4 years ago I built a 30'x40' garage w/12' ceiling for $15k.That includes metal roofing,vinyl siding,insulated and sheetrocked on the inside.I did pretty much everything but pour the slab myself.I laid the block and I built the walls in sections myself but had some friends to help stand the walls up.I also had help putting up the trusses and I had a friend help me hang the sheetrock.The first summer I had it all built and had it roofed and sided.The inside has been a work in progress the last few years,little by little.I am burnt out and lazy from all the work. At the time I was working the afternoon shift so I'd work on the garage for 4 or 5 hours in the morning and then go work a 10 hour shift at the mill.
Actually the inside is more complete now than the pics show.I have workbenches cupboards and shelves now.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...k/IM000192.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v295/mrbuick/Picture077.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v295/mrbuick/Picture043.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v295/mrbuick/Picture044.jpg

 

NICE!!! two gran nationals??? how much was the lift? that's what i plan on getting.

 

Thanks,the lift was just under $3k.There are cheaper lifts out there but they were lacking some of the options I wanted.Some of the cheaper lifts don't have the single-point lock release to disengages both columns simultaneously. Without that option you have to walk around to the other side of the lift to release the safety lock.

 

I'm looking at doing a 24'x32' long garage now. My slab is going to be 26'x70' long. Concrete alone for a monolythic slab is running around $10,000 for me (give or take a $1,000). The building is pricing out at somewhere around $20,000.

 

Speaking of "monolithic slabs" of concrete, please allow me to share a few things I have learned. A pro company did my shop's slab and a (different) one did a cousin's. At my contractor's suggestion, fiberglass was added to the mix and a wire mesh was used instead of larger re-bar. This reinforced the concrete at a finer level and after 8 years I have few cracks and they are very fine. No joints were in it at the time of the pour but they came back in the next day and sawed three one-inch deep cuts each way on the 56'x56' slab. (They soon fill with dust and you do not even know they are there or they can be filled later.) Joints like this gives a nice straight weak place for the cracks to be because concrete does shrink. Your contractor may have a way that he does things, but be sure to discuss the details of the steel reinforcement and the joints. If he does not want to do any of this, be suspicious. Doing it right may cost a little more. Doing it cheap may be something you regret. If you just take the lowest bid, you may regret it.

Continuing on, be sure to discuss finishing as well. My cousin (building a wood-working shop) did not, and ended up ended up with a rough finish, great for traction, but not very easy to sweep up. (For reasons no one can explain, there is a 1/2" step in the middle of the slab, but he went with the lowest bidder.) The foreman on my job was also a master of the power trowel. The corners were finished with hand trowels and came out a little rough. After dismissing most of the crew, he stayed and continued to power-trowel the slab while it set up. He suggested sealing the slab with acrylic sealer, which I readily agreed to. This was sprayed on with a weed sprayer while he continued to power-trowel. The obvious benefit was a super smooth surface which is only slippery if there is an oil spill. Oil spills do not penetrate and are easily wiped up. Sweeping is VERY easy. Additionally this process gives a slower, better setup of the skin of the surface so that it is harder, although I have managed to make a few dents by dropping sufficiently heavy objects on it. Acrylic sealer done this does not ever peel or blister and can be re-coated later on. In a few more years I will probably re-do my high-traffic areas.

Remember, your shop floor is the biggest "tool" in the shop. You will use it every day, so do not go cheap. If your contractor does not understand, change contractors.

Another tip: If you need "J"-bolts for the sill-plates of your walls or for lagging in steel posts or anything else, make sure they are at hand BEFORE the pour. Mine were on the drawing, but I casually asked the foreman about them half-way through the pour and found out that they had "J"-bolts, but not enough -- I was the only one who could be spared for a rush trip to the hardware store and even then we could barely get them into the concrete, which was already setting up.

Think of all the things that might be nice to have embedded in the concrete BEFORE finishing your drawing. Here are two:

Bend about three feet of re-bar in half, with a small radius loop. Any where you want (I did two & wish I had done more). Embed these in the wet concrete (near the walls is best) and you now have a "hard point" where you can hook on a "come-along" and winch heavy objects toward that wall.

Imbed a piece of I-beam, either flush with the surface or below, depending on what you will use it for. This gives you a solid surface that you can drill & tap. (If you do not get holes in before the concrete pour, fasten a couple of 2x4 scraps to the underside of the upper surface; then it is easier to drill & tap later on without hitting concrete. Currently my manual tire-changing machine is bolted to mine. I know you can use expansion-bolt systems, but there are some things that require a more solid anchorage. If you have a large steel eye-bolt threaded to a pad with a lot of small capscrews fastening it to the burried "I"-beam, you can now chain a bent frame to it and straighten it with a little heat, selectively applied, and a floor jack. (Have you ever had to push a suspension part up against the spring & had the whole vehicle just go up in the air? This avoids having to bring in a lot of fat, beer-drinking friends to sit on the fender.)

Bottom line -- think about all this BEFORE starting the concrete.

 

If you get shipping containers, the 40-foot 9'6" High Cubes are much nicer to work in. I have two, one with power and light. Thw GASKETED WATERPROOF storage for engines and tools is a nice thing to have.
They need little for a foundation since in normal use they are supported on the ends at the corners. Mine have lain on steel beams for a few years, but railroad ties would work fine.
I'm collecting steel for the next step, since I want to bridge the gap between the containers with steel beam locked into the corners with standard lock fittings. Tandemloc has a neat catalog to use for ideas.
My Steelmaster sits on and is bolted to steel I-beams, which have vertical steel posts set in the ground and potted in concrete. This would be fine for containers too. I anti-seize ALL the hardware.

 

Alot of people think you have to spend a bunch of money on epoxy coating when good old cure and seal gives great results at a fraction of the cost, but if you are hooked on epoxy make sure your finisher doesnt use any curing compound on the slab. If they insist it be cured(which they should) do a simple water cure and keep the slab damp and covered with plastic for a few days. This will make your epoxy install process much easier.

 

Do you have your containers put together side by side.. Or is that your next step? How much were your containers...and last but not least..LOL.. do you have any pics to share?

Thanks,

Russ

 

Mine are seperated by 20 feet, since I plan to bridge them when I get suitable metal. (I have beams, but still need lighter stock and roofing.) My 40" High Cubes were ~$2200 each, the 20ft standard was ~$2000 which is about what standard height 40s (non-High Cube) go for.
I guess I'll have to put up a gallery (the camo paint by my wife turned out well), but otherwise they are ordinary on the outside.
http://www.transales.us/contact.php is my source since they are in Sumter.
Being in VA there should be plenty coming in through the port of Norfolk to keep your prices reasonable.

The Bob Vila show on using them as building modules is interesting.

http://www.bobvila.com/BVTV/Bob_Vila...0201-05-1.html

Dig through the various video segments linked on the page above for some structural views of the containers as they are made into modules.

http://www.seabox.com/gallery/ has some very cool applications.

http://www.tandemloc.com/ hardware and handling goodies.

 

Around here in this two-bit village in a two-bit town, in a backwoods county in the People's Republic of New York.....they wanna regulate EVERYTHING about the building of anything bigger than a dog house...well, maybe not a tool shed if it's less than 9' x 12'.

Like I'd want to build a piece of crap...not...but that is another issue.

I am building a 24' x 40' gambrel roofed barn (garage) with an upper floor 16' x 40'.

Roof, walls, floor, site prep.= about $20,000 in materials. No interior work yet, no doors or windows yet. God only knows where it will end and how much my assessment will go up afterward.

The only good part is the neighbor's place is a dump and will help me keep the assessed value down until he cleans up (someday, about three weeks before I sell, I hope).

 

NY is a "homerule state"
meaning each town village, etc can make their own laws, no matter how dumb.
the state has the building and residence code, along with the wonderful fire code....which we are finally switching to the international fire code.

the state has its minimums that must be enforced but generally every town/village makes it more restrictive. MUDDY isn't joking (in some areas) when he says they want to regulate anything bigger than a doghouse...many require a building permit for anything over 100ft2....yep, 10' x 10'...that's a shed! some are even going as far as to say if you replace shingles on your roof, you need a permit!!!
AND to punish us even more (after the high taxes, which we have some counties raising theirs so high that we are paying a total of 9.75% sales tax when we buy anything), many repairs or new structures have to have the plumbing and electrical inspected by a certified/qualified individual, adding to the cost. what if you don't???? Your infamous insurance company doesn't have to pay the claim if something happens.
what if you want to put a wood stove in your garage?
ha haahaaaaaaa, better do it by the code, get a permit and have it inspected and then, of all things, report to your insurance company...so they can raise your rates of course.....

NY SUCKS.

 

Personally I dislike the fibered concrete for a garage or drive since when finished it leaves a "hairy" surface that is unpleasant to work on.

In areas with salt used on the roads it is better to use re-bar in the concrete since wire mesh dissolves rapidly into a rust stain in the concrete with no reinforcement abilities. #3 bar is the minimum to use in those areas with #4 being better. Even the outside of the rebar turns to rust. A good floor sealant helps to slow down the rusting of internal concrete reinforcement.

If you saw cuts in the concrete floor they can be filled with PL Urethane caulk available at Home Depot in 10oz tubes with the self leveling type for floors running about $5/tube. With a 1/8" cut 1" deep it will take a little less than 1 Oz per linear foot of control joint. A 10oz tube will do about 11 feet, well filled with no voids.

Home Depot has UGL oil base sealer for $13/gallon that covers 3-400sf. It can also be used on moist concrete to help cure. The directions say it is OK for interior flat surfaces but must be well ventilated.

 

Being a CA native, I don't even know what road salt is. (Just kidding, but here in the severe climate of MD, I stay home when it snows - one of the benefits of being retired.)

Kidding aside, I agree completely, but will add that the sealer seems to largely overcome the problems noted with the glass fibers. I have never seen any fuzz. Also, the "good ventilation" applies to the application period.

I would only seal an inside, level surface as traction will be a problem outside. On the other hand, it sure is easy to sweep up that smooth surface. I always meant to fill in my saw-cuts, but the dust beat me to it. Floor jacks & such seem to roll smoothly over the joints, especially at an angle.

 

Ask your ready mix supplier to use Buckeye micro fiber. It is so small you have a hard time even seeing it in the mix, but actually out performs traditional fiber.

Also: fiber is only considered a wire mesh replacement, not rebar replacement. If your slab is subject to heavy wieghts then i would actually use fiber and rebar.

 

Thanks for the info. I keep seeing the nasty fiber stuff around here. Seems OK for footings but bad on any finished surface. Speaking of finishing, that fly ash they add to the mix also makes for a miserable looking surface. It just does not finish right. It seems to be hard on finishing tools also.

I prefer to use bar anyway because wire mesh always seems to end up on the bottom of the slab. I support the bar real well and try to use spacings that workers can step between. Of course the thicker the bar the thicker the slab has to be. Around here coverage top and bottom has to be three times the bar diameter. This means minimum slab thickness would be 8x bar diameter but in reality it has to be about 1" thicker for placement tolerance.