mrpowderkeg
Well-known member
I have waited for a while so that I would have enough photos to make things interesting. Last year the lady and I purchased a place about 10 miles out of town, with the housing the way it is in ND, the only way we could get into anyplace is if we purchased it before the home was built, all it was was a hole in the ground. The only thing I wish I would have done different is stub out a water line from the house for the shop, I'll do this next year.
Anyhow, the max size I cold get away with was 1400 sq feet, mine is 1408, I had to get a variance. Due to the cold winters and heavy frost, I elected to go with a foundation, rather than a slab on grade. It costs more but the building will far outlast me. It also allows me to have water in the shop. I hope to have some more pics, I need to order the building material this week, and get things rolling asap, for now the groundwork is mostly done.
In the past life I worked for my father in the excavating business... he is truly a ninja backhoe operator. Making the first cut:
About 1/2 done, digging only took two hours.
After we had it all dug, I had just enough time to move and stockpile all the dirt, the backhoe developed a slow leak on a solenoid accessory valve, rather than risk it, I used the T-190 bobcat to move all the dirt to the back away from the work, I ran out of light, the next day I had 20 minutes of work left, a crazy dust storm (ND winds) blew through, our development has lots of open areas and the soil is real sandy, thank God I for the bobcat and AC, I stayed clean.
Just a hole in the ground, it looks pretty small right now:
Concrete crew setting up the footings and pouring them on a Saturday morning, it rained 1.75 inches after they finished, the footings were ok, I was barely able to get the temporary approach dug out of the ditch before the rain came, I was real lucky!
Pouring footings, the crew has easy access to the work area, no pump truck is needed. The clouds are heavy with rain...
Soggy footings, we had a nice soaker come through, it was much needed, the footings were fine.
I didn't get any pics of the crew setting up and pouring the walls, all was done in a day, the next day the crew came back and stripped the forms. This is what I was left with:
A little extra frost protection along the inside of the walls before back filling, the walls are 8 inches thick.
Starting to back fill
Digging for the water line, I will not have water right away, but the idea is to stub the line in, as well as the sewer so that I won't have to cut and break out a section of floor when I do it later. The water line need to be a minimum of 7 feet deep, we went 8, the soil is sandy, so we had to dig pretty wide.
That's all the pics I have for now, my brother and my cousin will be out to help me tonight set up the floor to pour, I also have a pal that will help me rough in the sewer pipe for the future toilet and sink, the rough in materials cost less the $100, I purchased 225 in materials, most will go back, I just wanted to have everything necessary, just in case.
I also picked up 630.00 in 1/2 in rebar, 100 20 foot lengths this morining before work. I hope to have enough left for the front drive/apron.
Anyhow, the max size I cold get away with was 1400 sq feet, mine is 1408, I had to get a variance. Due to the cold winters and heavy frost, I elected to go with a foundation, rather than a slab on grade. It costs more but the building will far outlast me. It also allows me to have water in the shop. I hope to have some more pics, I need to order the building material this week, and get things rolling asap, for now the groundwork is mostly done.
In the past life I worked for my father in the excavating business... he is truly a ninja backhoe operator. Making the first cut:
About 1/2 done, digging only took two hours.
After we had it all dug, I had just enough time to move and stockpile all the dirt, the backhoe developed a slow leak on a solenoid accessory valve, rather than risk it, I used the T-190 bobcat to move all the dirt to the back away from the work, I ran out of light, the next day I had 20 minutes of work left, a crazy dust storm (ND winds) blew through, our development has lots of open areas and the soil is real sandy, thank God I for the bobcat and AC, I stayed clean.
Just a hole in the ground, it looks pretty small right now:
Concrete crew setting up the footings and pouring them on a Saturday morning, it rained 1.75 inches after they finished, the footings were ok, I was barely able to get the temporary approach dug out of the ditch before the rain came, I was real lucky!
Pouring footings, the crew has easy access to the work area, no pump truck is needed. The clouds are heavy with rain...
Soggy footings, we had a nice soaker come through, it was much needed, the footings were fine.
I didn't get any pics of the crew setting up and pouring the walls, all was done in a day, the next day the crew came back and stripped the forms. This is what I was left with:
A little extra frost protection along the inside of the walls before back filling, the walls are 8 inches thick.
Starting to back fill
Digging for the water line, I will not have water right away, but the idea is to stub the line in, as well as the sewer so that I won't have to cut and break out a section of floor when I do it later. The water line need to be a minimum of 7 feet deep, we went 8, the soil is sandy, so we had to dig pretty wide.
That's all the pics I have for now, my brother and my cousin will be out to help me tonight set up the floor to pour, I also have a pal that will help me rough in the sewer pipe for the future toilet and sink, the rough in materials cost less the $100, I purchased 225 in materials, most will go back, I just wanted to have everything necessary, just in case.
I also picked up 630.00 in 1/2 in rebar, 100 20 foot lengths this morining before work. I hope to have enough left for the front drive/apron.
Last edited:
