New garage time!

[EddieWalker]

I honestly don't know why the yellow covering has to come off, but if it's on there, the inspector will say something. Same thing with outlet boxes.

 

[airbiscuit]

If nothing else,it is a cleaner look

 

[dragoneggs]

I honestly don't know why the yellow covering has to come off, but if it's on there, the inspector will say something. Same thing with outlet boxes.

Yes they will!

 

[JPRambo]

I wired homes for 19 years before I went to work in as an electrician in a hospital setting. The inspectors like to reference this:
NEC code 110.12 states 'in a workmanship like manner' .
If the panel and all electrical runs are neat and tidy it looks more like you know what you are doing and planned the job out well.

 

[fatjay]

Working on a makeshift elevator using my scissor lift. I parked it in the back and was using it to go up and down, but getting anything sizable into the lift was a pain. Steps up to a platform, and the wall will fold down for loading. Then up, and the wall will fold down to make a platform to cross the gap.

 

[airbiscuit]

Good to see updates again. Did you ever finish putting a different engine in your skidsteer?

 

[fatjay]

Good to see updates again. Did you ever finish putting a different engine in your skidsteer?

Not yet. Lots going on. Finishing the basement, put in a new laundry room, going to move my office down there to make room for the new nursery. So all basement storage needs to go on the second floor of the garage.

 

[pmsmechanic]

Thanks for the update. The other day I was wondering how this whole project was going. Your handle always makes me smile.

 

[fatjay]

Heat!

Since I've run out of budget basically due to the increase in price of materials gone up 10 fold in some cases, a lot of stuff is on hold, so I'm looking to add some heat on the cheap. And that goes beyond running my 110k btu bullet heater on kerosene for 3-4 hours to get the temps up a bit.

It's getting chilly, I would like some heat in the garage. Some of you may remember from about 100 pages ago that I put in pex tubing in the concrete. Lots of it.

And since as of yet I have no insulation in the walls, spending a lot of money on heat will largely be wasted. But I've come up with a scheme that just may ease the temps a little bit.

If I put 1000w of solar panels on the roof, an mppt controller with load out, then run that to a 1000w heating element inside a bucket of some sort, then it should make warm water. Then pump that water into the pex tubing into the floor with a circulation pump. Since it's a closed system it wouldn't be net new water.

Now that will only work if the floor doesn't lose more than 1000w of heat by the time the full loop completes. But, if I add another 1000w of panels, and another 1000w heating element, and so on, that should work if I get enough.

The other consideration is, I'm not in the shop in the morning, it is usually early afternoon. So if that thing starts heating at 9-10am, by 2pm I would think it would be decent enough. I'm not expecting 70f, but it would be nice if it wasn't 20f. And not walking on cold concrete. Sun sets at 3-4 and panels drop off, but by that time i should have a decent amount of residual heat stored in the concrete. And for those that don't remember, I have 2" insulating foam on all sides of the pad.

I can do all this for about $150 per 1000w of heat, circulation pump is pretty easy/cheap. I just need to buy or build a tank that will take multiple heating elements.

And what will become of my concrete pad that is heated up and then frozen on a nearly daily basis?

 

[MossRoad]

If you put straight water in there and your circ pump and/or heating elements turn off or fail, the water will freeze in the pipes and cause you severe grief. At the least, use an antifreeze mix designed for in-floor heating systems.

If I were in your situation, I'd get a water heater and circulation pump in there instead of the solar, fill the system with antifreeze, and off you go. Heat anytime of day or night.

There are plenty of videos on that on youtube.

 

[pmsmechanic]

M thoughts are that since you are converting one form of energy into another, you are gong to loose some energy along the way. This needs more study to see if it's a good idea, but why not just lay some black plastic pipe on the roof and pump antifreeze through that into your pex?

Or put a solar collector against the south wall and just use natural convection to move the heat into the building.

Honestly I would budget an amount per month to insulate. Adding insulation is going to give you the most bang for your buck.

And yes I remember raising a family through some pretty lean years. It was tough but with creative ideas we made it.

 

[EddieWalker]

Insulating the ceiling gives you the most bang for the buck. Insulating the walls has a very small return. If the walls are wrapped and sealed so wind can't get through them, then you will see a significant difference by just insulating the ceiling.

Over time, you can improve this by insulating the walls, a little at time.

 

[fatjay]

The power isn't there yet, and the cost of electricity cost is very expensive. This isn't a final solution, just something to get me some heat while I'm getting there. And yes, I'll be using rv antifreeze and water mix for the system.

 

[fatjay]

M thoughts are that since you are converting one form of energy into another, you are gong to loose some energy along the way. This needs more study to see if it's a good idea, but why not just lay some black plastic pipe on the roof and pump antifreeze through that into your pex?

Or put a solar collector against the south wall and just use natural convection to move the heat into the building.

Honestly I would budget an amount per month to insulate. Adding insulation is going to give you the most bang for your buck.

And yes I remember raising a family through some pretty lean years. It was tough but with creative ideas we made it.

The roof is 25' up and not easily or regularly accessible. Getting a bunch of panels up there isn't bad, but much more is a challenge. I'm going to use the radiant floor heating eventually but at the current electric rates using grid power to heat especially when I'll loose a bulk of it is wasting money.

Insulating the ceiling gives you the most bang for the buck. Insulating the walls has a very small return. If the walls are wrapped and sealed so wind can't get through them, then you will see a significant difference by just insulating the ceiling.

Over time, you can improve this by insulating the walls, a little at time.

I will look into the cost of insulating the ceiling, that seems much more doable. The cost of the walls is over $10k plus i'm not ready to do that until i finish electrical and plumbing.

 

[fatjay]

Need to start building retaining wall on the garage now that I'm at that point. Cleared a bunch of weeds, blocks, boards, etc out. I took some measurements, dropped some pins, ran string and started setting blocks. Not cemented down yet, just trying to get an idea. Wanted to get some dirt up from the pile, but my flood lights were not functional due to something wrong with the rats nest of the wires.

I'll pick up more block this week and some mortar mix. I'm not sure how I'm going to top. the block. Then a few loads of stone and some corrugated pipe to run under it, then top with dirt. I think I'm going to drill the base and put rods in and cement them in to prevent them from moving when weight of dirt and stone is applied.

 

[EddieWalker]

A common mistake that people make is to have a step down from the door. When walking out of a building, the first step should be almost at the same height of the floor. An inch lower is the most you want. That landing prevents falling, which is common when the step is 7 inches lower then the door.

Did you finish your insulation or are you going to buy blocks and do landscaping instead?

 

[fatjay]

A common mistake that people make is to have a step down from the door. When walking out of a building, the first step should be almost at the same height of the floor. An inch lower is the most you want. That landing prevents falling, which is common when the step is 7 inches lower then the door.

Did you finish your insulation or are you going to buy blocks and do landscaping instead?

I don't like the step, it was just a matter of backfilling which I never got around to. Then it got overgrown with weeds, discarded boards, blocks, bricks, etc and was a real mess, and I wanted to get it cleaned up. Plus that step down onto plywood that's falling apart is a real hazard.

I have a 16x32' slab sitting there, i'm going to build a pavilion over top of it to house the solar panels, which will then power the heater system I designed. Once the backfill and block is laid, I can build the pavilion, then mount the panels, then build the heating system, then insulate the roof.

The annoying part is the top of the door sil is dead level with the top of the block just sitting there, even without mortar. I don't want the water to pour onto the pavilion slab, but I also don't want it going back into the garage. So I'm going to fill a lot of that with stone and 4" slotted drain pipe, then cover that with dirt, and have a drain out the back end.

We just had 5" of rain in 24hr, so it reinforced the idea in my mind that it does happen, and it makes a mess of things if the water has no where to go.

 

[deezler]

I have a 16x32' slab sitting there, i'm going to build a pavilion over top of it to house the solar panels

I'm no solar-physicist, but I don't think building a pavilion roof over your solar panels is going to give the best energy production.

Kidding. Good plan for the step and drainage - give the water a place to go. I forget, do you have or plan to have gutters?

 

[fatjay]

I'm no solar-physicist, but I don't think building a pavilion roof over your solar panels is going to give the best energy production.

Kidding. Good plan for the step and drainage - give the water a place to go. I forget, do you have or plan to have gutters?

i will have gutters, that's what the pipe sticking out of the ground is for. There's 4 of them, one on each corner, that all connect and join at the low back corner that drains into a pit. As is, it the water drains strait off, and goes into the gravel on top of the drain pipes which have holes, and still end up draining to the pit.

 

[fatjay]

Prepped the block area, got 3 corners up. Hardest part is done, next i'll fill in the walls. I'm not sure how I'm going to top them. Once walls are done, then drain hose, backfill with stone, then top with dirt, then plant grass.