I was informed that the girlfriends car is making, and I quote "a funny squeaky, grindy, woop woop woop noise"

Pads, rotors, calipers, and a wheel bearing.

 

[383 240z]

Got out of work at a decent time yesterday, so the girlfriend and I got some of the wainscoting up before we went for gyros on the bike.

 

[383 240z]

I was able to hang some more house wrap, and even get some siding up last night after work. Hoping to finish this wall, build the corner and finish the back wall tonight. These panels are 7' long, I did this to make hanging the siding by myself easier. As you can see there is not enough room to properly scope out the ladder. I will figure that out when the time comes.

 

[383 240z]

More siding went up last night. All the metal I have is installed. I need to let the war chest build back up.

I also got another 40 2x4's up into the rafters to use for purlins. I'm going to pick up some concrete mix and block to build a small retaining wall this weekend. I can do that during the rain that is coming this weekend.

 

[racer-john]

DID THE "MINE" COLLAPSE?

 

[racer-john]

Bump

 

[383 240z]

Hey guy's haven't been back here in a long time. I missed it.

Update of the build.

Roof is on and complete, Panel is powered!!! The trench is filled, needs grated and smoothed, but there is nothing for me to fall into!

I decided to downsize the door size. I had planned for a 16' wide 12' tall door. I got lucky and fell into a great deal on a 15' x 7'.
So I framed up the open space and installed the door. I'll run steel siding up and over just like the rest of the walls.

Saving up some cash to buy the rest of the siding. Can't wait to say "It's dried in!". Looking at my options for lighting as well, Need to get some lights going to extend the work day. Not having to run cords and having a radio has made all the difference!

 

[NUTTSGT]

Glad to see you back and making progress.

 

[383 240z]

Glad to see you back and making progress.

Thank you Sir. Life got WAY too “interesting” over the last couple years. Couple months in a coma, lost my bride to be, changed careers. However I’m pretty much back on my feet, walking tall and living my best life.

 

[Chrisb62]

Thank you Sir. Life got WAY too “interesting” over the last couple years. Couple months in a coma, lost my bride to be, changed careers. However I’m pretty much back on my feet, walking tall and living my best life.

Care to elaborate on that? Quite the bomb shell, please only if you are comfortable doing so.

 

[383 240z]

Care to elaborate on that? Quite the bomb shell, please only if you are comfortable doing so.

The short version. My fiancé and I were on the bike. On our way back to my house to get ready to go out to the club for the night. Someone wasn’t paying attention merged on top of us threw us into the wall

I spent two months in a coma, another nine months in the hospital and about four more months in rehab. She wasn’t as lucky. She passed a few days after the accident happened.

My company kept me on, but so much had changed while I was in the hospital. It was hard for me to keep up and adjust to everything. So I took a chance and entered the retail automotive parts sector. That was a huge mistake. I am not set up for retail management. I’m back where I was about 9 years ago. Working as a machinist/ shop manager.

All things considered, life is good.

 

[madison069]

Sorry to hear about the unfortunate event. Who are you working for now adays? I know of a couple of guys in the machinist business and my neighbor actually owns a machine shop near Plum, PA.

 

[jarhead]

oh man that must be tough to deal with. I am sorry for your loss.
Joe

 

[CoyoteDuster]

Brother, you've had more than your share of bad luck. i admire your drive and positive attitude. Keep going!

 

[383 240z]

Little update on the shop. Lights were chosen, and 2 are installed. A friend in the industrial sector recommended his "lighting" guy to me. We talked about my build, he asked some questions and came up with a plan.

I got 2 of the lights as a test run (and for cash flow reasons). Here are the results.

lights installed

All powered up

pretty near midnight.

remember, that is just 2 lights!!!


Also midnight, pic of my workbench


The dark spots are shadows cast by the open shop door.

I'm thinking two more lights will be overkill. That is exactly what I want for my lighting!


The lights are run straight from the breaker using cheap 16-2 lamp cable. I will run 14-2 romex once I have the four lights in place, I will also be putting in an outlet for the garage door opener. While I was working, I decided to install this little item,




I will run a switched power supply to that while I'm pulling cable through the trusses. Small steps, but big progress!!