Doing some concrete projects at the house...

[nikdfish]

The center of the drive apron was done "wet" initially with a tooth on the float, the next day after it getting fully firm they followed up with the cutter to get depth, and also did some additional joints.

The pad was given a slick finish that I think would have obscured a wet pressed cut. In any case, the cutter left things polished & crisp. (There may also have been a time issue at play). I'm planning to do a joint filler before putting the building to use to give it a bit of protection.

I had told them I planned to be using dollys with casters in the building for moving attachments.

Nick

 

[Snobdds]

Seal the concrete either with an industrial sealer or epoxy. You will have no other prime opportunity again.

Trust me, it's cheapest it's ever going to be, now.

Grease on a new concrete floor sucks.

 

[nikdfish]

I know I said the next batch of photos would be the building process, but I remembered I had a video of the second cement truck backing into the access path.

This is the opening to the road. The cement guy told me how much width would be needed & pointed out trees & branches that needed to go. He was pretty much on the money. There was enough space, but not a lot extra!

Nick

 

[rox]

I just had some concrete work done too. The guy I had do the work was a real master at it, you might even say an artist. He did carved, stamped and stained steps, patio and walks and really upgraded the looks out front of our place. The front steps look for the world like they made of natural stone. He was really stoked when he found a nice bonus in the last check.

He used rebar and lots of fiber fill. To allow for carving, he uses pea gravel instead of crushed stone. For forming curves they used some kind of hard board siding cut into strips.

He put me and the tractor to work too. There was a lot of improper grading to correct and some filling that needed to be done. The landscaper had me huppin too. The previous owner actually had water draining to the house so we had to tear out all the existing sidewalks, decks, porch etc then we replaced the whole shootin match with concrete. Looks a lot better than the hodgepodge of different stuff he had going on and no worries about fire, rot or bugs anymore.

If and when I can find a decent steel guy to do the frame and pan decking for the rear deck, I'll have him back for the concrete work.

View attachment 478749

Beautiful, shows up really well in the picture. Really beautiful

 

[dickfoster]

Beautiful, shows up really well in the picture. Really beautiful

Yeah he's good, now if only I could find someone to put the steel frame and pan decking up. It's like hunting for hens teeth around here. My neighbor across the street is a retired contractor and gave me tip that may pan out. Trouble is he was a contractor in Los Angeles so he doesn't know many folks around here.

 

[nikdfish]

The Carolina Carports install crew for our garage has had a rough week. They were down one man (of a three man crew) yesterday for a large install (18'x60') colored black and in direct sun on a sunny, hot & humid day. It pretty much wiped them out by the end of the day and They couldn't make our appointed install slot and came out today. In the end, still one man down & feeling cumulative effects of the heat, the two installers couldn't finish the whole job today & will be back tomorrow early to get it done. I have no problem with their work ethic, it was just too much heat & not enough help.

They arrived on site this morning at about 7:30 AM. I pointed out the access point the concrete & gravel trucks used and they decided it would work for them as well.

Frame components were unloaded first and the bows assembled with braces.

Sill plates were placed all around, those on the sides have uprights for the legs to slide over.

Front & rear end gables got skinned and trimmed before going up.

After verifying slab dimensions & squareness, sill plates on the sides were fastened down to the slab at the outside points, then measured & trued at centers before they were then fastened to the slab.

Bows with legs got tipped up & placed on the sill plate uprights. Temporary knee braces would keep things plumb until the sheet metal skin was applied.

Because it is a vertical roof design, purlins were placed across the bows for roof metal attachment points. They had started screws on the bows at the purlin cross points so they would have a place to rest before getting screwed down.

Vertical members went in at the front to frame the garage doors. In the rear, they were placed equally.

At this point, they finished skinning in the building. This was accompanied by removal of the temporary knee braces. The lower portions of the front, around the doors, was done with partial sheets.

Framing for the windows was next. I choose to add 6 windows, 2 on each non-front wall. After seeing the hassle it is to frame them in, I understand why a 30" window is a $150 add on...

Once the framing is in place, the skin is cut around the perimeter. The skin is not secured to the frame as the window unit gets inserted between frame & skin, sitting on the frame member.

At this point, about 2:30PM, both were cramping up and in no shape to continue. They unloaded the materials needed for completion from the trailer and packed up scrap to carry out on the trailer. One guy & the trailer will go back to load for next week, the other will be back tomorrow with a truck & one or two more to help finish up.

That's it for this installment, hopefully tomorrow will bring closure to the build. There are still three windows to install, two garage doors, the roof, ridgeline and all the trim.

Nick

 

[rox]

Looking Great! I wonder how the sheet metal arrives. Is it just long sheet that they cut on site? And the peaks, do those arrive already shaped into a triangle or do they cut that on site? It's looking good, the windows add a lot.

 

[nikdfish]

The lengths are pre-cut for the job (sides & roof). An over long rectangular sheet covers the first gable end, positioned at the lowest point. The excess was cut off and used to cover the topmost portion (peak). Then excess was trimmed along the frame until only the now skinned frame is left. The scrap left is enough so a standard width sheet is used on the remaining gable end, with previously generated scrap used for the not yet covered top portion. I agree the windows improve the look. The main reason for them, though, was for light as I don't plan to electrify the building.

Nick

 

[nikdfish]

The Carolina Carports install crew arrived on site this morning (Monday) at about 7:00 AM to finish up the install. It was the same two guys, plus their injured crew member on crutches from his accident last week. They began with getting the roof panels up.

Then roof trim panels came next, then the ridge cap would go on after most of the roof trim was finished.

While trim was still going up, one guy started on the garage door areas. The sill plates across the doorway were cut free.

These pieces became the overhead bracing for the doorways after attachment tabs were screwed onto them.

Looking where the cuts were made, you can see the tiedown bolts that were put into the slab before vertical tubes were secured in place.

The cross pieces were secured in place, then the excess skin material removed.

The remaining three windows were installed, with one still needing the outside skin removed.

More trim was installed and secured.

Window trim was installed between window & outside skin. Screws tie all to the underlying frame tube.

Door mounts and guides were installed around the openings.

Then the manual rollup doors were brought in.

... and mounted.

Latch hardware was installed and holes drilled in the guides for the latch tongue to engage.

The last step was silicon caulk in the joint between window & trim.

Everyone did a walk around, looking for anything missed or needing a screw and then decided it was a job well done!

With the six windows, the inside is not too dim even with both doors down. I may add some 12v LED lighting to the interior & possibly a solar panel + battery combo.

I had specified the 8' doorway height to accomodate the 1025R ROP when up (it is taller than the fixed ROP on the 3038e!). There is a 4" hang down by the door itself, so the actual headroom is 92" when passing through the door. As you can see, the 8' doorway accomodates the ROP nicely.

After the inspector comes & goes, I can start loading it up! All attachments are going to get their own dollys.

Nick

 

[ultrarunner]

It's nice to have a proper place for everything...

How far away is power?

A 10-3 cable would give you luxury options...