dcyrilc
Super Member
Cyril,
Great project. Loving all the pictures and comments.
I'm confused about the big post in the middle of what looks like it should be a HUGE doorway. Is it big enough on either side to get yoru trailer through it, or am I looking at the back side in those pictures?
Why the concrete walls instead of block?
Congrats on your progress so far. I'm looking forward to your updates and future posts.
Eddie
Hi Eddie,
Thanks for the kind remarks. Looking at the pix, I think I'm going to need to get some more current ones. It seems that I've done more than I thought I had since the last pix were taken.:laughing:
This pic is the front of the barn. The center area you see is 14 feet to the botom of the trusses. It will have a 12x12 roll up door and a standard walk through door to the right of the roll up. The two posts for the roll up area are 12'-3" apart and visually about 16 feet tall in this pic. As I said in an earlier post, the finished floor will be about 5" above the top of the concrete columns and the top of the roll up door will be 2 feet below the trusses. The plywood you see across the top is just temporary to protect the trusses from the weather until I'm ready for siding.
This picture is the back of the barn. There will be an 8x8 drive through door on the left where the cattle panel is. The open area on the right will be another stall after the concrete is poared. The wooden framework across the center was to get me up high enough to put the plywood on the trusses.
As for concrete vs block for the lower wall...
I considered using block, but couldn't figure out an easy way to tie it into the posts or get the spacing to work out evenly for the various post locations. For me, it was easier just to form it up and poar what I needed for each wall section. As an example of the spacing differences, going down the side wall, it is 12 feet from outside of the left post to the center of the next post. Then 12 feet center to center. Then 12 feet center to outside edge again. This makes the openings between the posts 11'-3", 11'-6", & 11'-3" respectively. As you add the openings for the doorways, they begin to vary even more. As I said, for me it was just easier.
As for tying in the concrete to the posts...
I drilled into the concrete columns and inserted rebar between them. When I got up to the posts, I installed 1/2"x10" galvanized lag bolts, cut off the heads, and tied the rebar to the bolts. I think this picture shows the framework fairly well. Another thing I did to save money was to start with the longest walls and work toward the shortest. That way I could keep using the same forms and just trim them as the walls got shorter.
In theory, I could have the bottom 6" of post completely rot away and still have a structurely sound wall.