Is that how close your neighbors are? I just couldn't deal with that. If I caint walk out on my yard nekkid and take a piss, I'd go crazy.
Anyone lay their own concrete?
- Thread starter Garethw
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LOL, ya those are my neighbors. We have a mutual agreement. I piss naked in my yard and they do whatever they want.........no complaints! Those are the close ones and you can't see how my yard really is. We are actually very isolated by view.
Keeps ya from dribbling on the Crocs.
How much of this needs permits? inspection? If you rough in the trench work and/or plumbing without permits and fly under the radar, be sure to check the codes in case you get popped. That way if you do get popped, you arent having to redo the work, just pay the price. With that said, renting a back hoe and getting dangerous with the trenching and leveling and compacting could save you some dough, but as previously stated.....how much? Is it worth it? How quickly is it getting done? You might be better off trying to save money building the structure....framing, pulling wire and whatnot.
In our county, if you do all the work yourself, you don't have to pull chit for permits.
Agreed. Where I live they like to collect.....and collect.....and coll......well you get the picture. AND ..lets say my **** fails after you came and 'inspected' it? Is the 'inspector' on the hook?...hell naw! but lets not digress into that. Stay on target.
50K doesnt sound horrible. Granted costs have doubled over the last 15 years, but they will double again. Cost of living, and I am slightly of the ilk that getting it done quickly has a benefit of getting your cars under cover and start the tinkering.
Mopar Momzee
Well-Known Member
U are correct save when u can pole barns don’t need to have concrete to be inspected and built benefit of building one. I’m dealing with this now they called that out already but I explained that pole Barns do not require concrete but permit has not been issued yet hopefully couple more weeks . My state does in fact want a licensed contractor to be building the shop or pulling most of my electrical to the new shop basic lighting after all else will be me. But agreed cover for my cars is priority for now.
TexasDart
Well-Known Member
Yeah I do concrete. Then one corner broke off. I would have some one do it.
robcuda
Well-Known Member
I'm a big fan of adding fiber. I poured a 2 car pole barn myself with the help of a teenager and a borrowed bull float. I came across the idea of adding fiber and going without rebar on the interweb and feel that even without rebar the fiber may have helped the reinforcement of areas that I screwed up. I underestimated the footage and was charged a screw up fee for having another truck show up. We made burritos while we waited for the second truck. Oh well.
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Garethw
Mopar. Because rocket science is too easy.
You guys have all convinced me not to do this myself. As such, I’ll probably punt this project for one more year. I don’t absolutely need it until my current 65 Valiant project is complete and I need to move it out to do the next car.
Cuda416
Well-Known Member
My shop is 36x48 with a 4" slab. #2 rebar, 12" on center with two beams and a rail. When I estimated, it came out to around what your saying, yours with just a flat slab should be almost 24 yds ((40x48)/81) will give the yardage. So, for mine, I didn't take into account the extra for the beams etc and the contractor, old dude working with his son, looks at it all for a few minutes and says 34 yds... ouch... 34 put me over 4k which required a cash payment before delivery so I got 33 and hoped for the best. We ended up with about 1/4 yd or less overage. Total cost, all in was 8400 which was about materials x2. make sure you ask for a 4.5" "slump" and don't let them add water to random spots to make it easier on themselves. You'll get a low spot. I had it done when it's was colder so I didn't worry about covering it, but if you have to cover it to keep it wet, use the black plastic. The clear will act like a lense and dry to top too fast.
Moral of the story, get a pro.
Moral of the story, get a pro.
Yunick13
2 Time FABO NASCAR champ 2023 FABO NHRA champ
4.5 inch slump is what they use for state mix. 6 inch slump is normal for regular pours. Any more than that, and it becomes slop, and will be more prone to crack due to seperation of the aggregate while wet.
Adding water to spots is to aid in finishing. If it creates a low spot, it's the fault of the finisher, not the water.
Adding water to spots is to aid in finishing. If it creates a low spot, it's the fault of the finisher, not the water.
Cuda416
Well-Known Member
Well, I'll go with what my father, who owned and sold two concrete companies over the years said to do which was 4.5"....
The added water was not for finishing. It was to make it easier for them to get some out of the truck and the 4.5 was thick. They did it in one spot, that spot is low. It's low because it dried at a different rate/amount than the rest of the slab.
To date, I don't even have surface cracks that I have noticed.
Cuda416
Well-Known Member
Depends on where you are. When I built mine, I called the city and when I told them where I lived, just outside the city limits, I was told they didn't care. i built it to code anyway, cuz I'm like that. Lots of stuff outside the city is pretty sketchy though, lol.
What I did do was paid attention to easements etc. I'm 25' away from the property line where we have a 10 foot easement. Also, county might want know if you are in a flood plane. National code also says 5 feet min from septic lines,, county says 10. Go figure.
70bigblockdodge
Active Member
I poured mine 4, 10x30 sections 6" on outside 8" in center (for my semi to pull in). Poured separately, to reduce work load. Finished smooth enough that sockets will roll away from you, but not smooth enough to fall down every time it gets wet.
I was a lot younger guy back then.
I was a lot younger guy back then.
Yunick13
2 Time FABO NASCAR champ 2023 FABO NHRA champ
Note to self: everyone's a professional
6PakBee
Well-Known Member
Note to self: everyone's a professional
Just remember the definition of a "professional". As Wikipedia puts it "A professional is a member of a profession or any person who earns a living from a specified professional activity." IE, you don't have to know what you are doing, you are just making money doing it."
Grumpyb
Well-Known Member
I am building a garage right now , I would probably have had it built but could'nt even get contractors to return my calls so this is the way I went , I built these about 40 years ago so I knew what it would take , get the site ready , dig your holes for the posts , buy the posts , 2x4's for the roof and perlins , buy the steel for the roof and find someone to put it under roof for you mine is 24x40 and amish that put mine under roof had it up and done in 7 hours and 50 minutes cost me 2500 , they aren't any cheaper but they are fast but I am in central pa you can do the perlins and siding yourself I put 2x6's leveled around the outside of the base and am putting stone on top right now so that when done It will 5 inches to the top of boards the concrete is going to cost 3700 poured and finished , not a job to do yourself if it goes bad the only way to fix it is a jackhammer and alot of un-mentionable words.
pete peterson
Active Member
I am pete peterson, I have laid concrete, & the last one I did was about 40' x 30'. I don't tell people what to do, as is human nature it seems, but I would like to note one thing that I always do in buildings that I've found very satisfying. If you see any merit in what I did, would you consider doing it? I slope my cement 1" per 6' of run towards the doors in the place on one side. That allows my power washing the cement and the water always runs out of the building. In the areas inside the building where the cement dead ends at a wall I bury a 3" PVC pipe, drill holes thru the thin cement over it into it, & run it to the building's corner where I go underground & exit the building. If there's no slope outside, I just dig a hole & fill it with washed river rock. There's never much water to drain, ergo, there's no issue with volume of water. Friends, people, others (bro included) always want to make cement level. Well, fine if that's desired, but the nature of water is to puddle, ergo, the cement will stay wet a long time after water is applied. The other nice thing about a sloped pad is that the irregularities that inevitably happen when pouring\power troweling cement drain, also. Water is a creepy thing. It stands, wicks, etc., but I want mine to RUN! Also, I've owned 2 places where the previous guy did one of those, "slope it towards the building's center drain", things. Hate that. There are puddles everywhere due to irregularities in the cement after power washing, washing my truck in the winter, etc. lol Just my thoughts, experiences. Yeah, everything costs too much nowadays. You should see estimates for restoring my '64 Cuda! Do your thing, dogg... pete
A lot of reading not, 6” slab and let the best guys do it, nothing worse than an uneven floor. Slick as glass then paint or tile, money well spent for clean ups and pretty to show off. Mine (40x60) in 2007 was $9,000 but I knew the guys. Make sure they use the best grade of cement too.
JohnnySpeed
Active Member
I try to do all by myself but u will need guys to help screed and move the mud like 4 friends, but form it, rent the tools to do the job dig out your pad, I add 3/4 rock as base for the 4" concrete to set on these days they reinforced concrete so u may not need metal mesh or rebar order your truck have guys ready to speed out your mud and rent a float
Buy some trowels edgers. Go to town. No easy it will wear you out.
Gordie340
Member
I built a shop some time ago, I was lucky to have been working in building trades at the time. I never got a building permit but one friend was a foreman who had done many similar projects and new all the proper way of making sure it was built to code in case for some reason an inspector showed up. The first thing we did was excavate the area for the shop down to hard pan or equivalent material, removing all organic material. We made the excavation about 4ft. larger than the shop dimensions all the way around . Then imported pit run and backfilled and compacted in one foot layers to achieve desired final prep grade for slab. To avoid having to do pony walls after pouring the slab we dug 1 foot thickenings around the perimeter to the dimensions where the the shop walls would sit , this was being done to strenghten the structure weight bearing walls. Next we made sure it would be square and used batter board to measure from, being square is very important for when forming and framing starts, if not square it is a night mare to build. We used 2"x12 to build the form where walls would sit. The top of the 2"x12's was installed 4 inchs above the slab grade to allow for a 4 inch concrete slab, used transit to level top of forms. Next we installed the rebar in a 1 foot grid, bit of an overkill with the grid spacing but better than under build. So at the perimeter of the shop you wind up with a 8 inch thickening footing built in. I had a friend who came and poured with crew and my help and, power troweled finished to a hard chip resistent glaze which is very sweepable which makes it easy to keep clean.
Concrete should be placed using minimal water to avoid shrinkage a cracks when curing, zip strip can also be used to make natural cracking points in slab and are installed using bull float while pouring slab, recommended for big slabs.
A bit of a long winded story, hope it might help you on your project!
Fury Man Van
Member
I would pay the money, it can be done but if you have never done it before at least go watch a job in person than decided
Swinger 340
Well-Known Member
Don't need a transit, unless you already have one. I find a "Water Level" works best for a short run as your project, but that is another topic. A agree with others here, if you are not sure of yourself, hire someone with experience. Proper placing of steel and thickness of concrete is important. Would you paint your own car, if you were not a painter?
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