Never BIG enough: Shop addition

[Hounddog]

A little background first... I started this shop in 2001. Took 48 days of leave to stand it up. Then thru the next 2 years I traveled back and forth from Okinawa to finish it out to include an apartment on the second floor. Great memories. Fastforward several years and here I am, busting at the seams (my shop).
Had a few issues with the garage doors catching water near the sills...that water would eventually migrate under the doors. Was concerned that it would eventually rot the sole plates if it were to continue. Front personnel door was having issues as well and needed replacement.
So I decided that a shop facelift was in order.

The start:

The plan:
Expanding the front via a Shed type addition....will be 20ft deep and 50ft long. A 27ft long by 20ft will be enclosed for added shop space. Remaining covered space will be used in some capacity or another...nice to do projects or just haing out under the shade. Most probally will have a little gas station display in that area.

Day one: Foundation prep begins

 

[HOTFR8]

Looking good. What will you do with the existing garage doors, leave them in place or move them ?

 

[Hounddog]

HOTFR8....The left garage door will be repositioned on the new extension while the right will stay where it is...both will soon be protected from the rain.
Here's a new floorplan.

There will be a case opening where the old garage door was....believe I may build an "old timey" barn slider door for that opening. I know it'll kill some wall space beside it...but I'm hoping for the extension to be sort of a display zone....old gas pumps, old car, signs, blah, blah, ect.

 

[HOTFR8]

Got it. Thanks for the plan.

 

[Hounddog]

Well I'm going to share my latest snag with the build because I definately learned a lesson. First, I'm a pretty detail oriented guy...typically this goes for everything I do or appreciate. Well this is my third solo project as the owner / builder and I've been able to catch most problems before the inspections...until today. Failed my first inspection! I've got the best conncrete crew I could get in my area...just got tired with babysitting those that know less than I do about the job their doing for me. Now don't get me wrong...you can save big with some guys just getting started in the trades...their not getting the prime money yet...their still making their name. I spend more time with them or work along side of them and it has turned out fine. But...it's all about the time you have...if you don't have it then I'd pay a little more for the A team...or the B+ team...just saying.
Today was my inspection on the footers (getting ready for the concrete pour) well all looked great to me...everything was right...looked right. Total respect for the guys that did the prep. While I did look it over real good I stopped short of tugging on the rebar that was used to tie the old footers to the new footers. They were there...I saw that. But no tug! Well, i wished I'd have tugged it (had to say that!) The plans had specified a #4 rebar drilled 12" into the old slab, glued, and 2 ft out into the new and tied to the peremeter rebar.... Ended up two sticks had attempted to have been glued but it must have been the first squeeze of the epoxy mix cause it's just a gooey mess..did not firm up (believe you have to sacrifice a portion of the material till both sides gets mixed well. If you haddent seen this stuff..there's a criss cross tube the two parts go thru where they mix at the end...this glue typically does not mix with the first squeeze. Next two pieces of rebar was just stubbed up to the side of the foundation...not even sure yet if there was holes drilled... So to use a phrase from back during the Cold War, "Trust but Verify" is my motto.
And, while I still do have faith in these guys...I'm going to fix these issues that failed us. I do have the equipment and the know how. Believe it'll get them focused on making my pour even better knowing I had to do a little clean-up after em...should humble them a bit. I'm calling this a strategic move.
For the "gummy holes" I'm going to re-drill new ones glue it up, stab in new rebar and tie it off to the footer. For the two that stopped short...same story. I know better now, bad day or simple mistake it's my shop and my money....I'm not here to mess around. There ya go Lesson of the day.....you can Trust but you have to Verify!

 

[Hounddog]

For my next installment of aggrivation.... I TOOK IT UPON MYSELF...to make the fixes with the failed inspection. This is what i was working with.

There was three points identified on the plans that tied the old foundation to the new.
Point 1. While the holes were drilled at this point and the rebar placed into the holes...the 2 part epoxy mix was only 1 part...the lighter colored one...the hole and the rebar was a gooey mess after 24 hrs (nothinng set up, therefore no connection was made)... Either the guy ran out of glue or was too lazy to pull another from his truck...I don't know, but he should known it was not right.
Before:
This is after I drilled the new holes...couldn't save the others...wanted to start fresh.

After:

Point 2. There had been no holes drilled here...only had the rebar stubbed up and touching the existing foundation inorder to fool me and the inspector. To aid in the deception....there was a bit of an outcropping of concrete that the rebar was under concealing the fact that it had not been drilled.
Before: drilling the holes into the existing foundation

After:

Point 3. This tie in was not so straight forward. Something that I did not catch in the plans phase. There was not a traditional existing footer to tie the rebar into here. There was a concrete pier that the 6 x 6 post was connected to...the pier was substantial enough to use as an anchor point (3ft x 3ft) So, to meet the intent of the plans I drilled/glued, and connected the rebar to these points. Also, you'll notice that a new hole was drilled for connection of "the old field area to the new" some of the other holes in the existing patio field drilled were low "I believe to allow the drill operator to dive the bit into the dirt...making drilling "surprizeinngly easier and faster" I did another hole near the outer edge the right way for good measure!
Before:

After: Here's the three points of connection that I did.

There are a few other issues...I'm tired of typing...have done all I can to set ourselves for a good pour tomorrow. Almost forgot.... Not only was the bad job set up to be poured over last Friday (thank goodness we failed the inspection)...my guy scheduled concrete for 0700 monday...So since the fix took me 5 hrs to get done...I'm guessing he had planned to show up at my job at 2am Monday morning RIGHT....so we'd be ready for a 7 am concrete truck..????? We are going to have a talk in the morning!

 

[Vernmotor]

And My wife wonders why I won't let anyone else do anything.

 

[Sunbimmer]

First, I'm a pretty detail oriented guy...typically this goes for everything I do or appreciate.

Same here, nothing wrong with that I think

I'm very interested in what you're doing, please keep the pics coming

 

[Hounddog]

Vernmotor.....Show her these pics and mabey she'll better understand why we do what we do.

Sunbimmer...Will do, the fun is just getting started. Thanks for your interest...I was beginning to wonder...600+ views and only 1 comment..??? This issue should get the ball rolling.

NEXT: Highlights of the "Talk" with the returning concrete sub... Stay tuned!

 

[Sunbimmer]

Just looked at your public profile, nice lubester you got there.
I'm definitely very curious of what you are going to post up here
I love that house man with the big porch
BTW like your avatar too, I'm very much into the vintage American highway gas stations, just love the atmosphere.

 

[Hounddog]

Just looked at your public profile, nice lubester you got there.
I'm definitely very curious of what you are going to post up here
I love that house man with the big porch
BTW like your avatar too, I'm very much into the vintage American highway gas stations, just love the atmosphere.

Thanks Sub......I'm lucky to call this building my shop....momma has her house.

 

[Hounddog]

So I'm now going to be taking the day off... I believe I need to be around for the pour tomorrow. I did mark the outside of the forms for easy reference of layout of J bolts. I also have a wall requireing bolts running the width of the pour. We have a 1 by 4 with a shallow 1/2 in notch running along where the threshold of the garage door is (should allow us to finish to in order to get a slight slope in that area) I marked the top of the 1 by 4 with the bolt locations...to avoid having to pull measurements during the pour. AND, as I don't like to leave things to chance... I added a brass tack at those locations so a guy can feel the location...iffen the top gets mucked up with the concrete...a sort of concrete BRALE if you will...In Florida...we have to have j bolts in the corners (8" to 12" from the outside edges) and beside both windows and doors. I used my shops existing framing for the measurement I needed to keep the bolts in between the studs vs having one end up on a stud....which is a pain that is avoidable. We also have a requirement of all thread at the same locations I just identified....for that you still use a washer and nut...then a coupling goes on the all thread. The all thread goes straight up and through the double top plates and gets a nut and washer. Esentially another hold down.....And...then you have all the typical stud plates that do the rest of it all.....A very redundent system....can make the top and bottom of the walls very "Wonkey" if you don't provide for all that ****.

Oh yea.... My concrete guys will probally think I'm crazy for doing all these things...oh well.

 

[Hounddog]

Had the day off...site was ready...there was a drug deal "figuratively" in place to get the inspector sign off. Was told (by my concrete guy) that the inspector just needed a picture of our fix and we were good to pour...he'd sign off the paperwork when he was around next. Well first off, I get a call from my guy, the weather is cool 40s - 50s all day, overcast, 7am to 1pm it was supposed to be dry, 1pm to 4pm a 20% chance of rain...and there after 50% chance..... I did have a plan to cover the slab if rain did happen...BUT, ended up making the call to postpone the pour. Must not have had enough coffee to charge ahead....and guess what....it's now 12hrs later and not a DAMN drop of rain today yet. Good time for this Crown and Coke! Almost forgot to add...I'm sure my guy thought he had this embarrasing "inspection failure" under control with his drug deal....well I was just aggrivated enough today to call for a RE-inspection! Not only have I got the pics of what was wrong initially...I got the pics of the work I did to bring it to code...I'll also have a legit inspection that I can call my own (I...got us passed) I believe that when my guy says "can you send those pictures to the inspector so we can pour?" I'll say no...I got us passed with a new inspection...DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT...LET"S POUR CONCRETE!

 

[Bib Overalls]

In addition to cutting corners on the details (like properly drilling and anchoring rebar to old work with the correct amount of epoxy), unprincipled concrete guys will cut the mix (lower PSI), add water (makes the concrete easier to push and level), and add salt (makes the mix set up faster). The customer gets inferior concrete and the crew make happy hour at the ***** bar.

 

[Hounddog]

In addition to cutting corners on the details (like properly drilling and anchoring rebar to old work with the correct amount of epoxy), unprincipled concrete guys will cut the mix (lower PSI), add water (makes the concrete easier to push and level), and add salt (makes the mix set up faster). The customer gets inferior concrete and the crew make happy hour at the ***** bar.

Yessser, I agree completely. You mentioned salt...I know of using calceum (sp) to speed it up... My father in law said he'd have one or a half oz of calc added today to compensate for the clowdy/cool day. Now he did wait till we were talking at 4pm to pass that pearl of wisdom... O well

 

[Hounddog]

For an inside vantage point of what this extention will do for me... Here's an inside pic of the garage door that will flow out into the new space.

While the garage door (as shown here) will be relocated to the new space garage door...I'll recase the opening with some reclaimed materials and build a custom "old school sliding barn door" that'll roll on a track mounted above. I do this because the adjoining woodshop room gets everthing covered in sawdust. I may also take the window out and replace with ??? an old door or ?? I've got an old store brass bell that jingled when a shopper walked in....maybe this is my chance to use it. I'm hopeing to make the new place a spot for my 28 Ford...petrolina....advertising motor de jour.

 

[Dale Leeds]

Outstanding!! This is one of the nicest garages/shops I have ever seen. I love the loft upstairs. I always wanted one over a garage, but I had to settle for a single story. You are doing a great job. Thanks for keeping us updated. Good luck.

 

[Hounddog]

Outstanding!! This is one of the nicest garages/shops I have ever seen. I love the loft upstairs. I always wanted one over a garage, but I had to settle for a single story. You are doing a great job. Thanks for keeping us updated. Good luck.

Well thank ya Dale.... My shop is a working shop...despite how I'd like to have it just so so.... It'll remain a something I can work in. The apartment upstairs...I'll cover that space toward the end of this build as I'm reworking the entryway with this addition. As far as two story....I'd rather have a single story...stairs are a hassle. We did live in the upstairs apt (1100 sq ft) for 3 years...ended up building the house toward the front of our place. For a single man this would be a very nice set-up.


PASSED my footer RE-INSPECTION today...got the paper. Should make for an interesting conversation. I tried to call the guy all day to set up the pour for tomorrow....no luck...he's ducking me now... We are currently shooting for a Friday am pour. Hopeing to have the forms pulled by noon so we can dress up sides with a sponge. IF..I can keep them moving forward we may even get the approaches formed up for a possible pour Saturday if my local creet supplier is running.

 

[Bib Overalls]

Well thank ya Dale.... Hoping to have the forms pulled by noon so we can dress up sides with a sponge.

As the concrete is being placed I like to stick a shovel in vertically two or three times alongside the form and give it a wiggle each time followed by a couple of hammer taps on the outside. This will help consolidate the concrete and eliminate air bubbles. Another thing to discuss with your concrete guy.

 

[dkjwall]

I like the style of your shop. What does the loft look like?

Derek.

 

[Hounddog]

I like the style of your shop. What does the loft look like?

Derek.

Nothing special now...had to remove some of the bar stuff so it could be better used. I'll get some pics of it soon.

 

[Hounddog]

So the story gets better...better go grab some popcorn and Geedunk (What that means later) So, After failing the inspection last friday...fixing the rebar connections/drilling, and gluing in. The first concrete guy...lets call him...Concrete Guy (CG).... Well CG says hes got concrete lined up for 0700 monday morning. Monday has a chance of rain so the pour is cancelled for the day. I tell him I'm still interested in Wends and we depart company. So I change clothes and drive into work...I'm aggravated and decide to book a re-inspection... The inspector came by on tuesday and I passed. I tried to call CG from morning till late evening to see if he'd pour Wends...no answer...multiple left messages...and so on.

Well, it Wends and while driving into work this I decide to call the concrete company that he uses...and told me that he's set it up with them... I talk to them to see if their running concrete on Saturday...because if were going to pour on Friday...we can reform the approaches I wanted and knock them out Saturday..... Well the guys says "were not open Saturday.....were closed till monday" I asked you open Friday?....He says Nope, closing the plant for the holiday!!!!

I got so damn mad that I pulled over...and got to calling people to find another crew. Got very lucky and after some dead ends and found a ready crew. I got a guy talking to me that sounded straight forward...and interested. Well he had a team...I asked him how much and he said 60 cent a sq ft.....I came back with "I give ya'll 70 cent a sq ft to get you here" Well it happen.... I turned around pointing toward the house. This was my only way to get concrete... I've got a trip monday for 2 weeks and I don't wanna go into Dec trying to pour...I'll frame...but not pour.
Well the guys made it out...I ran the numbers and ordered the crete... 3K psi, fiber, and 20% accelerator. First mud hit the deck at 1300 and we finished out at 730pm. Had my (just like) daughter pick up 2 large pizzas for the boys and Geeedunk (soda) so they eat supper during a break....Great dudes, hardworking, and honorable! Loved it. They did a great job. Paid them $700 cash for 23 yards finished!

A significant edit here...

 

[sickjuice]

You sound like a real piece of work. You should be happy the guy cared about the quality of your job enough to talk you out of placing with a chance of rain. He rather sit at home and make nothing opposed to risk the quality of your job.
A ****** finisher would be the other way around, pushing to place with the chance of rain

 

[Hounddog]

You sound like a real piece of work. You should be happy the guy cared about the quality of your job enough to talk you out of placing with a chance of rain. He rather sit at home and make nothing opposed to risk the quality of your job.
A ****** finisher would be the other way around, pushing to place with the chance of rain

You evedently didn't read the entire thread.... Rain happened around 9pm......I am a piece of work.!

 

[Hounddog]

SICKJUCE

The original concrete guy was just taking advantage of the situation... I While this thread may sound a bit terse on occasion... I will admit I have vented a few times here. I'll do what I can to curb that in the future.

 

[NUTTSGT]

You already have a nice place that you are going to make nicer.

As far as the rain goes, being in Florida, you probably have a chance for rain everyday. A 40% chance of rain is a 60% chance of not having rain. I don't blame you for finding another contractor if the guy wasn't up to snuff in your opinion, it's your concrete and you're paying the bill.


BTW Top, I believe you need to hit up the middle link in my sig.

 

[Hounddog]

You already have a nice place that you are going to make nicer.

As far as the rain goes, being in Florida, you probably have a chance for rain everyday. A 40% chance of rain is a 60% chance of not having rain. I don't blame you for finding another contractor if the guy wasn't up to snuff in your opinion, it's your concrete and you're paying the bill.


BTW Top, I believe you need to hit up the middle link in my sig.

Well thanks for that....I signed up on the Mil board....I had missed it!
Keep on keeping on brother.

 

[Hounddog]

It's a shame...but I had to call the initial concrete guy to let him know that his services are no longer required. A shame because it's Thanksgiving and tomorrow was the "anticipated" pour day...so it had to get talked about.

Before I laid it out to him...I asked what the plan was for tomorrow. He told me the plant was closed Friday so we'd have to wait til Monday. I asked him when he found this out...first he said Wends..then he said Tuesday. And, needless to say, I never got a call to let me know that our Friday pour is off and Monday was the new pour date. That's when I started to let him in on what I've been up too...laying concrete. All was discussed...I covered the $$ that I was going to offer him...we spent alot of time talking about it...it was painful. I identified how I came up with that number. He did have a few legitimate items that I had not considered...I showed some flex and adjusted the number. So it's over, I have a bank check to get tomorrow and were meeting in town to pass the check over. So I'm relieved it's over and will get myself re-motivated for a good frame job. I still ended up on budget so ......that's it.
Next installment should be framing...Stay tuned.

 

[Hounddog]

Worked all day cleaning up the jobsite... I'll be happy to share some new morning pics. First, I do apologise to the board for the un-nessary ranting in the past couple of posts. The guy was crooked as a dogs leg..I fired him...I paid him today what was due...and sent him packing. But I do have some advice to share.

I protected myself during this very "uncomfortable" last meeting. First I had a witness with me that was known and respected by both of us. Second, I had went to the bank and got a Bank check for the money transfer (that gave me a receipt of the transaction) Third, I had a "Release of Lean Waiver" with me and filled out for him to sign. It was going to be a messy split...I don't believe he's been fired before. I told him he could have the check as soon as he signed the Waiver....My witness was there and endorsed the transaction and signed as witness. So it's over. I do believe I'm covered...still have all the docs and pics if I need them at a later time.

For the good....I met some great guys the other night pouring my concrete... but I believe I already spoke about them.

I do have something that the board may find interesting.. Freezing weather was forcasted for the night of our pour...I had to keep that concrete from freezing. What I did was make a blanket for it. I took a roll of poly (plastic) and covered that slab 3 hours after the last pass of the power trowl on the shop space addition...the other side was a light broom finish. So I covered the slab with plastic...then 4 inches of straw...then another cover of plastic...then placed shovels full of dirt at the edges to keep it all together. I let it set like that through the nite...all the next day...and took it off this morning...hosed it off. Looked great...but I had to get those saw cuts (for expansion) completed on the shop side. The patio side was done during the pour with a tooled joint. (matched the joints in the older existing concrete adjoining it) I rented a road cutter, bought the blade for the cutter, got me a 4in blade to finish up close in areas...like when you meet the wall...ect. Well...cuts turned out pretty good...I'll show it all tomorrow. Just remember, if you don't use one of these cutters every day....don't pick THE most seen joint as the first joint you cut!!!!! Lesson Learned. Turned out fine... Time to frame!

 

[yucholian]

Your CG was a loser and a flake. There are many good honest contractors out there, he just wasn't one of them.

Sickjuice, sounds like you've never been burned by a contractor.

 

[never enuf time]

Wonder what the first concrete guy will tell other trades about his dealings with you ?

 

[CreteCoater]

Subscribed!

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[NUTTSGT]

Wonder what the first concrete guy will tell other trades about his dealings with you ?

Hopefully if the other trades are honest and have had similar dealings with him before, they will consider the source when he begins to tell "his story."

I don't imagine the OP is going to have trouble as they came to an agreement and he signed a waiver. IMHO, the signing of the waiver is also an admission that the contractor had made some screw ups and the he was being released.

 

[never enuf time]

I just read a thread on the concrete board about a homeowner that backed out of a job, because he didn't want to wait for a good clear day to pour.

I truly don't know the whole story, just saying being in construction for all my life I probably wouldn't work for somebody that fired somebody so quick.I would be leary of completing a job that somebody else started. Not to mention,this talk of he is the one driving the bus now.

If that guy was such a pos, why did he hire him ? He may have been , I don't know.

My advice to Hounddog is to treat the trades with respect in terms of time/scheduale/$.
You did good with the pizza thought.

 

[never enuf time]

Signing the waiver was the contractors best chance to regain the labor he had into it. Not an admission of guilt.

 

[Hounddog]

Wonder what the first concrete guy will tell other trades about his dealings with you ?

Not sure, but thanks for the invitation to get retrospective. I was raised honest and hardworking. If I decide to have someone work for me...and their product not at the level of my own work or better...I'll kick my own *** first. I don't run Vocational School here...you can learn on your own time and dime. I just wrote a check to a shifty, under performing, joker to the sum of $1800.... The initial labor bid included: 6 x 10 pad rip out, 1/3 load dirt, tractor work for a 1000 sq ft job, site prep (area was clear and flat at the start), dig footers, place/tie-off rebar, drill and epoxy the in) for that he bid me $2500.

If you read all the conversations above...you'll see that I had to complete the rebar connections to include drilling, mortering, bending, tieing off those 7missing rebar. Call in the re-inspection $45 bucks. and then pay another team to pour and finish 23 1/2 yards = $700. So... this is more detail than is nessary..but I can assure you that I am satisfied that I did all I could. AND....as I was attempting to get my Lien release signed....he refused because he believed the forms was his...we went back and forth on this for about 5 mins... Finally I tell him "have your guy's over in an hour and a half"....went home, pulled the forms by myself, stacked them in a pile in the yard...he and his men picked them up...he signed the waiver....took the check and drove off. So...there you go.

As for the waiver comment....I don't believe you understand what it is....not about guilt...It's a document that says he's paid in full for the services rendered at my project and releases me for any further liability of additional payment. It's a commonly used document in the industry.

 

[never enuf time]

I know what a waiver is, I have signed quite a few. You did right in paying him & getting the waiver signed.

I hope the framing goes better, looking forward to the progress of your project.

 

[Hounddog]

Finished concrete pics

Stress cuts on shop side completed. Cut to be 25% of the thickness of the "field" so 1" cuts it is. Recommended cuts for every 6 - 9ft...in total I do a nine square layout in the 27 by 20 shop area. Tooled joints on patio area completed during the pour.

You can in this pic that the door threshold was catching alot of moisture...Rains typically hit the west side of my shop. So the door and garage doors created the most issues...was scared that the sole plate would eventually rot. You can tell the lower door jambs were rotting. Additional paint may have helped but it was a bad plan that needed to be reworked. The new shed roof and repositioned personnel and garage door will fix this problem.

Saw cut was a challenge...I'd recommend that you have an operator and a spotter so you dont drift off the line. For the line I used a wax lumber crayon for it ability to show up and see and as there was going to water cooling the cut...it would not completely wash away. On my first cut I drifted off my line 2in after the first 10'....I thought that if I corrected it would have been far more noticeable than the drift...so I kept it going ended upabout 3" off at the 27' run...after I washed the mark off the line was straight and not noticeably off. Subsequent cuts went better as I figured out how to use the sight gage at the front of the unit. Rental of the unit for 4 hrs=$45 bucks...blade=100

 

[J-man67]

Haha great work man! Those darn blades...

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[Kevin54]

Count me in as subscribed!!!!

Looking forward to the build. You're lucky you could find another crew so fast. Around my area, all they want to do is slam a few beers and tell you how big of a job it is. So anymore, I go 20 miles north of me to hire anyone.