Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Concrete Forms
I've been working half-days this week to take advantage of the PERFECT weather conditions. Yesterday we installed the concrete forms and got some of the rebar set up at the bottom of the footers.
Trenches filled and site cleaned
I was able to borrow my friends skid steer again to work on cleaning up the job site and back filling all the utilities trenches. I'm always amazed at how much work this little machine can do in the hands of a novice.
 |
| Remember the "Novice" part...? |
Monday, April 20, 2015
Footer and Utilities
There was another good weather window late last week, so I took a couple days off work to rent a Mini-Ex and take care of a few things.
First, we decided to relocate the cement tiles to the southwest corner of the building pad. That is the lowest corner and sets the 4" (100mm) drain entry level almost 19" (490mm) deeper into the ground. It also places the entire drainage station closer to the field for more efficient water movement.
After that, I marked out the footer locations and dug those out. The building will be heated and I will also run some PEX around the perimeter to keep the cement from freezing, so the footers will not need to extend below the frost line.
And finally, I dug out the utility trenches before returning the machine. (The yard is now a complete mess again).
Once we got that all taken care of, we ran the water, sewer and electrical lines before back filling some of the trenches to keep those lines in place. We also ran the lines for the ground water drainage system and installed the perforated drain pipe in the footer in case the next set of rain showers proved to be more than forecasted.
I did manage to get the second pump hooked up and running, so now all the water is being diverted to a short section of 3" (75mm) perforated pipe sitting on a thick layer of river rock. That will handle the drainage most of the time, but when it gets flooded during a rain storm, the pipe simply extends out to the field and will exit above ground there.
Next on the list is to back fill the trenches and clear the dirt from around the building perimeter so we can frame up the forms for the cement pad.
First, we decided to relocate the cement tiles to the southwest corner of the building pad. That is the lowest corner and sets the 4" (100mm) drain entry level almost 19" (490mm) deeper into the ground. It also places the entire drainage station closer to the field for more efficient water movement.
After that, I marked out the footer locations and dug those out. The building will be heated and I will also run some PEX around the perimeter to keep the cement from freezing, so the footers will not need to extend below the frost line.
And finally, I dug out the utility trenches before returning the machine. (The yard is now a complete mess again).
Once we got that all taken care of, we ran the water, sewer and electrical lines before back filling some of the trenches to keep those lines in place. We also ran the lines for the ground water drainage system and installed the perforated drain pipe in the footer in case the next set of rain showers proved to be more than forecasted.
I did manage to get the second pump hooked up and running, so now all the water is being diverted to a short section of 3" (75mm) perforated pipe sitting on a thick layer of river rock. That will handle the drainage most of the time, but when it gets flooded during a rain storm, the pipe simply extends out to the field and will exit above ground there.
Next on the list is to back fill the trenches and clear the dirt from around the building perimeter so we can frame up the forms for the cement pad.
Monday, April 6, 2015
Rock 'n Roll
I thought of that super corny title after tying down the last of the equipment as I sat there all filthy and worn out from a rough weekend.
I'm sure any builder will tell you that anytime you are in the middle of a project the weather windows are all of a sudden REALLY important. I've been keeping a close eye on the weather patterns, so when I saw a break in the weather over the weekend after some light rains during the week I knew it would be the perfect time to get the fill dirt and CA-6 spread over the pad and compacted before the rains come again later this week. Unfortunately, I was so focused on the weather that I completely forgot about Easter! I actually didn't even remember until the sun was setting on a beautiful Saturday and we were only half way done with the job.
Oops!
We got started around noon on Saturday and spent eight hours hauling and packing down Fill dirt until the sun went down. It was my first time using a skid steer so it took me a while to get accustomed to coordinating the controls and fine tuning my technique but during the learning curve that thing literally beat the snot out of me! It was a really small unit, so it took a LOT of trips back and forth to haul the materials. But if you aren't used to moving around on a machine like that over rough ground it will bounce and buck and throw you around inside the cabin. I was so sore that evening I had take some aspirin to get some sleep! I set my alarm and told the kids to be outside ready to work at 0700hrs. I got up before them so I could tighten some belts and make sure everything was ready to start the day. So at 0645hrs on Easter morning I was cranked up and hauling (Note: I did feel sorry for my poor neighbors, but I was on a mission you know.) the rest of the Fill Dirt before readjusting the lines to haul rock. Sunday turned out to be much better because the rock was easier to haul and the ground was a lot smoother. It also helped that I was better at operating the machine.
Believe it or not, even with all that Fill Dirt I had hauled in I was still way short on the amount I needed. As a result, the top of slab will end up about 6" (150mm) lower than I originally planned. The front of the building will be about 8" (200mm) above grade, while the back will be about 2" (50mm) below grade. I will need to do some additional landscaping at the back of the building to create a shallow slope toward the building. Then I'll have to rely on the ground drainage system to cope with runoff. I think the 4" (100mm) perforated pipe with a good river rock seepage channel will handle that.
I didn't get any good pictures of the work we did on Saturday. I guess I was just too busy getting beat up by the skid-steer. The pictures below are mostly from the work we did on Sunday, hauling rock. You'll notice the big piles of Fill Dirt are gone. The pile of black dirt (top soil) will be used next year when we do some final grading around the yard.
I'm sure any builder will tell you that anytime you are in the middle of a project the weather windows are all of a sudden REALLY important. I've been keeping a close eye on the weather patterns, so when I saw a break in the weather over the weekend after some light rains during the week I knew it would be the perfect time to get the fill dirt and CA-6 spread over the pad and compacted before the rains come again later this week. Unfortunately, I was so focused on the weather that I completely forgot about Easter! I actually didn't even remember until the sun was setting on a beautiful Saturday and we were only half way done with the job.
Oops!
We got started around noon on Saturday and spent eight hours hauling and packing down Fill dirt until the sun went down. It was my first time using a skid steer so it took me a while to get accustomed to coordinating the controls and fine tuning my technique but during the learning curve that thing literally beat the snot out of me! It was a really small unit, so it took a LOT of trips back and forth to haul the materials. But if you aren't used to moving around on a machine like that over rough ground it will bounce and buck and throw you around inside the cabin. I was so sore that evening I had take some aspirin to get some sleep! I set my alarm and told the kids to be outside ready to work at 0700hrs. I got up before them so I could tighten some belts and make sure everything was ready to start the day. So at 0645hrs on Easter morning I was cranked up and hauling (Note: I did feel sorry for my poor neighbors, but I was on a mission you know.) the rest of the Fill Dirt before readjusting the lines to haul rock. Sunday turned out to be much better because the rock was easier to haul and the ground was a lot smoother. It also helped that I was better at operating the machine.
Believe it or not, even with all that Fill Dirt I had hauled in I was still way short on the amount I needed. As a result, the top of slab will end up about 6" (150mm) lower than I originally planned. The front of the building will be about 8" (200mm) above grade, while the back will be about 2" (50mm) below grade. I will need to do some additional landscaping at the back of the building to create a shallow slope toward the building. Then I'll have to rely on the ground drainage system to cope with runoff. I think the 4" (100mm) perforated pipe with a good river rock seepage channel will handle that.
I didn't get any good pictures of the work we did on Saturday. I guess I was just too busy getting beat up by the skid-steer. The pictures below are mostly from the work we did on Sunday, hauling rock. You'll notice the big piles of Fill Dirt are gone. The pile of black dirt (top soil) will be used next year when we do some final grading around the yard.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)