Yeah I didn’t make my pad level on purpose. I was convinced of this by two old timers down the street that come out to “supervise” when they see me working. I have now removed 5”of dirt from the uphill side of the barn and made it level. They are used to old style pole barns without insulation and dirt floors. They will really flip when I start putting foam under the concrete.
This has actually been a blessing in disguise. Since I was unsure of how much foam I was going to put under the slab, I probably would have ended up having the barn installed too far into the ground and really screwed myself when it came time to pour the floor and not had the clearance to get 4-5” of concrete and 2” of foam down on the ground but maintained my 10’ height. Its made getting my final grade around the perimeter a little more difficult but I have time and it just some more hours of seat time moving dirt.
I was in a big hurry to get this thing dried in and the garage doors on before winter. But it snowed 10” the day after the crew finished, so I have had to wait and work when the opportunity arose. It has been mild this winter here so I have been able to chip away at projects as needed.
This extra time has allowed me to get a better idea of my total site plan for locating my drainage and getting the levels set. I had rented a transit for a week when I did my preliminary site digging, and I quickly realized that I would need it a lot. I picked up a used one from e-bay and made a grade rod from 1.5” PVC pipe. What your eye tells you is not always the truth about how the land slopes. I will start on the driveway this spring. I’ll have about 350’ to cut in. The good news is I’ll take all the top soil off and store it and replace it with all of this clay base I’ve been removing for the barn.
Thanks again for all the ideas… I’m getting some preliminary prices now, but I have a much better idea of the size of this project now.
Heath
