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Hydrant can't move due to a deck that will be built off the back. And I specifically went with a hydrant so I didn't have spigots on the outside of the building. I just put this in last year, pisses me off it's already another project that needs taking care of.

I hate days like this. Guy putting in the septic was on his last day. I noticed my yard hydrant was hit and bent to the point that it no longer functions. I tried texting him to ask if he hit it, but no response. He was not there when I got to my build site and all his equipment was gone. Sigh

I was concered about the pan a bit, as the directions said to mix the mortar quite wet. The pad slogged around a bit if I pressed on it in certain areas after I had it set in place and put in set screws above the lip to keep it from floating up. I was worried some parts would not be fully solid...

I put in the shower pan today, seemed to go in ok.

I already live in one of the worst states so am accustomed to the BS. However, I guess I should never say never in terms of having to sell one day.

Septic is being installed while I'm trying to finish up the framing for the plumber to start:

I guess I'm not building this thing with selling in mind. Also, no woman has been involved in the design, so if it is ever sold (after I'm dead), it likely will only appeal to a bachelor.

I know one thing, my kitchen is not going to be as fancy as a lot of you are showing.

Yes, but I think the difference in countertop material thickness has already bit me. Luckily I am able to add material to my half wall as opposed to remove.

I looked up "uba tuba" granite, that does look pretty nice.

Yeah, I was thinking of just leaving a large overhang there between the cabinets. Shelves might be a pretty good idea.

So if I go with granite I have to raise my existing kitchen countertop wall 1/2". Maybe I just plan on doing that with a plywood spacer. How does the granite attach to the wood? Just adheasive?

I think Google may have failed me on the standard countertop thickness being 1-1/4" when I was framing the kitchen countertop wall. I'm not sure if I am going with granite or lamanite. It really depends on cost. I'm fine with lamanite. I assumed I could not go with pre-made cabinets because my...

So, looking at my layout, I can just build the wall highlighted in red for the electrician and plumber to bring the untilites up through the floor? Do I need to make the wall a bit longer to give the slide in rage room on each side? Right now I am showing 1/2" gap around the 3 sides of the...

Anyone have a best approach to frame out the kitchen island for the GGS600AVFS range-oven I just orderd? I don't know much about cabinets, but need to get the range in to get the gas hooked up ASAP, and electrician needs the island rough framing done. I'm thinking a C-shape frame with 3/4"...

The stairs are to access the living space, which is only on the second level, above garage space. I'm pretty sure these stairs are made from Southern Yellow Pine.

Got the proper nails for the bottom of the studs into the treated plates. Also got the stairs fully secured to the opposite wall with Loctite glue & GRK screws. Stairs are very solid now. Not sure if I need temporary railings for the contractors (insurance etc). I screwed 2x4's into the...

I'll probably get a box if galvanized and shoot two nails in each stud. It will work fine as most of those walls are 2x8, the 2x4 walls might not be a great idea as there could be splitting if I try to add more nails.

Damn, Unfortunately a bit late for that info.

Yes, it will stay on until after drywall at least.

Plastic on top of the treads then 1/8 plywood stapled on top of that. It protects the treads while doing all the roughing work.

Took a week off work to put up more framing: Still have to frame all the closets and all door rough openings, as well as the kitchen island for the range-oven. It goes real slow when working alone, plus with the vaulted ceiling have to measure & cut every board individually. This...

Started some interior framing: Tried to hire a contractor to do this but they could not really give me a firm date, so just started on it myself.

Not sure. I've been deciding as I go along what tasks I do myself. I've done insulation before so can do it, but just like drywall I hate doing it so hopefully can find someone to get it done in the timeframe I need.

The concrete is nominally 4" thick above the nubs of the heat sheet foam. Some areas are 4-1/4" some 4-1/2" as it was not super easy to get the stone perfect. I made sure there were no areas less than 4". The nubs are 7/8" tall, so in the areas where there is no nubs the concrete is that much...

Got the garage/workshop pad poured yesterday. Also finishing off the stone in front of the large OH doors:

It's not fun. It's a bad law causing a lot of grief.

Yes. I have natural gas to a riser up to the building. But they won't install a meter until I have a permenant gas appliance installed, as well as a pressure check of the internal gas piping, which is done by a licensed plumber. So I plan to put in a natural gas range/oven even if I have no...

It will be what is called a combi-boiler. It heats water for the hydronic heat as well as domestic water. https://www.navieninc.com/products-accessories#combi-boilers

Most of the videos I watched guys were stepping on the pex to force between the nubs. At first I did this but it was causing the edges of the styrofoam to break off. I soon found a method which worked way better. I would keep an arc in the pex so it generated downward pressure via a spring...

I'm ready to start running my pex: Used one of those foam heat knives to take off some nubs where the manifold will be located.

Any AC experts/installers? One other thing before the concret pour. I want to have central air in the living space. Should I put in some conduit sweeps that go under the skirt board and up through the slab into the wall for the AC condenser power and refrigerant lines? Or would these just go...

There will be a door to the under stairwell cavity. What will be in there is the main water shutoff, and the 7-branch manifold. That's pretty much it. I don't see myself going in there very often. The issue is really if the stairs leading up to the second level need to be heated or not...

The boiler will be on the upper level, so not on the 1st floor. Under the stairwell will be a 7-branch manifold collecting all the loops from the garage and workshop. My take is that part of the concrete will get somewhat heated by the adjacent loops. I could put in another single loop...

Getting ready to run the pex for the garage slab. Wondering if I should or should not run pex under the stairwell? Seems like it might get too hot in there, this will be all one heat zone.

Wow, not sure I could ever spend that much on a dedicated mowing machine. Never seen a tracked mower before...

Yeah, I had seen those but I bought the 5" that matched the part number in my parts book. I have not changed it yet, but I am kind of wishing I got the gear reduction starter. I changed the starter on my Ford 575D backhoe a couple years ago, it was a pain to get to the rear bolt next to the...

The starter pinion disengages from the flywheel but the starter motor still spins. Either way I want to keep the starter that is on the tractor as I believe it is the original, so will rebuild it someday. I just don't have the time to do that right now. I checked all the wiring, don't see any...

So the starter is growling and continues to run after the engine starts. I don't have time to rebuild the current starter so want to just get a replacement for now. It seems there was two different size starters, a 4-1/2" and a 5" It seems the 4-1/2" has been discontinued and the replacement...

See attached. I started with a 3pt hitch middle buster. (old one, much better than the crap you can buy these days). The roller and the center support needed to be removed in order for the sod to not get jamed up. Having enough weight is the key to it working.

I could not find one, so designed this myself. My original design had a concrete filled roller attached right above the cutting edge, but the sod just kept getting wedged between the two. Once I removed the roller and used weightlifting plates it works much better.

The worst slope is about 700ft of ditch at the road, maybe 25 degrees The pond banks slope is about 4:1, and another 1400ft of drainage swale that is wet all the way up until July.

Lawn: (not all of it in these pics, but most of the 7 acres looks like this). My building has decreased the mowing acreage a bit. And I am going to be digging one more pond. All said and done I'll still be mowing ~6 acres of lawn, not field. But a lot of mowing around ponds and in...

Speaking of the columns, I asked the Amish crew to not backfill them with the sandy load soil, they did anyways. So now I have to dig that soil out and replace with crusher run. That soil just will not compact with the jumping jack, the foot just disappears into the soil and the whole area...

Yes. On a post frame, the building goes up before the slab. The weight of the structure is transferred through the columns into the footers. The slab is poured around all the columns. This is standard practice here.

It was a backbreaking day today. But got all the garage drain plumbing installed: Even though I had the ripper on the 4610 tractor to break up the compacted stone & hard fill, there was still a lot of manual labor. Lot of pick axe and shovel work. I'm going to be using Sioux Chief...

I've seen a lot of different types of mowers in this thread, more than I ever knew existed!

That's good information to have!

The vast majority of the lawn I landscaped with a land plane, so most of it is pretty flat, but not flat enough that I don't bounce around on my 1620, suspension would be nice. I do have cruise control on my HST but do not use it, as I am not mowing a huge rectange where I can make efficient...

I was hoping a ZTR with suspension would be more comfortable. The HST pedal on my 1620 really beats up on my right knee after ~5 hrs of mowing. And the seat cushion is so compressed now that my backside is in pain when done as well. Probably retofitting my current seat with a new one with some...

I do want to add a New Holland 2120 4X4 with FEL to my collection someday. But that would not be for mowing. I like to buy older tractors pre-computer & pre-DEF. I agree that likley two machines for mowing might be the long term soultion. Also, I do like that my 1620 is likely a lot less $ in...

I don't have a bridge to the island yet, so what I do now is load a push mower in a 12ft boat and take it back and forth to the island to mow it. I have been looking on facebook marketplace for something, but ppl still want too much for used stuff. And I don't have time to buy anything that...

My lot is 60+ acres and it's 95% wooded, there is nothing to rent out to a farmer without massive deforestation, which is not what I want. I specifically bought the land because it was wooded. I will be digging one more pond, so eventually the 7 acres will be cut down to ~6.25 or so. It's not...

The 1.5 MPH was a guess. I used to drive the tractor from my house to this lot when switching from snow plowing to mowing and sometimes had my Dad follow me. In high gear, he would say I was not even going 3-4 MPH. I don't see any published speeds for a 1620 HST. I mow in MED gear because any...

For the past ~10 years I have been using my Ford 1620 HST 4x4 with 60" 914 deck to mow about 7 acres. I'm at the point now where I don't look forward to mowing due to many mower deck breakdowns (tractor is great) along with the the time required to mow all 7 acres. It basically kills one whole...

I even contacted the soil & water conservation dept. in my county today to ask about floor drains. They said as far as they know, there are no regulations for residential, only commercial. The DEC website talks about waste water, but the min quantity is 1000 gallons per day to require a permit...

I have a pretty big library of pictures from the day I bought this property 22 years ago until now. There are quite a few things I wish I had more pictures of, especially from the years I didn't have a smart phone.

So I am mostly finished with the drainage. That grate on the tee fitting is temporary, I will eventually connect that to the gutter on the lean-to. My big decision now is whether or not to go with floor drains. The drains will ultimately be going to daylight so I don't need p-traps for...

There is a drainage swale about 100ft from the building, I've already rough trenched out to it to get the water away from the pad. I don't have any kind of fancy laser setup when I dig so will have to go back over everything with my transit when placing and backfilling the pipe to get proper pitch.

Yes, the water table starts very high here in spring, and it's been raining pretty much every day for the last 3 weeks. From now until August the water table will drop about 5 ft. However, this water was sitting under the building pad because of the way I put in my driveway approach to the...

I bought a jumping jack compactor to to compact around all the columns and my conduit trenches. Unfortunately there was quite a bit of water pumping up in some spots. I knew I should have put in a drain tile when I backfilled the build pad last year. I decided to start on that today...

The backhoe is Ford 575D 4X4. I've owned it for 20 years now, it's done a lot of work. To save money on all the fill I needed to raise the build pad I went with hard fill. Lot of chunks of concerte, asphalt and red brick. Made the conuit job a lot more difficult. Backfilled over the conduit...

So the incoming electric conduit was done a few weeks ago: The 2" on the left is for 200amp service from my meter pedestal. The conduit on the right is for cable. The 4" conduit would be for insulated wrapped (2) 1" pex lines, similar to this stuff: Insulated pex This 4" conduit it a "just...

Worked on some 4" conduit today to be used in the future if I ever want to change/supplement my radiant heat system with an outdoor wood boiler or geothermal. It will come up through the floor under the staircase.

I was wondering if I should cut the seams before laying down any crossing wall plates. I'm pretty sure the sledge hammer is used to seat the tounge & groove on the long edge of the OSB. In any event, the OSB the Amish guys used has big lettereing and arrows telling the installers to leave a...

Pretty much 50% tile, 50% hardwood flooring.

No, I see no evidence of ridges. The OSB never got wet and was stored inside then installed after the roof was installed. My concern is causing damage to the finish flooring if the radiant heat + humidity make the panels expand.

Found something else the Amish crew messed up: They did not leave a 1/8" gap at the ends of the OSB subflooring. I assume especially with radiant floor heat I will need those gaps. So now I have to use a circular saw and create them I think. Started laying out the walls: The manlift is...

Yes, this is just the under slab plumbing. Need to get this inspected so I can get the concrete going. Once the concrete is done then I can do the interior framing, then the rest of the plumbing and electrical can be finished.

I think I am ready for the plumbing inspection. Might of backfilled a bit too much, but wanted to make sure nothing moved. Left the tops of the pipes exposed to the pitch can be checked.

I guess it's who you know. If I did the job myself I would have had to use purple, but because the building inspector knows this plumber well, he does not require him to use purple.

There is natural gas at the road, and I already paid the gas company the full amount of the invoice to instsll the service. I have the trench dug but the weather is not going to cooperate for about another month. I'm hoping to have the service installed by July. But it will depend on the...

HIred a plumber for this. Asked about the clear primer he uses vs. purple, says he won't use purple.

Got the under-slab plumbing and electric done today. Can't fully backfill until inspector has a look at the plumbing.

I added a piece of equipment to help me finish out my building: It wasn't cheap, but I'm hoping it's insurance from falling off a ladder. Wanted to make sure I got one with leveling cylinders. I kind of don't understand why they even make 4X4 all terrain lifts without them.

I was able to get the water line trench dug up to the building, between all the rainy days...

Same here, plus these Amish guys liked to throw stuff in a pile and burn it, plastic and all. And they did it in a different spot every time... So now I have areas in my lawn that are full of half burnt crap.

In this case the "guy" was a mid thirties Amish guy. His crew was made up of younger Amish guys, some of them young kids. The drivers were just drivers who were gunts for lifting and cleaning up. And, there was not much cleanup, this crew was messy. They did the job no one else wanted to do...

The siding is actually Bronze, has a hint of green in it. I wanted a dark forest/olive green, but they did not have a green that looked good to me so went with what I thought was the next best color. The stuff under the roofing metal is Cougar Shield: Roofing Underlayment – Lapp Metals It's...

The doors are CHI, and the openers are LiftMaster JHDC units.

OH doors were finalized today, the building is officially "dried-in". The weather is still being a pain here, but hopefully soon the under-slab plumbing and electric will be done so I can get going on concrete.

I figured there was going to be quality issues before I hired them, it's common knowledge in my area that the Amish sometimes do less than desirable work. I felt like I didn't have much choice as I spent almost two years searching for a contractor to take on the project.

A lot of details. Almost every aspect of the build they rushed the work, crooked cuts, using a laser for elevation of the perma-columns but some of them being off 12" from one another etc. Most of the issues were with the siding and trim. They botched many areas and I had to ask them to redo...

Getting ready to start on the under-slab plumbing & electric: Took a few more pictures of the exterior:

It's 48 x 96 with 18.5ft tall walls. The living space is about 26 x 48 with a room above the workshop space that is about another 20 x 20. About 1700 sq-ft of total floor heated living space.

Pretty sure drywall has fire retardant in it. The steel heat transfer to the wood behind it would be pretty much instant. Having said all that, the difference between the two is unlikely to actually save the building. But maybe time enough for people to escape.

In my state BOCA was replaced with ICC standards. The architect who stamped my plans had to perform a fire code review on my design. The living space has to be separated from the shop area with fire rated doors and drywall. So I can't have any steel on the inside of the garage, nor the walls...

One thing I had the Amish crew do was to trim out the interior openings of the overhead doors with white steel so that I'm not having to remove door tracks, springs & shafts when I want to finish those areas off. OH doors should be installed soon.

I'm sure what will happen is once the ban starts there will be some lawsuits that will be taken all the way to the Supreme Court and then reversed. But I'd like to get mine installed before all that BS happens.

The electrician and plumber I have been talking to do work together, and have been doing so for decades. And I have been talking to them trying to get estimates for over 6 months now. They just need to find the time... Next big hurdle for me is the Natural Gas installation. I've already dug...

Basically, in my area, the vast majority of contractors are past retirement age and no younger guys are taking over the businesses, as well as no workers for the current businesses. Young guys are not replenishing the trades, not enough people is what I'm being told by the GC's I have talked to...

No slab yet, have to put in all the under-slab plumbing/electrical, then more stone, and then the foam insulation and radiant heat tubes before any concrete slab can be poured. I did order and receive all the insulation that goes under the concrete: It filled up one of my shipping...

The Amish crew worked through the winter to get my barn shell up. I had to go with them, because I could not find anyone else who would do the work. Nice guys, but their quality of work is far from top notch. However, it is what I expected from Amish builders and was able to work out most of the...

I have not seen any in person, but through my research I came to the same conclusion as you have. So the change I plan to make is switch to scissor trusses in the shop and have the OH door tracks follow the ceiling pitch. This will give me as much headroom as possible for a future crane. The...

You mean vertical bi-fold? Not sure if I like the concept. Would have to think about it more. Can't open the door if say an incapacitated machine is close to the outside of the door.

Anyone have a sheet roll door in their shop similar to this: DBCI 2500I I wanted to have roll up doors in the area where my shop crane will be but after researching, they seem very flimsy and not well insulated. I priced out the segmented roll up doors that have much better R-Value and are much...

I get it, but I gave the first version of these plans to the GC in Feb 2023. And the stamped plans in Feb 2024. It's been 8 months and he is still "gathering numbers". I don't think it is him as much as it is the sub-contractors. I think again the problem is New York State. The State seems to...

For me, long term plan is to have a NG whole structure generator. It would be 3 phase capable and used to run some machine shop equipment and possibly some wood working equipment. I have to decide at a future date to go with power converters or a 3PH generator. It really depends on if I can get...

I at least want the option for natural gas and don't feel the govenment has real justification to outright ban it. I specifically bought this parcel of land over others becaue gas was available. I would not want to deal with propane. Electricity rates in this area are pretty much the highest in...

I don't think so. The gas company will only install the meter on a dried-in structure (or very close to that). And only on structure that has stamped and approved plans, and that has passed the first few of many inspections. For my design this means the 48' x 96' pole barn structure. So I'd have...

Well, there is no real plan. The pie in the sky idea is hydrogen, which we have no infrasructure for and is multiple decades away at best. These idiots also want to use hydrogen to store energy to suppliment the grid. However the electrolysis process is only 70% efficient. So they generate...

I am still nervous. It's very slow going trying to get this project off the ground. I should feel comfortable with 15 months to go before the ban kicks in, but I am not based on how the last 2 years have gone in terms of delays on the part of contractors. I told my GC this morning he needs to...

After Dec 31st 2025 no new gas hookups in New York State. All the residents of NYS are at the mercy of the voters in New York City...

I really want the dried in structure done before it gets nasty outside (probably ~2.5 months away). So basically the barn shell with all the doors & windows. Then I can at least get the gas company to come out and install the meter. They won't budge until there is a roofed and sided structure.

I'm used to the color I guess, looks better in person than in pictures. I still want to fix the trans in the 2013 someday, it's just not a good time right now. I didn't realize how many problems the the 6L90E transmissions had until I started researching. I guess I was lucky to get 190k miles...

I hate working in mud. It's dry now but this soil is really mushy in winter/spring. So trying to keep sod around the perimeter of the build site as much as possible.

Driveway approach is completed, for now: Hit a bit of a snag last week. The transmission in my 2013 GMC 3500HD stopped moving. 190k miles, was hoping to stretch that vehicle out past this barndominum build, but had to go buy a new truck: Took the dealer a week to get this...

I know most people would think it's a waste of time but it makes grading out the stone a lot easier when I have the forms as a guide. Plus with a sawmill and plenty of dead standing Ash trees, the lumber for the forms and stakes only costs a bit in fuel and sweat.

Final grading of the approach, started on the forms for the stone. Ran out of lumber for that, but it was too hot outside today to get my sawmill up and running to mill more lumber. I have not used it yet this year. It's still covered, and a bunch of weeds growing up through it. The grading...

Fewer penetrations. And just from experience I hardly ever used them on houses I have owned/lived in.

Got my water far enough along to have the water company come turn on the water to check for leaks. Hopefully there are no obstructions in the line anywhere because I already hooked up all the fittings. I don't want any spigots on the outside of the structure, the yard hydrant will be...

The only metal in my design is in the roofing siding and trim (and the metal brackets/rebar cast into the perma-columns). The rest of it is basically a pole barn made with laminated wood columns, wood roof and floor trusses etc. I looked into an all metal building but it's not done much up...

Yeah, I mean I told all these contractors that this would be a cash job. But it's still not helping to get things moving...

Over the last two years I have been in talks with bout 6 contractors for this project. Most of them lead me on for many months then either ghosted me or told me they are no longer interested. Only one of them gave me an estimate after nearly a year of asking them for pricing. He gave me a price...

I am still trying to get final pricing from the general contracror for the build. For some reason that is moving painfully slow... This will be a post frame building, so the structure will be bulit before the concrete floor is poured. Basically a pole barn, but instead of wooden posts being...

Got the power/communications conduit run, as well as the drainage. I bought some 6" corrugated for drainage, but then thought better of it and used 4" SDR 35 for under the approach. Pretty much ready for driveway fabric & stone.

I was able to get the water line and conduit for the natural gas under the approach. Still need to do the power conduit and then a drainage line in before I can put down some geotextile and then stone. The power conduit has been under the driveway for years. I had it marked but then...

About 26", then tapers off towards the driveway. It took almost 20 tandem dump loads of dirt to bring up the approach to the level of the building pad. It will settle a bit when it gets some weather, so should be about the right height for ~6" of stone.

All the earth moving is done. It's not perfectly leveled out yet but good enough so I can get the trenching done for the utilities. I had thought about that at one time, but glad I didn't. It turns out I have needed that dirt for many projects.

Working on the driveway approach. Removing sod, filling back in with dirt so I can trench for water, gas, power and drainage under this approach. Eventually I'll use driveway fabric and about 6 inches of 2" crusher run on top and blend it in with the building pad. Still utilizing my spoils...

I definitely have all old school equipment. No GPS or lasers here... I still plan to drive many passes on the pad with my loaded dump truck. Then I will grade it out one more time.

Got quite a bit done this weekend. Used my sod cutter to clear the sod from the perimeter of the forms and stacked up the sod on the edging of the eventual driveway leading to the garage: First pass spreading the stone out. One part of the forms got destroyed when my tractor fell off the...

Starting on the stone to finish out the pad leveling. Stil quite costly as I need 9 loads of stone. However, glad I was able to find hard fill close by as I needed 13 loads of that material. Would have been crazy expensive to just use stone. About 450 tons of material total to level off...

I Paint lines on the grass first then try to follow them, driving quite slow. The sod can be rolled up but gets heavy quick. There is still a lot of manual labor involved in removing the sod from the site.

I Built a sod cutter last year. Using it to define the edges of the driveway leading up to the barndominium. Will hog out the rest of it with the FEL on the backhoe.

I am getting 8 loads of "crusher run" this week to finish off this bed, mostly the perimeter where the post holes will be drilled. It is fines all the way up to 2". Then the perma-columns and barn shell can be put up. For the concrete floor, yes, I have been told 3/4" washed stone would be put...

Poor mans roller: It wants to keep raining here. So going to go after work every day this week and make a few passes with the loaded dump truck.

This is my tire cage: I hide behind the bucket when filling. This tire never "popped" on to the bead, it seems the rim just has a shallow slope to the edge of the rim. Got to 110 psi no problems.

Good to know.

It's not a split ring rim it's a Dayton. Some of my machines have split rims and I hate working with them. I removed the valve and my tire chuck worked fine. I didn't think this compound would work in this case because the tire is so stiff and it was about an inch away from the rim. But the...

I bought a bucket of Murphy's tire mounting compound to use with the bead seater and initially was using too much of it. I had to wipe most of it off to get it to not squeeze out immediately. I can try it without the bead seater maybe. I've never really attempted the either method but might...

Having a heck of a time mounting this tire. Bought a Haltec TC-63 bead seater to aid the mounting, but it squirts out where the ring is bonded together every time and the the air escapes before the bead seats. See Video Any ideas? I'm tempted to use a ratchet strap and block of rubber in that...

So after (13) 20 ton loads of hard fill and a bunch of passes over it with my D6C to break up the larger material, I am ready for stone. The stone will be placed primarily around the perimeter where the holes will be augered for the perma columns. I am deciding what type of stone to order. I...

It's mostly clay up here too, however my property was once at the bottom of the Great Lakes. My entire 60+ acre parcel is lake laid silty clay then sandy loam on top. 19 feet of it above bedrock. If I drive just a few miles south soils turn to the normal topsoil above clay. And yeah, most...

Those "forms" are only there because I have a sawmill and a lot of fallen dead ash trees. I wanted to give myself a rough guide for leveling off the area as I don't yet have a laser. I'd never buy lumber to do that. Those forms are ~2ft outside the perimeter of the shop walls so the posts don't...

Well here in NY, there are certainly requirements for building foundations on compacted soils. However, because this is essentially a pole barn where the footers are 48" below grade to undisturbed soil, I just have to make sure what I am pouring my slab on to is stable to try and mitigate cracks...

I have to rent a vibratory roller at some point as I want a solid base for my concrete slab. However, this structure will have perma-columns 48" from grade into virgin soil. The total layer of fill will be 6" in one corner and 26" in the opposing corner. This fill is not the bearing surface for...

I still don't have a GC for this project but I am starting on the base anyways: The hard fill I am using has larger chunks of stuff in it than I would have liked, but my D6C is crushing up most of the large pieces, some of them I have to pick out with my excavator. I thought 10 loads...

I had this issue at my previous house. The water Dept. had hired a company to go around and look for water leaks. They found one at my house, the only house in the entire town that had a leak... It was my responsibility to fix the line as it was after the shutoff at the road but before the...

For the living space it is regular steel panels on the outside, fiberglass insulation and then drywall on the inside. 3PLY 2X8 glulam posts are being used which makes the walls 7 inches think. Code here is R30 minimum for the walls, R49 for the roof. This will be an economy (as much as I can...

I guess maybe I should step back a bit. The 10x12 door is not the only bay door. I'll attach my latest plans here, easier to show than describe in words. But the 10x12 door is only for the 2 post lift. I have (3) 14x16 rollup doors, two of them providing a drive through setup. As far as the...

So I have my final drawings done, and will be paying the architect for his final review. Before I do that, one question about the bay door for the 2 post truck lift. I'd like to plan for a large BendPak lift: XPR-18CL or similar. The size of the bay door currently in my plans is a 10' x 12'...

I'm back on this machine and wondering if I can rotate the exhaust and intake manifold and switch to an updraft carb? It would be way easier & cheaper to find parts for an updraft tractor carb, as the downdraft carbs seem to be collectors items now or something as replacements and kits cost...

From what I can tell the D65S-6 is late 70's or early 80's. Probably about the age where parts are no longer carried by any dealers etc.

I also have an opportunity on a Hitachi UH122: The UC on the Hitachi looks way better than the UC on the D65S-6. I have no idea why it was parked, the owner of these machines inherited them and has no clue about them. The man who did died a few years back... I checked the final drives on...

I have the opportunity to get this D65S-6 for very cheap, pretty much whatever it takes to get it running and moving and loaded up on a lowboy and shipped ~20 miles. I've taken a cursory initial look. The UC is quite tired, but about the same as my D6C, some life left and for as much...

$50k lol. I see contractors are going to hold on to the COVID prices as long as they can...

So I gave some thought to a drive through door arrangement in my shop. I don't want to change the building orientation so this is what I came up with: I think I would frame in for the 3rd door (14ft x 16ft) when built, but would only add the door in the future if I really really need it. I...

Around here all the water meters are in the house, most houses here have basements. And all water services have a shutoff valve at the street. Only time a meter is not in the house is if the run to the house is more than 200ft. From my experience anyways...

I use a Ford 1620 4WD HST to mow with, probably close to 2500lbs with mower deck. I think I definitely want the the enclosure(s) in the unmowed area.

Well every county/municipality is probably a bit different in a given state, but I think in most states there is a maximum distance where the utility company would want the meter from the road.

If a residence is more than 200ft from the road, the water & gas services require meter pits. The pits will only be about 50ft form the road, the rest of the ~650ft run will be my responsibility if a water or gas line develops a leak etc.

So regardless of what I build, I need to start working with a couple other utility companies, namely water and natural gas. Both will require meter pits. For anyone with meter pits, is it best to place them in areas that are mowed on unmowed? See pic below. I can choose fore or aft of the...

The power company offers: 480/277 150A 480/277 400A 480/277 800A I will see what the power company says, but I think my only choice would be 150A service, unless I want to rip out all the conduit, and tear out the fiberglass transformer base. Hoping 480/277V 150A would work with my conduit and...

I guess what I don't understand fully is, the run between the pole mounted primary transformer and the pad mounted secondary transformer is 7200V for the existing 240V 400A service. So I would need three conductors carrying 7200V for 3PH correct? Why would the conductors get any smaller? Since...

The electrician I talked to told me to get with the power company first to see if they can install and/or allow this. If yes, I will go over this with him. However, for the shop equipment I'm going to want 480V/277V. I then would need a transformer to get to 120/208. The question is these days...

3 Phase has been on this road for decades, there are many farms on the road that are utilizing it. I don't want to be in a situation where I keep finding great old 3PH industrial USA made equipment on MarketPlace for cheap and then have to convert to a 1PH motor to make use of it. And as I...

Anyone have 3 phase power? I'm now regretting installing Single Phase as opposed to 3 phase as it's looking like I'm leaning towards the Shop/House/Barndominium. Considering I'd like to have some machining equipment, lathe, mill, etc. As well as fabrication equipment like plasma cutters &...

The inspector mentioned that doors and windows that are close to the corners don't allow for proper X-bracing is the reason for the need to sheath. He also mentioned energy code as a reason. Doors and windows need sheathing to meet energy code in terms of proper sealing.

So met with the building inspector. He said the only thing he can see off the top is that the structure needs to be sheathed and not just steel over girts & purlins. I guess the wind & snow load requirements have increased the last couple years in the township where I intend to build. However...

These along with my stick frame drawings are what I will be submitting to the town building dept. so they can tell me whether or not they see any problems with issuing a permit. I'm assuming since I designed and drew these up myself they will find issues.

I guess if I build the Barndominium it will weed out the type of women I likely won't get along with.

I guess I am only concerned about building what I want. Just got out of a ~20 year relationship (never married thank goodness) and not interested in the modern woman of today. Hence the reason I am leaning towards the Barndo.

Some type of island range hood I imagine.

I used the bathtub once in the last house I lived in for 15 years. It was a 30 x 60 tub, it was too small. The gun safe or built in shelf is a possibility. Though, I don't own any guns.

If I turn the bathtub to the outside wall like I had it before, there is some wasted space. I've lived in houses with similar bathroom configurations to both above. Can't say I feel strongly one way or another. But would pick the option that is not wasting space...

I had that on a previous version but then the bathroom got wider than 6ft after I switched to 16" I-Joists, so I rotated the tub. Yeah, the house I just sold my knees were only a few inches away from the tub.

The tub I have shown in there is 36" x 72" because the normal size tubs are useless for me. I'm almost considering just putting a shower there with no tub. I never use a tub. The house I just sold had the tub and toilet arranged like that but they were even closer together than what I have in...

I have not decided what to do there yet. There will be gutters running the full length. Those will be deck stairs, so really, only need to use those in good weather. I don't really want to extend the roof in that section for the deck stairs. It's possible I remove the stairs there and just have...

I THINK I might finally be on the path to a final Barndo config: My site layout has my Barndo and stick frame house both in there where I originally planed. Think I'll stick with that plan, no matter which I decide to build.

The columns in the 3 car garage were eating away at me for a week so I changed to 16" I-Joists. Bedroom and Den don't have full 8ft ceilings for ~4ft near the south wall but I could live with that more than the columns:

No kids to pass anything on to so get to build what I want. When I'm dead, I won't care that women don't like what I built. And as far as the A-frame design element of my stick frame house, interior-wise it's only one room that has the short walls. I have 3 builders currently working on...

Because I can't afford to build two separate structures. It's pretty simple... If someone wants to send me about $200k, then I could probably do it. And I'll ask again. What is the difference between a Barndominium and an attached garage? I specifically asked my insurance agent this question...

I'm definitely going to check on this soon. When I say I'd be finishing it myself, I mean by myself, not hiring it out. So I would likely need more than 24 months... I'd rather design in sprinklers than build separate structures, again, because a fire "could" happen and I "could" "lose it all"...

I mean, I would just go with my own barndo design then? Also, 2160 sq-ft would crush me in taxes, and for one person that's a lot of living space. But that is similar yes. Only other house plan out of the 20 years browsing I liked was this one: Contemporary Style House Plan - 3 Beds 2 Baths...

That thing is probably more expensive than my stick frame design. One builder I was talking to gave me a copy of a contract he just signed in Jan 2022. It was a 1200 sq-ft ranch with a 400 sq-ft garage. A simple gable roof along the entire structure, no valleys. Standard forced hot air heat...

Honestly I'd rather plan to so something like this: Id rather not have to compromise on my Barndo design now for something that may never happen. I'd have the space and utilities hookups available if I needed to do this. Then rent out the other living space or something. And having that...

I suppose worst comes to worst I would park a mobile home, connect power water and septic to it if I became incapacitated to the point I can't go up some stairs.

I'm project/hobby orientated. If I was in a wheechair this property would no longer facilitate that. In fact it would be rather taunting IMO.

I meant my stick frame design. The builders don't want to mess with it due it being unconventional. And I could not bring myself to spend ~$300k on a house design picked from a book that I really don't like. My intentions were to build both a house and a shop, however once I started getting...

Or give myself a little more room, and only start with stone in front of the 3 car garage, add more to other doors as time goes on.

This configuration would require the least amount of new stone. No doors facing the west wind.

I spent the better part of 20 years looking at stock house plans. None of them seemed to work for me. I'll pick the Faux A-Frame house soon as someone gets back to me with a reasonable estimate. As far as backing in a trailer in any of the garages. I've tried many different combinations. When...

In the shop area, I have always planed on putting steel on the ceiling & walls (no drywall) and doing conduit over that. Living space, will have drywall so will be more traditional wiring. I think it just makes sense in a shop to use EMT conduit and metal boxes. Except I guess where I have to...

Most of the builders I have talked to have suggested it. They must like it for a reason, i.e, they make more profit...

I just got off the phone with my insurance agent. He said there would be no issues getting a standard homeowners policy on the Barndominium "once it's completed", tons of ppl in my area are doing so. But he did say they and most other insurance agencies do not offer builders risk insurance. So I...

Well that is something I definitely need to talk to an electrician about, cause that's a crapload more wire than I was thinking. I wonder if that is NEC code or maybe local to your municipality...

Maybe this is why some builders are recommending the exterior and roof is sheathed before the steel goes on...

Yes. It seems like there would be more thermal bridging than with just the standard post & beam construction. But so far all the builders keep saying bookshelf is best for the living spce as it provides drywall nailiners. I'm almost thinking to go with standard outer wall girts, then just use...

So almost all the builders I have talked to about the Barndominium recommend bookshelf framing. Has anyone ever used this method of bookshelf framing? Bookshelf It's looking like I'd be using 3PLY 2X8 "glulam"/"perma-straight" columns. Which I believe are 4-1/8" X 6-3/4" actual finished...

I work remotely one day a week. I actually prefer working in the office tbh. Working from home is just not very appealing. I think it's because I like to separate my work from home. As soon as I leave the office, I leave work behind until the next morning.

Thanks for you help, bye.

So you angry I am considering building a Barndominium or something? Honestly don't understand your take. btw, it was the building inspector who suggested to me a couple years back I build a barndo, he built one for his son. Anyways, doesn't hurt to ask a few insurance agents in the planning...

Ok, so asking a few insurance agents about my Barndominium. Will they need to look over the drawings etc? I assume if yes they need to be stamped? Anyone ever go over insurance options with an agent before a structure is built? In my area, seems everyone is building Barndo's now, so it is a...

I sure hope so, it's getting very silly.

Why is this specific to a Barndominium? If I have a separate shop and it burned down with equipment in it, I'm in the same boat? I have a 66 Chevelle SS396 real 138 car insured with Hagerty. And I know that you can't really insure them for what it would cost to fully restore, as you can't even...

But it does matter to me lol. However, I still plan to install NG to whatever I build. If I have to cross state lines to "illegally" buy a new gas range, so be it.

I have an inland marine policy on all my equipment. I don't see a Barndominium as any greater risk than a house with an attached garage... I don't think I would let a fire scenario scare me away from a Barndo. Two separate structures are much more expensive to build. Even close proximity...

New York State is looking to ban the usage of NG & LP by 2030.

Yes, I can contract on my own property, but I am not a builder and would likely lose a lot of money on mistakes as it would be the first time I'm building a home. Laying ICF block certainly does look easy enough, but I imagine it's harder than it looks on pour days keeping walls level, true...