Above 1200 Sq/FT The Empty Cup 40x64 Post Frame

[eastmtn]

The security lighting in the front is on motion sensors. The barn lite over the man door is a dusk to dawn light. There are wall pak lights over each bay in case I need to do some work out front. I took the picture with my phone and a new to me anamorphic lense that makes the gold streaks.

 

[eastmtn]

One of my nosy neighbors

 

[Maxcustody]

Those are the best neighbors to have!

 

[Blackbyrd]

@eastmtn thanks! I've got a few more things left to hide, but can't do that till I square away my brakes.

Dig the wash bay setup!! I did mine in phases cause I wasn't sure of foam cannoning.. (I'm an idiot and hate I waited as long as I did!!!) Been eyeballing the active 2.0. OG is great and his curated garage videos drove a lot of how I set my garage up. I really wanna take a trip down to atl to see his shop in person though.

You'll have to update me on the bead resin kit! I used the griots one for a while but it didn't last very long in my area and the cost of re upping was to much for the amount kf washes I got out kf it.

 

[eastmtn]

@Blackbyrd , OG uses the Cr spotless tanks for their deionization setup and CR definitely has the lions share of units in use vs other brands. Stay with me for a minute and I’ll take you through a little math and some hacks to increase the efficiency of these units.

Alot of this math is going to depend on the hardness/mineral content of your water source. OG says you can use 200-300 gallons per refill of the mixed bed canisters. We’ll use 250 gallons. 10 min of use for rinsing only at 2gpm leads to 20 gallons per vehicle wash. 250 gallon refills divided by 20 equals 12.5 washes per canister refill. We will use 12 washes for even numbers.
The OG replacement canisters at $160 mean $13.33 per wash.
If you get their pre mixed bags and re-use the canisters you spend $429 at 429/ (12 washes *3) = $11.91 per wash.
Buy the mixed bed media from CR spotless directly by the drum and its $369/ (12*3) = $10.25 per wash.

Now the cheater bar comes out. RV-mods sells a conversion kit that replaces the canisters with a more efficient down tube system. It ensures less blow by and more media per tank. $60 for the tubes and no increase in canister replacement time.

Without the mod if you by their mixed bed media at the same volume nets you $235/ (12*3) = $6.50 per wash
With the mod it supposedly increases efficiency up to 40%. I have not tried it out yet for accuracy of the statement. If so my ‘Rithmatic, one of the three R’s, says 235/ (16 washes *3) = $4.90 per wash.
At that sort of savings I’m willing to try it out, or at least land somewhere along the price per wash scale that’s a happy medium.
Here’s a link to the RV-mod website: https://rv-mods.com/store/
Youtube video explanation from an actual user who converted from using OG’s version of the tank to RV-mod:

As the youtuber demonstrates, there is no loss in flow from the conversion to down tubes.

 

[eastmtn]

I have secured the services of a plumber that I have used often when I lived in another county. Its about a 3 hour drive for him so I am thankful that he accepted the job. He removed the previous plumbers deficient work and gave instructions to dig a new trench that will have less bends in it. MY GC is taking care of the bill for the rework since the sub he hired did subpar work. I hand dug the septic end of the trench bigger and flattened out the trench with square sides.

At the corner of the house I exposed a broken downspout and dug a path for the side sewer line to go under while maintaining a 1/4 inch per foot grade
.

 

[eastmtn]

The GC and I hand dug the garage end and the plumber removed the 3 inch pipe that was there.

I broke down and purchased a laser level with receiver and grading stick to maintain grade. I wanted to buy one of these things for awhile now and kept putting it off because I didnt think I would use it that often. Grading 112ft with 9ft of rise convinced me to bite the bullet and I’m glad that I did. Its amazing how the contour of the earth tricks the eye.

The GC brought in his excavator and made a new trench about 5ft away from the old trench for a straighter path between the building and the house. He used the dirt from the new trench to cover the old trench and compacted it with the excavator’s treads.


My 6 year old foreman had never seen a breaker before so I introduced him and he had a blast.

 

[Blackbyrd]

@eastmtn

Thanks for sharing all of that ! So where i'm at now its about 240 on the TDS meter. So not the worst of the worst, but with black cars I hate to have to wipe them down just one more thing to create swirls and fine scratches.

used the griots unit, Mr Clean system (my favorite actually) which is now discontinued, and recently my cheap and lazy alternative is RV type water spigot filters used for drinking water.

ideally something with a built in meter would be better along with bypass valves eliminating some of the connect and disconnect work I have with my current setup.

glad to see im not the only....... obsessed person around haha

 

[Maxcustody]

Good to hear your plumbing situation is getting taken care of

 

[eastmtn]

So where i'm at now its about 240 on the TDS meter. So not the worst of the worst, but with black cars I hate to have to wipe them down just one more thing to create swirls and fine scratches.

Detail oriented is definitely a character trait of mine. I refuse to go to the therapist and get evaluated for obsession . I know all to well the struggle with black. I hate that it reveals my faults. However I love the feedback and depth it showcases when I’ve done it justice. My TDs is 300. Good for drinking, bad for spotting.
I haven’t heard of the Mr Clean Griots version. I would have liked to have compared it to the others out there.

Good to hear your plumbing situation is getting taken care of

Haha, third times a charm!

 

[Blackbyrd]

Sorry I typed that weird they were separate items griots was an inline filter

The Mr clean was actually a hose end attachment, in the end I used it only for the ringlets wash. Had a 3 way valve for bypassing the element, using soap or plain rinse

 

[Z06Joe]

Awesome building you've got there.

 

[eastmtn]

Awesome building you've got there.

I appreciate it. Thanks for stopping by.

 

[eastmtn]

the new jack shaft openers are installed for the 3 doors. I have not bought one in quite a few years so I was surprised at all the things they can do now. It has an auto lock feature. When the doors come down a bolt slides through to prevent prying it open. each unit has a battery backup good for 15 openings when the power is out.

I got to test out the battery backup and the new transfer switch yesterday. We had a power outage for 6 hours. I started up the generator and flipped the transfer switch and the building lit up like a Christmas tree. Unfortunately, my house has an older 30A transfer switch and the previous owner only hooked up the water pump, refrigerator and 2bedroom lights. It's an all-electric service so when a power outage happens, we have no heat.

The wife went inside the house and I told her she was welcome to hang out in the new garage with heat, water and power if she wanted until the power came back on. She's starting to slowly come around to understand why I went to such lengths to build this structure.


I also got the last few j boxes buttoned up and wired some cameras to get ready for the final electrical inspection.

 

[eastmtn]

With the help of my foreman we added a few last touches to the electrical to prepare for the final electrical inspection and ended up passing.

The stairs and railing arrived and had to be hauled from the highway to the house by a forklift.


The stair treads are 42-inch-wide red oak. it will be a floating staircase on a mono stringer.
The crew got a couple of rails up before they noticed that they didn't have enough to finish. So, they are going to order the remaining rails and switch focus to installing the staircase.

 

[eastmtn]

It took a manual lift, 3 guys, and some macgyvering to get the mono stringer in place. It weighs over 500lbs.

 

[eastmtn]

I was trying to figure out what type of trim to put around the brick above when the GC mentioned torching and staining it. I had never heard of that method so I went to Youtube University and took a crash course in Shou Sugi Ban. Its used in japanese craftsmanship to make wood fire resistant, water resistant and deter insects from infesting it.
My foreman was chomping at the bit to try this out so we setup the weed burner in a safe area to start torching the wood.


After torching the pine boards I used a deck brush to clean off the flaky charcoal. I then sanded the boards with a 120 grit belt sander in the direction of the grain. I wiped off the excess dust and staged the boards inside to get ready for staining.

The woodworkers in some of the other forums raved about this stuff called Makers Brand Simple finish. https://makerbrandco.com/
its an oil based finish and plant based wax sealer in one. I gave it a chance and was pleased with the results.

This is what it looks like after a couple of coats.

 

[eastmtn]

So then the GC suggested I try torching an oak stair tread on the bottom to see how it would react. It took us a few tries to get the right mix of charring and sanding to get the hard wood to react well with the stain like the soft wood does. This piece was so dark that the stain made it turn black with little variation.

The GC quickly hit pay dirt and started creating different light and dark patterns like you see here.


I’ll put a few more coats of Simple Finish on it this weekend so that the treads can be installed next week.

 

[78SC4X4]

Congrats on passing the electrical. I remember how relieved I was to get that done.
The trim and stairs are awesome!

 

[eastmtn]

Congrats on passing the electrical. I remember how relieved I was to get that done.
The trim and stairs are awesome

Thanks. I’m relieved also. I can’t break out the Boons Farm Wine yet though. It was very satisfying to sand and stain inside on a 30 degree morning and not have to worry about keeping my hands warm.

 

[Maxcustody]

Looks outstanding! Love the stairs and railing!!

 

[Blackbyrd]

I love those stairs!

This is such an awesome space

 

[Cdubu52]

WOW. That all turned out fantastic. I may try that as well at some point.

 

[fouckhest]

Stairs look great, love the burnt effect!

 

[eastmtn]

Looks outstanding! Love the stairs and railing!!

I love those stairs!

This is such an awesome space

WOW. That all turned out fantastic. I may try that as well at some point.

Stairs look great, love the burnt effect!

Yea that turned out much better than I had imagined in my head. I only hope that it doesn’t turn out to be overdone. I’m doing doing this while trying to keep in mind that this space has to withstand muddy boots and general garage clean up.

 

[eastmtn]

Speaking of clean up. My plumber showed up to install the side sewer for the garage and I asked if he could hook up the stubbed out hot to my pressure washer and keep it separate from the spotless water filter. This is what he came up with.



I now have a shower valve to control how much hot water I send through the filter or the choice to use cold water only. The hose bib on the far left dispenses hot water only for my rinse buckets. The hose bib on the bottom is used to drain the system or send warm or cold water to a water hose. Each section has its own isolation valve in case of leaks or further modification.
I tested it out by washing the wife’s car yesterday. The pressurized hot water really cut down the time to wash the wheels. And the spotless rinse means almost no hard water spots leftover when drying.

 

[Maxcustody]

^^^^^^ looks great! Nice when you have a plumber that actually knows what he’s doing, well done This is the same one who had to correct the other mess, correct?

 

[eastmtn]

^^^^^^ looks great! Nice when you have a plumber that actually knows what he’s doing, well done This is the same one who had to correct the other mess, correct?

It is indeed the same plumber. He spent the night in a nearby town and over the course of 3 days or 30+ hours, finished the washer setup and installed the new side sewer. Which is a great segway to the next post. Standby for more awesomeness!

 

[eastmtn]

Behold, my version of the Al Bundy Ferguson toilet! Strong enough for a roughneck like me but sophisticated enough to be welcome in just about any household. The seat is heated, the water jets are heated, the air dryer is heated. ADA height for us taller individuals and touchless operation whether by kick button at the base or remote control. The lid and seat are motor operated. UV light for sanitization, auto flush, and battery backup in case of power outages. Toilets have come a long way.


The plumber worked from sun up to well after sundown to get the side sewer in. He sloped the 9ft fall, 140ft run with only 2 45deg elbows a a few 22deg, and one 90. I have clean outs at either end with one right at the 100ft mark per code. He used gasketed pipe and bedded it in pea gravel. I had no idea that sewer pipe in a gravity system required such detail for the trench. Every lump and root had to be removed for a smooth journey to the septic.

 

[Maxcustody]

The King and his throne.............................

 

[Blackbyrd]

Must fight urge for terrible joke.......

Losing.......... lost @eastmtn

Now you can always say I've got some mechanic work to do......I've got to put a rear end on a toilet......

 

[eastmtn]

Must fight urge for terrible joke.......

Losing.......... lost @eastmtn

Now you can always say I've got some mechanic work to do......I've got to put a rear end on a toilet......

I’ve never heard that one before. It will be the joke of the day at work.

 

[eastmtn]

The King and his throne.............................

 

[SilverJimmy]

Just need to replace the newspaper with an iPad and it’ll be perfect for this crowd!

 

[Meames1]

Speaking of clean up. My plumber showed up to install the side sewer for the garage and I asked if he could hook up the stubbed out hot to my pressure washer and keep it separate from the spotless water filter. This is what he came up with.



I now have a shower valve to control how much hot water I send through the filter or the choice to use cold water only. The hose bib on the far left dispenses hot water only for my rinse buckets. The hose bib on the bottom is used to drain the system or send warm or cold water to a water hose. Each section has its own isolation valve in case of leaks or further modification.
I tested it out by washing the wife’s car yesterday. The pressurized hot water really cut down the time to wash the wheels. And the spotless rinse means almost no hard water spots leftover when drying.

Looks great!

 

[Jeff Ivers]

Just need to replace the newspaper with an iPad and it’ll be perfect for this crowd!

I can't imagine wiping with an iPad! Or wait, did you mean as a substitute for the reading material?

 

[Bruce 993 SEA]

Supervisor's boots are on wrong feet...haha! Looks like he has been having a great time with all of this construction.

Cheers!

 

[Mattilac]

Beautiful post frame build!

But am I reading your expenses correctly? $78,000 for electrical?

 

[bran_solo]

Amazing build. I registered on this site just for this.

How did you go about finding the contractors for this? I'm up in the Seattle area and struggling to find anyone who does post frame builds near here.

 

[eastmtn]

I can't imagine wiping with an iPad! Or wait, did you mean as a substitute for the reading material?

I'm beginning to think that he took the phrase, the shoe being on the other foot, literally.