Dream Shop - Old Shop Demolition finished. Demo photos added.

Interesting seeing the different construction techniques. Here in mn th footings need to be something like 4-6 feet down and the foundation blocks would not be so far above grade. Flood proofing, ad you say i guess
 
Agreed there ! Construction methods differ.
I not seen a CMU foundation on anything, even ‘agri or accessory buildings newer than 50-60 years.
Even leaving the sod in place is strange, that would be scraped away whilst the excavator was still on site.
 
Our frost line is barely below the surface. The code calls for 18" below grade, which is at least a foot below any possible freezing.

Because of the FEMA zone adjacent to the shop, the city decided that the floor needs to be 18" above grade.

The excavator used a bucket the exact size to cut the footings. This saves a lot of time and any need for forms.

When the shop is done, the grade will be bermed from the shop out to the lawn on the sides. The entire front will be graded from the street to the garage door to slope the lot up to the door. The back side entry door will have steps.
 
Foundation filled and packed. J-bolts in place. Concrete trucks arrive this morning at 7AM to pour the slab floor. They are using fiber reinforced concrete. It is as strong as re-bar reinforced concrete (stronger according to the mason). Photos later today.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
Foundation filled and packed. J-bolts in place. Concrete trucks arrive this morning at 7AM to pour the slab floor. They are using fiber reinforced concrete. It is as strong as re-bar reinforced concrete (stronger according to the mason). Photos later today.
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Over the years I've poured thousands of yards of concrete in my various structures. Most of that was fiber reinforced. It is certainly a labor saver on the pour but, for me, all slabs crack. It's a fact of life. I also considered concrete "permanent." I have spent quite a bit of time in the past few years repairing concrete that I poured 30 years ago. Just a couple of weeks ago we broke up and replaced an area down by the shipping barn that took 10 yards. We also spent a bunch of man hours cutting grooves in greenhouse walks that were originally broom finish. Over 25 years, human foot traffic wore that broom texture away to the point that the walks were dangerously slick. If I were doing a shop I would let the concrete cure and then do one of the high grade epoxy garage floor finishes. Maybe you have that as a plan already. I did stained concrete in my personal home ten years ago and that is holding up pretty well.
 
Yes, the hot shop will get an epoxy floor coating. The clean shop will be climate controlled and have carpet in the work area and granite flooring between the entrance door and the hot shop door. I will just seal the slab in that area, as it will be covered.

The crew was out there working an hour before sunrise this morning to get it ready for the concrete trucks. I suspect they are either pouring of floating it right now. I'll post lots of photos tonight.
 
Stacy, I am in the final phases of building my work shops also. One shop for the forge and the second shop for woodworking. You mentioned that you are planning an epoxy floor for the hot shop. I am planning on putting down an epoxy floor in the wood shop and not in the forge. I was worried about sparks from grinding and welding and flux from forge welding Damascus billets. Hoping to get your thoughts on that, becuase I would love to epoxy the forge floor also. Just afraid epoxy (plastic)it will not hold up to the hot slag etc...

BTW, great thread. Thanks for taking the time to let us 'watch' the build.

Dan
 
A good hard epoxy floor will be resistant to dirt and oil staining the concrete. That is more of a concern than the few black spots where sparks and slag drip.

If flux/slag dripping is an issue, put a coupe 4X8 sheets of 22 gauge sheet metal on the floor around the anvil.
 
Lieblad said:
Agreed there ! Construction methods differ.
I not seen a CMU foundation on anything, even ‘agri or accessory buildings newer than 50-60 years.
Even leaving the sod in place is strange, that would be scraped away whilst the excavator was still on site.
Click to expand...

Yes, I think there should be no organic material under the concrete as it will rot and gass off.
 
12345678910 said:
Yes, I think there should be no organic material under the concrete as it will rot and gass off.
Click to expand...

Before the foundation was sand filled the mason excavated the center down to the footing level. The excavated material was placed around the outside of the foundation as a berm. The slab has nothing but hard packed fill sand in it, (no sod under it)

They poured the slab yesterday and are coming out in an hour (7AM) to do the final power float work. They will be fitting the sill plates at the same time.
 
They were out back at 6AM with headlamps on uncovering the slab and setting up the power float to do the final smoothing. I told them not to give it a high polish because I was putting down an epoxy coating and wanted a bit of "tooth" for the paint to bond to.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
Tomorrow they will come and put the J-bolts in the foundation walls. These are 36" long threaded rod with a 90° angle on the end.
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Never seen any that long, must be because you are right on the ocean / hurricane proof ? The ones we use around here are maybe 8"

Looking good
 
Yes, it is a hurricane/tornado proofing method. Not required, but the builder feels it is a good thing.

The corners and some down the sides are the long ones and go all the way to the footings. The others (every 48") are 16" long (that puts 12" in the block). All are in concrete poured down to the footing.
 
Slab is cured enough to start the framing today. Hopefully tomorrow I will have some exciting photos.

Rain tomorrow, and then sunny and cold days for a week.
 
OK, maybe a small delay in the framing. They are fitting the sill plates, but won't frame the walls for about a week.

The builder and the mason are not happy with the slab. I had thought something wasn't curing right and too much water was rising to the top. The mason said the trucks came with the concrete mixed at 2" slump, but he ordered 5" slump to allow proper flow and leveling. The concrete truck guys just added a lot more water to try and cut it down ... way too much! This caused too much settling and surface issues due to the water percolating upward. They had the engineer from the concrete plant out yesterday to look at the concrete and test it. He also had the run sheets from the plant and they clearly showed the concrete was delivered wrong. So, the concrete mill is providing free of charge the concrete needed for a pour-over. The slab will end up around 8" thick when done. I am OK with that. They are out there right now cutting grooves and control joints on the slab surface. This will assure a strong bond between the layers. I haven't asked when they will pour. We are supposed to have a few cold days with the nighttime low in the upper 20's. Days will go back into the 50's with nights around 40 by the weekend.
 
Bummer, but good the folks are working with you on the concrete..... AND you'll have a nice thick floor to support that press and power hammer {g}
 
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