Foundation anchor bolts locating methods used

[cwalt]

I'm in late stage planning of erecting 40' x 50' x 14' metal building in South Texas and want to learn how you guys went about accurately locating anchor bolts using templates secured on the foundation forms. The building is still under design so I don't have the specifications for the building anchor bolt pattern just yet but want to plan ahead on how to locate the anchors.

I was thinking about using a 100' steel tape and triangulating the measurements from template to template believing I can locate within 1/4" in all directions.

I'm an old machinist so I can fabricate the templates accurately using 3/4" plywood. I was planning on securing a 1 x 2 board under each template to hold the templates up off the finished poured concrete so concrete guys could smooth the underlying surface. I was planning to secure each anchor bolt to the plywood using nuts top and bottom with the bolts sticking up the correct engineered height and extending down into the concrete at least 8" with large thick washers down at the extended bolt heads. If I need survey equipment, then I guess I had best make other plans. I live in a rural area outside of Victoria so no permits are required.

Your comments and ideas would be appreciated.

 

[Bob Winter]

Never having been involved with a metal building, I can't really comment. I have, however, done a couple of wood frame buildings, and I don't use bolts, as such. I use threaded rod cut to whatever length is required and bent 90 degrees. No danger of those suckers ever moving.

 

[rustybutt]

Check out weld plates. My 24x40 was built using weld plates installed when the slab was poured. Then the 4x4 tubing was welded directly to them. If you have an engineered building with plates to be bolted, try to find something online about the epoxied bolts. Drill a hole in the slab using the baseplate for a template, blow out the dust, drop in a capsule, and screw in a double nutted, headless bolt. The bolt breaks the capsule and mixes the epoxy as it is being screwed in. Perhaps someone has a brand name for the epoxy system.

 

[robertlynk]

Here are different ways that I have seen and used
https://www.google.com/search?q=anc...MPKjtiQKwm4D4Bg&ved=0CCwQsAQ&biw=1092&bih=544

 

[nehog]

I made my templates from ply. No need to space them up, the ply's surface will keep the cement smooth enough (though I did have to clean up a tiny bit) and the beams end pieces cover any minor visual flaws anyway.

 

[cwalt]

I like the method of placing the templates but how to accurately locate relative to each template so all I-beam columns and support structure will easily align has not been addressed. Any discussion on this aspect would be helpful.

 

[cyamaha2007]

I did it by setting templates off a set point. I started at one corner and worked my way around. I just set one and left it alone as a reference point. As long as you keep everything square you will be fine. Our building has large through holes in the base allowing significant adjustment. Going back i would have rather used threaded inserts that are poured around than exposed studs. Studs made it hard to get the frames in place over the studs. If a crane is setting them its a non issue.

 

[nehog]

... Going back i would have rather used threaded inserts that are poured around than exposed studs. Studs made it hard to get the frames in place over the studs. If a crane is setting them its a non issue.

Agreed the studs can be more difficult to set the beams but I had no problems with my gin pole setup. Be careful about substituting fasteners other than what the maker specifies: the engineering approvals are based on following the directions and using the materials specified. In my case the company who supplied the building was very specific about the bolts to be used.

 

[cyamaha2007]

Agreed the studs can be more difficult to set the beams but I had no problems with my gin pole setup. Be careful about substituting fasteners other than what the maker specifies: the engineering approvals are based on following the directions and using the materials specified. In my case the company who supplied the building was very specific about the bolts to be used.

I should have specified our building supplier had the option of threaded inserts or threaded rods. I used inserts where the lean to was going to be added on later since the pad was poured at the same time. When the time came to add the lean to the inserts were easy to use.

 

[cwalt]

That hit the process on the nose just being sure everything is square when starting and using the same frame of reference point. I did learn that the mount holes are much larger than the anchor bolts allowing for a good deal of adjustment so that makes it easy. I don't have my engineered drawing yet but wanted to determine exactly what I needed to know before hand.
Thanks for your input very helpful.
cwalt