Help Me Design/ Build a Shop

[aircommuter]

Yes, that's what I was thinking. Pour the bases for the posts, then pour the slab. Then have the building crew come in and erect the building. I have been watching Tractor Time With Tim as he builds his building and it just looked so much more difficult to do all the slab excavation, forming and pouring with the building in the way.

I'm in the early stages of building a steel building with similar post/footing requirements. We plan to pour the columns for the posts, then form and pour the slab. Then the building will go up, and we will have a nice working surface where we can easily operate a scissor lift, etc.

That’s what I have always done. I put lots of electrical conduits, drain plumbing and steel. On my personal building the concrete supports 4’ deep and square with 16” square steel mat and vertical steel plus bolts. Also a crane base 7’ square with 6’ bolts. All before the slab.

 

[eolesen]

So my five-man crew from the builder showed up this morning... Watching them do the work today, I don't see a viable way to try and pour the slab before the building goes up unless the slab was already there and a building was being put up around it later.

Once the building was squared and the post holes identified, one guy went to work with the auger on a skid steer.

As each hole was finished he moved on and the other four guys would manhandle a 6x6 post into position, square it up, and then dump three bags of cement mix into the holes (the ground was wet, and we had rain in the forecast, so they didn't water the holes, which I found a bit odd).

And then the lightning & rain started around 4pm.. Absent that, they would have probably worked past 7pm to finish most of the framing, since they're from out of town and staying at a local motel overnight.

Tomorrow, they'll be using a 21ft boom attachment on the skidsteer to fly the trusses. With the Skidsteer needing to be along the centerline, had they poured the slab today, that would have been a 1-week delay (if not more) for the slab to cure before they could put that much weight on it.

Trusses assembled:

Boom attachment:

1115: First hole being dug with auger in the back

1330: all holes dug, some posts moved

1430: all posts in place, adding concrete mix and squaring/bracing

1630: Lightning hits... crew starts cleaning up about 10 minutes before the downpour hits

 

[aircommuter]

There are always variables. If you had electric conduits or plumbing you would have to have a real crane to set the beams from the outside especially if the building was bigger or higher or both. If you have a big boom truck to pump concrete you can’t have the framing in the way. Different needs for different jobs.
The other thing I notice is the slab area isn’t prepared with a footing and capillary break. Maybe a true barn with a dirt floor?

 

[hayden]

I see, so the posts are just dug straight into the ground with no footing, and surrounded by unmixed concrete. I assume the posts are at least pressure treated?

I had envisioned pouring concrete footings with brackets on top to set the posts in so there is no ground contact with the wood. But I see that's not how this is built.

Assuming a slab gets poured later, it would end up being completely free floating relative to all the posts, right? How does the building get closed off where the walls meet the slab?

I see steel trussed, so I presume those bolt to the wood posts? It's interesting to see how many different ways there are of building these structures.

 

[eolesen]

Theres a plastic disk that goes in the hole that the posts sit on. So technically, there is no ground contact if you factor in the concrete mix. And yes, pressure treated.

Looking at the floor... there's a pressure treat 2x6 at the bottom. My guess is that becomes the form board. I'll know after they spread the gravel...

 

[BigBlue1]

There are always variables. If you had electric conduits or plumbing you would have to have a real crane to set the beams from the outside especially if the building was bigger or higher or both. If you have a big boom truck to pump concrete you can’t have the framing in the way. Different needs for different jobs.
The other thing I notice is the slab area isn’t prepared with a footing and capillary break. Maybe a true barn with a dirt floor?

That's not true about the boom pumper truck. When we bought our property in 2016 it already had a 50x105 pole barn built. It had a gravel floor. I had a concrete floor poured in half the shed that year. They used a pump truck just fine to boom the concrete 50+ feet back, just by going through the main front 14x14 door. And that was with an 8' apron pre-formed in front of that door.

 

[Doorman63]

Here are some pics of our 24x40 barndo slab.

Underground utilities first.
Slab with embedded post anchors

 

[eolesen]

How the day ended

 

[hayden]

Here are some pics of our 24x40 barndo slab.

Underground utilities first.
Slab with embedded post anchors View attachment 4096275View attachment 4096274View attachment 4096276

So it's just the post anchors that are embedded in the slab, and the wood blocks are just to hold everything in position?

Is the slab thickened around the perimeter, and if so how much compared to the center?

Your climate is not too far off from ours with solid freezes in the winter. What sort of prepping of the soil bed did you do?

 

[hayden]

How the day endedView attachment 4097557

That's a very interesting hydrid with all wood except for the trusses. I didn't pick wood because I didn't want to lose the interior headroom to wood trusses, but this solves that problem.

 

[Doorman63]

So it's just the post anchors that are embedded in the slab, and the wood blocks are just to hold everything in position?

Is the slab thickened around the perimeter, and if so how much compared to the center?

Your climate is not too far off from ours with solid freezes in the winter. What sort of prepping of the soil bed did you do?

Wood blocks just hold the brackets till they set the posts-correct.
The brackets the builder has made.

I don’t remember how thick honestly. The brackets had approx 8-10” of rebar bent in a “J”. The slab is 6” thick. 2 pieces of rebar around the perimeter.

All soil removed down to clay and some more brought in to level the slab. Clay was on-site. This pic is where the clay came from. A creek crossing that was approx 6’ wide and pretty steep. Now it’s approx 20’ wide and much shallower. Not much topsoil in this spot of our property.

 

[aircommuter]

That's not true about the boom pumper truck. When we bought our property in 2016 it already had a 50x105 pole barn built. It had a gravel floor. I had a concrete floor poured in half the shed that year. They used a pump truck just fine to boom the concrete 50+ feet back, just by going through the main front 14x14 door. And that was with an 8' apron pre-formed in front of that door.

When I was doing buildings full time I had many that I could only access from one end due to terrain. Some at 100’. You can’t do that very well through a door. So like I said variables. You can use a pump with a long hose but two issues are one having to use a smaller rock in the mix and dragging the hose around with rebar and other obstacles. The more you do the more you learn. Hopefully.

 

[BigBlue1]

When I was doing buildings full time I had many that I could only access from one end due to terrain. Some at 100’. You can’t do that very well through a door. So like I said variables. You can use a pump with a long hose but two issues are one having to use a smaller rock in the mix and dragging the hose around with rebar and other obstacles. The more you do the more you learn. Hopefully.

That makes sense. Certainly there are situations that would be challenges. I figured that most folks here aren't talking about buildings as large as mine and 50' reach would suffice for most. 100' buildings with full concrete floors are really normally beyond most non-commercial use cases, in my experience.

 

[aircommuter]

That makes sense. Certainly there are situations that would be challenges. I figured that most folks here aren't talking about buildings as large as mine and 50' reach would suffice for most. 100' buildings with full concrete floors are really normally beyond most non-commercial use cases, in my experience.

My personal home shop is 130’ 23’ high. The contractor gave me a deal. Free labor.

 

[BigBlue1]

My personal home shop is 130’ 23’ high. The contractor gave me a deal. Free labor.

I would say you're not 'typical'...

 

[eolesen]

My personal home shop is 130’ 23’ high. The contractor gave me a deal. Free labor.

Sheesh. That's room for an overhead crane.

 

[eolesen]

Framing and siding done, slab should be done in the next week with some luck.

Spent the morning roughing in plumbing for an eventual shower and toilet in the far back corner, so that its ready when the crew comes to spread rock and pour the slab. Also placed a few sleeves for bringing in a water line and internet.

 

[Doorman63]

Looking good!

 

[EddieWalker]

I really like the color of your shop.

Why did you make the doors two different sizes?

 

[gsganzer]

Being here in the south, I'll never build an uninsulated shop without it facing north/south and a door on each end.