My construction begins.

[chaingang]

Went to pull my permit today and thought I had everything in order for the zoning office. Application filled out, copy of deed, plat and affidavit signed that I would build to code since I was building it myself etc.... What was I thinking? She informed me I had to go by the health dept. and get an approval letter before I could get the building permit. It's a detached garage I said, it is not going to have a bathroom. Doesn't matter, they still have to say it is not sitting on top of my septic tank or drain fill, I assured her it wasn't. So I go down to the health Dept, they close at 4:30 and it's 4:20. I go in, she takes my info and says "HE may be able to look at the plat and records and give an approval, if not HE will have to come out". I asked if he could look at them today, " oh no, HE won't be in until tommorrow and since it is supposed to rain all day Friday HE won't come out in that". So I say "I built the house myself 3 years ago and I know were the septic system is I assure you that I am not on top of it". Thats fine, now that will be fifty dollars please. Then we will send someone out to make sure.
Don't ya love red tape.
Grading to commence when that red tape is cut. Will have to resize site pics it won't let me add them.

 

[autoist]

Thank goodness I live in an unincorporated county area in Alabama! I just go out & build!

 

[Winmon]

Oh ya, that all sounds REAL familiar. We sub-divided our lot last year. Took us a full year to get through the county paperwork. We started by going into the county office and saying "tell me everything we need to do". Well they give us a list which we complete. Now they say "well, we do not need this" and "you also need to do this". I don't know how many times we thought we had everything that they needed just to be told they needed more. It was a HUGE headache. Good thing was that during this year that it took to get the lot sub-divided, the value went from $50k (for a 1/2 acre) to $90k and it sold in a week!

 

[Stevea]

Went to pull my permit today and thought I had everything in order for the zoning office. Application filled out, copy of deed, plat and affidavit signed that I would build to code since I was building it myself etc.... What was I thinking? She informed me I had to go by the health dept. and get an approval letter before I could get the building permit. It's a detached garage I said, it is not going to have a bathroom. Doesn't matter, they still have to say it is not sitting on top of my septic tank or drain fill, I assured her it wasn't. So I go down to the health Dept, they close at 4:30 and it's 4:20. I go in, she takes my info and says "HE may be able to look at the plat and records and give an approval, if not HE will have to come out". I asked if he could look at them today, " oh no, HE won't be in until tommorrow and since it is supposed to rain all day Friday HE won't come out in that". So I say "I built the house myself 3 years ago and I know were the septic system is I assure you that I am not on top of it". Thats fine, now that will be fifty dollars please. Then we will send someone out to make sure.
Don't ya love red tape.
Grading to commence when that red tape is cut. Will have to resize site pics it won't let me add them.

Sorry to hear about your troubles. It seems that there is so much red tape now days. Good luck and I hope to see some pictures after they ok your plans. How long will it take to get the plans through?

 

[twostory]

While your county made you go thru some hoops, my county made my permit process a four (4) year ordeal.

My only advice to people that live in the Atlanta area is: "Never buy a house within 2,000ft of the Chattahoochee River" Why? there are special rules on this land that restrict building by limiting the amount of impervious surface you can have on you land (driveway, sideway, foundation = impervious surface)

I was looking for a new house to move to after three(3) years of getting no where with my permit process. My current house and driveway was already over the limit for my lot's impervious surface. Just by luck, my wife meet a neighbor who owned an empty lot next to his house who was willing to sell us some of his impervious credit from the empty lot. I had previously talked to most of my neighbor that had an empty lot next to their home and had gotten nowhere. I only talked to the people with very low tax appraisals on there empty lot.

I then transfered the impervious credit to my lot and finally got an approval. Note: I had to remove my drive way and replace it with two strips to drive on to get under the impervious limit.

As for the environmental permit (I have a septic tank), I got that approval 3 years prior to the planning and development approval. Well, guess what, that expired. I had to pay another $75 to get a new environmental process and the rules had changes. I had to spend three (3) hours drawing a scale drawing of my entire house interior. This was so the environmental dept could verify how many bedrooms there were in a 25 year old house. Note three years ago, a guy visitied my house and verified there were only three bedrooms. Oh for the new permit, a guy had to visit my lot and verify that my new garage's footprint was acceptable (not over the drain field). I had to mark where the building was going on my lot with stakes.

After all this hassle and getting my impervious limit under control, the county threw a new problem at me. My lot had too much "cleared space". Seems there was a limit on how much you and clear a lot in the "Chattahoochee River cooridor" . The solution was to "revegetate" my yard, meaning remove grass and plant trees, shrubs, ground cover. But wait, there is more hassle, this "revegetation" had to be done with "native georgia species". Well, my wife loves to garden and we have been tearing out grass and non-natives slowly for the last 8 months. I have basically completed the yard plan that I had to get approved by the county that shows were every single native plant exist in my entire yard (to scale no less).

While the actual building is alot more work, my wife and I are mostly building it ourself. The permit process was a much bigger hassle for me. In construction the problem can always be solved my more money, more effort. In dealing with incredibly restrictive rules, sometime the problems are so big and unsolveable, the answer may require moving.

Sorry to ramble on, but your permit hassle does not sound too bad to me.

 

[chaingang]

While your county made you go thru some hoops, my county made my permit process a four (4) year ordeal.

My only advice to people that live in the Atlanta area is: "Never buy a house within 2,000ft of the Chattahoochee River" Why? there are special rules on this land that restrict building by limiting the amount of impervious surface you can have on you land (driveway, sideway, foundation = impervious surface)

I was looking for a new house to move to after three(3) years of getting no where with my permit process. My current house and driveway was already over the limit for my lot's impervious surface. Just by luck, my wife meet a neighbor who owned an empty lot next to his house who was willing to sell us some of his impervious credit from the empty lot. I had previously talked to most of my neighbor that had an empty lot next to their home and had gotten nowhere. I only talked to the people with very low tax appraisals on there empty lot.

I then transfered the impervious credit to my lot and finally got an approval. Note: I had to remove my drive way and replace it with two strips to drive on to get under the impervious limit.

As for the environmental permit (I have a septic tank), I got that approval 3 years prior to the planning and development approval. Well, guess what, that expired. I had to pay another $75 to get a new environmental process and the rules had changes. I had to spend three (3) hours drawing a scale drawing of my entire house interior. This was so the environmental dept could verify how many bedrooms there were in a 25 year old house. Note three years ago, a guy visitied my house and verified there were only three bedrooms. Oh for the new permit, a guy had to visit my lot and verify that my new garage's footprint was acceptable (not over the drain field). I had to mark where the building was going on my lot with stakes.

After all this hassle and getting my impervious limit under control, the county threw a new problem at me. My lot had too much "cleared space". Seems there was a limit on how much you and clear a lot in the "Chattahoochee River cooridor" . The solution was to "revegetate" my yard, meaning remove grass and plant trees, shrubs, ground cover. But wait, there is more hassle, this "revegetation" had to be done with "native georgia species". Well, my wife loves to garden and we have been tearing out grass and non-natives slowly for the last 8 months. I have basically completed the yard plan that I had to get approved by the county that shows were every single native plant exist in my entire yard (to scale no less).

While the actual building is alot more work, my wife and I are mostly building it ourself. The permit process was a much bigger hassle for me. In construction the problem can always be solved my more money, more effort. In dealing with incredibly restrictive rules, sometime the problems are so big and unsolveable, the answer may require moving.

Sorry to ramble on, but your permit hassle does not sound too bad to me.

Your absolutely right, my permit process is trivial next to that. But, I live in a farm community and have more than 7 acres and live on a dirt road that will probably never be paved. I did get my health dept letter today and went back to zoning but they will have to review everything before issuing the permit.
Can't wait to get going.

 

[chaingang]

Got my permit today and had 18 ton of rock brought in for the drive to the shop area. Will have to get the building up before I bring more rock in. Not sure yet how or where I want the drive to finish at the building. The trac-loader will be here tommorow to start grading. Until then here are some pics of the site. Man it feels great to finally get going.

 

[Itzkwik]

Congrats, looks like a good spot.

 

[DynoDave]

Got my permit today and had 18 ton of rock brought in for the drive to the shop area. Will have to get the building up before I bring more rock in. Not sure yet how or where I want the drive to finish at the building. The trac-loader will be here tommorow to start grading. Until then here are some pics of the site. Man it feels great to finally get going.

I know the feeling. Congratulations on getting your permits, and getting started!

 

[chaingang]

Grading started today and he was here about 4 hours this afternoon, said he could finish in about 2 more tomorrow. Works for UPS at night and does grading on the side. Must be pretty good at it, he hasn't set the lazer yet and it looks pretty flat.

 

[Runner94]

You've got to love that red Georgia soil. Nothing like that up here in New England. The site looks great. Good Luck on the build.

 

[chaingang]

It is a bit red ain't it! Good and stable for building on though, just real hard to clean anything this stuff touches.

 

[Itzkwik]

Sure feels good when you get to see some progress. I see some future projects over in the corner. Looks like a '62 or '63 fairlane and a '68 F100?
Good to see another Ford fan.

 

[chaingang]

Sure feels good when you get to see some progress. I see some future projects over in the corner. Looks like a '62 or '63 fairlane and a '68 F100?
Good to see another Ford fan.

Close on both accounts. The Fairlane is my 17 year old son's and its a 64 500 hardtop. Great southern car with very little rust in the floors and no body damage at all. The truck is a 67 and belongs to my 21 year old. It is pretty rough as far as sheet metal but he has a 68 that is very nice body wise and we plan to make one good one from the two. They will probably fill my new shop before I can work on my stuff. Oh well atleast we'll have a place to work. Yep, bleed Ford blue, didn't know they made anything else.

 

[Down Under Bloke]

Close on both accounts. The Fairlane is my 17 year old son's and its a 64 500 hardtop. Great southern car with very little rust in the floors and no body damage at all. The truck is a 67 and belongs to my 21 year old. It is pretty rough as far as sheet metal but he has a 68 that is very nice body wise and we plan to make one good one from the two. They will probably fill my new shop before I can work on my stuff. Oh well atleast we'll have a place to work. Yep, bleed Ford blue, didn't know they made anything else.

This is not they way to get the kids to leave home

 

[chaingang]

Grading got finished today. It was dark by the time he left so I didn't get pics, have to get some up on Thursday. Boy it sure is amazing how much dirt there is in 50x50 area that was about 40 inches high in the back corner.

 

[chaingang]

This is not they way to get the kids to leave home

your right, maybe I should rethink this

 

[chaingang]

Orderd my floor drain from local supply house today. Found some very nice 9 1/2 in cast iron heavy rated ones with sediment buckets for $53 ea. Concrete guys are supposed to be here Tuesday to dig footings and set the forms. Will have to get all my plumbing in place after that so the slab can be poured.

Some finish grading pics from yesterday.

 

[DaveL.]

Wow.Look at that red Georgia clay.

 

[chaingang]

Finally have some new photo's. Had some rain and delay's but got the floor poured on Monday, 37 yards of the stuff. Thanks to bmwpower for the insight on vapor barrier. Hopefully block work can begin next week.

 

[cdrewferd]

Looking real good.

 

[chaingang]

Some pics of the completed slab, block work to begin Tuesday.

 

[Kevin54]

It's funny how things vary from location to location. Around here you pour the footer first, lay block, then the floor last. Looks like in Georgia it is just the opposite. It does look like there is a footer in one of the pics but it also looks like rebar thru the floor portion. Is the blocks going on top of the slab?
And that is some red clay. Ours is tan. But I know what you mean when you say it is good to build on. When ours is dry it is like concrete if it gets packed down.
Looking forward to the build pics.

Kevin

 

[chaingang]

It's funny how things vary from location to location. Around here you pour the footer first, lay block, then the floor last. Looks like in Georgia it is just the opposite. It does look like there is a footer in one of the pics but it also looks like rebar thru the floor portion. Is the blocks going on top of the slab?
And that is some red clay. Ours is tan. But I know what you mean when you say it is good to build on. When ours is dry it is like concrete if it gets packed down.
Looking forward to the build pics.

Kevin

Houses are built conventionally on footers when using block or poured walls but for a garage this way is the most practical. Yes the block will go on the slab over the rebar that is protruding and there is a secondary footer behind the slab for a retaining wall that will protect the back of the building and give me extra space if I want to expand the building later. The slab does have 18 inch deep x 18 inch wide footings around the perimeter to distribute weight of the structure.

 

[Randall Edge]

It's funny how things vary from location to location. Around here you pour the footer first, lay block, then the floor last. Looks like in Georgia it is just the opposite. It does look like there is a footer in one of the pics but it also looks like rebar thru the floor portion.

That looks like a monolithic slab. Footers are usually poured first and then blocked around here. My house is built on a monolithic slab it has a 20" deep footer incorperated around the perimiter and all the way around the garage and porches. The footer has a double row of rebar through it and the whole thing is poured with glass reinforced concrete. My house is the only one in the neighborhood with a monolithic slab, all the others are built on blocks over a poured footer. I have the highest lot in the neighborhood so my slab is only a few inches above grade.

 

[chaingang]

Have some new pics to show the progress. All the block work was done in a day. It was moving right along, unfortunetly it will slow down now because I am doing the framing and the rest of the work in my spare time (like there is such a thing). I am getting excited though since you can finally see it begin to take shape.

 

[JMURiz]

Interesting design, what are all the rooms for? Good looking stem walls you got there, good luck in finding time to finish it off.

 

[chaingang]

There are actually only two rooms, the pictures are a little misleading. The garage bay is 25w x 32d and the room to the left is 11w x 32d. It is the room that will have the cabinets, workbenchs, parts washer etc...At the back of this room is a doorway opening that goes out the back. The left side wall continues past the 32ft mark by 12 ft and turns turns right for 20 ft. It is simply a retaining wall that will give me a large uncoverd storage area behind the shop. It will make it easy to add space at a later time if I need to. The main bay will have attic storage trusses and the stairs will also be out back to save interior space. The back door is an access to these also.

 

[chaingang]

Some updated pics of construction. Got my framing package the week before Christmas so that I would have a few extra days to work on the shop. Everything has gone well as we got the main bay (25x32) mostly framed by Christmas Eve. The last pic was taken Christmas morning in the rain, won't be doing much today. Thanks to my two boys and my dad we got a lot accomplished in only three days. My trusses will be here next Wednesday so I need to be ready, just need to figure out if we can set them by ourselves.

 

[twostory]

My trusses will be here next Wednesday so I need to be ready, just need to figure out if we can set them by ourselves.

This is what I did to set my trusses. I had four people and rented an articulating boom lift on a trailer. I just towed it behind my truck (no delivery needed). You could probably get by with a small 35 foot art. boom lift. I had to rent a 50 foot one, due to my high second story. Home depot and others rent the 35ft one for around $250 a day. The lift is rated at 500#, so you can lift a pretty big truss with it. My trusses only weigh 180#.

I tried to rent a crane, but it was just too expensive. They wanted $300 just to show up and $150 an hour. We easily set my twenty trusses in one day, my span was 26 feet.

If you use this method, I would set the art. boom lift up inside the garage, and set half the trusses (rear of buliding), then move it outside the garage to set the other trusses (front of building). The art. boom lift will only reach so far, so it probably will not be able to reach over your entire garage to set the first several trusses at the rear of the building.

 

[chaingang]

This is what I did to set my trusses. I had four people and rented an articulating boom lift on a trailer. I just towed it behind my truck (no delivery needed). You could probably get by with a small 35 foot art. boom lift. I had to rent a 50 foot one, due to my high second story. Home depot and others rent the 35ft one for around $250 a day. The lift is rated at 500#, so you can lift a pretty big truss with it. My trusses only weigh 180#.

I tried to rent a crane, but it was just too expensive. They wanted $300 just to show up and $150 an hour. We easily set my twenty trusses in one day, my span was 26 feet.

If you use this method, I would set the art. boom lift up inside the garage, and set half the trusses (rear of buliding), then move it outside the garage to set the other trusses (front of building). The art. boom lift will only reach so far, so it probably will not be able to reach over your entire garage to set the first several trusses at the rear of the building.

That lift looks interesting, have not seen a tow behind and will look into it. I may still have to go with the taller lift though because the truss is 12 ft tall at the center. They are attic trusses and have a 17x32ft room with 9ft ceilings designed into them. The drawings show the weight at 248lbs. The 12ft walls make things a little difficult but will be worth it when it comes time for the lift. Thanks for the info.

 

[mickeypat]

You sure can tell that it is Georgia red clay. Good luck brother

 

[DynoDave]

Chaingang,

We did mine (ten foot wall, about 12' 4" at the peak up from the slab) with 4 guys. One on a ladder at each wall to set them in the brackets and nail them, one guy at the peak to tie them together, and me on the ground to drag/carry them across the yard, and into the garage. I'd heft one end up onto one wall, then to the guy on the other ladder. Once they had it up on the walls inverted, I used a 2x4 as a lever to rotate the peak of the truss up to the guy in the middle. While they set that truss, I fetched another one. After a couple of hours, we had all 19 in place.

 

[chaingang]

Chaingang,

We did mine (ten foot wall, about 12' 4" at the peak up from the slab) with 4 guys. One on a ladder at each wall to set them in the brackets and nail them, one guy at the peak to tie them together, and me on the ground to drag/carry them across the yard, and into the garage. I'd heft one end up onto one wall, then to the guy on the other ladder. Once they had it up on the walls inverted, I used a 2x4 as a lever to rotate the peak of the truss up to the guy in the middle. While they set that truss, I fetched another one. After a couple of hours, we had all 19 in place.

I have thought long and hard about trying to do them by hand and just don't think it is feasible. The truss at the peak is 12 ft on top of a 12ft 4in wall. 24 ft seems a long way to try and flip them over and maintain some sort of control. I called about a tow behind bucket lift as "two story" suggested and the price was $213 for a weekend which seemed reasonable. Then I called a friend of mine that has a sign company and they will bring their small crane out for $300. They normally get $400 a day for this size job but I have known them for about 23 years. He will have two guys, one rigging and one running the boom, so I just have to worry about setting and nailing the trusses. I will be going that route. I have it scheduled for the 6th of Jan. weather permitting. Friends that are also car guys are a wonderful thing.

 

[twostory]

Then I called a friend of mine that has a sign company and they will bring their small crane out for $300. They normally get $400 a day for this size job but I have known them for about 23 years. He will have two guys, one rigging and one running the boom, so I just have to worry about setting and nailing the trusses. I will be going that route. I have it scheduled for the 6th of Jan. weather permitting. Friends that are also car guys are a wonderful thing.

That is a good way to go, the boom crane can reach everything, and you just have to attach and plum the trusses. I called everywhere in Atlanta for a few days, and no one wanted to do the crane work for less than $600. I called all the sign companies in my area and they were not interested, too much liability and such. I paid just over $400 to rent the articulating lift I used.

 

[chaingang]

I finally have the time to update my progress on the framing. Several pictures of framing and setting of trusses.

 

[chaingang]

More pics of the trusses going up. Thanks to everyones help over the weekend we accomplished a lot. My two boys, my dad and my buddy Rick. The crane was definately the way to go. We were a little slow compared to the crane operators expertise but they managed to work with us rookies. Great job and if anyone in the south metro Atlanta area needs crane work give Arrow a call @ 770-229-1312.

 

[chaingang]

A few more pics from last weekend. Began putting bracing between the floor joists so I can get the upper floor installed this coming weekend. Figure it will be easier to get the roof decking up from the completed 2nd floor than it would be from the ground.

 

[chaingang]

Finally have a little progress to show. Work has taken most of my time and have had little time for much else. Anyway here are a few pics of the last few weekends.

 

[benjacobs]

Nice build! The room off to the side is a great idea. It really adds to the whole garage. Are you going to have a room up top.. maybe an office or storage area?