The wet garage raise

[gilr]

How about an update, it has been a long time......

 

[ford33]

I am watching this thread and wondering when an update will happen.

 

[D45]

Sparkynutz

Last Activity: 03-21-2018

 

[garagelogician]

Sparkynutz

Last Activity: 03-21-2018

I hope our friend Sparky is doing well and is just too busy to fill us in.

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[Sparkynutz]

Yes, spring and summer has been hectic. Sorry for the delay on update and I still haven't had time to edit or finish video. I'm hoping to add pics and video of the entire project to YouTube this winter or next spring after complete.
I bought a like new kubota bx1870 with 32 hours on it and got a smoking deal. Patience was worth it and the long long drive. It now has almost 70 hours on it and 95% of my at home grading is complete. I rototilled and regraded the entire backyard from garage to the drain in front with an even gradual pitch the entire way. Wheat straw and grass seed was put down twice because of some very heavy rains. Minimal pudding in a few spots and it only took some raking to fix as the grass hadn't established yet.
The side by neighbor was first thing graded and turned out perfect. No more water running into my yard. The sidewalk is 2 inches lower than finish grade now so if the water gets that high in neighbors yard it will still go to road before it will into my yard. Sadly garage is only half full of gravel. I've had a few issues there with poor traction and spinning tires taking me all the way down to concrete below. Very frustrating when I had 2 inches of screenings nice and even compacted then made a mess of it and uncompleted it trying to move the clearstone layer.
I came across another video of a guy that poured a new floor inside a garage. It was very similar in that he filled foundation with a few feet of gravel. He did the entire thing filling wheelbarrows with a skid loader and put down gradually and evenly compacting as he went a few inches at a time.
My biggest problem is yet again no help and contractors not worth a pinch of ****. I can't even get a single contractor to come out and give me a quote on the slab none the less do it. I have rented and returned the compactor 7 times and getting on and off the tractor doing loading and wheeling myself then getting back on and having to return the compactor before work is getting old real fast. I scheduled 2 days vacation to finish it when my buddy said he could help and now he can't because two other guys took vacation and he has to work 12 hours.
If I could just get a break and some real help I'd be so happy. I for the life of me don't understand how anyone gets a whole garage or whole house built in less than 5 years. I've also waited weeks at a time for dump truck driver to have enough time to bring gravel. The whole thing has been a frustrating waiting game. My wife has helped as much as she could and I'm so thankful for her but some things like wheeling I just need a strong guy. She tried and kept tipping them over and I don't trust her to drive tractor in such a small headroom area with no practice. I don't want her hurt or something wrecked if she tips it over or hits something.
On a side note to get my mind off garage my neighbor of my hunting land dug a new septic and gave me 180 yards of free clean fill. I've spent a lot of time grading a trailer parking spot and atv trails with the dirt. About 105 yards have been moved and I have 120 yards left to go counting some black dirt I'm having brought in to plant a row of apple trees.
I sure would like to catch a break and finish garage but I just don't see it happening.
Work has been crazy with lots of overtime all summer yet I'm at risk of a $3.50 per hour cut in pay starting next month through January or February because things are slowing down fast.
I'll try and post a few pics to follow this post if I can remember how.
Again, sorry for the delay everyone. I appreciate the love from you guys!

 

[Sparkynutz]

No good pics from front at the moment or all the clearstone in garage.

 

[Vintage Veloce]

Sparky lives!
Love the grading between the two yards!
And inside the garage looks really good too.
Is there any construction going on nearby where they are doing concrete? Maybe you could ask them to tie you on to that job, "while they are there"?

 

[Sparkynutz]

One other thing I forgot to mention. Every single wall has one hairline crack in the middle. Luckily I put 2 coats of foundation coating on outside prior to backfilling. I'm pretty sure it's due to the fact exterior is back filled and inside is not with all the pressure inward these last few months. Hopefully it doesn't get worse and filling inside neutralizes the pressure once I get a chance to fill and compact.

I'm also torn on finish grade. Do I make the whole thing flat then only slope the concrete to drain having 5-6 inches thick on majority of floor and only 4" at drain location?
Or do I slope the base the same as floor will be so that thickness is even 4" everywhere.

I really wish I could just get someone to finish filling, compacting and do the concrete however they think best. I'm pretty sick of this part of the project.
I just want to build cabinets and work on organizing and have a shop to work on cars, atvs, tractor etc.

Anybody close want a job?

 

[Sparkynutz]

Sparky lives!
Love the grading between the two yards!
And inside the garage looks really good too.
Is there any construction going on nearby where they are doing concrete? Maybe you could ask them to tie you on to that job, "while they are there"?

The inside looks like **** now and I've been on about a month break from it.

No construction even remotely close.
Everybody is either too busy or doesn't care to even look at it.
I've called a lot in the area and only even got one call back saying maybe in a month or two if you finish the grading. I really just want to walk away and come back to it finished if I could.

 

[garagelogician]

I wouldn't sweat the cracks. There are two kinds of concrete:

1. Concrete that is cracked.
2. Concrete that hasn't cracked yet.

If I was closer and had the time, I'd come give you a hand. Keep the faith, you'll get there.

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[xtremek]

Prayers that things turn around on the help scene.

 

[1949 caddyman]

Good to hear from you, it’s amazing what you have accomplished

 

[F451]

Good to hear from you, it’s amazing what you have accomplished

Ditto.

Hang in there. Help will either find you, or you'll keep plugging along eating that elephant one bite at a time and before you know it you'll be done and long into your next big project.

 

[ConCretin]

One other thing I forgot to mention. Every single wall has one hairline crack in the middle. Luckily I put 2 coats of foundation coating on outside prior to backfilling. I'm pretty sure it's due to the fact exterior is back filled and inside is not with all the pressure inward these last few months. Hopefully it doesn't get worse and filling inside neutralizes the pressure once I get a chance to fill and compact.

I suspect that cracks you've noticed are just plain old shrinkage cracks. Not unexpected and shouldn't get any worse. I wouldn't give them another thought.

I've been quietly watching your thread from the beginning. Amazing job!

 

[Sparkynutz]

I assume shrinkage or possibly pushing from outside. I did compact the **** out of fill as I went and it may have swelled slightly after it rained. The cracks are hairline and showed up about 3-4 weeks ago. I'm not too worried as long as they don't get much bigger.

 

[Commendatore]

Excess lateral pressure (from backfill) would manifest as horizontal cracks.

 

[ford33]

Good to see you back, Sparky. I enjoy reading your thread.

Life can get in the way. There are higher priorities in life than completing a garage. I wish you well and hope you find time and the strength to complete this project.

The yard grading looks great and that tractor must help a bunch.

 

[Lunker]

Nice tractor.

Curious what kind of work your in that it’s slowing down where they are cutting your pay?

 

[Sparkynutz]

Cracks are vertical, not horizontal. Good to know.

I was an electrician for 14 or so years and bid off to machinist job to get out of working just about every Saturday 3/4 of the year and 8-10 Sundays so I had more time with family. Well, that didn't work out because right after I moved another Electrician quit. That was almost 4 years ago and they still haven't filled my job. There has been two different electricians hired over the 4 years both of which on 3rd shift to fill that position. I have been doing double duty doing machinist job and answering electrical calls. I'm no longer involved in electrical projects, but if something is down I get it running. They have interviewed many guys over the years but nobody wants second shift or can pass a drug test. This year has been a crazy year with a couple of our customers being bought out by other companies so they have been minimizing their inventory and not ordering much from us this year. As its scheduled the plant will go down to 2 shifts in Sept until Jan or Feb. The 3rd shift electrician will go to 2nd shift at my opening and I'll lose Electrician pay down to machinist pay. I'm hoping last minute orders change that but who knows. Also if they hire someone to fill my Electrician spot I'll lose the pay for good except when I cover for vacations or overtime. When I changed jobs I was sitting good with a paid off house, cars, etc with no debt. Since then I bought a house and this garage problem and have been working all the OT I can get to get back to where I was as soon as I can and put family life back as a priority. My son is 10, so he can stay at home soon. My wife hasn't worked since before he was born so as soon as she can find a job with benefits I'm gonna find a day job or start my own business.
My 2 kids will both be going to school a block from our house so they can walk or figure it out if our work time starts or ends before or after school starts or ends. That's the plan anyways but we all know how close to plan things actually go.

 

[Sparkynutz]

Got a decent amount done last two days.
Drain is plumbed 2" below rest of finish hight to allow decent slope to it. My buddy wasn't forced to work 12 hours so he helped today. Big difference good help makes! Hoping to get this compacted tomorrow and level any low or high spots before I top with road gravel to finish hight for foam. He is going to try and help another day this week so I can get this ready for concrete. Can't wait!

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[Vintage Veloce]

so as soon as she can find a job with benefits I'm gonna find a day job or start my own business.

From what you have said about your area and the problems finding concrete guys... you should open a concrete business, maybe run a pumper truck!

 

[Sparkynutz]

Last few days has been a real test.
My city was declared an emergency after massive storms and rain for days and days. Yesterday had just short of a tornado with trees down all over. Power off for 4 hours to over 15 hours now and still off for friends of mine out of town with a tree on power line to their house. My sump crock in house was within inches of top with wife and kids using buckets garbage cans and pitchers bailing water. I was at work when it hit. A normal 5 minute drive between work and home took over 20 because of all the flooded roads and downed trees. I got a generator out and spare pumps just in time to keep water from overflowing crock into basement. My neighbor across street said his backyard was so flooded the water was coming in at the sill plate where his house meets his basement.
My regrading work kept all the standing water far enough from house that only spot it came in was drain tile to sump crock. I was a lucky one. The garage on the other hand wasn't even a worry. Not a drop of water from what I could tell. The previous hairline cracks are now bigger. One being about 1/16" but there wasn't moisture coming into them from what I could tell to lowest part I could see backfilled on interior. The closest standing water was about 10ft+ away from garage. The drain in my front yard and storm sewer itself couldn't keep up with water almost as high as highest I've evee seen it. About 5 hours after storm my power came back on and my yard was about 90% drained. Water into sump crock had slowed to only cycling every 1:22 on my normal pump. When I initially got generator going I had one small spare pump running continuous and was alternating another spare pump with normal plumbed pump so that I didnt burn them out. It took over an hour pumping before I got sump crock below the drain tile coming into basement at which time I still had one pump running continuous and second pump cycling every 14 seconds.
I'm so thankful for having spare pumps and a generator as well has not having to worry one bit about the mess I would have had in garage if I didnt raise it.
Hopefully the storms are done for a while and this prepared us for next time. My wife and kids sure stepped it up and we were able to keep basement dry.


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[NUTTSGT]

Whoa, I see I need to catch up on this thread, been too many months and a ton of progress.

 

[garagelogician]

Last few days has been a real test.
My city was declared an emergency after massive storms and rain for days and days. Yesterday had just short of a tornado with trees down all over. Power off for 4 hours to over 15 hours now and still off for friends of mine out of town with a tree on power line to their house. My sump crock in house was within inches of top with wife and kids using buckets garbage cans and pitchers bailing water. I was at work when it hit. A normal 5 minute drive between work and home took over 20 because of all the flooded roads and downed trees. I got a generator out and spare pumps just in time to keep water from overflowing crock into basement. My neighbor across street said his backyard was so flooded the water was coming in at the sill plate where his house meets his basement.
My regrading work kept all the standing water far enough from house that only spot it came in was drain tile to sump crock. I was a lucky one. The garage on the other hand wasn't even a worry. Not a drop of water from what I could tell. The previous hairline cracks are now bigger. One being about 1/16" but there wasn't moisture coming into them from what I could tell to lowest part I could see backfilled on interior. The closest standing water was about 10ft+ away from garage. The drain in my front yard and storm sewer itself couldn't keep up with water almost as high as highest I've evee seen it. About 5 hours after storm my power came back on and my yard was about 90% drained. Water into sump crock had slowed to only cycling every 1:22 on my normal pump. When I initially got generator going I had one small spare pump running continuous and was alternating another spare pump with normal plumbed pump so that I didnt burn them out. It took over an hour pumping before I got sump crock below the drain tile coming into basement at which time I still had one pump running continuous and second pump cycling every 14 seconds.
I'm so thankful for having spare pumps and a generator as well has not having to worry one bit about the mess I would have had in garage if I didnt raise it.
Hopefully the storms are done for a while and this prepared us for next time. My wife and kids sure stepped it up and we were able to keep basement dry.


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Sounds like you passed the big test with flying colors. It's not often that storms like that come along, but I'm sure it was great to see how well all of your work has paid off...well except for all the stress and hassle that comes from being without power and needing to move water by hand. But the garage is bone dry, I can't imagine how bad it would've been otherwise.

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[ford33]

All the work was worth it! Congratulations on passing a stress test.

Now you need a battery backup on those sump pumps so they will operate without the generator.

 

[Sparkynutz]

All the work was worth it! Congratulations on passing a stress test.

Now you need a battery backup on those sump pumps so they will operate without the generator.

After thinking about it more I'm going to install a 12v circuit in a few rooms of my basement and main upstairs hallway with LED emergency lights and a plug for a 12v pump at sump crock. I'll run the wires into garage with alligator clips that I can just back car or tractor into driveway and hook up quickly and easily to provide emergency power. I have a small motorcycle battery I keep charged to bring camping. I can rig up an auto charging circuit similar to what we have on emergency lights at work that turn 12v power on when 120v power is removed. I'll just keep the alligator clips on that battery circuit if power goes out giving us minimal time and lighting until I get a car, or generator running for any larger power needs. I'll definitely be more prepared if or when there is a next time.

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[Firstram]

After thinking about it more I'm going to install a 12v circuit in a few rooms of my basement and main upstairs hallway with LED emergency lights and a plug for a 12v pump at sump crock. I'll run the wires into garage with alligator clips that I can just back car or tractor into driveway and hook up quickly and easily to provide emergency power. I have a small motorcycle battery I keep charged to bring camping. I can rig up an auto charging circuit similar to what we have on emergency lights at work that turn 12v power on when 120v power is removed. I'll just keep the alligator clips on that battery circuit if power goes out giving us minimal time and lighting until I get a car, or generator running for any larger power needs. I'll definitely be more prepared if or when there is a next time.

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Since you have a tractor look into PTO mounted generators. They are large and cheap, and who doesn't like AC and heat during a power outage!

 

[Diesel Dan]

Since you have a tractor look into PTO mounted generators. They are large and cheap, and who doesn't like AC and heat during a power outage!

Unfortunately it's not that simple.

There is a lot of variation in PTO generators and tractors too. A engine designed to run a generator has a more sensitive governor than does a agricultural version.

There was a big power outage in the Midwest and a large AG college(IIRC) did a in depth study on backup pto generators and electrical component damage while running on said gennys. They load tested the tractor/generators and recorded max/min voltage drops and spikes. Pretty wide variation, wasn't as big an issue in the old days when running furnace blowers and well pumps but more of an issue with todays electronics.

12V backup pumps with a way to charge off a running vehicle is a good idea.

When we had a power outage in Ohio I was lucky my 12V inverter in the car could run electric fencer, didn't want to chase a bunch of pigs down!

 

[Firstram]

Ya know, I didn't even think about dirty power and todays electronics.

 

[Sparkynutz]

Damage did cross my mind but only after I had my fridge and freezer plugged into the generator a while. I was wondering what kind of spikes or wave the thing was actually putting out. Too late now. Any damage that was done is done. I'll definitely read up on ac to ac and line conditioners before I plug in anything ov value besides a cheap pump or lights.

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[ford33]

The issue with your approach to apply 12 vdc power when necessary is that you and family will not be home or you will be asleep. I know this because it has happened to me.

Having an automatic backup turn on is the way to go.

 

[Diesel Dan]

Yes, automatic backup that runs off a 12v battery.
Just have a way to charge it for long periods of power outage if need be.

During a heavy/flooding rain fall my dads pedestal mounted sump pump ran continuously so long it started smoking. A battery powered backup will not keep up for long in those cases without some way to recharge.

When we had homes with sump pumps I ALWAYS had a backup pump on the shelf.
Our one neighbor had two sump crocks in the basement with 3 pumps. That's what happens when you build in a low spot!

 

[wssix99]

The previous hairline cracks are now bigger.

Do you think this happened during the rain? Are you sure it happened or might it just be worrying? (The rebar you put in should keep everything tight.)

 

[mutti_wilson]

Did you use any sill foam between your bottom plate and the stem wall? From the pictures they don't appear to be pressure treated but i could be wrong?

 

[Sparkynutz]

Do you think this happened during the rain? Are you sure it happened or might it just be worrying? (The rebar you put in should keep everything tight.)

Not sure what caused it but in a weeks time the crack did double in width. I can't really do anything about it and the fact I put 2x as much rebar in wall as required shouldn't hurt keeping it together to an extent. At this point cracks or not I just want a place to store my stuff and work on things.

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[Sparkynutz]

Did you use any sill foam between your bottom plate and the stem wall? From the pictures they don't appear to be pressure treated but i could be wrong?

I actually used extra thick expansion joint foam instead of typical sill seal foam to make up for any uneven spots in the concrete. The sill is actually treated lumber. Unfortunately the nails previous owner/ builder used are just coated nailgun nails. Probably the weakpoint in the whole thing if nails ever rust or corrode away.

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[Sparkynutz]

I found some roof damage and fascia missing on my house from the storm. ***** but coulda been much worse. My yard is still squishy but no standing water anywhere so that's a plus.
New tax appraisal came in mail. They are on crack. House went up $40k and my share of taxes went from about $4600 a year to $5700. Its appraised at $20k more than I paid and I paid way too much looking into how much I blew to get this garage even useable. I have a meeting on 6th to contest it. Hopefully it goes well. I'm going to have a hard time keeping a cool head. I'm going to tell them I'll gladly sell it to them for what they appraised it at and walk away. I planned on living here the next 15-20 years but if things don't change tax wise what's the point? Any tips on how to get things lowered?

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[wssix99]

Not sure what caused it but in a weeks time the crack did double in width. I can't really do anything about it and the fact I put 2x as much rebar in wall as required shouldn't hurt keeping it together to an extent. At this point cracks or not I just want a place to store my stuff and work on things.

I would take some measurements and watch the cracks.

If you are getting water flowing through the new foundation, hydraulic pressure could be forcing things apart. If things keep growing, there are ways you can check/confirm if this is going on.

 

[RickP]

House went up $40k and my share of taxes went from about $4600 a year to $5700. Its appraised at $20k more than I paid and I paid way too much looking into how much I blew to get this garage even useable. I have a meeting on 6th to contest it. Hopefully it goes well. I'm going to have a hard time keeping a cool head. I'm going to tell them I'll gladly sell it to them for what they appraised it at and walk away. I planned on living here the next 15-20 years but if things don't change tax wise what's the point? Any tips on how to get things lowered?

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Nice job on the grading -- that storm certainly tested the drainage!

I've contested property tax assessments a few times. Just find a few comparable houses nearby that have sold for less recently and you should be okay.

Good luck with it!

 

[gilr]

You can check the estimated value on Zillow.com as a reference, not sure the local government would accept that value if it is lower, but it would be a reference either way.
I assume you will use foam or some expansion material between the floor slab and the side walls when you finally pour it? Nice job on the raise, shows what ingenuity can do when you put your mind to it.