The Concrete Underground

[Nolift911]

That is fantastic - I was going to ask about the "thingie" for the beam and lifting engines so thanks for that!!

 

[Finallygotit]

I was wondering just how big this structure was from the first picture, then I saw the guy working the concrete later on.

 

[Homebody]

So glad to see you're back! Love the updates.
I admit that I'm a "Like" bandit, but only because I don't have time to read everything in the short time I'm browsing. I do go back and thoroughly read but by then, the topic has changed and it would just be weird to comment..lol

The spray paint rack caught my eye. Make that or buy somewhere. Must have!

 

[RickP]

I have to admit that I winced when I read this:

Every plow guy I hired in the early years quit shortly thereafter citing the danger of sanding what I affectionately refer to as the death luge.

(but it's hard not to laugh at the same time at you saying "affectionately" )

Having learned to drive in Michigan, I'm familiar with a milder version of your winters. Our steep gravel driveway was often a sheet of ice in January, and I know the "death luge" feeling all too well.

 

[82355]

Do you have a one ton dump truck?

Martin

 

[BigDaddy747]

Thanks Geoff289. I'll keep the updates coming as long as people are interested and maybe even if they aren't. lol.

Just saw this thread is back and i missed a few weeks of updates!!! Please keep them coming !!!!

 

[2lt1chevy]

I have that engine lifting device and it works. I did taper the edge of the nut to allow it to tilt a little further. I made an adapter plate to attach it to a Gen 2 LT1 intake manifold with 4 M6 bolts.

 

[Klokwerk]

@ConCretin I've just finished reading this entire thread today....thank you for sharing your journey. The ups and the downs!
Amazing.

There is so much information in here that I'll be referencing again and again.
One question I have is from an earlier post way back in '12 about your dock where they have to be removed every winter.
Where do you put them?

Thanks again!

 

[ConCretin]

Thanks to everyone for your interest and comments.

And as a relatively new golfer with very low garage ceilings... I have yet another reason to be jealous!!!

The garage was the only place in the house that had high enough ceilings to swing a golf club but I didn't want to park outside so I needed figure out how to make a simulator that folded up into a small space. It was relatively simple but took a lot of thought and planning. I'd be happy to share the details if anyone is interested.

Those engine levelers are great if you're working on something with a 2bbl or 4bbl manifold where the carb is in the middle of the engine.....no help for those of us lifting inline 4's or 6's out.......

True enough. It's been awhile since I've pulled an inline motor. It was a '72 Scout. I still miss that rig.

Thank you for the updates! I had to look up Salt Guard...

Salt Guard is usually used on sidewalks but I figured it would work for a sand shed too.

I was wondering just how big this structure was from the first picture, then I saw the guy working the concrete later on.

I edited my original post to include the dimensions. Thanks for pointing that out.

Do you have a one ton dump truck?

Yes. It's kind of an old beater we use to plow but it will still haul a few yards of sand.

One question I have is from an earlier post way back in '12 about your dock where they have to be removed every winter.
Where do you put them?

Getting the docks into and out of the river every year is a bit of a process. I thought I might do a future post on that operation but to answer your question, I store them on the property. Here they are at the moment;



I'm working on a post for tomorrow on the upper garage and the changes that have occurred since you last saw it.

Until then, Cheers!

 

[ConCretin]

Let's continue the tour by heading up the driveway until we come to this. Those of you who've been around from the beginning will remember this structure

[/URL]

I built it before I started the house and use it primarily for storage. Before we got the sanding thing figured out we'd park a car inside so we could get out when vehicles at the bottom couldn't make it up the hill.

This is what it looks like today;

[/URL]

We've obviously added on. The new section is a heated bay to store my boat. I still need to install siding and roofing on the addition. I don't want to mess around with the rain screen/cement panel siding that's on the original structure. I think I'm going to use matching gray cement clapboards with a trim strip that lines up with the seams in the cement panels.

You'll also notice I swapped out the hangar door for a standard overhead door. After I installed the new door in the boat house, the hangar door looked like **** so I decided to replace it with a matching door. In addition to appearance, I wanted the convenience of an electric operator. With the hangar door I had to go through the side door and manually unlatch the door and from inside. Now I just press a button.

I originally installed the hangar door to avoid interference with a bridge crane I intended to install. I got the longitudinal beams in place when I built it but I haven't got around to hanging the lifting beam. I figure I can work around the overhead door if I ever get the bridge crane up.


[/URL]

I still use the garage mostly for storage. Since my shop down below is pretty small, a lot of materials and equipment are ferried up and down the hill as needed. I don't do a lot of woodworking but all that equipment is up here and I roll it out as needed. The space isn't insulated or heated but it's usable with a space heater.

[/URL]

It also houses my dusty old '55 Chevy, which will be coming down to the shop for an engine swap once the truck is done. It's got a very tired 283 and a four speed but there's a fresh 327 sitting on my shop floor with its name on it. The garage also houses the 4 wheeler and a 13' Boston Whaler I'm converting to a push boat for dock installation and removal.

[/URL]

It's usually a bit of a mess because I'm always picking stuff up and dropping it off trying to keep the clutter in my shop to a minimum.

[/URL]

I built these racks out of unistrut to hold metal and wood. The red cabinets below are going to be built in to my work table when I finally get around to building it. They'll be painted Miller blue of course.

[/URL]

This is the door to the boat house I cut into the rear corner

[/URL]

The boat area is insulated and heated to 45 degrees, which saves having to winterize the boat every year. I do all the maintenance myself so a little workshop has developed in the back but the boat barely fits so I have to pull it out a little before there is room to work. I have a little folding workbench, which works great. There's even a little 'bridge crane'. I built out of uni-strut to lift the outboards.

[/URL]

As I said, it's a tight fit.

[/URL]

Well that about covers what I call the upper garage. In my next post, I'll share some construction details of how it came together.

Have a great day!

 

[Homebody]

If the 55 is headed to your shop then you'll have enough content to keep us interested for quite awhile!!

 

[ConCretin]

If the 55 is headed to your shop then you'll have enough content to keep us interested for quite awhile!!

Thanks Homebody. I guess I've always thought about this thread as being about construction and haven't posted much other than that. Presumably I'll finish building the darn thing someday so maybe I'll start posting more about what goes inside the garage. I definitely have more confidence in my ability to construct a garage than I do working on stuff in the garage but maybe it will be of interest.

 

[gooned]

It’s your thread, lots of us along for the ride, no one will complain seeing some project vehicles added in

 

[Chem1]

As a long time follower of this thread I am ecstatic that it is back and you are doing well! When you give us more of the details on the upper garage construction, be sure to touch on how you built the shelf brackets on the unistruts for lumber storage. I need to do something to more efficiently store some milled lumber and this looks like a good idea!

 

[Dh3256]

I built these racks out of unistrut to hold metal and wood. The red cabinets below are going to be built in to my work table when I finally get around to building it. They'll be painted Miller blue of course.

[/URL]

interesting approach using Unistrut for storage. Are you using the square nut style mounts or something different to hold the horizontal arms? Any guess on weight capacity?

 

[ConCretin]

When you give us more of the details on the upper garage construction, be sure to touch on how you built the shelf brackets on the unistruts for lumber storage.

interesting approach using Unistrut for storage. Are you using the square nut style mounts or something different to hold the horizontal arms? Any guess on weight capacity?

The unistrut makes for rugged wall mounted storage racks. I've been trying to recall where I bought the parts and pieces but I think I picked it up at the Home Depot. The vertical unistrut bears on the concrete curb and are lagged to the wall studs with structural screws. I don't know what the weight limit is but I've got them loaded pretty heavily.

[/URL]

I'll keep looking for details but hopefully you can source the parts if you are interested.

 

[Dh3256]

The unistrut makes for rugged wall mounted storage racks. I've been trying to recall where I bought the parts and pieces but I think I picked it up at the Home Depot. The vertical unistrut bears on the concrete curb and are lagged to the wall studs with structural screws. I don't know what the weight limit is but I've got them loaded pretty heavily.

[/URL]

I'll keep looking for details but hopefully you can source the parts if you are interested.

Did you fabricate the welded attachment of the horizontal piece or were you able to buy those?

 

[ConCretin]

Did you fabricate the welded attachment of the horizontal piece or were you able to buy those?

I purchased them just the way you see them. There is a bolt on top that pulls the bracket tight and really locks in the bottom. I think the horizontal elements were 18" long or but I cut them down to fit the space better. I looked around quite a bit and this was all I found

[/URL]
Unistrut P1000 337655

I think they may have been discontinued because I can't find anywhere to buy them. I'm pretty sure I picked them up at the Home Depot but they don;t seem to have them now although there are similar product available.

 

[RickP]

I purchased them just the way you see them. There is a bolt on top that pulls the bracket tight and really locks in the bottom. I think the horizontal elements were 18" long or but I cut them down to fit the space better. I'll dig around for my source.

I really like this rack design -- I'm going to look for these parts too. Nice and efficient use of space.

How has the concrete exterior of the house held up over the years? As well as you'd expect, I hope. Any issues with moss growing on the north side? I'm always fighting it growing on shingles and siding - I hope concrete is more resistant to it.

Thanks for posting all the new updates -- I really enjoyed reading about the initial build, but I found the thread after it was already completed and missed joining the discussion.

 

[zanyad]

I purchased them just the way you see them. There is a bolt on top that pulls the bracket tight and really locks in the bottom. I think the horizontal elements were 18" long or but I cut them down to fit the space better. I looked around quite a bit and this was all I found

[/URL]
Unistrut P1000 337655

I think they may have been discontinued because I can't find anywhere to buy them. I'm pretty sure I picked them up at the Home Depot but they don;t seem to have them now although there are similar product available.

Here's a link to a similar bracket: https://unistrutohio.com/products/p2513-thru-p2516

 

[Boosted1]

That boat garage is really nice.
Looking forward to seeing the work on the 55.

 

[kkenney]

It's hard to believe but I made my first post in the Concrete Underground thirteen years ago almost to the day on January 20, 2011. Over the next several years I documented the build of my home in Maine as well as a little bit about our life here. I was amazed at the level of interest and made many friends from all over the world along the way. I stopped posting as construction neared the end because there just didn't seem to be much of interest to what I was doing.

When I recently entered the witness protection program and changed my username to protect my true identity, many of you expressed interest in the current state of things. I had actually been considering some kind of update so here we go.....

First off, we are still not 100% complete and you might be surprised at how much remains undone. I'm sure many of you can relate to having busy lives and annoying financial constraints. Nevertheless I'll catch you up with the state of the Concrete Underground in the hope you find it interesting and frankly because I miss doing it not to mention the interaction with all of you.

I'll take it area by area and follow up with any interesting construction details that I managed to record. Since this is the Garage Journal, let's start with the shop. This was to be my workshop and I had (have) big plans for this area. Since I used this area extensively during construction, it was filled with tools and equipment early in the process and thus never received the finished walls and floors I originally planned.

The far left corner is a welding area. I nabbed the table years ago and it serves its purpose well. I really like the Miller blue color so I painted the boxes to match.



This adjacent area on the back wall contains the lift pump and battery charging area. I have a little fold down desk in the corner and a whiteboard above to write down things I'm sure to forget within 5 minutes if I don't.



The front corner is used mostly for tool storage.



The opposite corner is mostly material and supplies



I did get the skylight installed over the lift. It's a bit absurd really but it does let in a lot of light in an area with no windows other than those in the OH door. I'll post some pics of how this went together in my next post.



Here's a view from outside



The lift has been worth 100% of the time and cost. The unground design takes up very little space in a relatively compact shop. This pis shows why I needed the extra headroom. Locating the skylight relative to the lift involved a bit of guesswork but every vehicle I've lifted so far fits the opening above.



I also got the 2 ton bridge crane installed and find it to incredibly functional. I use it often to pick things up in one area of the shop and move it to another as well as using it to load items into vehicles. It's obviously great for engine removal and install. If you recall, I installed two extra deep roof beams that the trolleys run on.



I bought the materials to build a sweet rolling steel work table but as you can see, I'm still getting by with saw horses and a sheet of plywood. I'm planning on building my new table once the K20 is out of the shop.



Well that should get us started. I'll start digging up pics and get back to you with more details. As always, happy to answer any questions you might have. Cheers.

Who makes the aerosol rack mounted on the wall

 

[ConCretin]

Who makes the aerosol rack mounted on the wall

It's actually a bunch of individual metal racks I bought off the jungle website screwed to a piece of plywood.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08XQBZVHQ/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Work's great though.

 

[kkenney]

Thanks

 

[ConCretin]

I haven't got too many pics of the construction of the boat house addition; The original garage was built on a gradually sloping area and the addition was on the lower side. By the time I dug out all the stumps and boulders, I had a pretty deep fill to construct.

[/URL]

I used 2" crushed gravel and placed it in 6" lifts before running a heavy plate compactor over it. To this day, you can barely see a hairline crack between the two structures.

The plan was for a 4" slab with an 8" haunch around all four sides, which is very similar to the original structure. I used 2' wide Symons panels to form it up. These panels are nice for lay-down because you can connect the ends and corners together unlike typical residential panels. You can also use an outside corner as a straightener at the panels joints.

[/URL]

I drilled and epoxied #5 bars at 12" OC in the bottom of the haunch where the structures come together.

[/URL]

I laid down a Stegowrap vapor barrier, added #4's at 18" OC in the slab, 2, #5's longitudinally in the haunch and #4 dowels for a curb. Nothing left to do but make it gray.

[/URL]

I left the outside forms in place and installed a 2x12 to form the curb.

[/URL]

I don't have any pics of the framing operation for some reason. Probably cause I subbed it out and they had it up in a couple days. Pretty standard stuff. The only electrical is a few outlets and some overhead lights. I did get a shot of the spray foam going in.

[/URL]

After that I could tuck the boat away for the winter.

[/URL]

I really don't know how I'd get by without the Bobcat. I use it for everything. I grade, plow and sand the driveway with it. I haul water tanks, boat fuel and all manner of things with it. I even wired up a 12,000 lb electric winch and turned it into a little skidder to drag tree's out of the woods. I'll have to post up some pics of all the stuff it does for me.

Well that concludes our tour of the various 'garages'. Not sure where we'll go next but I'll come up with a plan. As always, feel free to ask questions or let me know what you are interested in.

 

[67CarGuy]

Another thanks for bringing us along and sharing all of this with us. Your knowledge of and experience with concrete (and concrete derivatives ) continues to impress, and I just hope that my upcoming basement and garage slabs can benefit from what you've shared!

Did you consider insulating the slab perimeter in the garage / boat shed? I don't see any below the Stego, just curious if it was considered not necessary, etc.

 

[Boosted1]

Very nice work on the boathouse.

 

[ConCretin]

Thanks to all for your interest. I'm working out a way to organize a tour of the inside of the house. Stay tuned for that. In the meantime I post up a few miscellaneous bits shortly.

Did you consider insulating the slab perimeter in the garage / boat shed? I don't see any below the Stego, just curious if it was considered not necessary, etc.

The trick to avoiding damage from frost is to avoid differential movement. Since I never intended to heat the original structure, the slab wasn't insulated. This made insulating the new foundation potentially problematic. As it stands, the whole structure floats evenly on the frost with no discernible movement.

I suppose I could have installed some insulation on the vertical portions but that seemed more trouble than it was worth. I keep the temp in the boathouse at 45 and it only costs a few hundred dollars a year to heat.

 

[Wreckster23]

Gah! You're back! I couldn't tell you how hopeful I was that we would see some progress after I saw your post about the name change.

I had to remember back to how 'young' I was when you first started posting. If you ever question interest, there are many times I remember something I learned from your work that I think back to. We all have learned a lot from you, case in point above about the insulation. I've also found that, after a garage has been established, we are all interested even if it's a matter of repainting something as small as a hose bib. Watching paint dry, so to speak. Don't worry about interest, a lot of it is simply seeing you use what took so much effort to build, even if it seems mundane to you.

There are so many things I'd like to see. The roof-top garden (or lack there of? who knows) The stairs, basically how you ended up living in the place. How does the better half like the kitchen area? How does entertaining go? HVAC/Electrical efficiency?

I'm sparce here as life has thrown me many curve balls to keep me busy, but I'll be impatiently reading along. I might even get some of the prep work started in my garage with this motivation.

Thank you for everything brother man, we all appreciate this thread more than you know.

 

[gooned]

Thanks to all for your interest. I'm working out a way to organize a tour of the inside of the house. Stay tuned for that. In the meantime I post up a few miscellaneous bits shortly.

 

[fish369]

Just finished, wow! What an awesome build! I will ditto what everyone has said...keep it coming. We're an easy crowd to please!

Beautiful work!

 

[OHSCrifle]

I spend most of my online forum time on GRM and have fallen out of the habit of checking in here frequently. But I’m so glad that I just did - had to rewind to January but I knocked that out in one session. I also will plead guilty to having found your property on a map using context clues. My family visited Maine about two years ago and I was very tempted but didn’t reach out since the thread had gone dormant.

Anyway - very glad to see activity in here. I’m most curious about how the house main staircase railing ended up… and how the house is “living” after ten years. Thanks for awakening this awesome journal.

 

[Dmsr87]

Great idea with the unistrut. I am going to put this one on the list of ideas to use. Glad you are back posting.

 

[RPageOne]

Oh so glad you are back. I return to GJ, check on you & Don Long immediately. Too much invested with you both in time spent not to be totally interested in anything you two do.

 

[jack stand]

I appreciate the apology Kalmar but please don't give it another thought. I'm sure I've inadvertently provided more than enough information to allow someone to track me down if they really wanted to. I don't worry too much about it. The paparazzi gave up a long time ago.

I hope you realize that my comment about changing my name had nothing to do with privacy concerns. I just thought ConCretin was more fitting on several levels.

Curiosity got the best of me also (since we're close) and I've considered contacting you for a look. But that was when it was a jobsite, a place that I've spent my working life, and one's home is off limits in my mind.
Anytime I pass near your area, usually on the turnpike you and your project enter my thoughts
Somehow I've missed everything in 2024 and it's like discovering another season of your favorite show to watch! I'm going to "ration" the new found episodes.

 

[BuyMyGarage]

Hi ConCretin,

i see you are still active on this site, if you have time can you please answer this question:

I like the siding look on your upper barn, can you explain what the panels are, what is behind the gaps, and generally how this is constructed.

I am planning a barn and am contemplating this look (chapgpt modified yours):

 

[ConCretin]

I used cement panels installed in a rain screen configuration. If you are unfamiliar, rain screens are offset from the face of the structure leaving an airspace behind and between the panels. The underlying surface is protected with tar paper or something similar so any water that gets in between the panels runs down and out the bottom.

There are some pics of the actual installation starting on page 14 to show you how I did it but there are many variations. (Oops. Looks like my photo bucket subscription has expired) The panels themselves are a bit pricey and it is labor intensive but makes for a clean, modern look. You can get the panels in a range of colors but the price goes up considerably with some choices. Btw, I like your variation on the design.

 

[BuyMyGarage]

Thanks ConCretin, copied a bunch of posts to a word doc for reference later.