Root Cellar Remodel, Split Level Storage, Shop, Shed Pole Building on a Foundation

[MotorSeven]

Ok, got it now.....remember I am a little slow It sounds like a good plan since the shop will help insulate the cold storage area.

'Tater's object to sleeping on concrete? I did not know that, but even so, I think I would just crete the whole thing, and if you want build a 'tater box in one corner that has a dirt bottom. Make it the same height as your shelf, so you can use the lip as a shelf support.

 

[MotorSeven]

I think the way you drew it out is fine/running the 16'ers the long way way. I would use 6x6 posts and get ready for sticker shock, so I would find me a local sawmiller who can sell you some way cheaper since they don't have to be PT, just kept up off the ground. Due to the positioning of the other structure, either way the roof is going to shed water where you don't want it, so gutters would be in order(also to get water away from the cellar). I don't think tying it into the other structure gains you anything.

 

[GLyford]

I don't think tying it into the other structure gains you anything.

Looks like a fun project, I love anything where you can reclaim little lost bits of space like this.

I would make sure to use flashing along the new wall where the existing shop building roof is against it, with a "kicker" at the bottom end to send the water away from the wall. A lot of building any structure is just figuring out where the water will go.

You might also want at least a diverter over any door or walkway if you don't go with full gutters, can be as simple as a piece of bent flashing. I have a shed roof that would drain over the apron in front of the double doors until I put up gutters, I would have some winters with up to 6" of ice there keeping me from using them (though I do have another entry door). Now the icy spot isn't fed with nearly as much water, and when it does form I can least open the doors the width of the gutter...:laughing:

If you do use gutters and you have a stock tank or a series of rain barrels, you might be surprised just how much water you can get off even a small roof like that for other uses.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Thanks for the responses and advice about directing water, etc. I'm extending the roof a ways beyond the structure of the workshop in order to hopefully keep the water away. Additionally, the existing root cellar has dirt piled up around it to help insulate. This has the additional effect of making a very aggressive slope.

If all of this fails, I may have to retrofit some gutters later.

As for the concrete work, would a guy just stand on the wall six feet above the wet concrete to bull float the floor?

 

[MotorSeven]

As for the concrete work, would a guy just stand on the wall six feet above the wet concrete to bull float the floor?

That's how I would do it....should't be too tough unless you loose your balance and take a 'crete bath.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Minor setback today...

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I would use 6x6 posts and get ready for sticker shock, so I would find me a local sawmiller who can sell you some way cheaper since they don't have to be PT, just kept up off the ground.

I realized that I never did respond to your 6X6 post recommendation. The guy I buy my fencing materials from has 7" Diameter butt treated posts that I can get for less than half of what treated 6X6's will cost me. Usually his nominal 7" post measures about 8 or 9 inches. My plan is to notch the tops where the framing will sit.

I've read a number of opinions on burried posts vs. posts on cement piers. I'm burying mine because I've set a lot more posts in my life than I have built concrete piers. Also I think the burried post will resist the wind sheer better than a post on a pier.

For those who have not visited the other thread, here is a visual of what the final product should look like...

My short term plan for the near future (after the snow melts) goes as follows...
1) Dig post holes and put concrete footers in the bottom.
2) Pour the concrete in the basement storage area
3) Set another course of block around the top of the existing cellar
4) Set my sill plates and then set the corner posts at the same time I set up the floor joists so that everything lines up right.

My BIL is loaning me his cement mixer for the cement work. That should make things a little easier. I think his mixer will do three 80 pound bags at a time.

 

[MotorSeven]

Your post deal sounds good. Up there burrying them shouldn't be an issue..go for it.

Snow...dang

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Here's what I've gotten done since my last post...

Nothing!

I've been playing instead. Today turned out nice, so I hauled my tractor down the valley to my parents place and tilled their garden. Then I hauled the tractor up the valley to one of the fire department commissioners and tilled the front of his property so he could expand his lawn.

I did switch the tiller for the post hole auger after I got home so that I can drill the holes when the time comes. And...

I retrieved my measuring tape!!

I tried the magnet on a string trick with no luck. Then I got the crazy idea to bend a little clamp out of wire and see if I could press it over the tape. I had to stick the bent wire and a 2X2 board down the hole to push the clamp onto the tape, but it worked. Now I can measure where the post holes need to be.

My Brother in Law brings me his cement mixer tomorrow. Next week should be a good week to show progress.

 

[GLyford]

Next week should be a good week to show progress.

Cool.

If you're dealing with irregular posts, you could take a page from the timber framing (post-n-beam) barn guys and once the posts are in/up, measure over to where a theoretical 6x6 (or whatever) would be "inside" the post, then cut a chunk off the post until it reaches that dimension. You'd only need to do that where you intended to attach something, like outside beams and girts to get the siding to line up after without bulges and waves. For inside braces it wouldn't matter.

A sawzall or chainsaw would be pretty quick (as opposed to a bunch of circular saw cuts and a chisel, but I've done that too). If you get just the bottom boards set all the way around you could then work "up" the structure with just a level and a chunk of scrap the right size so you could mark the cuts as you go.

The other way to do it is to pad it out with bit of scrap wood until the outside surfaces of everything lines up.