New garage time!

[EddieWalker]

Are you going to fill up the planter with dirt behind the blocks? If it was me, I would drill some holes in your concrete along the path of the blocks so I could put a short length of rebar into the concrete. It wouldn't have to be very long, just enough for the concrete inside the blocks to have something to lock onto.

 

[fatjay]

Yup, I'll be drilling and putting rebar every few feet, then filling that block with concrete. The corners are already done.

 

[airbiscuit]

Are the blocks sitting on a footer?

 

[fatjay]

Are the blocks sitting on a footer?

No. But the blocks arent' going more than 2 high, so I don't think it'll be a problem. This slab is 60 years old so the settling has been done and there is lots of wire in there.

Also some of htat concrete is nearly a foot thick. From about page 10 in the thread:

 

[fatjay]

Using old concrete, when i mixed it, once it set, it just crumbled. Not good at all. It turned to sand in my hands when I grabbed a piece. So I ripped the 3 corners up, they came up with no trouble. Cleaned the surface, got new concrete/lime/sand, mixed it up in 3:3:12, and laid it.

Once I'm done the full first level, I'm drilling and putting rebar in to pin the blocks. It's going slow, but winter weather is really hit and miss. Today was a rare 50f.

 

[EddieWalker]

There's something very satisfying about laying blocks!!!

 

[fatjay]

Got more block laid, despite the wind. My string line was blowing all over the place, and my wheel barrow even blew over towards the end.

Then i noticed i had a slight injury on my finger that I didn't feel because I couldn't feel my fingers. Once I got the feeling back, it was not great.

 

[bigtiller]

Middle fingers are just to long. I chopped an eighth inch off one of mine and it is still to long.

 

[fatjay]

The real bummer is tomorrow is the last day above freezing, so i have to finish laying the block. Then comes the big freeze. I cleaned my finger up mostly and bandaged it, but it's not the only one that got chewed up.

 

[goeduck]

I like laying block too, but my tennis elbow starts kicking in from gripping the block. Same as spitting firewood, I have to break it up with days between. And I never played tennis.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

The real bummer is tomorrow is the last day above freezing, so i have to finish laying the block. Then comes the big freeze. I cleaned my finger up mostly and bandaged it, but it's not the only one that got chewed up.

Ouch, that limestone is no good for your blood. Hope you don't play guitar for a living.

 

[fatjay]

I like laying block too, but my tennis elbow starts kicking in from gripping the block. Same as spitting firewood, I have to break it up with days between. And I never played tennis.

My issue is my hands, bad arthritis in my thumbs. If I push to hard, like last time, I couldn't hold more than a coffee cup for a week without intense pain.

 

[fatjay]

Oil guy came to fill up the house. I asked him to also fill my 2 55g drums as well. I got my fueling station out of the old garage and into the shop last night, easy with the barrels empty. He was nice enough to fill them for me. Then I got my pump and power hooked up, and the barrels into place. Added my diesel additive as well. I should be good for a while.

 

[fatjay]

My weber rollers were to high for my bandsaw. So I made some adjustments to them. I was concerned about some questionable reviews on the saw, some said it's precision leaves something to be desired. I haven't found that on mine so far.

 

[fatjay]

I was putting some stuff on the second floor of the garage, and as I was riding the elevator up, something caught my eye. One of the joists didn't look right.
At first I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. The joist looked bent. And a few joists beyond it. And while it's hard to tell it looks like it goes all the way down the line.

Everything is still very secure, i looked for other joist not looking uniform, but didn't see any spots other than down that line. That side of the building is unprotected from any wind break. So I'm wondering if the side wall is catching wind in such a way that it's somehow causing a bend in the joists down that line, since that would be the weakest point closest to the wall.

Forgive the POS level, i just wanted to grab a strait edge to see if I was seeing things. It looks like the bow is on the top as well as the bottom.

 

[EddieWalker]

What are those joist made out of? I thought they where metal, but the way they are bending, it doesn't look like metal.

I think you need to call the manufacturer that made them, and talk to an engineer there. Something like this will only get worse over time.

 

[fatjay]

They are 12ga steel and that particular joist is a double back to front. I got the thickest ones available since the cost was negligible.

TradeReady® Steel Joist | ClarkDietrich Building Systems

www.clarkdietrich.com

I'll reach out to them, from how thick they were, I never expected it.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

With the bends occurring above and below the port/cutout, I would think that is the culprit? Maybe you could weld some plates over the holes?

 

[fatjay]

That's an idea. I have to figure out what's actually bending. It doesn't look like it's dropping, more like compressed since it's bowing at top and bottom. I checked the other ports down the line and it's not happening there. It's only happening on the second porthole.

I have no idea when it happened, if it was a one time thing during a heavy storm. I think i may plant some tree's or something as a wind break because that side wall just does nothing but catch wind when it storms.

 

[dodge man]

Unless there are signs something is about to break I probably wouldn’t worry about it. Steel bends and forms a little like wood.