DirtBound Building #2 (40x64)

[webdog]

DirtBound Building #2 (40x64 Expansion)

Back in June 2015 I moved from CA to MN and purchased a 5-acre commercial property for my business. It had an existing 30 x 45 post frame building, this was just big enough to get my business back up and running after the move. Before purchasing the property we had plans to expand, however, the move cost more than expected and put the expansion on hold.

Fast forward to 2017, I have 6 employees in the tiny 1300 sqft shop and we have absolutely no space for inventory which is causing many delays in production.

So after many months of planning and probably 50 different design ideas, I settled on a 40x64 post frame building that was original to be added onto the existing building.

We got the permit, did our dirt work and got the site leveled to discover the west wall on the existing building had rotted posts. This made me decide to move the building 4 ft away and connect them with a hallway instead. The logic for this was if we need to later tear the original building down and rebuild we can without damaging the new building.

Here is a rendering of the layout once done.

I started with stripping the grass with my 29HP TYM Diesel tractor, it was working but slow going.

After getting about 2/3 done I managed to break the Portal axle, the tractor was out of commission until parts could arrive. So I was able to borrow a Bobcat for a week from a fellow business owner and get the rest of the dirt work done.

Our ground is almost completely sand, so after taking the organics off we were able to just level the site.

 

[webdog]

Now that the ground was prepped we discovered the posts on the existing building were rotting at the bottom. We went and got the plans changed and will be doing a 4 ft separation.

While we waited for the revised plans to be approved by the county our materials arrived.

A few days later the county gave the go-ahead to move the building 4 ft away from the existing even though the code is 6 ft. Living in a small city (600) people it was super easy working with them. So I purchased an auger for the tractor and we got the holes drilled.

 

[webdog]

Now that we had the holes drilled and inspected it was time to start working on the building. I pulled a few of the guys from our welding department and we knocked the posts up and girts in about 2 days. Today I was able to get the service door framed and decided on window size, so tomorrow I will frame those out.

Hopefully Monday or Tuesday we will get all the Headers up and then try to figure out how we are going to lift the massive 42 ft trusses up the 12 ft.

 

[Bighead38]

Cool build. What's your business?

 

[webdog]

Cool build. What's your business?

We manufacture Jeep Bumpers, Armor, Suspension and Accessories. It's a lot of fun, we just needed more space.

The current shop, as you can see we are cramped for space. Once you get 6 people working it gets chaotic.

 

[theoldwizard1]

With the rotten posts in the first building, I am a bit surprised that you did not go with Perma-columns in you new build. Pressure treated posts and sand are in your favor.

 

[webdog]

With the rotten posts in the first building, I am a bit surprised that you did not go with Perma-columns in you new build. Pressure treated posts and sand are in your favor.

I think the reason that they rotted was that side had bad grading, the building has a 1988 inspection sticker on the electrical panel so it's been up for a while. The slab is cracking because there was not the proper backfill, so we're going to patch the building up as good as we can and if we need to rebuild it in a few years we will.

The area we put the new building was always saturated with water after I bought the property I regraded the yard and driveway and the standing water stopped. But who knows how many years those posts sat wet, the property was not maintained

I will be putting up gutters and making sure there is proper drainage between them.

 

[Bighead38]

Cool. Anymore product pictures?

 

[theoldwizard1]

The area we put the new building was always saturated with water after I bought the property I regraded the yard and driveway and the standing water stopped. But who knows how many years those posts sat wet, the property was not maintained

Proper grading is ALWAYS key !

 

[webdog]

Cool. Anymore product pictures?

You can check out our website www.dirtbound.com if you would like.


Today I was able to get the 4 window frames done, this is for our offices and showroom.

I need to figure out how to do the corner bracing properly since we have the windows going right through where the bracing would normally be. Any suggestions?

Hopefully this week we will get the trusses up and tin on.

 

[Bighead38]

Stuff looks good. Do you ever make bumpers for trucks besides jeeps?

 

[webdog]

After finding out how much it costs to rent a lull,
I decided to use our forklift.
However it is about 8 ft short,
so we fabricated a 12 ft boom for it.
Hopefully tomorrow we hould begin setting trusses.