Retirement Build

[sleepy127]

So I have around 2.5 to 3.5 more years until I can hang up my uniform. I have a house that will be mine in 23 more years in TN and I plan on moving back there. It has a 2 car basement garage which is fine but a little cramped when it comes time to work. I am planning a shop build in the back. I have did the layout then imposed the layout over the google earth image of my home. Let me know what you think.

 

[sleepy127]

This was a picture the satellites took a while back, we had a few vehicles in the back where I plan to build (none were on blocks). There is a lot of concrete back there but I was planning on using the pad under the little brown vehicle as the bay for the garage, it may have to be widened a little and then the rest of the shop will be on a foundation wth a 2 foot crawl space in the front and a little more in the back. The backyard is in a depression that floods when there is very heavy rains. My basement had 8" of standing water the year that the cumberland river flooded and destroyed part of nashville. They say it was a hundred year flood and it hasn't got no where near that bad any other time.

 

[dfiler2]

Looks very nice, 3 years to retirement, you are a lucky man.

 

[sleepy127]

Well I should say 3 years until I go find another job. I will be 47-48 and my retirement pay will be about 40% of what I make now. But I will get to close that chapter of my life and not have to worry about spending any more holidays in countries that aren't pleasant to be in (was that PC enough lol). BTW I wanted to say spend holidays in sh1t40les

 

[sleepy127]

I guess my next step is help wading through what I am going to need to do so I can build this within the city limits. The house is in Montgomery County, Clarksville TN. If there is anyone out there experienced with that area that can let me know where to start then let me know. I plan on doing 90% of it myself. I just need help with the bureaucracy portion. For example; what do I need prior to applying for a permit? What about plans, do I need to pay for official plans to be drawn up? Can I do that myself and have an engineer sign off on it?

 

[Bib Overalls]

Wish I could help you with your area specific questions. The next time you are "back home" call the City or County planning department and ask them your questions. Three years is time enough for things to change so touch base with them again before you start.

I retired 15 years ago (40 years of combined Army/Civil Service) and the first thing I did was build a house for my long suffering wife. Then I built my shop.

As an observation, the foundation and the site prep are the two things you can not go back to and fix once your structure is up. Don't cut corners. If you need to bring in fill then bring it in. Don't get miserly on rebar, concrete, or mix strength. If you have a drainage issue going in then fix it before you build. It will get worse when you add runoff from the roof.

If you decide to use the old slab don't build on it, build around it. Just because it is already there doesn't mean it, and particularly the edges. are adequate to support the load imposed by the vertical construction.

Before you commit to incorporating the old slab in your construction plan determine how flat it is. Just because it looks flat doesn't mean it is flat. A little slope to run water/ice melt out the door can be beneficial but you don't want it puddling in a back corner.

Since I don't know what kind of "work" you plan to do in your shop so it is hard to make recommendations on your overall plan but as an observation, 16" is not very wide. It may work for you but I think I would shoot for at least 20".

Good luck.

Garryowen Sir!!

 

[sleepy127]

Thanks
I plan on using the portion that has the slab for working on cars, bikes, and fab work. It will be 14 wide x 20 deep. It will have a foundation beside the pad. The other portion connecting to the left side will be 26 wide and 16 deep. It will be 2 foot off the ground in the front on cinderblocks. You will step up from the slab portion onto a woodbased floor (not sure what type of flooring I will use. In there I will have my metal working machinery closest to the pad and my woodworking stuff farthest. It will have some type of french doors opening to the outside front. The roof on that portion will be built in a barn style. Not sure the name of it. But I will be trying to create headroom for storage in a loft.

 

[sleepy127]

you should be able to see in the picture. The drawing is fairly accurate as to where it will be on the graound and the scale is very close (close enough to give a good view). The pad for the garage portion is in front of the white van and under what is a tan nissan. For scale the van is a E250 long. The vehicle beside it is a f150 long 81.