Getting started on 30x50 garage/shop build

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Kentucky
I've been planning a 30x50 garage/shop build, have everything lined up and am breaking ground tomorrow. 2-post lift is ordered and should be delivered next week. Pre-engineered steel building kit (from Mueller in LA) is going to be picked up May 2nd. Concrete contractor lined up for mid-April.

Rented a 100hp track loader (Bobcat) for the site prep, already have some 54 tons of crushed stone on the ground for slab base. Found a fellow on FB Marketplace that was renting out the Bobcat; that saved me almost $1,000 compared with what the rental companies were charging. I did have to rent a toothed bucket for the weekend though, probably $79 well spent. That's this weekend's project is to get site prep complete and then the aggregate laid down. Then my 14 year old son can get started with the plate compactor, compacting the stone (good job for him). Still have to get footers figured out, whether I do them myself or hire it out.

Glad I pulled the trigger when I did (couple months back); costs are going up like crazy, though I'm going to eat it on a few things that I haven't purchased yet (rebar, wire mesh, vapor barrier, few other odds and ends). I'll update this thread as the work progresses. Here's some before pics I took this evening before we get to digging tomorrow. And one back when the rock was delivered.

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I've been planning a 30x50 garage/shop build, have everything lined up and am breaking ground tomorrow. 2-post lift is ordered and should be delivered next week. Pre-engineered steel building kit (from Mueller in LA) is going to be picked up May 2nd. Concrete contractor lined up for mid-April.

Rented a 100hp track loader (Bobcat) for the site prep, already have some 54 tons of crushed stone on the ground for slab base. Found a fellow on FB Marketplace that was renting out the Bobcat; that saved me almost $1,000 compared with what the rental companies were charging. I did have to rent a toothed bucket for the weekend though, probably $79 well spent. That's this weekend's project is to get site prep complete and then the aggregate laid down. Then my 14 year old son can get started with the plate compactor, compacting the stone (good job for him). Still have to get footers figured out, whether I do them myself or hire it out.

Glad I pulled the trigger when I did (couple months back); costs are going up like crazy, though I'm going to eat it on a few things that I haven't purchased yet (rebar, wire mesh, vapor barrier, few other odds and ends). I'll update this thread as the work progresses. Here's some before pics I took this evening before we get to digging tomorrow. And one back when the rock was delivered.

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Congats on that. I can just imagine the feeling you must have, seeing it now in action and no longer just a plan!
 
That's a lot of crushed stone! Keep us updated.
Some portion of it will go to remediating my gravel driveway, there's a few ruts and holes-- needs some drainage in places.

SammyChevelleTypeS3 said:
Congats on that. I can just imagine the feeling you must have, seeing it now in action and no longer just a plan!

Thanks, I'm elated. But in the back of my mind, I'm realizing this is where the real work begins... I'm on no real schedule though and was sure to schedule things with plenty of breathing room in between. Hopefully it'll be fairly stress free, but that's probably wishful thinking on my part :)
 
I've been planning a 30x50 garage/shop build, have everything lined up and am breaking ground tomorrow. 2-post lift is ordered and should be delivered next week. Pre-engineered steel building kit (from Mueller in LA) is going to be picked up May 2nd. Concrete contractor lined up for mid-April.
Did you have to get a permit and submit plans stamped by an engineer?
 
Did you have to get a permit and submit plans stamped by an engineer?
Yeah I needed a permit which was a bit of a hassle around building codes. My county wanted the building engineered to IRC-2015, and Mueller engineers to IBC. Mueller offered to send some preliminary plans (they don’t give engineer stamped drawings till you purchase the building). I sent the prelim plans to the building inspector to review and he was fine with them even though they weren’t engineered to the specific IRC code. I think they’re just making sure you’re not trying to put cheap junk up, which a lot of folks try to do around here. He gave me approval on my foundation / slab design (I just told him what I was doing on a phone call), but he’ll come out to inspect everything before concrete is poured. They’re pretty informal around here it seems.
 
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Love to see a project get going. 54 tons is not much rock though. Spread that out and it’s going to be very thin.
 
I worked at a cement company back in the summer of 1978. Back then there were a lot of different grades of cement. Some of the cheaper stuff is junk that will crack in short time. The first thing to look at when choosing a cement or if someone else has chosen it is the number of sacks per yard. Cheap cement is 6.5 sacks of cement per yard. Very good cement is 9 or 9.25 or 9.5 sacks per yard.

Back then, bridge mix starts off with a base of 9 to 9.5 sacks per yard depending on the State that ordered it, but also has 3 additional chemicals added to it to make it stronger and hold up better when exposed to freeze - thaw cycles.


One chemical that was added to the bridge mix back then slows down how fast the cement cures. Cement that takes longer to dry ends up being stronger. Back then we called that chemical retarder.

Another chemical that was added to Bridge mix back then was a chemical to make the cement foam up some so that small air bubbles that you really cannot see by just looking at the cement (but the cement did take up a little more space in the trucks). The slang for that chemical at the cement company was "air". Though that is not what the chemical was. It actually is a liquid of some kind that makes the cement form the small bubbles.

Another chemical that was added to Bridge mix back then was a chemical to make the cement retain moisture longer while it cured slower. The slang for that chemical at the cement company was "water". Though it was not water, it was a special chemical that made the cement retain moisture while curing.

Bridge mix had 9 to 9.5 sacks per yare, and all 3 of those chemicals.

Bridge mix cost more but it is much stronger and is much less likely to crack from freeze - thaw cycles and or high stress.

When I had the walkway on the side of our house fixed I had them use bridge mix.

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I have not worked in the cement field for a very long time, but probably not much has changed, except the ability to get color added to cement.

I just thought I would let you know. It is more expensive. But now is the time to spend more money to do it right. Once it is poured it is not like it is easy to rip it up and replace it if it ends up with cracks a few years from now.

You might talk to your concreate supplier and talk to them about the different quality and strength of concrete, and of course the cost. One friend of mine put in a two-story garage attached to his new house he was building (the land actually went down one story from the front to the back, so the lower garage had a drive-in from the back for his shop and lawn equipment, and the front had drive-in for his vehicles, and at my suggestion used bridge mix. It was a neat setup because the land was level in-front of the house, and level behind the house, both for a very large amount of area, but the house was built where the land transitioned from those two planes. He had to leave that building without heat one winter and was glad he had used the bridge-mix because he knew the floors would not crack.
 
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Love to see a project get going. 54 tons is not much rock though. Spread that out and it’s going to be very thin.
After talking with a lot of different people, I went with about 80% overkill for the square footage vs depth I need. I just checked with a couple calculators available online and the math checks out with the advice I was given. No big deal, lots of limestone around here, there's about 3 quarries in a 20 mile radius from me, I know where to get more :)
 
Good points on the cement but also talk to your lift guy about what his concrete requirements are. IRRC, 3500# test with fiberglass.
 
If you don’t mind my asking, what’s the concrete work going to cost you?

I need to get a porch added to our house. Thought if the job was too small for someone to add a 24x30 slab for a garage down the road.
 
Good points on the cement but also talk to your lift guy about what his concrete requirements are. IRRC, 3500# test with fiberglass.
I'm doing a monolithic pour, 2' deep by 1' wide footers around the perimeter of the building, with a 5" slab. 4000 PSI concrete with wire mesh (no fibermesh). The lift will have two 4x4 squares dug deeper for the lift columns (I'll probably just clear the rock out in those areas) and reinforced with rebar -- making it around 8-9" deep concrete for the lift pads. The lift manufacturer (Derek Weaver) specifies minimum 4" 4000 PSI concrete, but that's a bare minimum intended to sell more lifts to people with residential garages-- I'll have that requirement covered and then some.

dlundblad said:
If you don’t mind my asking, what’s the concrete work going to cost you?

Concrete by itself was quoted around $5,500 for:

30x50 5 inch slab, plus perimeter footers (2' deep x 1' wide)
50x9' exterior apron on the side of the building (4" deep)
4' x 30' 4" exterior slab on front of building

At the time concrete was quoted it was $141/yd, that was back in February. I expect it to have gone up 10-20%+ since then-- it's a price I can't lock in because I can't order the concrete until the finishing contractor is ready.

Labor for forming, laying rebar/mesh and finishing was $5,784.00. I'm hoping he doesn't renege on that price (again quoted back on Jan/Feb). I'm responsible for materials including rebar, wire mesh, vapor barrier. None of that includes digging footers, which I have to subcontract or do myself.
 
Some pics from today's site work:

Using one of those fancy spinning laser things (exact name eludes me) & sight level, we picked the low point, dug down to virgin soil (no organic matter) and used that as the benchmark. Everything else that was higher was cut down to match. Had to dig down 10" on the highest side. I still have to level/tamp the rock, but looks like I'll have about 3.5" height of rock when I'm done after using about 30 tons of the 54 that were delivered. I'll still need some rock to do the 50x9' concrete apron on the side, and 4' entrance to the front of the building... Looks like I'll have plenty to refurb the driveway.

My buddy that did the site work warned me I'd have a lot of dirt and to figure out something to do with it. I wasn't prepared for this massive pile (pictures don't do it justice), and am considering renting the Bobcat another day & taking the day off work Monday to deal with it. Who knew how much dirt could come out of a 30x50 square... I have mountains of it, at least the kids are pleased :)

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I'm doing a monolithic pour, 2' deep by 1' wide footers around the perimeter of the building, with a 5" slab. 4000 PSI concrete with wire mesh (no fibermesh). The lift will have two 4x4 squares dug deeper for the lift columns (I'll probably just clear the rock out in those areas) and reinforced with rebar -- making it around 8-9" deep concrete for the lift pads. The lift manufacturer (Derek Weaver) specifies minimum 4" 4000 PSI concrete, but that's a bare minimum intended to sell more lifts to people with residential garages-- I'll have that requirement covered and then some.



Concrete by itself was quoted around $5,500 for:

30x50 5 inch slab, plus perimeter footers (2' deep x 1' wide)
50x9' exterior apron on the side of the building (4" deep)
4' x 30' 4" exterior slab on front of building

At the time concrete was quoted it was $141/yd, that was back in February. I expect it to have gone up 10-20%+ since then-- it's a price I can't lock in because I can't order the concrete until the finishing contractor is ready.

Labor for forming, laying rebar/mesh and finishing was $5,784.00. I'm hoping he doesn't renege on that price (again quoted back on Jan/Feb). I'm responsible for materials including rebar, wire mesh, vapor barrier. None of that includes digging footers, which I have to subcontract or do myself.
Much cheaper than here. I was quoted $25k for a 20x30 slab able to support a 2 post lift. $76k total for a metal shed/ garage on it.
 
Nice progress. Whenever you get a mini excavator on-site to dig the footing, consider burying 4” SDR for your downspouts to get water 10-20’ away from the building. You look to have a pretty flat lot so it will be nice to get the water away, assuming you are putting gutters on it.
 
lookin good + you seem to be "in the know" the more DIY with friends the more savings!! i mostly did my 32W 28D garage myself except the cement block but mixed for them + luckily got free use of a skidsteer from the dumpster guy i knew + used. a HEATED floor is only thing i would do over as Pa is pretty cold at times but a wood fire in a tight garage with 9" insulation in the ceiling works well as needed. good luck on a successful build as it looks to be!!
 
lookin good + you seem to be "in the know" the more DIY with friends the more savings!! i mostly did my 32W 28D garage myself except the cement block but mixed for them + luckily got free use of a skidsteer from the dumpster guy i knew + used. a HEATED floor is only thing i would do over as Pa is pretty cold at times but a wood fire in a tight garage with 9" insulation in the ceiling works well as needed. good luck on a successful build as it looks to be!!
I'm pretty much learning as I go, I know just enough to be dangerous. But I have couple friends that know the process inside and out, so a lot of hand holding, but I'm getting up to speed. Concrete contractor is going to visit site tomorrow. Originally he was planning on a monolithic pour, but it seems he's leaning toward getting the footers dug and poured right away, and doing the main slab after.
 
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