Working on a building.

[711ac]

Broke ground today on my 37x40 home for my mill. 
I'm doing a strange foundation as I don't want to put wood in the dirt anymore (pole building) and don't want to pay for pt lumber either. I'm digging a 3'+ ditch, putting in a foot of crushed stone then dropping in those big concrete blocks (2x2x6) that will end up flush with the grade.  


Pretty cheap, this load of 20 was $1245 delivered to my yard. 


 

Once all the blocks are in, I'll be forming and pouring a 12" "cap" to level everything up and wet dip the brackets in the concrete at the posts location's. 

[farmfromkansas]

You might check out the hardware Menards is selling to mount your posts to a concrete pier.  

[Don P]

That looks like a neat idea, I hope you'll post what you think as it goes forward. If you screw scraps across the forms and screw the brackets to those it'll make for accurate alignment and less thinking that has to go on in the heat of the moment during the pour.

[Southside]

Are you going to anchor the cap to the blocks?

[711ac]

Are you going to anchor the cap to the blocks?

Nothing more than drilling some holes for rebar for connecting them. I'll use hydraulic cement for the pins into the blocks. I'm planning on 4 bars in the cap along the length and am thinking about tieing my post brackets to that before pouring over "dipping" them in at the pour. I'll follow up through out the build. 

[711ac]

<br
Yea! Ground water. 💥

[Southside]

Ugg - the blocks going to be below the frost line?

[711ac]

The stone bed under the blocks will be near frost level. I dug a ditch for drain tile to daylight yesterday after hitting the water, and believe that it's a seasonal thing. I thought that this was a possibility and it would eventually need to be handled. 
My buddy that's a local native and familiar with foundations and the local soils said that moving groundwater won't freeze and simply tiling  it  would be fine. It'll stay open till Monday and I'll grab some drain tile and get back to it. 

[Mike W]

Simple as Don P mentioned, set your brackets ahead of time, one less stress point during the pour and finish.  We use the 6x6 standoff anchors for a lot of garage and pole buildings we erect, don't like setting posts in the ground, pressure treated or not.  Pic is before the slab reinforcing and footing reinforcing were put in place, but gives you the idea.  a 1" block under the carrier keeps the 1" standoff plate just the right height, easy to remove once the mud is set a bit and finishing can be completed easily around them.  The tape is to keep the mud out of the screw heads so the cleats can get removed quickly without having to dig out the sand/cement that would make it a hassle during the pour/finishing

Cheers

 

 

[711ac]

I've got a layer of coarse sand that waters traveling through. 

 
Gotta get more pipe!
I am halfway done with the blocks but this water is a necessary diversion. 

[711ac]

Ground water is handled after about 160' of ditching and pipe. We had 1.75" of rain during this process that added to the fun.
All the blocks are set and back filled and I have the materials 
(#4 bar and form lumber) to complete the "foundation" to the point of calling for concrete. 
 Supposed to get rainy mid week and I'll work on my post and brackets that I'm fabricating. 

<br
At the shovel, the water breaks away from the camera to the woods. This side travels towards the camera to the woods about 100' behind. 

[Crossroads]

I like it and may end up doing something similar in a few months. 

[jpassardi]

Understandably the building is for a sawmill so some movement and cracking isn't going to be a deal breaker. Drywall cracking due to deflection obviously isn't a concern.
Just bear in mind that the slab which I assume will also cap the blocks will move with frost. If the posts are supported by the slab (not directly by the blocks), the slab will want to heave away from the blocks but likely will crack instead, more so with a large snow load. With the building unheated, the portion of the slab inside of the blocks will be unprotected - the water in the soil will freeze sooner than below the blocks.
I suggest cutting a good amount of control joints in the slab as it will crack. As you likely know, most slabs will crack due to the initial curing shrinkage alone. Rebar will help prevent shifting at the cracks.
Definitely an improvement over working in the mud and out in the elements!

[711ac]

I'm not pouring a slab, it will be  crushed stone. A day on concrete is tough on me. I may regret it come clean up time, but that can be added later if I choose to. This "cap" is only to tie the blocks together, provide a little more distance from the grade to wood, and allow me to place my post anchoring into it (wet dip) vs. drilling and expanding wedge bolts. It also will level everything out, those blocks are somewhat inconsistent and difficult to place perfectly @ about 3600# each-by myself. 
I'm making my own brackets, similar to the ones offered by "perma-column" except their 2' high for bolting and I need 25 of them!

[jpassardi]

Ahh...the use of block makes sense the way you're doing it then.
If you were pouring a slab it would be cheaper to just haunch the pour down at the perimeter.
I know what you mean, I used those blocks to make a retaining wall to support my small barn.
You may want to use processed gravel for the floor so you can clean the sawdust off, 3/4 stone would let the sawdust fill the voids.

[711ac]

Yes, the gravel will have the "fines" in it to lock it together. A friend has a decent plate compactor that I'll run across it.

[711ac]

 

I got started on the post brackets yesterday. Rainy, good shop weather.

 

[farmfromkansas]

Not sure I understand completely how you are holding your anchors down, but they do make an epoxy to glue your rebar into a hole in concrete.  They say they hold as well as a anchor bolt that is placed in poured concrete.

[711ac]

I'll be pouring a 12" thick "cap" on the heavy buried blocks, then pushing the brackets into the wet concrete. 
I finished welding all of them yesterday and got them partially painted. 

[BUGGUTZ]

You might consider putting a slight bend or an L in your bar, so its not a straight peg in the slab.

I like the use of bin blocks for a foundation.

[711ac]

Got a start on forming the cap today. The building is almost square, but 3 of the walls will have pretty big openings for access. This creates 3 sections to form for the cap. The north wall has no openings and is the longest continuous form, 41' with a 9'6" corner at each end. 


 
that wood inside the form is just temporary to keep the sides square. Once I cut some stakes I'll brace it up from the outside and remove them. Right now the forms are just sitting on the blocks and once they're all built I'll string line and stake it down.

[Crossroads]

Looking good!

[711ac]

2nd coat of galvanized (silver trailer roof paint)😆
The rebar end gets pushed into the wet cement cap. 1 every 4'. I
It'll make sense later. 


 

[711ac]

Form work :embarassed:. Not really that bad, just a lot slower than I thought it would be. This back wall pictured earlier was easy, then I realized that I need to form in a space for the future rolling doors to open IN to if I don't want a 6" gap between the door and the ground. 
I'm happy that I "caught" this now.

 

 

[Walnut Beast]

Better to do it right than cut corners especially if you had a blowout you would really be cursing 🤬