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Above 1200 Sq/FT Restored 1930's Auto Shop

Wokspaces above 1200 squarefeet.
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Craptain

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Burning the midnight oil after a very long day just to bring us an update. You are a worker sir. And I hope you are resting today while the concrete cures.

Sent from my LG-D801 using Tapatalk
 

bryceaugustine

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I guess i am kind of surprised there is no in floor electrical. I know you did it in the barn. I thought you might have brought some in here also.
 
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BB767

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Visqueen

Thomas, a quick question. Have your 2 inch sheets of pink foam gone straight on top of the crushed rock?



David, I placed 4 mil thick plastic sheeting (visqueen it's called on this side of the pond) all over the crushed rock first to provide a continuous vapor barrier.



That will reduce the humidity levels in the basement and garage as moisture will wick up through concrete. The Styrofoam sheets also provide a moisture barrier but it's not a continuous barrier.



Look closely and you can see visqueen through the areas cut out for the piers. I now have a continuous barrier throughout the basement.



There are inevitable gaps between the sheets that the visqueen protects.



It was windy (it's always windy when you're working with visqueen, always) and visqueen blows around easily. Here you can see it billowing in the wind :willy_nil, so we only put the visqueen down one section at a time until we could get Styrofoam on top of it to weight it down and hold it in place.

While it may not have been necessary to use visqueen in conjunction with Styrofoam sheets, it is a superb vapor barrier, it's easy and quick to install and it's extremely inexpensive. Along with the water proofing on the walls I should have next to zero moisture infiltration into the basement. My wood working machinery will thank me for that. :)

Better rested Thomas
 

realvc

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Lake Norrell, AR
Thanks again for this great thread.
I check in almost every day to follow the happenings at "The Center Of The Universe".

Don't work too hard, you are retired after all.

Vince
 
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BB767

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I guess i am kind of surprised there is no in floor electrical. I know you did it in the barn. I thought you might have brought some in here also.

You know I did give it long thought but with the radiant floor heat tubing already in the floor it would have really complicated the whole installation. There would have been clearance issues with the heat tubing as well as placement issues.



For power requirements out in the center areas I'll just use overhead outlets of some sort much as I did in my old wood shop. In-the-floor electrical would have nice but unlike where they are in the barn, it would have placed some equipment constraints on me. For now, I can set the shop up as I see fit and fill in electrical service to meet those needs. Like I said, I gave it long, hard thought.

Thomas
 

Joe-R

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St. Louis
Hi Joe and welcome to the vortex! Rereading the thread eh? You are a glutton for punishment. There is a lot of material and every so often I'll thumb back through for a reference and reread something and discover new material even I had missed the first time through. The whole story has been quite the adventure and one I've been happy to share. Glad you enjoyed it so much.

BTW on the subject of F-15's, do you work with or know of a fellow, last name Garrelts? He's on the F-15 program in St Louis and is the son of a close neighbor of mine. Wondered if that 6 degrees of separation thing was still working.





The blue '66 convertible is a 4 speed, base engine car that runs exceptionally well. The fellow I bought it from had owned it for 42 years and he was getting older. Since none of his kids wanted any of his "old cars" he decided to sell it and I was lucky enough to buy it.



It's not as NCRS correct as the coupe, which is a NCRS Top Flight car, but still the blue '66 is a very nice, solid driver, Terry's even driven it. I expect you to come visit the shop driving your '66 big block once you get it back on the road. The welcome mat is out and it's a short drive.

Thanks again Joe for joining the gang and I'll put you on the reading list for Beltsville Shell. It just so happens Chris and I were at Cary's house for dinner a couple of nights ago and he is keenly interested in the progress of the Brotherhood of the Traveling Book as he calls it. I'll get a post going and update you with his news.

Thomas

PS, once you meet Chris you'll understand she is well deserving of any and all compliments from me. TLC!! :bounce:
Hi Thomas,

In the process of re-reading your epic thread, I came across your question to me if I knew a fellow by the name of Garrelts who works for Boeing in St. Louis. I'm afraid I don't, but he must be a fine man if he is a friend of yours!

Your new house is coming along nicely!!! I can't wait to see how the equipment lift and geothermal works out. Plus the limestone and granite that you traveled far and wide to see the operations. You are not afraid to jump in the car and drive!

Joe

P.S. I have some Blickle casters on order from Wal-Mart of all places for my air compressor. Thanks for the tip, they look to be of fine quality.
 

stillp

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Like I said, I gave it long, hard thought.

Thomas
Somehow I'm not surprised at that!

What does surprise me is that the Styrofoam is weighty enough to stop the Visqueen blowing around in the wind. You must have denser styrofoam on you side of the pond.

Pete
 
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BB767

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It sure appears you picked a very qualified concrete crew! I probably missed this in a previous post (...I'm going to fail Chris' test...) but what type of concrete did you go with? I assumed I would see a little rebar in there. I look forward to more details when you're rested!

Roman

Roman thanks for your interest and kind words. We used 3,000 psi concrete throughout. There is rebar in the walls but not the floor and the floors are 5"-6" (12 - 15 cm) thick in the basement and 6"-7" in the garage. Matt Esker, owner of the concrete company, told me in most instances they find it's not necessary in basement floors where the concrete is "captive" and not a lot of high concentrated weight is expected. In an outside application he said that's another matter all together.

........

What does surprise me is that the Styrofoam is weighty enough to stop the Visqueen blowing around in the wind. You must have denser styrofoam on you side of the pond.

Pete

Pete I used 2" (5 cm) high density Styrofoam and each sheet is fairly heavy. It also helped that we were working in a basement so the wind couldn't really get under the sheets. It just swirled around down there.

Thomas
 
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BB767

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Today the concrete looked even better than it did yesterday. Here's the garage in better light this morning.



The Kure and Seal sure left a shinny surface. It's dry and I was walking on it.



The small lip on the overhead door opening is to prevent rain water from driving under the overhead door in windy weather.



Here's how it looks down in the basement. You can see the control joints that were cut in the concrete....





...with a highly specialized saw a few hours after it was poured and before it was sealed. To prevent tear out when sawing across a crosscut, a small cardboard shim was placed in the crosscut. It's paying attention to little details like that which make for a quality end product.





This was first rate work with outstanding results.



I placed a 4' (1.2 m) and a 8' ( 2.4 m) level on top of and along the walls in various spots and that's the reading I got everywhere. It's dead nuts plumb and level everywhere. :thumbup:

Now I have a great foundation upon which to build an equally terrific home. Stand by, this is a promising beginning that should get much more interesting in the weeks and months ahead. Thanks again everyone for all your interest and positive thoughts. It's very much appreciated. :)

Thomas
 

AZpilot

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Mesa, AZ
Great foundations do mean great structures. That is a huge basement. Looking forward to getting ideas for my retirement build.
 

bulletpruf

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San Antonio
Thomas -

Thanks again for letting us look over your shoulder as your dream house is built. It's very interesting and informative.

Scott
 

MG David

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Warwick UK
Thomas, thank you for taking time to answer questions.

Some years ago I built a shed with a concrete floor and put a put a plastic sheet under the concrete. It has remained completely dry through some very wet years we have had recently.
 

gasgas17

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Nova Scotia, Canada
People have no idea how much easier it is to frame off a straight, square and level foundation. And it carries trough over every trade to the end of the project too! It's not common to get that quality work anymore in most places these days. New construction has become such a racket in my neck of the woods that the quality labour is just gone. The stuff we see in newer homes now being in the renovation business scares me. Thomas, your very lucky to have great local resources to start you off right! Looking forward to the framing.
 

oberst

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Here's how it looks down in the basement. You can see the control joints that were cut in the concrete....





...with a highly specialized saw a few hours after it was poured and before it was sealed. To prevent tear out when sawing across a crosscut, a small cardboard shim was placed in the crosscut. It's paying attention to little details like that which make for a quality end product.


Thomas

Check out the guy workin' the saw in these two pix - his body is positioned exactly the same in both images. Then, check out how straight those control joints are. There's no doubt a correlation - that fella most assuredly knows how to use that machine!
 
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BB767

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Check out the guy workin' the saw in these two pix - his body is positioned exactly the same in both images. Then, check out how straight those control joints are. There's no doubt a correlation - that fella most assuredly knows how to use that machine!

That's a keen observation Mike and quite accurate I might add. Even though it he had been on the job over 12 hours at that point when he was scoring the concrete and those pictures were taken, he still took great care and deliberation with it. He clearly had pride in his workmanship, just as every man on J.B. Eskers crew did. They are a top notch outfit.

Thomas
 
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BB767

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Floor Drain and Framing

It was suppose to rain last night so I taped the garage floor drain shut to see how the well the garage floor sloped to the drain in the center of the garage.



When I went out there this morning...



...I had a nice big puddle right smack in the middle of the floor just as it was suppose to.



I then cut a small opening it the drain and this is the whirlpool I observed as water started to drain. The dark spot in my yellow circle is the shadow cast by the whirlpool. Our friends in the southern hemisphere might be interested to know the water was indeed spinning clockwise. (more test material Chrisl! :D)



The main long support spans in the basement are going to be steel I beams. They'll sit in beam pockets cast into the walls.



To get the correct height of the posts to support those beams, a string was strung from the bottom of the beam pockets. Then the location of the piers on the floor was noted and a measurement was taken from the string to the floor for the posts. The I beams and posts will be delivered next week.



The installation of the sill plates was finished...



... using treated 2 X 6 material on top of a sill seal and copper termite shield.



We now have wood bolted to the walls all around the perimeter.

Stand by for more. ;)

Thomas
 

JeremyBurke

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Near Portland, OR
Thomas and Ms. Chris,
I have always loved following your thread, but this new house build has taken into a new stratosphere. There is no way to have time or energy to post too much for my taste. Thanks for sharing as always.

Warmest regards,
Jeremy
 
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BB767

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Wood Sprouts In The Basement

One of the the keys to add versatility and assist with the construction is...





...this Gehl heavy duty forklift. It belongs to Ray and will be on site for almost the entire construction. Hoo-Woo!! It weights a whopping 23,000 lbs (10,432 kg) so it's plenty stable and can be used for all sorts of tasks. All wheel drive, 4 wheel steer...



...the boom can extend 42' (12.8 m)...



... and can handle a 6,000 lbs (2,721 kg) load.



It can reach over the basement walls with a heavy load...



... as seen on the left. It can't reach all the way to the floor but it gets the load low enough we can off-load it by hand. That saves many trips up and down ladders and stairs or handing material down.



Ray and I were the only ones working today...



...so I took advantage of the barn bench and we spread out all the various blue prints. Some pre-planning layout work was necessary.



The floor truss system plans detailing the various floor trusses is over 30 pages thick. Blame me for that. The special nature of some home features require specialized trusses.



We had to build 2 load bearing walls in the basement. This one...



...which you'll note is made of 2 X 6's, 16" on center and has a doorway.



The wall by the basement stairway is also load bearing. For that wall we had to make up a temporary overhead beam to project down to the floor to locate the floor plate. Any wood that touches concrete we use treated wood. It's slow, tedious work but very important to get it right.

So slow going today with just 2 of us working a short day and doing pre-planning layouts. It'll start to speed up shortly. ;)

Thomas
 

bp460

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Chicagoland
Thomas,

I have followed your fascinating shop thread for the past 5 years and finally decided it was time to say a few words... Thank you so much for sharing the journey of your shop transformation and now the construction of your new home. I appreciate all the extra time and effort it takes for the production of this thread. Meanwhile, I am taking notes for my dream home & shop... and the "test"!

The concrete crew is top notch and their work is beautiful. Did you ever consider using insulated concrete forms? I do not have any experience with them and would have gone with traditional forms as well, but am curious to your thoughts on the subject.

Cheers,

Brad
 

gordyy

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Jan 10, 2013
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North Dakota
we really need a like page here
Excellent workmanship on all of it!
The modern day hydraulic systems sure take the work out of the fetch and carry jobs, not to mention the safety involved! much easier to put a heavy beam on the forks lift and slide it into place instead of one foot on a ladder one on the top of the foundation and hauling it up on a rope!!
 

oberst

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I know you've already thought about this, but would there be any advantage to pre - loading the basement with some of the bigger wood shop equipment before you start putting in floor joists (since you have access to the gehl) or is that just too much effort to try and work around a bunch of heavy stuff while you're building a home?
 

Stuart in MN

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Re: Wood Sprouts In The Basement

One of the the keys to add versatility and assist with the construction is......this Gehl heavy duty forklift.

I'm curious what the crew calls it. The Gehl? The forklift? The telehandler?

Around here, no matter what brand, most every construction crew calls them a Lull, which is a popular brand - it's kind of become a generic name, like Kleenex or Xerox. I don't know if that's a regional thing or not.
 

71 MKIV

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here in the north east they are pettibones, or just the "bone". Never mind if it's an Ingersoll or a Cat, or even a Petttibone.

gorgeous work Thomas.

:beer:
 
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BB767

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Re: Wood Sprouts In The Basement

Thomas,
.........

The concrete crew is top notch and their work is beautiful. Did you ever consider using insulated concrete forms? I do not have any experience with them and would have gone with traditional forms as well, but am curious to your thoughts on the subject.

Cheers,

Brad

Hi Brad and thanks for the inquiry, that's a very good question. I have been planning on having Eskers do all the basement concrete work since I first started planning the house several years ago. I told them what I wanted and left the rest up to them as to how they would achieve it. If they use insulated forms I'm not aware of it and I don't know why not. I'll have to ask Matt next time I talk with him and find out his reasoning. I'll post what I find out.

I know you've already thought about this, but would there be any advantage to pre - loading the basement with some of the bigger wood shop equipment before you start putting in floor joists (since you have access to the gehl) or is that just too much effort to try and work around a bunch of heavy stuff while you're building a home?

Mike it would be much easier to install the large equipment in the basement right now, no question but......the machines have to be in an environmentally controlled space to prevent rusting. In fact, with the concrete giving off moisture as it dries, I'm not sure when I will be able to place them down there. Once the HVAC system is operational I'll check the humidity level down there and I'll just have to wait until it's below around 50% before I'd feel comfortable bringing in the metal machines. It's possible it will take several months drying time before I have safe conditions for them.
All the equipment is in storage...





...in the barn right now....



...where it's around 45% humidity so they're safe. I use a large commercial de-humidifier to control the humidity levels in the barn and I'll just have to be patient. It'll be late fall with heat in use in the house before we'll be moving in so that will aid in drying the concrete.

I'm curious what the crew calls it. The Gehl? The forklift? The telehandler?

Around here, no matter what brand, most every construction crew calls them a Lull, which is a popular brand - it's kind of become a generic name, like Kleenex or Xerox. I don't know if that's a regional thing or not.

Stuart our crew just calls it the forklift. They're not too common in residential use, but every commercial construction job site around here has one it seems. Now you've got me curious. :)

Thomas
 
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GoodJobTim

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Magnolia, Tx
Telehandlers are commonly referred to as Lulls down here but SkyTrak is becoming the generic name anymore. Or hi-reach or 6K, 8K, 10k forklift. We repair those and man lifts and scissor lifts at our business.

In fact an old Gehl 663 is our "yard dog". Wish they'd of been around back in my oilfield days.
 
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AZpilot

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Lots of tools! I drools over the tools. I have basics but I need a so much more. Good news is my wife is actively (sp?) looking for a house with a workshop for me.
 

paigej

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Telehandlers are commonly referred to as Lulls down here but SkyTrak is becoming the generic name anymore. Or hi-reach or 6K, 8K, 10k forklift. We repair those and man lifts and scissor lifts at our business.

In fact an old Gehl 663 is our "yard dog". Wish they'd of been around back in my oilfield days.

In the military we called em variable reach (vr) or shoot booms!
 

C_F

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Thought I would pop in quickly to say I love how well thought out this house build is thus far & how great the J.B.Eskers crew has performed. I wish I had that crew working on my house when we built it back in 1998.
But the commute may have been a deal breaker.:D

I check this thread daily, but don't post often, to avoid clutter. I have a hunch there's probably 50 others with the same thought. :lol: Looking forward to your continued, and always thorough updates.:thumbup:
 
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BB767

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Lots of tools! I drools over the tools. I have basics but I need a so much more. Good news is my wife is actively (sp?) looking for a house with a workshop for me.

If you like tools, I have even more tools...









I have to store my complete wood shop equipment, benches ,hand tools etc. along with all my other tools from our old house out in the barn. It's mighty crowded out there right now. I'm really looking forward to being able to clear the lot out in a few months. It's really messing with my sense of order and well being. :eek:

Thomas
 

AZpilot

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I have to store my complete wood shop equipment, benches ,hand tools etc. along with all my other tools from our old house out in the barn. It's mighty crowded out there right now. I'm really looking forward to being able to clear the lot out in a few months. It's really messing with my sense of order and well being

Try having your wood shop in a 6X10 shed.
 

jbmatth

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Northern Ok.
Thomas,
No doubt you are having a blast with all of this and are working your tail off. I figured you'd had the machinery lift engineered and it has been designed and built appropiratly I'm glad to see that.

As for the forklift we use them quite a bit and call them either SkyTrak's or extend-a-boom forklifts. Keep it up and have a good one,
JB
 
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BB767

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Odds And Ends

Nothing very interesting or exciting has been happening to post about while we wait for the floor trusses and steel I beams to be delivered. The trusses get delivered tomorrow and the steel on Thursday. While we're waiting, Ray and I...



...completed the wall...



...that will contain the stairway to the basement. It'll be a nice wide stairway at 4 1/2' (1.3m) wide. This will be a door to storage under the stairs.



At the other end there will be a door at the bottom of the stairs to keep noise and dust from the wood shop out of the main house.



You might note the distance between the top of the frame wall and the sill plate for the main house. That's the height of the floor truss in this area, about 12" (30 cm) which will sit on the frame wall we built.




There will be a 1/2 bath in the basement and that was walled as well. For headers throughout the house we'll be using 2 X 12's doubled (back to back) or if the header is over 70" long (178 cm) it'll be tripled for additional strength. The 1/2 bath has a pocket door which explains the wide doorway.

There was also layout work for the trusses on the sill plates and laying out the drains for the bathrooms to make sure they didn't fall in the middle of a truss. Nothing glamorous but all necessary preparations.



Additional material arrived on site including a bunk of studs. ( A bunk is 25 rows of 20 studs in each row) That's for the interior walls, exterior walls will be 2 X 6's. Along with wood...



...material for the fireplace foundation and carport posts arrived.

Progress is being made but once the steel I beams and floor trusses arrive there be much more visual progress. That's when we'll have a full crew of 4 of us doing all the framing. We should be also be starting the fireplace block work this week too. Stand by.

I'd also like to thank everyone again for all the generous, positive comments and very kind thoughts about this project. It is so appreciated. It's going to be a bunch of fun having all of my friends come along with us. I'm trying to savor the experience as much as possible. It's just so much fun doing this. :bounce:

Thomas
 
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