I started working on a bit larger house project and thought possibly there may be some items of interest or use here so thought I would post some of it occasionally.
This house is in the foothills of the gold country and will have 2' thick exterior rock walls with a foamboard sandwiched in the center. Interior walls will be 1' thick rock - masonry - brick.
We are currently starting on the basement/utility tunnel. The owners want to build on it as they get money to. The last few days we have been excavating/dozing soft rock with a few hard places in it.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000873.jpg)
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000886.jpg)
"2' thick exterior rock walls with a foamboard sandwiched in the center"
As in Slipform masonry or something different?
My understanding is that he has some real good mason to do the rock walls -standard masonry with steel reinforcing - ties from outside to inside walls - I think it was 2" of foam in the middle. It is all engineered with tons of steel and concrete. I don't think he will be using slipform but will post updates. I will be doing portions of the work throughout the project. His intent is to pay as he goes and take quite a while to do it.
Here is an experimental Photobucket Video of me pushing a bit of rock and dirt out of the excavation with the D8 Cat to see if they are useful in our forum. If you are game -- try it out -- let me know if it is useable or takes too long loading or playing. etc.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/public/th_P1000882.jpg) (https://s35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/public/?action=view¤t=P1000882.flv)
Interesting Glenn:
You took that with the Panasonic digital camera?
Yes - I also set it to low quality video so that it will keep file size low.
Was it any problem for you? -- It looks like Photobucket converts it to a streaming video when it sends it out. I don't know how it will do on dial-up.
That was me on the dozer -- actually --my assistant, Fred took the video with my Panasonic--- You remeber Fred? I have his picture on here somewhere. :)
The video mode is available immediately - just turn the mode knob to video. The videos download at the same time the pictures do with the HP software - others too.
The model I have has been upgraded to a newer model with more capabilities and higher quality video if desired. For the web, 10 frames per second is recommended at 320x200 if I recall correctly, so this one covers it just fine.
Fred's the guy who needs suspender ::) Thinks he's a plumber ;DThe I-a-tolla of crack atolla, bad moon risin , crack a tolla east of java ;D
Seem's he made an impression on you PEG. Let me know if you want me to e-mail you a picture. :)
Ah , I'll pass on that offer Glenn. ::)
LOL ;D ;D
Yes, the video played fine on my end (broadband DSL). With sites like Photobucket carrying the bandwidth these little videos open up some interesting (and fun) options.
My little credit card sized digital camera takes very watchable movies (with sound). At TV resolution (640x480) a 1-GB card will store over 20 minutes of video. That would be too much to upload at any rate.
That's a lot for a baby camera. Mine has an option for different qualities. Maybe your's does.
Off topic replies have been moved to [link=http://www.countryplans.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1158895302]This Thread[/link]
Back to the original bigger house project and trying a little bigger video sample too.
I stuck my Gorillapod on a shovel and it became my photographer as Fred wasn't working today.
Our footings and walls are going in soft to very hard rock. I'm not real fond of manual labor so I got out the Bobcat and my jack hammer to break out about 8 yards of rock from a corner where it was too hard for the excavator.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/th_P1010159.jpg) (https://s35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/?action=view¤t=P1010159.flv)
Off topic replies have been moved to [link=http://www.countryplans.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1161496364]This Thread[/link]
In this project there are only two concrete stakes holding the forms in. The rest is solid rock so we are drilling through the forms and braces and into the underlying rock with a 1/4 inch drill in a rotohammer and anchoring the forms with 60d spikes driven into the rock.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1010158.jpg)
Back on this one off and on for a bit.
Getting ready for a pour on the footings. Passed inspection yesterday but am going to clean out more of a clay bank that keeps caving off before the pour (actually the left side in the above picture). It is in an old fill area at the edge of the pad. The rest is mostly rock.
Inspector wrote up three things for correction -- Since I know what the engineers want to see I wrote an RFI to the engineer (request for information) - drew the three items up and faxed the drawings for approval. Actually it was just a detail left off the plan and a slightly taller wall than per plan so had to update drawings. We substituted #3 rebar for 6-6 10, 10 WWM so took care of that by including it at the same time in the sketch - got it all approved at once. Like congress, eh?
Engineer signed and faxed them back and I had them to county before the inspector was back from inspection. Took a couple hours. Inspector called to ask a couple questions but I know from his response that he was in dis-belief -- no one makes corrections that fast. We do. :)
Take this as a tip --- if you know what you need, know it will pass code and can draw it for the engineer or architect, do it before you call him. Many times he will stamp and sign your drawing and do it immediately to keep it out of his backlog. You will then be on your way. At the worst he may only have to note a thing or two and then sign and stamp.
Here is my sketch as an example.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/ScreenShot004-1.jpg)
Quote
Take this as a tip --- if you know what you need, know it will pass code and can draw it for the engineer or architect, do it before you call him. Many times he will stamp and sign your drawing and do it immediately to keep it out of his backlog. You will then be on your way. At the worst he may only have to note a thing or two and then sign and stamp.
[highlight]Here is my sketch as an example.[/highlight]
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/ScreenShot004-1.jpg)
Well where is it :-? :-? Or did ya just baffleum with B/S ;D
It's there -- maybe Photobucket had a brain fart.
Don't you see it?
It is as I received it after the engineer stamped and signed it with no changes - just added his letterhead and stamp -and signature.
Note that I am extremely proficient at baffling them with B/S also. :)
I do now but it wasn't there before :-[ Good job , your a regular legal beagle EH!
I work on so many big jobs where we have changes to get through quick and that is the way that gets results. Let them throw it on the desk until they get to it and many times it takes a while. Like me.
I took a couple years drafting in HS so that helps -- I'm not a John Raabe, but I get the job done.
Here is a pix of the forms in place. The plastic seems to be a bit of a joke but we are putting it in then adding French Drains to be sure that the water doesn't get trapped and work its way through the walls.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1010340_edited.jpg)
Reminds me of kind of a bad Batman Cape --- or how about a Batgirl cape. :)
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/56070.jpg)
I know we've seen her before but I thought it was time for her to make another cameo appearance.
Concrete truck and pumper arrived on site before 8AM today -
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1010382_edited.jpg)
We poured right at 300 lineal feet of footing - about 32 yards.
We had a few stepped areas we poured early to let them set a bit so they would be easier to finish filling later without slumping under the form.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1010381_edited.jpg)
We came prepared for all kinds of problems - even expecting them in the conditions we had to work in -- most of the forms - about 90% were nailed right into the rock. I was wondering for a while at first why I took this job - it was a struggle but we kept at it until we beat it. Footings went in without a problem. No popped forms - about 1 shovel full boil out - that was it - near perfect.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1010390_edited.jpg)
Note: If the owner shows up, give him a job. He'll love it.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1010385_edited.jpg)
What's the next step on this job? Form and pour walls or lay up block, or ? Looks good so far! Are you in the area these days, or working out of town again?
Harry
Next step is to get the forms off then start on walls. We think we will have to go in about 4' steps with vertical steel in to the top but horizontal only to the top of the 4' until we get some waterproofing and French drains done. The banks and rocks cave off once in a while so we may need to do it in steps - we dont want to remove and re-compact if we don't have to. We have to inspect the sides for bad areas every trip. We have no desire to be flattened.
OSHA regs don't cover us - we're owner operators -- still want to be safe but no gov. threats to worry about.
We are working around here now but need to go out once in a while and make some bigger money. :)
Got some wall forms up and steel in place for inspection next Thursday. Using used !" plywood and able to work from the inside only in most areas so have to make some of this up as we go.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000236.jpg)
Had to build some staging to be able to get the pumper out across the wall.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000237.jpg)
Slow but just going as my buddy gets money and I get time. :)
great drawings
I will make mental notes of what you said...I have usually just drawn it up and built without my friendly local building inspector even getting wind of what I am doing...
but It is great to know that a decently drawn well thought out sketch can get stamped and approved if you have the codes and specs right
Save a bunch of time and money... I mean everyone has a ruler and can spend a few minutes getting graph paper and looking up codes etc....
Great tip
One key thing to this approval is that the engineer had already designed it and I made changes that I knew he would approve then he agreed with me and put his official stamp on my drawing.
This was a modification to drawings that the county had already reviewed and charged my customer $21000.00 for said approval by them including the pork barrel fees for the school system.
He may have charged the owner more for the approval and stamp work.
21,000 is all he paid for permission to build on his own land...
Gee he got off so lucky ::)
side note we need a barfie emoticon for this site
Here Peter - copy and save this. (https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/yuk.gif) Right click for properties. Save that line to insert your picture. Note that after the first year we had to pay another $25 to renew it. That is only allowed so many times. My customer plans on paying as he goes and taking several years or more -- we'll see what happens later. I told the inspector that they had to accomodate his wishes. I said - you are a public service agency and you have to take care of the public. He said I would have to talk to the boss, but he would probably let us keep paying the annual fee.
We passed inspection BTW. No fixes to do. :)
Pulled the other house project out of this one so we can post about this one alone. GK
Well -- today we finally poured the walls of Mike's (sorry Michele with one L-- I missed an apostrophe there but I know how much that bugs you so I corrected it-- GK) project -- well -- the first 90 feet of them.
I don't think the concrete truck owner had seen forms using 1" plywood before -- he was aghast when he saw our forms. :o
Due to the rock walls all around we had to do some pretty unconventional forming but we were pretty sure it would hold. I consulted with the manufacturer of the Rapi-form Clips (suggested by Mike T on our forum -- thanks Mike).
(http://www.dhcsupplies.com/images/concrete/rifwall.gif)
http://www.dhcsupplies.com/concrete/conrapiform.htm
I did what he suggested - with the exception of using the stinger to vibrate the concrete pretty good. He had suggested rodding with rebar and tapping the form with a hammer -- there was just too much for that. Anyway -- no worries -- everything held.
I like to tie everything in place or make holders for it -- many times you are much too busy pouring and making sure everything is going right to worry about a piece of rebar moving out of place. It makes the inspectors happy too. Usually they just take a quick glance and sign if off if all the ducks are in a row.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000347.jpg)
We used the $179 Harbor Freight Vibrator -- very heavy duty and worked great.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=42947
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/photos/42900-42999/42947.gif
The walls are 8" x 8'10 1/2" tall We used the rapiform clips on the bottom so we could remove the forms without having to get to the back side due to the rocks. The rest were 12" lags in the rock areas or standard snapties in the accessible areas.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000354.jpg)
Had to use staging spiked into the ground over the space behind the forms. We used it for access to get the pump hose to the forms.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000343.jpg)
One place I held down with a pile of rocks - I wasn't satisfied with the rebar when it hit a rock. For the forms in some places we drilled a 1/4 inch hole then drove three 16d nails in it tight together -- makes a great temporary anchor.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000356.jpg)
There was only one little place the form bulged a little due to old plywood. The owner believes in recycling old materials when possible -- and when he can get a great deal on it. All of the form plywood had lived a previous life as produce bins such as farms use for tomatoes. Most was pretty good -- some not so great but we made it work - culled most of the terrible stuff-- and he saved thousands of dollars.
Fred started removing some of the extra bolts that were added for safety on the higher pour of the wall near the rock.
https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000344.jpg Caution - Not Safe For Work- I WARNED YOU.
For those who haven't used them and might like to--- Here is what the snap-ties look like inside the forms. The ends go through 9/16 or 5/8 holes in both sides of the plywood - the 8" spacers keep the plywood apart and give an area for the tie to break in and finish under the surface when sacked out -- (holes filled -smoothed - repaired- ground edges - etc.)
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000312.jpg)
The brackets are put over the end outside and a 2x4 is clamped in.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000316.jpg)
Bottom right of the forms you can see the Rapi-form clip end. It is secured in the center with a 1/4 hole drilled in the concrete and we drove 3 10d screw nails in at the same time for an anchor -- the clip stays there when done.
Up on the form on the right side you can see one of the H clips we fabricated in our shop. The manufacturer wanted $5.00 or so each. We made them for a few cents. They go between plywood sheets to keep them from separating and falling in. The tie spacers keep them apart.
Oh the unhumanity :o
Suspenders are really cheap. ;DThink of them as a "customer relationship" tool ;D ;D
CrackaJoeweA east of Java??
Poor Fred, I'd never know him if he was facing the camera ::)
I expected it but ya know still hada look :-[ Not your bad. Sad in a way really :'( :-[
BTW those are some ugly forms panels , again not your bad I read the owners wanting to use salvage plywood. Looks like just enought steel on that job ::) ::)
Sorry PEG. I knew if I warned you severely enough you would have to look. Sorry -- I couldn't resist and Fred really wanted you to have a current picture of him. :)
It was really meant to be only a utility tunnel and for the price, Mike wasn't concerned about the finish or look. I suggested that he make it wide enough to be useful, so it is just spare but very useful space. Went from 6 feet to 12 feet - the hole was already that wide plus. If desired it can be smoothed up a bit later or furred over and completely finished.
Also tons and tons more steel and concrete to come,
https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/yuk.gif
well we will try to see if the barfie worked
You need to enclose it in the image brackets-- the little picture button - third from left.
What were you yukking about? Did you look? :-?
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/yuk.gif%3Cbr%20/%3E)
sorry glenn this is beyond my ability to understand....This is too technical for me...
I can do fonts and HTml.... but people need to skip shortcuts details are needed for me...I can follow instructions.. but you lost me totally when you said to right click and go to properties...I did that... after that I am lost...
Leaving in a couple hours for Maine and fishing...so my emoticon posting lesson will have to resume at that time...
Cheers
I meant when you are composing click the third button from left - top row and paste the text from properties (link) between the brackets.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/thirdbuttonfromleft-toprow.jpg)
[ IMG]https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/thirdbuttonfromleft-toprow.jpg[/IMG]
It is modified HTML code and tells the forum to put the picture of the emoticon in to the posting rather than just the line.
As I have said before -- Computers are like women-- they only want to hear exactly what they want to hear exactly the way they want to hear it. Tell it to them any other way and it's no barfie emoticon for you. ;D
Sorry Ladies -- I was teaching Peter about computers. :-/ :)
Just testing the little guy...
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/yuk.gif)
Yep, he works.
Looks like you got him under control, John -- did you look too?
Do you mean the "how high the moon" shot?
(https://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g166/jraabe/moon.jpg)
Thanks for sharing! :o
Fred may be studying plumbing.
Glad you enjoyed it. ;D
Mike , the owner called me this morning-- He said he saw a big crack in one of the pictures and was worried about it extending into his wall. :-/ ;D
The plumber's little helper:
http://www.duluthtrading.com/95587.aspx
Every one tries to fix it for Fred, but Fred thinks he's famous. He's proud of it and calls it his patented trademark. You don't want to be driving down the freeway ahead of Fred and his buddies. If you are and they manage to pass you and Fred is a passenger-- don't look to the left as they pass -- believe me on this one -- I know. :o
Mike got excited today and took some guys up to pull forms so he could see some wall. He said it looks good and he is happy.
I'll probably get up there next week and get some pictures. :)
QuoteThe plumber's little helper:
http://www.duluthtrading.com/95587.aspx
I believe in previous threads I've recommended those AND suspenders to Glenn. I'm pretty sure he hasn't passed the info on to Fred so he,Glenn , can catch such "candid moments " to share on C/Plans ;D Glenn likes the "shock value" I think ::)
I'm the Countryplans version of Howard Stern. :-/
Maybe a bit more restrained.
QuoteI'm the Countryplans version of Howard Stern. :-/
Just what we need ;D
You pay that guy ?? How the heck does he walk with his pants down around his knees ?? I'll never understand it so never mind . You couldn't explain it face to face down in Tahoe so I guess it just is what it is eh ;D
I don't know what to say, PEG.
It only happens when he has both hands busy and doesn't have one free to yank them back up. ;D
Suspenders bother him. He's a true redneck and can't stand the thought of auxiliary devices holding his pants up for him. :-/
Another thing -- we have a couple of bad Mexican restaurants here. A bad burrito is all it takes and sometimes there just isn't time to get all that hardware unbuckled. You do not want to hear the story about the time I ran clear across the shoppng center parking lot only to have a guy on a backhoe pull up in front of me and beat me into the john. He probably ate where we did. Nope-- no time for suspenders. :-/ :'(
Mike called tonight. His guys have been stripping forms and he says things are looking great. He and his wife go up there at night and stare at it with flashlights. :-?
They can hardly wait for the next installment. :)
Since I haven't made any major boo-boos I told him he could register and comment if he wanted. ;D
Mike just called me and informed me I had failed to update the photos on Countryplans so here they are. Walls are 8'8 1/2" tall.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000402_edited.jpg)
The space between the 2 walls at the right is 6'
Here's the section where the temp stairs are.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000404_edited.jpg)
Alright you guys! I'm gonna jump right in. Well maybe not jump RIGHT in, it's taken me a long time. I kept waiting for somebody to say "Hey Glenn, those walls look pretty good, considering you used stripped down tomato crates for the forms." Yeah, well they not only look great, they ARE great. And Glenn did an awesome job! And it appears that he shut the mouths of the lions.
Okay, I realize you guys aren't really lions. I've read a lot of other stuff on this forum. You all seem to be really good people with really good ideas, and smart. You might not agree with each other all the time. But I think if you could come from the place where each of you has come, that we would have a lot more in common than you might think. Falling down bridges, rotten government, power-hungry politicians, and brothers in arms. I can relate to each of you and your sentiments.
In the meantime, give it up guys. Did Glenn do a good job? I think so. I know so. And I will fill you in on more details of the house. The little house that takes up a lot of room, just like the basement. Takes up a lot of room, but not that much more money.
Glenn, we have got to do something about that big crack. It scares me to death. It's become the focal point of our house. Michele won't shut up about it! She just keeps checking it out every night. If it gets any bigger they're gonna have to proclaim a new earthquake fault. Not sure the Richter Scale is ready for that!
Welcome to the forum Mike.
You are going to be our example of how a house that should cost tons of money is a only going to cost a half a ton of money. How about explaining to our members a few of the things you have done to cut costs on a project like this.
I assume finding a contractor who will work with used materials is part of the key.
Working in a rock pit has been quite a challenge also.
Now -- about that crack --- John posted a picture of it when it was fairly small.
It seems to be growing - around 6'4" last time I heard. Possibly a professional should be called in to try to stop it. Sorry Michele. Looks like it's getting larger. (Michele -- was that apostrophe supposed to be there? Such as in a shortened it is? I know that bugs you.) ...also was that period supposed to be inside the quote or outside the quote... :-? that probably bugs you too.... :-/
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000345.jpg)
Note that the walls came out way better than I expected that they would and we are getting ready to start round 2 soon. We will be getting another third or so going on this leg of the project. :)
I'm pretty sure Mike or Michelle would be willing to spring for a pair of suspenders ::), they do come in a size that would work for poor Fred :'(. I can send them down if they are not available in Ca. , we have a lot of tall out of work loggers up here so there's a ready supply at my work cloths supplier.
I never can figger out how a guy that has two hands can spend so much time using one to hold his draws up ;D ;D
Besides Ca. can't afford / put up with ANOTHER fault line , crack a tow wa east of FRED ;D Or would it be south :-/ :-/ ;D
I'll ask Fred, PEG, but he is a very proud individual and it seems charity is below his standards. :-? ;D
I'd hate to embarrass him by asking him to take a free or hand me down pair of suspenders. :-[
Well Glenn, I guess the best place to start about cost-cutting measures is at the beginning. Big dreams, a little bit of money, and no direction. Big problem, no direction. A lot of ideas but no direction.
One of the biggest impossible dreams was to have a large brick and rock built home where friends and family, and their friends and families could come and feel free to enjoy something different, relaxing, and regenerating.
We found a 17-acre parcel with an old goldmine on it that had been on the marked for 7 years for $79,000, the Dunsmore Mine. Our dream. We walked the property a few times and had an agreement with the owner to buy it, a verbal contract and a handshake. More like a hand-snake... slithered right out of that one, YESSSSSSS he did. A whole nother story, that one! (5 years later the guy did the same thing to his own son when he had wanted to buy the property. Nice guy!)
So we kept looking at different properties that made for similar dreams. But then a shot to the head (but not the heart). Financial distress, so no more looking for property.
Hey, have you ever read _Little House on the Prairie_? I'm not talking about the boob tube version, but the actual books. 95% of the people today in America could not have gone through what they did. I kinda feel it's what the guys on this forum are all about. These books are not for the faint of heart. But from what you all have written I can picture you guys on this forum as characters in these books. 1800s life on the prairie. Please just check it out.
Back to the bricks. So here we are with no money, just dreams. Then a telephone call. "Hey Mike, I heard you were looking for some bricks." Well, it turns out that a customer of mine who happens to be a brick mason was cleaning out his yard to build a new storage shed. 12 years of remnants, leftovers from jobs, some of the bricks of a type that aren't even made anymore. Every kind of brick you could imagine. Used, new, dirty, clean, broken, cut, and whole. And every color and shape.
Well, guess what? One of the first parts of the dream was to gather just that kind of assortment. I had build an addition to a house I'd owned 15 years before with the focal point on a patio with just such a combination. It was blended with large slabs of rough slate that we'd gleaned from the hills nearby. The old bricks of every size, shape and color, and the combo of rock created something monolithically unique. (Sorry, no pics. Rough divorce, and go figure, she ended up with the house.)
Back to the free bricks. We (Mike and Michele with one L) stacked and loaded, restacked and loaded, fought wasps, weeds and fire ants for months. After work and on weekends. Fortunately we had a place to store them at our shop yard area. But we didn't stop there. Any free or cheap bricks to be had, we made ourselves available for hauling and clean-up. Old foundations, retaining walls, junk piles, demolished flower beds, etc. One of our clean-ups was about 1500 used bricks from who-knows-where. It was supposed to be only a couple hundred bricks, but ivy and redwood droppings hid most of the treasure and we unearthed far more than we'd expected.
Big tip on used brick. Old mortar cleans easily. Avoid new mortar that's stronger than the brick and has a tendency to break the bricks on attempted cleanup. Unless you love it. If you love it, go for it. We did. Thankfully there were only about 500 salvageable new-mortar bricks. It only took a couple over 2 months every evening to chip off the old mortar and stack really nice pallets of used brick. Gosh, it sounds so easy. And it is, if you love it. (Especially if your if your wife helps by stacking the bricks as you go and reading to you by lantern-light as you work. What a little martyr.)
Anyway, just look at Glenn and Kathy's place. Country Plan pics don't do it justice. Their place is incredible. You'd think it was a third-generation home started and restored several times over by pioneers with a vision of the year 2400. If you haven't seen it in person, you need to. Well, I kinda got off track, but give praise where praise is due.
Well Glenn and our 40 thousand-plus bricks are just the beginning of what we believe our dreams, and especially our God, are heading us towards. This is only just the "first brick" of the building. I've yet to mention how we eventually got the property, the balloon note that seemed somehow to pay itself, the new and highly valued friends and neighbors, the clean-up, the bulldozers, the quad, the fence-building boys, the natural on-site rock and clay, the animals, the well, the surveying, the grading, the plans, the trailers, the road base, the marble and granite, the form lumber, inspections, the snap ties, the God-given music, and so much more. Stay tuned for more details.
So just take it one brick at a time and love the project and keep at it. And somehow things will materialize, cracks included.
There you are. Stay tuned, and by the way, PEG, hand-me-down suspenders would not do for Fred. It's new or nothing. I would REALLY prefer new as I really don't want to see that whole crack.
Quote
There you are. Stay tuned, and by the way, PEG, hand-me-down suspenders would not do for Fred. It's new or nothing. I would REALLY prefer new as I really don't want to see that whole crack.
Might be nice , ah , gift for Freddie. Here's a link ,
http://www.gemplers.com/workwear/belts/G20107.html
They work with those Carthart pants he , ah, sort of wears :o ;D ::)
Thanks for the great story of dreams, determination and hard work, Mike. We hope to have you continue the essay as things progress. I can hardly wait for the next installment. Keep Michele with one L busy on that keyboard. (She can sign up too). :)
I'd have posted earlier but was out playing on a Bush Hog and got side tracked. (Mike traded it to me for some work on his project).
To our forum members, -- Mike is part of our personal network -- kind of a redneck network where the grapevine is our means of
communication. Al C. is another part of it. One of us wants to do something -- we put the word out --one of us sees something the other needs we let them know.. Most of the time we don't get in a hurry and things just kind of fall into place.
The only thing we haven't managed to do so far is get that crack covered. :-/ Maybe this will help.
http://www.abacusplans.com/plans/ABA-PBC1.asp
Speaking of the crack -- I was on my way home with the Bush Hog today after hauling rocks to the valley on a job. A tie down strap broke and I stopped to repair it. Fred and Pat -- also part of our extended network -- saw me and immediately pulled over to see if all was well. They wouldn't drive by without checking. That's the way it is up here. We look out for each other. :)
Networking can help all who put into it or take out of it. :)
I didn't see "Pasty white boy " color noted on the can , is it available ;D
I believe it is. I think it comes with or without hair, your choice. ;D
Then there is the Swiss Cheese version - :-?
Well guys, I thought I might add to the cost-cutting measures.
We started gathering the bricks, as I explained in my previous posting. In the process of that Michele and I decided that if we were going to be blessed with all these bricks, maybe we ought to start looking for property again for a place to use them.
We started looking around the Columbia/Sonora area since that was our original inspiration, but soon our search extended to include most of the nearby Mother Lode. We looked and looked. We probably checked out at least 30 different parcels, mostly walking them on foot, ranging from 3 acres to 80 acres. This was in 1998 and 1999. More of a buyer's market back then, and before prices took the major jumps. Anyway, nothing seemed to come together. It was either too steep, too inaccessible, too far away, not enough building potential, too expensive, or just plain butt-ugly.
After looking mostly in Tuolumne County and hearing horror stories about the County departments, all the red tape and hidden costs and stupid rules, we did one smart thing. We DIDN'T get impatient. I suggest that if someone's going to do something like this (meaning all the things concerning a property and the building of a house), it works much better to be patient .You know that old saying "haste makes waste"? Well, we kept putting out feelers and I talked to people who came into my shop. One day I mentioned something to a guy who lives in Coulterville and he told me about 45 acres near him that the owners were probably going to lose to the State (long story). Plus it turned out the two sons were convicted thieves and druggies. I know the guy who told me about the property fairly well and what he said seemed very interesting. So we made arrangements to look at it, but after what we'd been through, we were determined to keep our expectations in check.
We arrive to see the property: We are driving through this beautiful wooded area. We proceed through a large locked gate and continue on up the hill on a gravel road in better condition than most of the county-maintained gravel roads. We start at approximately 2200 feet and ascend to 2600. Oh my, what a beautiful place! As we draw closer to the top I see flashes of civilization through the trees. Then I slowly realize this is NOT civilization. This is someone's mega dump site and family homestead, as music from "Deliverance" starts playing madly in my mind. Oh my God, why would anyone trash such a beautiful place?
Honestly folks, it was beyond imagination. The top one acre was a total dump. Literally. Picture this. 27 vehicles, boats, trailers, motorcycles. Multiple old freezers and refrigerators full of rotting food. The kind of trash you and I take out every day just strewn on the ground. Broken glass. Broken toys. Broken appliances. Hundreds of tires. Thousands of cans and bottles. Sewage from a rundown trailer home just draining out onto the ground. And soooooo much more STUFF. Which we will call (S)cary (H)uge (I)mmovable (T)rash. This is an FFW, that is, (F)amily (F)orum (W)ord.
Now I know you're all probably thinking that we could use the letters of Family Forum Word (FFW) as in (F)rustrated (F)emale (W)oes (which unfortunately is already more commonly known as PMS) or other (F)un (F)our-letter (W)ords or fun phrases such as such as (F)ind my (F)riggin' (W)eapon. NOW.
Anyway, I thought, who in their right mind would consider buying such a place? Answer: Almost nobody. Everyone who looked at it saw the dump and moved on. We almost did, as well. I imagine that because of that one acre of trash, everyone missed the 45 acres of pristine beauty. But Michele and I didn't. As with the leftover bricks that looked like their own brick junk yard, Michele and I looked beyond one man's trash and found a treasure. And we determined that no matter how high the trash was stacked it could be moved if were willing to stick with it and be patient, and with the help of a few good friends, that is what we did.
Whether we were in our right minds or not is still up for debate, but we did buy it, and for far less than it was probably worth. A property behind a locked gate, an awesome gravel road, and three wonderful neighbors. Completely fenced, already had power and a well at the top. There was a spring toward the center that has water even in the worst of droughts so far. If you want to know what we paid I will gladly share that info. But remember this IS California, the Golden State. Still it was almost three times the size of our "lost" property, way less money per acre, and just a little over half the distance from home base. In other words, a dream come true!
Upcoming hurdles: The Cleanup. The Balloon Note. The Fire. Stay tuned.
::)
You have it so nice now I nearly forgot about the dump, I still remember Al's stories about it though. :)
Time to get on another wall soon, eh? :)
I'm waiting for you to get off your Bush Hog and stop playing with that thing .Gee, that sounds kinda funny. People might take that the wrong way. ;D
Once you've had a Bush Hog you'll never go back to.... nevermind. :-? :)
it is good thing our woves do not read these threads glenn.... hehe oh wait yours does!.. too bad for you! ;D
You won't go back to your Mule, right? ::)
You got it, Mike. I'm trying to take it easy on the farm animals.
The first night I had it here I went by the neighbors -- He goes -"You lucky stiff. I've always wanted one of these." He has a 2 WD quad which he rides anytime he has to walk over 50 feet.
Peter - Sassy actually is the one who suggested I get something like this about the time this one got smashed by the 18 wheeler at Mike's place of business. We have 30 to 40% slopes - slippery grass, rocks etc. all the way around us. She has a bad knee and hip and this will allow her to get down to our spring about 3/4 mile by trail down hill to enjoy it a bit--- and other places on the property -- the quartz mining area - etc. All are a rough walk.
...or wait -- did you think I meant that in another way---- that mind of yours Peter. You know I always speak only of things as pure and white as the driven snow. ::) Hmmmm -- wonder if the word - "yours" was supposed to have an apostrophe? Michele with one "L" would know. It seems to be beyond me though.
The question was asked (off the record), "How much did you get the property for, junkyard dump and all?" So Glenn, can you tell me: Was $95,000 a fair price? What do you think we saved, and any idea what the property might be worth now? I realize it's a lot more than when the dump was there. Which leads to the next question: How to cut costs when you remove a junkyard and dumpsite where a thousand people have left their trash and treasures. Obviously, from my perspective I'm now looking backward at this hurtle. And "hindsight is better than foresight." So here goes with some hindsight.
It's simple: All you have to do to clean up a dump is get a thousand other people to clean it up for free. And have someone else get the thousand cleanup people for you. Sounds easy and kinda was for the majority of the mess. Okay, so maybe it wasn't a thousand people. Okay, so I exaggerated a wee bit. AND it was the trash and collectibles from probably ten people for ten years who never took anything off the property except their empty pickup trucks, which no doubt always came back full of more "treasures." That's how it was.
And this is how it ended, the cleanup, that is. Glenn and I have a close mutual friend by the name of Al, who is a very gifted guy. He can take a bunch of sows' ears and turn them into not a silk purse, but the far more rare and highly valued sow's ear purse. And trade that purse for a running pickup truck and $300. So Michele and I, not knowing (and not wanting to know) everything that was piled on the property (because we were sure a lot of it was stolen) said to Al, "Al, don't know what all's there. Just make it go away." Magically, 15 or 20 different folks appeared with trucks and trailers, each loading treasures, and unbelievably, TRASH...load after load, after mother-load.
Then a large portion of vehicles suddenly disappeared, each filled with its own cache of valuables. Also, three 40-foot reefer trailers, a travel trailer, and then, last (but not least) the 60-foot and highly sought after Rat Resort Especial. In what seemed to be a short time, the bulk (approximately 80%) of the dump was gone, and we were able to see more clearly how to deal with the final portion of cleanup. With a relatively small amount left, and seeing how quickly things could change and be removed, we set ourselves to (continue to) work. The finishing touches required only three 24-yard trash bins of leftover "treasures," five dump truck loads of scrap iron (which paid for themselves), two dump truck loads of tires ranging from regular car tires to large tractor tires, some with rims, and a couple filled with concrete (we think about 110 total, but maybe more). The cost of offing all these tires was only about $180 because we found a place not far from us called Golden ByProducts. They take and actually grind up the tires to make mats for horse trailers, shop floors, etc.
And finally we were down to the last five dump truck loads of miscellaneous scattered garbage and buried, yes, BURIED trash that we (Mike, Michele, and daughter Elizabeth) dug up and had hauled off.
In the last two years we have only collected about another peach bin full that's currently waiting to be hauled off. (The redeeming thing about that is that most of it's our own trash.) And in the end I think at most we had about $5000 out-of-pocket expense (and our labor, which is CHEAP).
And Michele with one L just said, "What??? THAT much???" Well, that's hindsight for ya.
Good story Mike -- and a true one at that.
I just saw a piece of property with a driveway on it here - 20 acres go for $300,000. A bit less remote than your place but a similar distance to a big city.
People are leaving the cities like rats jumping off of a sinking ship, so property prices are going up here rather than down still yet, I just heard today. When they leave the cities and come here most of them are moneyed up pretty good, so that they can get quite a lot with what they have. If they would only lose that city attitude a bit faster things could be much better.
...then again many of them who come here left the city because they didn't fit in there so they are OK.
Time for them to drop their city ways and start their CountryPlans. :)
Speaking of Al-- he and the network we have created is a bit of a miracle in itself. We just drop a word or two (dang -- missed the w -Michele's gonna freak- got it covered now) about our needs - wants - desires - plans etc - and things just eventually work out. It's a bit of a comradery where each of us looks out for the well being of the other.
We may not have even talked about it but when one sees something the other may be interested in the phone will ring -- talk will start and things will happen. Not usually immediately -- hurry cost a lot more money -- we're on mountain time up here. Just hang in there and eventually we'll git 'er done. ;D That's how we do it. :)
I see MicheleWOneL signed up -- new member -- wonder if it's the same one I know. :-?
Guess I'll have to watch my p's and q's -- and I wonder if those apostrophes are supposed to be there. The one I know is a fanatic about that stuff. :-/
Quote1. P's and Q's
From an old printer's axiom. Back in the early days of printing presses, each line of text had to be set up one letter at a time. Since the letters in the press were reversed (so they'd print forward), the printmaker (or typographer) needed to be careful not to confuse one letter for the other.
Reminding someone to "watch his p's and q's" means to pay attention to the details.
On the forum, Glenn was always careful to watch his p's and q's when dealing with MicheleWOneL.
Note: Michele -- the wall is started -phase 2. :)
Mike's guys stripped most of the rest of the forms off - a couple big sections left. I stripped out the key section I put in the end of the wall and started forming the next section.
Remarkably good walls considering we used recycled materials for forming.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000529-1.jpg)
Using the Rapiform clips every 16 inches at the base held the plywood just fine.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000527.jpg)
There is a 1/4 inch hole in the center of the clips that we drive 3 - 10d screw nails through at the same time -- other sizes may work - even smooth nails. These make a low cost anchor that is remarkably strong especially for temporary anchoring or as in this case - permanent anchors. It also works with temporary wood bracing.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000528.jpg)
Note that the lab reports came back on the concrete cylinder testing yesterday with the average being above 3600 lbs. 2500 PSI req'd.
Quoteit is good thing our woves do not read these threads glenn.... hehe oh wait yours does!.. too bad for you! ;D
Peter -- did you mean wives or wolves? :-?
Michele is very picky about getting things right on this thread. ;D
Gosh, Glenn with two n's. I'm not as anal retentive as you seem to think. And people do make typos, which I'm as prone to as the next guy. (Oh, I guess I should say the next wove.) So if I write on this forum on any kind of regular basis, you'll no doubt catch me at least as much as I catch you.
Just so you know, you were correct a few days back, it's "yours" not "your's." And your apostrophe use for "p's and q's" was perfectly acceptable.
But "comradery"? Give me a break. Even Mikey B. caught that one. He didn't know how to spell it, but spotted that it was wrong. He told me "It's a French word," which I didn't know, and damn if he wasn't right.
I was hoping to make my maiden posting Saturday night, but we attended a lovely wedding that evening and got home sorta late. The groom's best man (Al's son Robert was the groom) was none other than our Fred. I must say, while most eyes were on the lovely bride, I found it difficult to take my eyes off Fred. I'm not one to crack inappropriate or gratuitious jokes, butt really I just didn't want to miss an opportunity to see in person what all the ruckus is about. Well, I didn't see a thing, and really I gotta wonder what you guys are so sprung about? What some guy's pants are supposed to be covering?
Just FYI we gals don't get nearly so excited about other women's butts and stuff as you all have been about Fred's. I think it's probably a conspiracy of some sort. I haven't worked out exactly what it's about, but I'm definitely starting to see a pattern. So guys, you can run (if you're wearing a belt or suspenders) but you can't hide! I'm gonna finger it out if it's the last thing I do!
...and she's on the forum like a bolt of greased lightning. :-/ (Quick - hide the Vaseline.)
I suspected I was going to be in for it when you arrived.
While you weren't here Saturday night, I promise, I'll still respect you in the morning. You'll always be a maiden to me. ;D
Comradery is a word --- I had to check spelling because it came up wrong on my speel checker, but none the less I was right (unless you see some other reason I was wrong -- oh, gifted one. :) ) Unless you are speaking of our actual network being BS. Aha -- I'll bet you'd have liked this speeling better --Camaraderie -- but mine was there. :) Hmmm -- maybe I used it wrong. Butt it did say it was a noun.
Maybe more of a comradeship?
[French camarade, from Old French, roommate, from Old Spanish camarada, barracks company, roommate, from camara, room, from Late Latin camera; see chamber.]
comrade·ship n.
Word History: A comrade can be socially or politically close, a closeness that is found at the etymological heart of the word comrade. In Spanish the Latin word camara, with its Late Latin meaning "chamber, room," was retained, and the derivative camarada, with the sense "roommates, especially barrack mates," was formed. Camarada then came to have the general sense "companion." English borrowed the word from Spanish and French, English comrade being first recorded in the 16th century. The political sense of comrade, now associated with Communism, had its origin in the late-19th-century use of the word as a title by socialists and communists in order to avoid such forms of address as mister. This usage, which originated during the French Revolution, is first recorded in English in 1884.
from www.thefreedictionary.com
com·rade·ry (kmrd-r, -r-d-, -rd-r)
n.
Camaraderie; comradeship.
[Alteration (influenced by comrade) of camaraderie.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Thesaurus Legend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun 1. comradery - the quality of affording easy familiarity and sociability
camaraderie, chumminess, comradeliness, comradeship
sociability, sociableness - the relative tendency or disposition to be sociable or associate with one's fellows
I should have went to the wedding butt I haven't had any extra time lately - over 2 weeks of company, appointments on the weekend to look at jobs and equipment and still not accomplishing anything.
About Fred -- you mean our Fred? -- couldn't quit looking eh? Just waiting for that fatal slip -- Maybe he wore a belt this time butt he doesn't usually.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1010021.jpg)
What a concept -- lady saggers. I think I kinda like the idea. :)
OK -- I give Michele- that probably won't work either. :-/
I guess it's just a good ol' boy network. :-?
Formwork is progressing on the second pour for the basement walls.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000540-1.jpg)
Still using a combination of Snapties and lag screws due to proximity to the rock walls.
We got the rest of the steel in and passed inspection today. Now to get the rest of the Snap-ties installed and fastened and finish bracing the forms for the pour.
Site looks a bit rough because it is a bit rough. Much of the wood will get put up. The dirt, clay and rock is pretty well a machine project to move. The clay glues the rocks together as it dries and it becomes pretty rough to work with. I probably won't bring the Bpbcat to the site until after the next pour to move and level things out. Much of the dirt and rock in the foreground was from caving and hand shoveling during the early part of the season.
Steel is in and ready to put the fron half of the forms and snapties in where possible. Where not possible, lag screws - 3/8 x 12 go thrught the whole works. The 1/2 inch PVC is to make spacers to go over the lags. If there are enough spacers, additional lags can be put in for extra strength and unscrewed after the wet concrete has set sufficiently to remove them. Boards at the top are only to hold the floor ties in place. Nails are up about an inch every foot on the top to tie a 3'x2' #4 rebar to. The bottoms are tied to the horizontal steel - #5's.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000557.jpg)
All forms are again up, steel in and approved. Looks like the next pour will happen this next week.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000566.jpg)
Cutouts are to leave the concrete low for future concrete beams that will hang down under the ceiling of the basement. 2' x 3' number 4 rebars tied to fixture around the top are to tie into the floor as designed by the engineer. Minimum 20 bar diameter rebar laps or anything over that that is convenient. :)
We will put the truck and pump on the road to the back.
We got the second 90 feet of walls poured today. Things went well.
Here is an overview of the site.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000607-1.jpg)
The Harbor Freight stinger is working with no problem and for about a third of the price of a big name brand. Isn't it great that all of our manufacturing industries have moved to China? :) :-?
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000593.jpg)
The blockout for the beam was made by simply keeping shorter boards on the inside then only pouring to the top of them. The back boards were still the same height as I moved them in 12 to 16 foot x appx 9' high sections with the crane on my truck. Saved a lot of re-work. Rapiform clips were first installed on straight chalk lines to set the bases in. All Rapiform clips were anchored only by driving 3 10d screw nails together into the 1/4 inch hole in the center, then into a pre-drilled 1/4" hole in the footing. It was not necessary to nail the forms to the Rapiform clips.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000610.jpg)
There was not a need to do a lot of trowelong. It just needed to be full and clean at the edges as it is going to be lapped about 2 inches down with the 20" thick concrete basement ceiling. :)
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000611.jpg)
The board is only there as a fixture to space the floor reinforcements. It will be removed and moved to the next location.
Most of the forms are stripped off the walls now and I'm taking a work break on another project.
Mikes guys are putting rubberized sealer with an additional layer of plastic on the outside of the walls. There is one small section we will have to chip out and repair due to a cement powder hangup in the truck on startup, but it is only a minor problem. We plan on getting the drain pipe around the walls now before freezing weather and rain set in so that if there are minor cave offs of small rock we won't have to re-clean it out. The drain pipe has a sock over it and we got a load of drain rock delivered so we shouldn't have any problem.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch Mike and Michele have been working on the brick collection. I don't have the whole story on the brick, so I am going to let Mike or Michele fill in the information on it next time one of them pops in here for a look. :)
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000655.jpg)
Here is another shot of the brick pallets.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000654.jpg)
Waterproofing is done on the existing walls now. Mike got some HLM 5000 roller grade waterproofing
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000708.jpg)
then a plastic membrane was stuck onto that as it was applied.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000705.jpg)
After that we cut and installed Mira Drain drainboard - a plastic thimble board with geotextile fabric over it. This will assure that the water will go to the bottom - not through the walls.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000710.jpg)
The drainboard was not called for by the engineer, but I have been on many commercial jobs where it is used and with the rocks we are dealing with it made a lot of sense.
We used a Remeington Powder actuated fastener gun to attach the drainboard to the concrete. I used #2 and #3 loads and 1 inch nails with washers as we had 2 different concrete pours to deal with. This is a little fancier Home Depot model, but I have 2 "Professional " ones that cost 3 times more that don't work any better and - in fact are more troublesome.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000706.jpg)
The 4" French drain with rock drains to daylight at the lower end of the basement.This should help keep things dry..
You can see the pipe with a geotextile sock over it sticking out of the gravel. This also was not called for on the plans but I wanted to add it to keep from future problems.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1000709.jpg)
Now the rock walls can freeze and break and fall in the hole and I won't have to worry about it. Some of the spaces from the rock to the concrete were just a few inches and very hard to clean the footings for the drain pipe.
Mmmm. :) Deluxe gun. I make do with my 20+ year old whack it with a big hammer model. ;D
They do the job well, and for a reasonable price. Not much difference in 10 seconds vs 5 seconds.
Here it would have been a bit harder as I was stradling a 10 foot deep hole or sitting on a makeshift scaffold holding the drainboard and trying to shoot the gun -- even when 2 of us were working on it it was sometimes pretty hard.
I have a couple of old Omark guns I bought years ago but they have seen a lot of hard use and are pretty worn out. Lots of troubles.
Sure beats drilling and anchoring by any other method.
Quote from: glenn kangiser on December 05, 2007, 02:07:48 AM
... stradling a 10 foot deep hole or sitting on a makeshift scaffold holding the drainboard and trying to shoot the gun --
Ya' got me there.
I like to make noise too. ::)
Last section of basement wall forms is up. Steel inspection was today --we passed but there were two short footing rebars I had to straighten vertically. This is the same inspector that came out the first time. He's the only one who ever walked down into the basement to actually look. He was going to pass it and sign it off anyway so I just grabbed a bender and immediately straightened the bars.
Now we can put up the inner forms, snap ties, catwalks and go ahead and pour.
Our fill soil on this site is perfect road base when the big rocks are taken out so he said we would not need a compaction test for the inside floor. It's harder than the back of my head anyway. Absolutely no doubt this stuff would pass.
I've only had about 1 weekend off in the last month so being the braindead guy that I am, I forgot to take a picture. d*
Actually I put the camera in my pocket to clean up the area so PEG wouldn't make fun of me and then I forgot to take the picture. [crz]
Sure pile it on, I can take it. The blame that is for no photos.
So is that inspector the one who told you about the 5 permits being issued?
Seems between the news media and Govt tax's ,fee's, and "requirements they will shut down the building trades / market >:(
A guy REALLY can begin to hate election years if he pays much attention at all d* d*
I didn't want to embarrass myself with a messy unsafe jobsite,(I know how big you are on keeping the jobsite safe) but actually it wasn't too bad -- just a few cutoffs from the last few days work. The guys cleaned the whole place up a while back, and if one of them happens to drop a cigarette butt, Michele's on them like flies on stink. Somehow she put the fear into them.
Yeah -- that was the same inspector. Decent guy.
Good for her she should just tell them no smoking on her land IF they can't keep the place clean.
I never have understood WHY smokers seem to think thier butts are not litter , they just throw them down , generally still lit >:( and think it's OK. The damned things last years , the filters anyway. ::)
Quote from: PEG688 on May 02, 2008, 09:28:57 PM
.... WHY smokers seem to think their butts are not litter , they just throw them down .....
ME TOO!!!!! I really get PO'd when the preschool parents drop 'em in the drive, by the walk....
I once was going to run the surveillance tapes, see who the dirty culprits were, bag the evidence and send them home with their kids school work. :o K talked me out of it. ::)
Some years ago a friend had parked thier car out front and a neighbor called the locals about it (pretty sure about that anyway) the cops came and we moved he car really no big deal , BUT while they where here "making us toe the line" one of the cops threw his cigarette butt out on my lawn , RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME, I said "dude your gonna pick that up" , n* which he did . He also apologized , but what nerve , or maybe bad manners / thinking it OK / etc etc , $hit he's cop , he writes littering tickets , or at least could have / can write tickets ::)
Maybe ALL smokers "think" it's "no big deal" , Idanno :-\ I never smoked , BUT still >:(
Yeah, I don't smoke. I want my lungs to be pink when they fry me.
Good for you, PEG -- making the cop behave himself. rofl
In looking at all the forms, rebar, excavated rock...
Anyone else reminded of the historical pix taken of the Manhattan project?
Should be close when we get the 18 inches of concrete over it.
Well -- we got the last 100 feet of basement walls poured today except for detail areas like stairs and door openings. This is the best pour yet. We changed or form process a bit and everything was as close to perfect as it could have been. A couple of Mike' guys, Zach and Mike were steady on this and did a great job. I popped in and out as needed. Our member, Harry - my neighbor and his friend Aaron came in for a bit to help with finishing the top off and misc. form details as we were doing the primary and second pour. Ideally the end of the hose is in the form far enough to prevent falling of the material for a distance greater than about 3 feet to prevent separation of the rock and slurry of sand and cement as it hits the rebar.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1010385.jpg)
We made nice catwalks for working from -- even semi-safe. Had a guardrail around the top anyway. One of the guys was vibrating the concrete to prevent voids between the rebars and the form. As you can see, we make jigs to hold all rebar - anchors if we had them and the steel in the forms in place so we don't have to mess with them as we work. No worries while pouring is the best policy. We foamed the gaps to prevent most of the leaks. Rapiform clips were used around the bottom. Some of our pour got to 6 feet with no sign of strain. We poured it in two trips around the forms with about 2 hours between trucks. The same truck had to relay as the other one was busy.
This was our biggest and deepest pour yet so I had extra guys on hand to make sure we kept up. We only had one truck so it was 2 hours between loads but that helped prevent the forms from being overloaded also.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1010387.jpg)
The walls were 8"x 10'6"x 100 feet total - about 24 yards.
We designed the catwalk for ease of moving the pump hose and access to working the concrete - vibrating - finishing the top.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1010392.jpg)
We added legs and bracing to be sure of supporting the total load on the catwalk and guarantee that a good safe time would be had by all.
We spent a lot of time making sure everything was right on this pour and it paid off in the end with not having even a minute of worrisome time.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/P1010389.jpg)
The catwalks and joists for them were also part of the wall reinforcement and bracing.
Nice work. I was on a big job a couple of years back where they had a blow out on the wall forms because they tried to pour it too fast. What a mess that was. Set the whole job back 6 weeks behind schedule while they cleaned up the mess and rebuilt the wall.
Sorry I somehow missed this, Scott.
We wanted to make sure we had no blowouts so did an extra good job this time. We are using recycled plywood and on the last pour we had a couple spread a bit due to the places we used 12 inch lags - rocks were too close for snap ties. This time we junked all the questionable pieces and used only real sound ones.
I worked out the system so we had vertical 2x4 walers on the back attached to snap ties, and they attached to horizontal walers on the front. It made the wall very straight in both directions and easy to plumb.
The leach field is finally finished. I called for inspection so that should happen on Monday.
The inspector for the Environmental Health department is a good one - I even consider him a friend. :)
He told us exactly what he wanted to see - D box set in concrete and precisely leveled with water inside to be sure both drain fields get fed equally. The downhill run from the effluent pipe must crash into the back of the box, although I put a square corner by the bank to move the pipe away from the D box for grading and erosion control purposes. That will also slow down the water from the 20' drop.
He required that the fields feed off of the sides of the D box to prevent force feeding one of the drain fields with the water rushing into the box....ie: no opening opposite the inlet of the D box.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/mikesleachfield.jpg)
Moved this into the owner builder projects as there are lots of things of interest to the small home builder too. Don't expect this one to move fast. It is being built as funds become available and is planned as a longer term project.
We poured the slab between the walls Thursday. I hadn't used my old trowel machine fo over 10 years - a 48" Whiteman I bought new in about '78. A few hours fooling around with it and the old Wisconsin Engine was running pretty darn good, all things considered. Note the nice aluminum cat food can muffler/spark arrestor I made.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/mikesfloortrowelmch.jpg)
We dropped the trowel into the basement with the small crane on my truck. That was the end we started pouring on so it set first.
Here is a shot of the most complex corner.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/mikesfloor.jpg)
We shot 2x4's to a chalkline set on the wall at a 1% grade with my laser per the approved plans. We set them 4" high to screed from leaving about 1/2 inch between the 2x4 and the top of finished floor. This was about a 1500 SF pour at about 25 yards.
Here is a view from the driveway looking at the above corner.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/mikesfloorfromdrive.jpg)
Mike has been working on a solid wood door for the entrance to the utility tunnel/basement. It will go right where I was standing when I took the last photo.
He sent along some pix and a story of the door the other day.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/mikedoor5.jpg)
Hey Glenn, okay here's the deal with the door. And not everybody is going to be able to do this, I realize. But I have an ideal situation to be able to retrieve and salvage trees.
Being in the chainsaw business puts me in contact with a lot of tree service people who consequently need to get rid of take-downs from residential jobs.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/mikedoor2.jpg)
So they call me up and say, "Hey Mike, we got a big redwood tree, do you want it?" And I send my guy out with a tilt-bed trailer and a winch. (Not a wench, otherwise they'd get nothing done.) [shocked]
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/mikedoor8.jpg)
I have some friends to have a mill in Denair and they turn it into lumber for me at a very reasonable price. And this door probably has 750 board-feet or more of redwood. After we get it cut and stickered, I make sure that it's really dry. Then we took our plans and put it together using 7 gallons of glue and 825 screws, laminating piece upon piece.
As you can see, all the edges are tapered inward, making the door fit like a cork, but releasing very easily with no drag. The pictures do it no justice, but the outside cut between the two doors is perfectly straight for a depth of about 4 inches. Then the cut starts to serpentine towards the inside of the door, making the inside joint very fluid and wavy. My next step before you get the door will be to finish tapering the outside edges, sanding and filling most of the flaws, and then sealing the door with a product called WoodTech.
WoodTech is an acrylic resin that hopefully will saturate and permeate most of the wood, giving us a lot harder finished product not susceptible to UV rays and waterproof. I will make a large bath and stack the doors upon one another and submerse them in the WoodTech in a plastic bag that I will have to make, so I can eliminate all the air. I'm hoping I can reach saturation by 2-3 weeks. At that point I will fill all cracks to seal the door from bugs and whatever. This product dries quickly, so you sould be getting the 2 heavy huge big monstrous doors to put on the huge heavier monstrous gigantic hinges. Damn, I wish steel was cheaper!
-- Mike
is that door fallout safe? Pretty cool. 7 gallons of glue! d*
I hope so. Mike was trying to make something substantial I think as his engineer has 18 to 20 inches as I recall, of concrete over the basement. :)
I love the basement and door. I was thinking of making my own door because the one I want is over a grand. I might just put a crappy door up and build one later that looks like the one I want.
That should work well. Mike thought about it a while before deciding how he wanted to do this one. Originally it was to be a 3' wide door and 6 foot wide utility tunnel, but I suggested he go wide enough to make use of it and the door big enough for a hot rod project or what ever he wanted to do in there. Back in a surplus Abrams? hmm
Tracks would rub the walls -- on to plan "B"
Who knows?
Pouring the roof of the basement/partial house floor Monday it looks like. I'm thinking there is around 4 to 5 tons of steel in it. It will be about 120 cu. yds as it is 20 inches thick per the engineered design. Passed inspection about a week and a half ago.
(https://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy62/the_troglodyte/mikesslabsteel.jpg)
Finally got it together and poured the floor for Mike and Michele.
About 5:30 AM to the Job and back to the shop around 8 PM.
(https://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy62/the_troglodyte/mikesslab2.jpg)
There we go - around 1500 square feet 20 inches thick. Only 4.6 yards more than my estimate and time was about as I originally figured it would be. Finished up after dark.
(https://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy62/the_troglodyte/mikesslab1.jpg)
We had spent a couple days checking, reinforcing and making sure we would have no problems with the forms. The last day we set some screeds in the areas that would be hard to work otherwise. I always like to take care of all of the problems I can before the pour rather than during it. Nothing like a form blowing out to get the adrenaline flowing. I don't need that.
No major problems. Even with the relatively short trip to reload, the mountain roads kept the trucks fairly slow. About an hour apart on the average.
Al set up the barbecue and had dogs and burgers for all of us all day long. [hungry]
(https://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy62/the_troglodyte/mikesslabbarbecue.jpg)
Gkenn what type of temporary cribbing did you use on that much weight?
Good question, John, and now I realize I did not take one picture of it underneath..... wait a minute... sorry, I lied.... [waiting]
I just failed to post them after we did it. d*
I found them in my album. Pix below.
Mike has a good friend, Jerry, who does giant concrete structures, so he acquires the necessary shoring from him temporarily along with a lot of good advice and a weekend or two of help. It was nice having a pro set up the shoring. While he was there we all helped set the 1" plywood on top of the shoring timbers and he also set up the beams which had an 8" drop in several places.
I had blocked out the walls for the beams in nearly all of the right places already.
These were the first to get shoring for the dropped beams.
(https://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy62/the_troglodyte/mikesshoring3.jpg)
We had 4x4 posts on adjustable brackets. They were on 4 foot centers under 4x8 girders on 4' centers with 4x4's horizontal on 12 inch centers as above. They fit into the pockets after most of the frame was up and lasered in.
(https://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy62/the_troglodyte/mikesshoring5.jpg)
We also shored the walls against crushing in during backfill and compaction before the concrete was poured. It doesn't seem possible but they will move in under heavy compaction.
(https://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy62/the_troglodyte/mikesshoring2.jpg)
Here is how the girders were set. The brackets on the bottom are for the shore tops.
(https://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy62/the_troglodyte/mikesshoring4.jpg)
Jerry's son, Elliot checking things out. They were great especially because they were working there, because they wanted to be a part of it.
(https://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy62/the_troglodyte/mikesshoring1.jpg)