Pilots Playground

[Iseman]

What a great site, I surf whenever I can for new ideas!!! Like others, I've been a lurker and wish I had discovered GJ along time ago. I marginally documented my shop build, so some of my building lacks documentation. Thankfully, I haven't finished my shop and can incorporate alot of your ideas. I elected to do the concrete in 2 halves, so I could pour the floor to the pit at the same time I poured the first half. Here are some pics for starters. I have more and will try to post as my time alows.

 

[Iseman]

After the floor to the pit was poured, I blocked the walls up and added the angle iron to protect the edges. Before I poured the cement, I trenched in dust collection pipes below the floor. I also ran electrical and air lines into the pit. On each wall of the pit I mounted recessed lights that shine upwards about 60 degrees. I made a big mistake having the second half poured when I was out of town. The cement contractor assured me he would do a great job. When I returned, it looked like they left half way thru the smoothing. It has a terrible finish and is very rough and uneven. They are no longer in business, suprise, suprise. Here are some more pictures

 

[c39er]

After the floor to the pit was poured, I blocked the walls up and added the angle iron to protect the edges. Before I poured the cement, I trenched in dust collection pipes below the floor. I also ran electrical and air lines into the pit. On each wall of the pit I mounted recessed lights that shine upwards about 60 degrees. I made a big mistake having the second half poured when I was out of town. The cement contractor assured me he would do a great job. When I returned, it looked like they left half way thru the smoothing. It has a terrible finish and is very rough and uneven. They are no longer in business, suprise, suprise. Here are some more pictures

The pit kinda looks same as mine!

 

[Kevin54]

Good call on having a phone in there

 

[Lippyp]

I hear you on the rough concrete. My house in France has had a concrete beam and block floor put in for the first floor and it seems the previous owner who laid the concrete went off for a siesta one afternoon following a particularly liquid lunch and we have been left with a roughly circular patch of concrete in the middle that looks like a small scale representation of the Himalayas.

 

[Iseman]

The pit kinda looks same as mine!

Your pit is one of the examples I wish I had seen before putting in my pit. I really like your ladders. I just use a wooden ladder that I move from end to end. In the pit I have 220/110 outlets, a dust collection outlet, and air line and drain. The lights I installed really light up under the vehicle, occasionally I still require a drop light. I'll take some picture of the finished pit, if I didn't know the differances, our build process looks very similiar. I currently cover my pit with 2 X 6 planks, with plans to put in metal grates.

 

[Iseman]

I hear you on the rough concrete. My house in France has had a concrete beam and block floor put in for the first floor and it seems the previous owner who laid the concrete went off for a siesta one afternoon following a particularly liquid lunch and we have been left with a roughly circular patch of concrete in the middle that looks like a small scale representation of the Himalayas.

My goal was to epoxy the floor but now I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I plan on renting a grinder and trying to level as best I can.

 

[c39er]

Had a big water issue to deal with when I constructed my pit. Bottom of pit floor was 2 feet below water table. Put in a good drainage system and sealed the walls of the pit. Always dry and nice. Thick grates on top. Same as your pit- fresh air -phone-airline- beer pockets in the wall too. 4" drain in the bottom. I made the ladders out of 3/4" rebar.

 

[Iseman]

I think I left out some important facts. The shop is 28 X 40 with 9ft walls. I elected to use trusses with a vaulted ceiling giving me about 14ft at the center. I wanted to put in a lift, but thought it takes up to much space. (Now that I've seen some of these built in scissor lifts I might add one in the future.) We live on the side of a hill and elected to level the back yard and use the fill to level a spot for the shop. The wife wanted a level spot for a built in pool. We had to bring in 60 yards of fill to get a large enough pad. I used a local dirt contractor with a D5 cat. What we found was solid rock on the uphill side of the shop area, so we had to build up to level from there. I had to build a large retainig wall on the top.

 

[Iseman]

C39er Where did you get your grates for your pit? I've thought about making some. Looked at buying but they are expensive.

 

[redtail]

I thought it was illegal to put a pit in a new garage now? maybe only in some areas?

 

[Iseman]

I thought it was illegal to put a pit in a new garage now? maybe only in some areas?

I live in the country and currently have no building restrictions. What is your referance saying its illegal to have a pit. I can't find any referances here in Texas.

 

[Iseman]

Here is where I made a big jump without any pictures. We had the trusses delivered and put up in a 2 days. My son and wife helped do the install, no big problems. This is another area that I wish I had seen GJ before I ordered my trusses. I would have elected to put in an upstairs attic for storage. I did plan on a compressor and dust collection room to the back of the shop. The exterior is going to be stucco and rock to match the house.

 

[c39er]

C39er Where did you get your grates for your pit? I've thought about making some. Looked at buying but they are expensive.

Got a bunch of it free from a Discount tire store that was being remodeled-lucky me! That stuff in a heavy grade is $$$$.
Bob

 

[OUNATE]

Who are you flying the challenger for?

 

[Iseman]

I run the flight department for a private individual. Nicest guy you ever met. He's kind of an airplane nut, I've worked for him for 7 years and we have been thru 4 different airplanes with plans to buy more. Best job a guy could have.

 

[Iseman]

The outside is finished with, most of the landscaping complete. In the future the front of the garage will have a 20ft concrete apron out the front. The last picture is looking back up the hill that we cut into and the retaining wall. The retaining wall is 90ft long. I found a web site that showed how to build dry stacked concrete walls. We think it turned out great. This is where the pool will go.

 

[Homebody]

Beautiful place! You have my son's dream job. He 's 17 and should get his PVT in the next 2 weeks or so.

 

[greg]

Nice looking garage and house . When you hit rock I am guessing you hit limestone ?

 

[Iseman]

Beautiful place! You have my son's dream job. He 's 17 and should get his PVT in the next 2 weeks or so.

Thanks, I got my flight training from Uncle Sam, couldn't afford to do it myself. Hope all goes well for your son, Aviation opened alot of doors for me. From what I see in the industry many jobs will be opening up in the future. Tell him to keep the shiny side up and the dirty side down. Touch only the shiny switches and don't play with the dusty ones.

 

[txesprit]

Great looking shop, and very similar to what I am hoping to start on next year. We have a restriction of 1000sf and 14ft height. I'm curious to see the inside - is it a divided space or wide open? I am hoping to fit a 2 car garage and small "guest house" space.

 

[Iseman]

Nice looking garage and house . When you hit rock I am guessing you hit limestone ?

Thanks Greg, I think the majority was limestone, but we had sections of really hard rock, I think it was granite. When we trenched for the electrical, water and drainage, it took us 8 hrs to cut 40 ft in on section. We had a total of 250 ft from the meter to the shop. My son and I took turns on the rock saw.

 

[Iseman]

Great looking shop, and very similar to what I am hoping to start on next year. We have a restriction of 1000sf and 14ft height. I'm curious to see the inside - is it a divided space or wide open? I am hoping to fit a 2 car garage and small "guest house" space.

Thanks, My thoughts, when started were 1/2 woodshop, 1/2 auto shop. It is filling up much to fast. Currently it is wide open and unfinished. I plan on putting a bathroom in one corner. I think you should be able to put in a nice shop with a small living area. This is a great web site to get ideas from. I'll get some interior pictures later.

 

[rburke65]

Iseman......Is that a 8-12 pitch???? And, what about the overhang.....2' ?? They both look real nice. Nice place. Thanks

 

[pcmeiners]

This company has just the toy you need for the shop..

http://www.iconaircraft.com/index.html

 

[OUNATE]

Awesome garage and sounds like you've got a heck of a gig going. If you ever need a right seater let me know.

 

[Foul]

I found a web site that showed how to build dry stacked concrete walls.

Could you share that please? your wall looks like it turned out great, so I'd like to learn from where you learned.

thanks,
dan

 

[Iseman]

Iseman......Is that a 8-12 pitch???? And, what about the overhang.....2' ?? They both look real nice. Nice place. Thanks

Thanks, Yes it is 8/12 pitch, and the overhangs and gables are 2ft. I did both to match the house. Same with the exterior, I used rock and stucco to match the house. Both are pretty common in this area of TX.

This company has just the toy you need for the shop..

I've flown about every kind of aircraft out there, but I'm not much into the experimental stuff.

Awesome garage and sounds like you've got a heck of a gig going. If you ever need a right seater let me know.

We used to be able to use any pilot we wanted to fill the right seat, but the insurance companies have all but eliminated that option. I'm not sure your experience level but we now require 1500 hrs, an ATP and type rating in the aircraft. Very expensive.

 

[Iseman]

Could you share that please? your wall looks like it turned out great, so I'd like to learn from where you learned.

thanks,
dan

Foul, below is the web site I used for most of my information. I added a few extras I thought would help strengthen the wall. I cut a notch in the top of every other row and installed rebar horizontally. I have some pictures somewhere I'll try to post. I also just googled "Dry Stacked Concrete" an got some other ideas. I was able to build this over a summer by myself. No worries about rain damage or material getting wet.

www.drystacked.com/sequence.html

 

[Iseman]

I could actually start a whole new thread on building this retaining wall. Here are some pictures of the process.

 

[Iseman]

More pictures of retaining wall.