Above 1200 Sq/FT Craig's Colorado Car Condo

[78SC4X4]

I have a similar situation where the build-up of material to level the site will put a couple of feet of soil around existing big Doug Firs. I would really like to keep the trees, but I am worried that the extra soil on top of the roots will kill them. Have you gotten and advice regarding this issue?

 

[Craig Balzer]

I was told the same thing -- that extra soil stacked up around the trunk would eventually kill the tree. That is why you'll note in the first photo I posted on my previous post, I dug around the base of that large tree.

It may not look like much, but I removed dirt 15-18" from around the trunk and I dug down to virgin dirt. The plan for the retaining walls goes around the tree -- theoretically saving it. Time will tell . . .

 

[Craig Balzer]

Not much to add today aside from a truly unusual weather delay.

The contractor who's building my retaining wall was supposed to begin on Monday, 08JUN20, but was held up a day finishing his previous project. All my material had been delivered to my site last week so I felt comfortable his just a bit off schedule.

He pulled into my drive at 0730 this AM (09JUN20), saw the conditions he was expecting to see, and called off his crew. They coulda worked without issue except the truck bringing in tons of rock fill would have been slipping and sliding on the dirt road I live on and their small Cats would have chewed up yard pretty badly.

He'll start at 0730 tomorrow morning -- sharp.

Yup -- that's snow in meadow beyond my lot and on the roof of my garage. Temp at 0730 today was 31° -- in June. Gotta love CO.

 

[shortykorte]

31° in June means no bikinis in June. I’m going to the beach, white sand beach. Check you later.


Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

 

[Craig Balzer]

At 0730 on Wednesday 10JUN20, and the contractor arrives on schedule.

Day 1 turns out to involve moving a lot of dirt. Contractor estimates I'll have 35-50 tons in excess after retaining walls are complete.

The main effort was on the longest wall along east side of pad; a bit of work on the south wall.
Expect tomorrow to finish dressing the short wall on south of the pad and maybe even start laying some blocks. The titles of each photo carries more details.

Craig

 

[Craig Balzer]

Day 2 of the Great Wall Build

Pictures tell the story -- more info in photo titles

 

[Jayman17]

Looks like it's coming along nicely, you're right about the first course. If you get it done right the rest is a lot easier. Looks like they are doing it right.
It sure is scenic around your place, I like all the pine trees and greenery.

Jay

 

[Craig Balzer]

Jayman ("It sure is scenic around your place, I like all the pine trees and greenery.") -- I agree! It is so quiet and tranquil here that I needed to read the news last Monday (08JUN20) to learn of storm that came thru packing 60-80 MPH wind gusts.


Some more progress -- FRI 12JUN20.
Caption of Photo gives details

 

[Craig Balzer]

End of Week 1 -- About Half Way to Completion.

About all I can add to the story told by the photos (see captions) is that the down-spout under ground drain at the SE corner of the garage (the long white tube "hanging" in mid-air) will be turned 180° at the base of the down-spout to follow the south edge of the garage to tie into the buried drain of the SW down-spout. This will eliminate the challenge of what to do with that drain vis-a-vis the two-tiered wall.

The contractor thinks that his crew has made sufficient progress that he ~may~ finish a day early.

Craig

 

[Craig Balzer]

I didn't post any updates for the last week plus cuz they all looked alike: taking care to lay the first course of blocks and then stacking more blocks on top.

Here's the finished product. Captions on each photo gives details:

GC was on-site today. Says I may get concrete sidewalk/apron poured in 2-3 weeks.

Starting to get impatient; previously there was enough to do that multiple things happened simultaneously. Now, I'm at the stage that the last few items in construction must happen sequentially.

Guys -- sorry photos didn't load. Got a new phone and the recent photos are really pixel heavy. Working on figuring out how to reduce KBs per photo . . .

 

[78SC4X4]

Umm. Am I the only one who can't see any pictures?

 

[MileHighRover]

...Yup -- that's snow in meadow beyond my lot and on the roof of my garage. Temp at 0730 today was 31° -- in June. Gotta love CO.

I DO love Colorado. So much better than Florida.

 

[Craig Balzer]

Retry on Posting Recent Photos of Retaining Wall

 

[ODIS]

Lots of work and it looks wonderful! Some landscaping planted will transform everything. Beautiful work!

 

[Craig Balzer]

ODIS -- I couldn't agree more! I am very pleased with the outcome. I was expecting 90° corners and a simple staircase. They relished the challenge of the curves outlining the steps. I really like the way the two walls diverge and rejoin - classy look. They don't look that big in the photos, but each block is 76 pounds.

Landscaping is gonna take a back seat to a 2-post, air compressor, air-lines, blast cabinet, and workbenches. The contractor did spread and rake in 50 lbs of grass seed. Once the grass takes root, the places will have less of a construction zone look.

 

[Craig Balzer]

Duplicate Posting Deleted by Author

 

[Craig Balzer]

Duplicate Posting Deleted by Author

Don't know how it happened once -- but TWICE. WTH!!

 

[ODIS]

What you have planned for your shop equipments will give you a lot of flexibility in the projects you choose to work on. Lots of good times to come and I’m sure, your friends will like your shop as well.

BTW, have read your bio. Thank you for your many years of service!

 

[GLTHFJ60]

They got that wall done pretty quick. Looks good.

 

[Jayman17]

Very nice results on the wall, looks fantastic. I agree, I like the radius corners as opposed to 90* corners.

Jay

 

[Craig Balzer]

What you have planned for your shop equipments will give you a lot of flexibility in the projects you choose to work on. Lots of good times to come and I’m sure, your friends will like your shop as well.

ODIS -- thanks.

The first patient is a 72 Jaguar XKE V12 convertible I bought with months-in-grade as a Captain (in 1979) and orders in hand for an assignment in Munich Germany (see below). Had to have a sports car in Europe; sold my 68 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, conv.

In 1990 I had orders for Korea and that's when the body work was done with plans for new paint. Time passed: marriage, 3x back-to-back assignments to Germany, divorce, retirement, and Gov't contract work in AFG . Paint never happened. But that will start this fall -- after I dismantle the Jag and trailer the body to a shop for the work.

I'm figuring 20-24 months for restoration. ha -- I can dream . . .
Then -- start in on my 65 Riviera Gran Sport. (see second attached)
The 62 T-Bird is about done
Clearly being a confirmed masochist, I am currently looking for a 71 Gran Sport Stage 1

 

[Craig Balzer]

They got that wall done pretty quick. Looks good.

Very nice results on the wall, looks fantastic. I agree, I like the radius corners as opposed to 90* corners. -- Jay

Thanx GLTHFJ60 and Jayman17 -- I know I found the right contractor for this job! The owner was on-site all day, everyday. Superb communicator and explained his decisions and his crew' actions.

 

[Jayman17]

Thanx GLTHFJ60 and Jayman17 -- I know I found the right contractor for this job! The owner was on-site all day, everyday. Superb communicator and explained his decisions and his crew' actions.

If only they were all like that!

Jay

 

[ODIS]

ODIS -- thanks.

The first patient is a 72 Jaguar XKE V12 convertible I bought with months-in-grade as a Captain (in 1979) and orders in hand for an assignment in Munich Germany (see below). Had to have a sports car in Europe; sold my 68 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, conv.

In 1990 I had orders for Korea and that's when the body work was done with plans for new paint. Time passed: marriage, 3x back-to-back assignments to Germany, divorce, retirement, and Gov't contract work in AFG . Paint never happened. But that will start this fall -- after I dismantle the Jag and trailer the body to a shop for the work.

I'm figuring 20-24 months for restoration. ha -- I can dream . . .
Then -- start in on my 65 Riviera Gran Sport. (see second attached)
The 62 T-Bird is about done
Clearly being a confirmed masochist, I am currently looking for a 71 Gran Sport Stage 1

All worthy candidates for your collection and to invest your time into. Have a ‘63 Porsche that was obsessed over during it’s restoration process. You will probably lose a few nights sleep over the Jag, but will be worth it down the road.

I’ve fond memories of my duty time in Germany and of my work at Drake-Edwards and then at the 97th General Hospital, Frankfurt.

 

[shortykorte]

Wall definitely looks great!

Trade an Olds convertible for a Jag? No way. [emoji1]. Love the XKE until I sit in it and my view is the upper window frame.[emoji53] look forward to the resto.

Where you were at Osan? Me, 85-86. Nope, just read bio, you were probably on the DMZ.



Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

 

[Craig Balzer]

Thanx Shorty

Trade the Jag? Nope -- but thanx for offer. I bought it in 1979 as third owner. Too much B$ & Ts in it.

You're correct -- I was never near Osan
1990-91: Camp Casey
1991-93: Camp Hovey
Neither were on the DMZ, but both were within artillery range NK Arty.

 

[Craig Balzer]

Well -- the GC and concrete contractor are supposed to come by this week to check the lay of the land and get on the calendar to pour the pad.

Meanwhile, I started basic decorations on the interior of my garage.

After the floor is epoxied I'll be adding metal sheeting on the lower 4' of the interior wall. That sheeting will be Green and I've painted a stripe in Gold - Packer's color.

I also added some I-Love-Me stuff on the walls and garage art.

Photos tell the story -- more to follow; cell phone is charging

 

[Jayman17]

Uh-oh, I see a color clash in your future. I think I remember you painting your OH door tracks red, right? Looks like you should have went with yellow.

Jay

 

[Craig Balzer]

Jayman -- Good Memory! Thanks for stopping by again.

Yeah -- the hardware and support struts on my 2 garage doors were powder coated in red.
I think I will live with the clash (complimenting??) colors.

 

[shortykorte]

Or switch to Red/Black Buccaneers colors. Lol.


Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

 

[Craig Balzer]

Nahh Shorty, I can't do that. I'm an owner of the Packers.
Me and a few others:

Fans have supported the Packers financially through five stock sales: 1923, 1935, 1950, 1997 and 2011. Today, 361,311 people (representing 5,009,518 shares) are owners of the iconic franchise.

So I own 1/5,009,518th of an NFL team.

 

[Craig Balzer]

Took some more photos of garage art & I-love-me stuff.
Most are new.
I tried to post the photos moving from N to S in my garage.

Still have ~8 traffic signs to hang -- with 5-8 more coming from eBay purchases -- as well some licence plated. Oh -- and a traffic light I packed up from Craig's List. These all will go in the loft . . .

 

[Craig Balzer]

I made some major strides yesterday and today (10-11AUG20)

Monday 10 AUG the crew laid the forms to pour the 4' wide sidewalk along the north and east walls, the small patio on the south side, and the apron in front of the garage (west side)

Also poured the 8' x 8' bathroom floor and a pad at the bottom of the staircase of the rear deck.

Tues 11 AUG the first of 5 concrete trucks arrived to pump/pour the North, east and South part of the pour. Two trucks (20 yards) for this pour. From 0700 to 1045 was pour, level, finish and apply control cuts
After lunch, three trucks (** yards) brought the concrete for the apron.
All was 4000 PSI in 4" pad.
More details in captions of photos.

NEXT:
Allow concrete in bathroom 30 days to cure and then epoxy entire garage floor.
Once epoxy dries, install staircase to loft; apply green, metal siding on bottom 4' of interior OSB walls; install fixtures and power in bathroom, turn on water; and fianlly enclose bathroom walls.
Frame windows and doors
DONE

 

[shortykorte]

Concrete is going to be really nice. Having a working bathroom even better.


Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

 

[Jayman17]

That concrete looks great! I'll bet that makes you happy...

Jay

 

[Craig Balzer]

Concrete is going to be really nice. Having a working bathroom even better.
Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

Shorty -- at my age and with my peanut-sized bladder, a bathroom is essential

That concrete looks great! I'll bet that makes you happy...

Jay

Jay -- I am ecstatic!
The owner of the concrete business was on site for 90% of the day of the pour, even tho he has 4 other sites in various stages of being poured.
I just completed the second misting and don't have any puddles. Great job.

Craig

 

[Craig Balzer]

Its been a month or more since my last update. Made a bit of progress, some not really visible, on Thursday 24SEP20.

On the same day the contractor showed to seal the exterior concrete (after curing for 30 days), his crew set the framing to extend the driveway from the stub on the apron out to the road.

On that same day, the propane company unhooked the 500-gallon propane tank off my house, replaced it with a 1,000-gallon and relocated the 500-gallon tank onto the hobby shop.

On that same day I took delivery of my 80-gallon Campbell Hausfeld air compressor and hoisted it onto the loft above the bathroom. It is a 5 HP, 16.6 CFM @ 175 PSI, 230 Volt Single Phase compressor, Model# CE7052
Busy day.

Earlier that week, I paid for the LE10 Challenger 2-post $ymmetric/a$ymmetric lift. It $hould to be delivered $ome time around mid-October.

 

[Craig Balzer]

The day after the driveway pour was complete, that same contractor prepped the interior floor for epoxy.

The prep was so good that the color soaked in deeply resulting in streaks (according to the epoxy company rep who was on site). He carried away an estimated 80 pounds of concrete powder (2300 sq ft hobby shop).
Second color coat resulted in super appearance.

The Top Coat (not clear) included a very fine aluminum oxide powder for anti-slip and a strong finish. The epoxy company (rep on site for the first coat) said this stuff repels all automotive fluids -- to include battery acid. Ya can't let it sit, but if I wipe it up straight-away, shouldn't leave a stain. Result is a matt finish compared to the highly reflective mirror-like shine after the second color coat was added.

Pictures tell the tale - details in captions

 

[shortykorte]

Thanks for posting. I was wondering where you went. Great progress and what a place to hang out.


Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

 

[Craig Balzer]

Shorty -- what took you so long to post?
Six minutes from post update to your comment.