All,
I am working on adding two garages on my property. The larger is a
24X32 and the smaller one is 14X20. My father was in construction and
I have done about everything in-home construction, except, major
concrete. I have done sidewalks, patios, etc but nothing major. This
is where my questions originate.

I have read a few books and gotten my permits. I marked out the
location of the new garages and squared them up over last week after
work. Then last weekend, I broke ground with an excavator and a large
bobcat. Knowing that I would be better off (concrete savings) having a
professional dig the actual footer, I hired a friend of a friend to
dig my footer and I operated the bobcat. Things went as expected and
my figures for stone and supplies came out. I am preparing for
inspection and this morning I cleared out the roots from a few trees
that sit in the back 30 feet of my property. I am planning on pouring
the footer then the finished slab.

The one thing that I am concerned about is during the excavation we
ran into two leach fields (at 3 feet down), an old septic leach bed
and a leach bed from an old gray water system (at 2 feet down). I am
positive that these systems are both no longer used and the main tanks
are filled with sand. I know this for certain because I did this and
the new sewer line to the house (120 feet)with my dad when the city
sewer came to our area about 10 years ago. The septic system was
original with the house (50 years old) and was about 200 gallons (very
very small) and the leach field was only 120 feet in a Y. The gray
water system ran the washing machine and dishwasher only and was 110
gallons and had only a 45 feet leach system but had a very large
diameter.

How is something like this normally handled?

I have, so far, crushed and removed them from the footer entirely and
have filled them with foam and packed the ends with dirt and stone
tightly. There was no water in either system as expected.

Are these pipes even a concern at this point?

My next question is concerning the next steps in the concrete process.

My plans, and please correct me if I am wrong, is the following;

1) I will get approval from the city that my footer and stone etc is
good.
I assume they are mostly concerned with depth, width, and straightness
of the footer and the stone is 4 inch or better.
2) I will rebar the footer
3) I will bring in the concrete and pour the footer to the bottom of
the stone. (stone started 4 inches below earth grade)
4) I will then place my forms (2X8s) and make sure everything is of
correct size and square up the forms.
5) I will place my 6X6 10 Gauge wire mesh to the footer
6) I will then have the concrete brought in and will pour and level
out with a Bull float/screeds/maybe even a power trowel.
7) I will then place the garage bolts for the sill board
8) Spray on curing agent

Now, I am considering having the above done after I get approval from
the city inspection. As I have a friend who has a friend that does
this for a living. I have seen his work and I think it looks decent.
So everyone knows, this is very against my grain as I hire very few
things out. My main concern is the man power behind this and the skill
to do the final level/finish but I know getting to this point is a
very big step.

Now what should I expect to pay outside the cost of materials to have
him do this? What is the norm? I have been told he will bring in 4
guys at $250 a day for the actual pour. What should form, rebar and
mesh placement cost me?

I have another option to finish this concrete which is decent as well.
I personally have a long time friend that is in the heavy machine
operating trade (40 + years) and has done a lot of large scale
concrete/masonry in his life. I have seen his work and it is decent.

Any opinions or suggestions?

Sorry for the rambling.

Thanks,
Chris
Solomon_Man

On May 30, 12:10?pm, Solomon_Man wrote:
All,
I am working on adding two garages on my property. The larger is a
24X32 and the smaller one is 14X20. My father was in construction and
I have done about everything in-home construction, except, major
concrete. I have done sidewalks, patios, etc but nothing major. This
is where my questions originate.

I have read a few books and gotten my permits. I marked out the
location of the new garages and squared them up over last week after
work. Then last weekend, I broke ground with an excavator and a large
bobcat. Knowing that I would be better off (concrete savings) having a
professional dig the actual footer, I hired a friend of a friend to
dig my footer and I operated the bobcat. Things went as expected and
my figures for stone and supplies came out. I am preparing for
inspection and this morning I cleared out the roots from a few trees
that sit in the back 30 feet of my property. I am planning on pouring
the footer then the finished slab.

The one thing that I am concerned about is during the excavation we
ran into two leach fields (at 3 feet down), an old septic leach bed
and a leach bed from an old gray water system (at 2 feet down). I am
positive that these systems are both no longer used and the main tanks
are filled with sand. I know this for certain because I did this and
the new sewer line to the house (120 feet)with my dad when the city
sewer came to our area about 10 years ago. The septic system was
original with the house (50 years old) and was about 200 gallons (very
very small) and the leach field was only 120 feet in a Y. The gray
water system ran the washing machine and dishwasher only and was 110
gallons and had only a 45 feet leach system but had a very large
diameter.

How is something like this normally handled?

I have, so far, crushed and removed them from the footer entirely and
have filled them with foam and packed the ends with dirt and stone
tightly. There was no water in either system as expected.

Are these pipes even a concern at this point?

My next question is concerning the next steps in the concrete process.

My plans, and please correct me if I am wrong, is the following;

1) I will get approval from the city that my footer and stone etc is
good.
I assume they are mostly concerned with depth, width, and straightness
of the footer and the stone is 4 inch or better.
2) I will rebar the footer
3) I will bring in the concrete and pour the footer to the bottom of
the stone. (stone started 4 inches below earth grade)
4) I will then place my forms (2X8s) and make sure everything is of
correct size and square up the forms.
5) I will place my 6X6 10 Gauge wire mesh to the footer
6) I will then have the concrete brought in and will pour and level
out with a Bull float/screeds/maybe even a power trowel.
7) I will then place the garage bolts for the sill board
8) Spray on curing agent

Now, I am considering having the above done after I get approval from
the city inspection. As I have a friend who has a friend that does
this for a living. I have seen his work and I think it looks decent.
So everyone knows, this is very against my grain as I hire very few
things out. My main concern is the man power behind this and the skill
to do the final level/finish but I know getting to this point is a
very big step.

Now what should I expect to pay outside the cost of materials to have
him do this? What is the norm? I have been told he will bring in 4
guys at $250 a day for the actual pour. What should form, rebar and
mesh placement cost me?

I have another option to finish this concrete which is decent as well.
I personally have a long time friend that is in the heavy machine
operating trade (40 + years) and has done a lot of large scale
concrete/masonry in his life. I have seen his work and it is decent.

Any opinions or suggestions?

Sorry for the rambling.

Thanks,
Chris
Solomon_Man

If its a wood garage on a concrete slab I would make it a raised curb
perimeter to elminate all wood rot issues

On the drain fileld I would dig it ALL out under the buildings and
backfill with ALL gravel

On May 30, 3:36 pm, " wrote:
On May 30, 12:10?pm, Solomon_Man wrote:





All,
I am working on adding two garages on my property. The larger is a
24X32 and the smaller one is 14X20. My father was in construction and
I have done about everything in-home construction, except, major
concrete. I have done sidewalks, patios, etc but nothing major. This
is where my questions originate.

I have read a few books and gotten my permits. I marked out the
location of the new garages and squared them up over last week after
work. Then last weekend, I broke ground with an excavator and a large
bobcat. Knowing that I would be better off (concrete savings) having a
professional dig the actual footer, I hired a friend of a friend to
dig my footer and I operated the bobcat. Things went as expected and
my figures for stone and supplies came out. I am preparing for
inspection and this morning I cleared out the roots from a few trees
that sit in the back 30 feet of my property. I am planning on pouring
the footer then the finished slab.

The one thing that I am concerned about is during the excavation we
ran into two leach fields (at 3 feet down), an old septic leach bed
and a leach bed from an old gray water system (at 2 feet down). I am
positive that these systems are both no longer used and the main tanks
are filled with sand. I know this for certain because I did this and
the new sewer line to the house (120 feet)with my dad when the city
sewer came to our area about 10 years ago. The septic system was
original with the house (50 years old) and was about 200 gallons (very
very small) and the leach field was only 120 feet in a Y. The gray
water system ran the washing machine and dishwasher only and was 110
gallons and had only a 45 feet leach system but had a very large
diameter.

How is something like this normally handled?

I have, so far, crushed and removed them from the footer entirely and
have filled them with foam and packed the ends with dirt and stone
tightly. There was no water in either system as expected.

Are these pipes even a concern at this point?

My next question is concerning the next steps in the concrete process.

My plans, and please correct me if I am wrong, is the following;

1) I will get approval from the city that my footer and stone etc is
good.
I assume they are mostly concerned with depth, width, and straightness
of the footer and the stone is 4 inch or better.
2) I will rebar the footer
3) I will bring in the concrete and pour the footer to the bottom of
the stone. (stone started 4 inches below earth grade)
4) I will then place my forms (2X8s) and make sure everything is of
correct size and square up the forms.
5) I will place my 6X6 10 Gauge wire mesh to the footer
6) I will then have the concrete brought in and will pour and level
out with a Bull float/screeds/maybe even a power trowel.
7) I will then place the garage bolts for the sill board
8) Spray on curing agent

Now, I am considering having the above done after I get approval from
the city inspection. As I have a friend who has a friend that does
this for a living. I have seen his work and I think it looks decent.
So everyone knows, this is very against my grain as I hire very few
things out. My main concern is the man power behind this and the skill
to do the final level/finish but I know getting to this point is a
very big step.

Now what should I expect to pay outside the cost of materials to have
him do this? What is the norm? I have been told he will bring in 4
guys at $250 a day for the actual pour. What should form, rebar and
mesh placement cost me?

I have another option to finish this concrete which is decent as well.
I personally have a long time friend that is in the heavy machine
operating trade (40 + years) and has done a lot of large scale
concrete/masonry in his life. I have seen his work and it is decent.

Any opinions or suggestions?

Sorry for the rambling.

Thanks,
Chris
Solomon_Man

If its a wood garage on a concrete slab I would make it a raised curb
perimeter to elminate all wood rot issues

On the drain fileld I would dig it ALL out under the buildings and
backfill with ALL gravel- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

All,
The tile for the leach field for the septic system is a orange ceramic
- 3 or 4inch (very small) and the gray water system is a 8 inch pipe
that is coming up to the front right corner of the garage. I was able
to use a knife and cut the 8 inch pipe, with a pocket knife, one foot
back completely away from the garage and its footer. The pipe is a
thin black pipe very flexible with what seems to be clothe surrounding
it. The 8 inch pipe was also at the end of its run and lucky for me
ran till its end in my footer which of course I completely removed.
The 8 inch pipe is not under the garage nor is it, at least in my
opinion, a in the way problem. If the 8 inch is a problem I would
prefer to remove it after the footer is poured as it goes back I am
guessing 20 or so feet to the tank to avoid screwing up my footer
walls and using excess concrete. The ceramic pipe is 3 feet down and
my area soil is thick dark clay. The ceramic is somewhat of a concern
but to remove it would require a complete diagonal cut across my 24X32
garage at three foot. Before I would consider digging it up, I would
look at options of filling it with solid concrete as it would only be
a additional 1/2 yard (max) according to my figures.

Just some more information.

Thanks,
Chris
Solomon_Man

Check your building department, I think (I don't know) that they would only
require removal of the weeping tiles and possibly the contaminated gravel
from under your footers/foundation and not from under the floor.

Remember to add any conduit to feed wires, communications and possibly water
through the foundation floor and up into where the wall will be built. This
is especially important for the power line entering the building from
underground. You don't want this on the outside of the building when it is
so simple to enclose it in the foundation.

"Solomon_Man" wrote in message
oups.com...
On May 30, 3:36 pm, " wrote:
On May 30, 12:10?pm, Solomon_Man wrote:





All,
I am working on adding two garages on my property. The larger is a
24X32 and the smaller one is 14X20. My father was in construction and
I have done about everything in-home construction, except, major
concrete. I have done sidewalks, patios, etc but nothing major. This
is where my questions originate.

I have read a few books and gotten my permits. I marked out the
location of the new garages and squared them up over last week after
work. Then last weekend, I broke ground with an excavator and a large
bobcat. Knowing that I would be better off (concrete savings) having a
professional dig the actual footer, I hired a friend of a friend to
dig my footer and I operated the bobcat. Things went as expected and
my figures for stone and supplies came out. I am preparing for
inspection and this morning I cleared out the roots from a few trees
that sit in the back 30 feet of my property. I am planning on pouring
the footer then the finished slab.

The one thing that I am concerned about is during the excavation we
ran into two leach fields (at 3 feet down), an old septic leach bed
and a leach bed from an old gray water system (at 2 feet down). I am
positive that these systems are both no longer used and the main tanks
are filled with sand. I know this for certain because I did this and
the new sewer line to the house (120 feet)with my dad when the city
sewer came to our area about 10 years ago. The septic system was
original with the house (50 years old) and was about 200 gallons (very
very small) and the leach field was only 120 feet in a Y. The gray
water system ran the washing machine and dishwasher only and was 110
gallons and had only a 45 feet leach system but had a very large
diameter.

How is something like this normally handled?

I have, so far, crushed and removed them from the footer entirely and
have filled them with foam and packed the ends with dirt and stone
tightly. There was no water in either system as expected.

Are these pipes even a concern at this point?

My next question is concerning the next steps in the concrete process.

My plans, and please correct me if I am wrong, is the following;

1) I will get approval from the city that my footer and stone etc is
good.
I assume they are mostly concerned with depth, width, and straightness
of the footer and the stone is 4 inch or better.
2) I will rebar the footer
3) I will bring in the concrete and pour the footer to the bottom of
the stone. (stone started 4 inches below earth grade)
4) I will then place my forms (2X8s) and make sure everything is of
correct size and square up the forms.
5) I will place my 6X6 10 Gauge wire mesh to the footer
6) I will then have the concrete brought in and will pour and level
out with a Bull float/screeds/maybe even a power trowel.
7) I will then place the garage bolts for the sill board
8) Spray on curing agent

Now, I am considering having the above done after I get approval from
the city inspection. As I have a friend who has a friend that does
this for a living. I have seen his work and I think it looks decent.
So everyone knows, this is very against my grain as I hire very few
things out. My main concern is the man power behind this and the skill
to do the final level/finish but I know getting to this point is a
very big step.

Now what should I expect to pay outside the cost of materials to have
him do this? What is the norm? I have been told he will bring in 4
guys at $250 a day for the actual pour. What should form, rebar and
mesh placement cost me?

I have another option to finish this concrete which is decent as well.
I personally have a long time friend that is in the heavy machine
operating trade (40 + years) and has done a lot of large scale
concrete/masonry in his life. I have seen his work and it is decent.

Any opinions or suggestions?

Sorry for the rambling.

Thanks,
Chris
Solomon_Man

If its a wood garage on a concrete slab I would make it a raised curb
perimeter to elminate all wood rot issues

On the drain fileld I would dig it ALL out under the buildings and
backfill with ALL gravel- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

All,
The tile for the leach field for the septic system is a orange ceramic
- 3 or 4inch (very small) and the gray water system is a 8 inch pipe
that is coming up to the front right corner of the garage. I was able
to use a knife and cut the 8 inch pipe, with a pocket knife, one foot
back completely away from the garage and its footer. The pipe is a
thin black pipe very flexible with what seems to be clothe surrounding
it. The 8 inch pipe was also at the end of its run and lucky for me
ran till its end in my footer which of course I completely removed.
The 8 inch pipe is not under the garage nor is it, at least in my
opinion, a in the way problem. If the 8 inch is a problem I would
prefer to remove it after the footer is poured as it goes back I am
guessing 20 or so feet to the tank to avoid screwing up my footer
walls and using excess concrete. The ceramic pipe is 3 feet down and
my area soil is thick dark clay. The ceramic is somewhat of a concern
but to remove it would require a complete diagonal cut across my 24X32
garage at three foot. Before I would consider digging it up, I would
look at options of filling it with solid concrete as it would only be
a additional 1/2 yard (max) according to my figures.

Just some more information.

Thanks,
Chris
Solomon_Man

"Solomon_Man" wrote in message
ups.com...
All,
I am working on adding two garages on my property. The larger is a
24X32 and the smaller one is 14X20. My father was in construction and
I have done about everything in-home construction, except, major
concrete. I have done sidewalks, patios, etc but nothing major. This
is where my questions originate.

I have read a few books and gotten my permits. I marked out the
location of the new garages and squared them up over last week after
work. Then last weekend, I broke ground with an excavator and a large
bobcat. Knowing that I would be better off (concrete savings) having a
professional dig the actual footer, I hired a friend of a friend to
dig my footer and I operated the bobcat. Things went as expected and
my figures for stone and supplies came out. I am preparing for
inspection and this morning I cleared out the roots from a few trees
that sit in the back 30 feet of my property. I am planning on pouring
the footer then the finished slab.

The one thing that I am concerned about is during the excavation we
ran into two leach fields (at 3 feet down), an old septic leach bed
and a leach bed from an old gray water system (at 2 feet down). I am
positive that these systems are both no longer used and the main tanks
are filled with sand. I know this for certain because I did this and
the new sewer line to the house (120 feet)with my dad when the city
sewer came to our area about 10 years ago. The septic system was
original with the house (50 years old) and was about 200 gallons (very
very small) and the leach field was only 120 feet in a Y. The gray
water system ran the washing machine and dishwasher only and was 110
gallons and had only a 45 feet leach system but had a very large
diameter.

How is something like this normally handled?

I have, so far, crushed and removed them from the footer entirely and
have filled them with foam and packed the ends with dirt and stone
tightly. There was no water in either system as expected.

Are these pipes even a concern at this point?

My next question is concerning the next steps in the concrete process.

My plans, and please correct me if I am wrong, is the following;

1) I will get approval from the city that my footer and stone etc is
good.
I assume they are mostly concerned with depth, width, and straightness
of the footer and the stone is 4 inch or better.
2) I will rebar the footer
3) I will bring in the concrete and pour the footer to the bottom of
the stone. (stone started 4 inches below earth grade)
4) I will then place my forms (2X8s) and make sure everything is of
correct size and square up the forms.
5) I will place my 6X6 10 Gauge wire mesh to the footer
6) I will then have the concrete brought in and will pour and level
out with a Bull float/screeds/maybe even a power trowel.
7) I will then place the garage bolts for the sill board
8) Spray on curing agent

Now, I am considering having the above done after I get approval from
the city inspection. As I have a friend who has a friend that does
this for a living. I have seen his work and I think it looks decent.
So everyone knows, this is very against my grain as I hire very few
things out. My main concern is the man power behind this and the skill
to do the final level/finish but I know getting to this point is a
very big step.

Now what should I expect to pay outside the cost of materials to have
him do this? What is the norm? I have been told he will bring in 4
guys at $250 a day for the actual pour. What should form, rebar and
mesh placement cost me?

I have another option to finish this concrete which is decent as well.
I personally have a long time friend that is in the heavy machine
operating trade (40 + years) and has done a lot of large scale
concrete/masonry in his life. I have seen his work and it is decent.

Any opinions or suggestions?


I don't know about concrete work, but if you plan on adding an electrical
circuit breaker panel to each garage you should connect a #4 bare solid (Not
stranded) copper wire to the rebar using an approved connector. Run the
wire to the location of the panel. This will provide an excellent grounding
conductor for your panel. Even if you are not planning to install power to
the garages it would be a good idea to have the #4 bonded to the rebar for
lightning protection.

All,
The inspector came out and inspected, I got approved.

He said the pipes are no big deal as the tanks are sanded. Rebar and
mesh are not required but I am still going to do it to avoid the
cement from pulling apart if I ever have a problem.

The question now in my head is to do it myself or have someone do it.
The inspector said to do it myself. He said you did a fine job
(depth,width,straightness,stone,layout) on the excavation and that is
where most people screw up. So I now understand the process even more
after talking to the inspector, so I am thinking more about doing it
myself to save the cash. I dunno, I will price it out and make the
final decision.

I plan to put electrical in and will install what is necessary for
that in the concrete before I pour. I will not actually do electrical
till next year as the whole property will be upgraded.

Thanks for the help.

Chris








On May 30, 7:28 pm, "John Grabowski" wrote:
"Solomon_Man" wrote in message

ups.com...





All,
I am working on adding two garages on my property. The larger is a
24X32 and the smaller one is 14X20. My father was in construction and
I have done about everything in-home construction, except, major
concrete. I have done sidewalks, patios, etc but nothing major. This
is where my questions originate.

I have read a few books and gotten my permits. I marked out the
location of the new garages and squared them up over last week after
work. Then last weekend, I broke ground with an excavator and a large
bobcat. Knowing that I would be better off (concrete savings) having a
professional dig the actual footer, I hired a friend of a friend to
dig my footer and I operated the bobcat. Things went as expected and
my figures for stone and supplies came out. I am preparing for
inspection and this morning I cleared out the roots from a few trees
that sit in the back 30 feet of my property. I am planning on pouring
the footer then the finished slab.

The one thing that I am concerned about is during the excavation we
ran into two leach fields (at 3 feet down), an old septic leach bed
and a leach bed from an old gray water system (at 2 feet down). I am
positive that these systems are both no longer used and the main tanks
are filled with sand. I know this for certain because I did this and
the new sewer line to the house (120 feet)with my dad when the city
sewer came to our area about 10 years ago. The septic system was
original with the house (50 years old) and was about 200 gallons (very
very small) and the leach field was only 120 feet in a Y. The gray
water system ran the washing machine and dishwasher only and was 110
gallons and had only a 45 feet leach system but had a very large
diameter.

How is something like this normally handled?

I have, so far, crushed and removed them from the footer entirely and
have filled them with foam and packed the ends with dirt and stone
tightly. There was no water in either system as expected.

Are these pipes even a concern at this point?

My next question is concerning the next steps in the concrete process.

My plans, and please correct me if I am wrong, is the following;

1) I will get approval from the city that my footer and stone etc is
good.
I assume they are mostly concerned with depth, width, and straightness
of the footer and the stone is 4 inch or better.
2) I will rebar the footer
3) I will bring in the concrete and pour the footer to the bottom of
the stone. (stone started 4 inches below earth grade)
4) I will then place my forms (2X8s) and make sure everything is of
correct size and square up the forms.
5) I will place my 6X6 10 Gauge wire mesh to the footer
6) I will then have the concrete brought in and will pour and level
out with a Bull float/screeds/maybe even a power trowel.
7) I will then place the garage bolts for the sill board
8) Spray on curing agent

Now, I am considering having the above done after I get approval from
the city inspection. As I have a friend who has a friend that does
this for a living. I have seen his work and I think it looks decent.
So everyone knows, this is very against my grain as I hire very few
things out. My main concern is the man power behind this and the skill
to do the final level/finish but I know getting to this point is a
very big step.

Now what should I expect to pay outside the cost of materials to have
him do this? What is the norm? I have been told he will bring in 4
guys at $250 a day for the actual pour. What should form, rebar and
mesh placement cost me?

I have another option to finish this concrete which is decent as well.
I personally have a long time friend that is in the heavy machine
operating trade (40 + years) and has done a lot of large scale
concrete/masonry in his life. I have seen his work and it is decent.

Any opinions or suggestions?

I don't know about concrete work, but if you plan on adding an electrical
circuit breaker panel to each garage you should connect a #4 bare solid (Not
stranded) copper wire to the rebar using an approved connector. Run the
wire to the location of the panel. This will provide an excellent grounding
conductor for your panel. Even if you are not planning to install power to
the garages it would be a good idea to have the #4 bonded to the rebar for
lightning protection.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

According to Solomon_Man :

The question now in my head is to do it myself or have someone do it.
The inspector said to do it myself. He said you did a fine job
(depth,width,straightness,stone,layout) on the excavation and that is
where most people screw up. So I now understand the process even more
after talking to the inspector, so I am thinking more about doing it
myself to save the cash. I dunno, I will price it out and make the
final decision.

I think you'll find that the labor costs of a good crew to do a floor
slab isn't very much (compared to the cost of the concrete), and it'll
be easier in the long run to hire it. Or at least until you've seen
it done once. You don't want to be partway thru the pour and find
out that you have the wrong tools or not enough bodies.
--
Chris Lewis,

Age and Treachery will Triumph over Youth and Skill
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.