The Project Pad

grillage wrote:1300 square feet in total. Seems like it will be pretty spacious for 3 cars

Nice! Hows it going with garage?

Slow! I'm hoping it's done within a few weeks

Lots of progress finally.

Got the floor poured:



Then the Walls went up



Today the Trusses started going up too.


I have about 8'11" of height in the back bay. Enough for a lift?

woot! looking good!

why such a low ceiling?

Marc wrote:why such a low ceiling?

Has to match the lines of the house which is a ranch.

A lift had always been a want not a need. Looks like after some reading I'm not likely to be able to use one. Not the end of the world

you can still have a lift. just need a low profile home-owner type.

http://www.motorgeek.com/viewtopic.php? ... t=longhorn

I like having a shorter option - I'll look into that for sure!

More progress yesterday:

There will be a connection from the garage to the house at the roofline - That keeps it technically an attached garage and simplifies a lot of things. Also means that the roof lines need to match up - hence the 9' ceiling height



This is from the back of the right side bay - it's 42' deep on this side:


From the back yard:

i am actually partaking of much the same right now. although i am going simpler-ish.

40x60 pole structure, 12 foot eaves. 2 x man door 3-0 x 7-0, and two windows 3-0 x 4-0. one roll up @ 12 (W) X 11 (H) highbay for most clearance. and another opening i will frame in my own door later.

mine will be built in a week starting next Friday, then concrete in a couple weeks. Insulation, and power to follow.

had to cut in a road to get to it, ~300+ feet linear. and the pad location for it was ~18" difference high corner to low corner. so far 120T 3"- base rock brought in, another 60T monday to finish the subgrade, then 4"-ish of 5/8"- to grade for mud. all done by me, with just a mini-excavator.

The first mini I had was a great machine i can operate WELL. second one I got I'm not so awesome on. But when you have friends that loan you equipment you take what you can get right?

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Beautiful piece of property!

I would have loved to do more of this one myself but I just don't have the time. I will be doing all the finishing inside though. They're leaving the interior just studs so I'll come in and insulate / wire it myself. Drywall too potentially though I passionately hate doing drywwall

Looks like the deer like it:

More progress!






and a new garage inhabitant:

Picked this up yesterday to replace the wife's Buick Enclave

Looks great.

Nice! Busy busy

yours is way nicer than mine for real.

Love it!

I think you will like the B8 Avant. My wife has one and I absolutely love it.

awesome progress Ben! looks great.

speeding-g60 wrote:all done by me, with just a mini-excavator.

Hey, did you have experience or instruction using one of those before or did you just figure it on on the fly?

I'm trying to figure out how to build a garage on a shoestring budget (and a low-end shoestring at that) and I'm wondering how hard it is to learn how to use that kind of equipment as I have absolutely zero experience.

excavators are pretty easy to operate. Like a video game for basic digging. The real skill comes with trying to visualize and maintain a grade and finesse the machine in tight situations. Watching an A+ operator with a machine is like watching a professional dancer. It is really amazing.

I think anyone with basic mechanical knowledge can run a small excavator. Respecting the machines limits and operating it smoothly goes a long way.

That being said, I hired a pro to tear down my house and dig the foundation and I am so glad i did. He was able to grade the site just how I wanted, something that would have taken me days, he did in minutes.

I have my own backhoe attachment for the tractor, and I use that to dig ditches, bury power, dig rocks and stumps out of the yard etc.

Grillage wrote:

and a new garage inhabitant:

Picked this up yesterday to replace the wife's Buick Enclave

Nice! My wife likes hers, which Is now my DD.
Me I like 20 valves but I can't drive that everyday.

Jack

elaw wrote:

speeding-g60 wrote:all done by me, with just a mini-excavator.

Hey, did you have experience or instruction using one of those before or did you just figure it on on the fly?

I'm trying to figure out how to build a garage on a shoestring budget (and a low-end shoestring at that) and I'm wondering how hard it is to learn how to use that kind of equipment as I have absolutely zero experience.

so i have worked in the industrial construction field for 15+ years now, and have learned a few things here and there. gained a LOT of experience with things like this.

am i super? hell no. can i do it? yeah eventually.

the first machine i had out here i am PROFICIENT on with CAT controls. this machine i have here now, its Yanmar Chinese and nothing equates. i keep doing the wrong motion on one move only. that said i am getting used to it, and had to run a regular machine yesterday and screwed it up a few times after the Yanmar.

i am teaching my 10 year old boy Chub how to operate this thing safely now. and he absolutely loves it. he can do it all on his own, moving dirt. grading? fuggedaboutit. i can grade alright with this one, better with a CAT controlled machine.

like Dana said, its about knowing what the machine can handle and its limits and RESPECTING those items. i stockpiled 6 loads of gravel one day, and pulled up top of it to spread it. i got overloaded a couple times and had to abort mission swinging over the tracks in a 180 degree move. too full over the side, good thing the bucket was low to the ground. little mess to clean up, gravel in the grass but whatev.

Meanwhile, here's the scene in my front yard



I'm ready for this to be over

How easily did the Maserati roll there? :-P

jretal wrote:How easily did the Maserati roll there? :-P

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