New home for tractor - advice pls

[jjcc246]

I just did my 28' x 32' pad for my metal storage garage. Instead of digging out I put down 6" of #2 stone tamped it (very important) and plastic over the top (also important). I dug around the peremiter by hand about a 12" x 12" deep haunch. I used 2 x 10 for forms. this gave me about 5" for concrete after the stone was tamped and about 18"-20" deep haunch. I hired three finishers at $200 ea. to do the pour. Waiting for trucks and so forth they were there about 8 hours.
We used 17 yrds of 3500# psi concrete and did the cuts at 16' on the 32' side and 14' on the 28' side. Couldn't be happier. garage isn't built yet because of weather but the concrete through rain and some freezing is perfect. I did have to ramp up to the floor because I went above ground but I feel it's worth it because the water runs under the stone and concrete instead of sitting in the big hole I would have made for it. I used about 27 ton of stone but I went out farther than the pad for a trailer parking spot. Good Luck on your project. Let your tractor do as much work as possible, your back will love you for it. My opinion, hire people to do the pour that do it every day. You'll get a better job and you won't be doing work your body's not used to. Most finishers, at least around here will do side jobs from $100-$200 a day. Good Luck Also I used #6 wire mesh (heavy road type mesh) which is laid on top of the plastic and pulled to the center of the concrete as you pour.

 

[Syncro]

<font color="blue"> I'm not a concrete man but to me MONOLITHIC means ONE......</font>
<font color="black"> </font>
Nat- You are right about not needing control joints, all they do is help guide shrinkage cracks to make the finished product look nicer, but they don't make anything 'stronger'. Expansion joints however are necessary where a slab abuts a wall or other solid object. There are many mis conceptions, especially with DIY. Thats why I suggest getting someone that does this for a living to help.

All of our big slabs go down in 2 shots, footings are poured often using 5 sack (cheaper) and the slab usually 6 sack with fiber. depending on what the engineer calls out. This is all done in 1 day, and for us about 3000 sq ft is what we're comfortable with. But, we run an experienced crew and there is no guess work, plus we usually have a private building inspector on site. Even so, concrete has a mind of its own and surprises still sometimes happen.

For a small ag building it sure could be done DIY, just take smaller 'bites'. It also boils down to how fussy one is with the finished product, for a barn I guess there is more leeway. (But not in my barn!) /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Joe1]

Rich:

If you want this code legal, you may want to check to see if a 12" X 12" footing meets the SoCal earthquake code. I know for a single story room addition I added (13 X 23) back in 1982 I needed 12" X 24". Not sure of the requiremens for barns.

when you put up something that big, some snoopy inspector will be by and you might want to sell it in the future.

 

[boomer4snow]

Well I'll throw my two cents in also, I consider myself a handy DIY sort and I would reccomend some help also. Two years ago I built my dream garage/shop and I have never really done my own concrete project. I built a 30x60 shop with 6" floor 6 bag mix with 16" footers 4' down with a monolithic pour. We started at 6 am and finished at 7 PM!! We used a vapor barrier, tamped sand to bring it up to grade, and enough rebar to build a small bridge. I rented the tamper and power trowel and brought it up to a mirror finish and then sealed it. I am happy to say that I dont have a single crack, and it is 100% level in any area of the shop. Having said all of that it would not have been possible to do without a ton of help (I had seven guys working with me) There is no way to be able to be everywhere you need to be by yourself. Once the concrete leaves the truck, it's drying where it lays and you have to drag it, screed it, trowel it, place your anchors, keep your rebar placed, pulled up whatever, Not to mention stop to catch your breath, direct and coordinate the trucks moving around, swing the chutes, sign for the loads delivered, track down the truck that got lost etc etc etc you get the idea. You might try asking local concrete guys If they would like to work on a saturday for cash, I got my labor way down, and I even got the concrete at a discount thru the contractor, Price was half what was quoted by other bids. I think your idea is good, it sure can be done with good results, you just have to get some experienced help so your money turns into a source of pride. I justified it by simply thinking If I screw it up, thats a lot of money gone down the drain and I am gonna hate it forever.

Good Luck!! J Stephens

 

[Dargo]

boomer4snow, when I did my barn floor (60 X 60) I had the general experience you did except I used 10" of 5000 psi fiber reinforced concrete with #6 gauge wire and rebar. Okay, you can figure out how much work we had. After the first hour, it started raining. In 1 1/2 hours it was pouring. That is when the 3rd truck with 11 yards on it got hung up about 30 feet from the barn. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif It burined itself about 3 feet in my nice muddy clay.

No problem the driver said. He'd just have the next truck pull him out. In 2 hours, we had two concrete trucks with almost 11 yards on each stuck in my yard! /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif From that point on, all concrete had to be carted in with wheel barrows along 2X8 boards laid on the muddy ground. What a mess! That's not to mention that I got to be chief wheel barrow driver when people began dropping like flies. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif Hired help was quitting on me, and volunteer help was sneaking off!

Fortunately we got the pour done without any real disasters. The next day, one of those giant semi wreckers managed to get himself stuck trying to get the concrete trucks out. Two more of those giant wreckers the next day and finally all equipment was removed from my yard. It took several days on the tractor to fill in the holes those things left! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[Steve_Miller]

All that and no pictures. Aw man those would have been good shots. I guess you probably didn't have time for picture taking. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Steve

 

[RichT]

Thx to everyone for the great responses! My DIY drive is tempered by the reality that this is probably too big a job for amateurs. After reading through the responses I think the best approach is find someone I can work with to defray some of the cost...dig the footing, prep the underlay, set the forms/rebar and so forth. Let the pros pour and finish. I have other, smaller concrete projects I can do myself.

Thx also for the comments on the floor finish. Smooth would be better for my purpose...all the more reason to get some pros to finish it.