Barndominium/Shop or "real" House?

[ETD66SS]

Starting on the stone to finish out the pad leveling.

Stil quite costly as I need 9 loads of stone. However, glad I was able to find hard fill close by as I needed 13 loads of that material. Would have been crazy expensive to just use stone.

About 450 tons of material total to level off this area.

 

[ETD66SS]

Got quite a bit done this weekend.

Used my sod cutter to clear the sod from the perimeter of the forms and stacked up the sod on the edging of the eventual driveway leading to the garage:

First pass spreading the stone out. One part of the forms got destroyed when my tractor fell off the edge of the loose stone. They are only temporary anyways:

I got the pad level within about 2 inches with my transit:

 

[Carl_NH]

That corner in front of your lumber kiln looks about 3/4" low

Very nIce work and great attention to detail!

As they say a good foundation is key to any building (or business) for that matter.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

Looks good! I just did the same thing not long ago. I know how tough it is getting everything level even with all the cool tools.

 

[EddieWalker]

Looks like it's about ready to build your forms for concrete.

 

[ETD66SS]

Looks good! I just did the same thing not long ago. I know how tough it is getting everything level even with all the cool tools.

I definitely have all old school equipment. No GPS or lasers here...

I still plan to drive many passes on the pad with my loaded dump truck. Then I will grade it out one more time.

 

[ETD66SS]

Working on the driveway approach. Removing sod, filling back in with dirt so I can trench for water, gas, power and drainage under this approach. Eventually I'll use driveway fabric and about 6 inches of 2" crusher run on top and blend it in with the building pad.

Still utilizing my spoils piles from when I dug my pods going on 16 years ago now. Unfortunately had to clear brush and even cut down some trees that grew on the piles:

I forgot how much I hate dirt sticking in the dump body:

Often times I get visitors watching me while I work:

 

[EddieWalker]

Funny how those dirt piles from digging ponds never seem to go away! I have a couple of them that I'm always getting dirt from, but they don't seem to get any smaller.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

I pushed all my piles out. Had a big enough low area that it looks like it was always there and it raised it up enough that the area no longer gets mushy in the winter.

 

[ETD66SS]

All the earth moving is done. It's not perfectly leveled out yet but good enough so I can get the trenching done for the utilities.

I pushed all my piles out. Had a big enough low area that it looks like it was always there and it raised it up enough that the area no longer gets mushy in the winter.

I had thought about that at one time, but glad I didn't. It turns out I have needed that dirt for many projects.

 

[Carl_NH]

Very nicely graded and it looks really good!

The pictures are great but its hard to capture the elevation or show how and how much you have built up the site. As it looks like the piles are 4-5' high then the final grade from the drive to the berm of the building is 2-3' elevation?

 

[ETD66SS]

Very nicely graded and it looks really good!

The pictures are great but its hard to capture the elevation or show how and how much you have built up the site. As it looks like the piles are 4-5' high then the final grade from the drive to the berm of the building is 2-3' elevation?

About 26", then tapers off towards the driveway.

It took almost 20 tandem dump loads of dirt to bring up the approach to the level of the building pad. It will settle a bit when it gets some weather, so should be about the right height for ~6" of stone.

 

[EddieWalker]

That sure looks nice. I really appreciate dirt work when it looks all natural and smooth!!!

 

[ETD66SS]

I was able to get the water line and conduit for the natural gas under the approach. Still need to do the power conduit and then a drainage line in before I can put down some geotextile and then stone.

The power conduit has been under the driveway for years. I had it marked but then lost the large survey nail I used to mark it. Where I have that white PVC pipe is where I left off running the conduit. I hope I don't have to dig a giant hole to find it...

This is a picture from when I did that back in 2018. One conduit for power, another for communications.

 

[ETD66SS]

Got the power/communications conduit run, as well as the drainage.

I bought some 6" corrugated for drainage, but then thought better of it and used 4" SDR 35 for under the approach.

Pretty much ready for driveway fabric & stone.

 

[EddieWalker]

Looks like you're almost done with all the prep work. Do you have a start date for the concrete?

 

[ETD66SS]

Looks like you're almost done with all the prep work. Do you have a start date for the concrete?

I am still trying to get final pricing from the general contracror for the build. For some reason that is moving painfully slow...

This will be a post frame building, so the structure will be bulit before the concrete floor is poured.

Basically a pole barn, but instead of wooden posts being burried in the ground, the wooden posts will be on top of perma columns.

Precast concrete columns for permanent post-frame foundations

 

[EddieWalker]

Are you committed to one contractor, or are there several that are bidding on the job?

 

[ETD66SS]

Are you committed to one contractor, or are there several that are bidding on the job?

Over the last two years I have been in talks with bout 6 contractors for this project. Most of them lead me on for many months then either ghosted me or told me they are no longer interested.

Only one of them gave me an estimate after nearly a year of asking them for pricing. He gave me a price in the 550k price range which is not compatible with my financials.

The only GC left is still working on getting me his numbers, I have been waiting for nearly 1.5 years for his estimate... I talk to him weekly, he still seems interested but I still don't have an estimate from him for the job. The job I tasked him with was taking the build far enough so that I can get a permit of occupancy, because I cannot afford a full turnkey build. I will have to do some of the finishing work myself.

On my own I started talking to sub-contractors because I can no longer tolerate the waiting.

I can get the dried-in barn shell put up for a price I can actually afford, then I'd be on my own, doing the work myself or subing it out to get the living space to code to the point I can move in.

I didn't want to go this route as it means the project will take a lot longer than I had hoped.

I wanted this place built and useable by the time I was 50. I bought the land when I was 29! I am now 51. If I have to build a lot of this myself I run the risk of being too old to actually use my shop for all the projects I have planned.

I screwed up by buying a house in 2009 instead of just building back then. COVID seems to have really messed up the construction industry for good it seems...

 

[EddieWalker]

Sounds similar to what's been happening here.

One of my clients hired a guy to build a shop for him before Covid. He put money down to order the metal, and then waited. They actually started construction about a month ago!!!! I think it was a 3 year wait for the metal.

Another client has been trying for over a year to find somebody. I've offered suggestions, but they are not replying to them. They have cash, and they are wanting to spend it, but everyone that does that type of work is already too busy to take on any more.

Where I live, people are moving here like crazy. Mostly from CA and NY. Businesses are relocating, and there are a lot of massive projects going on all over the area.