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We are racing against the onset of foul weather seasons now, but the biggest relief is we able to avoid rain and freezing for the pouring of the big slab and stem walls all at once. Here is where we are at. The steel company folk'ed up on the anchor bolt holes WRT the drawing we relied on. Because of that I ran out and bought a plasma cutter since I plan to get one as soon as the barn is built.
while I have the excavators we dug many extra trenches for more yard hydrants and most exciting, bringing water and fiber optic to the cabin that is 630 ft away; I also prep it for a add on bath with running toilet and shower
this is the main trench that serves all the utilities to the barn and branch to the cabin for water and fiber optic cable; the junction box allows the three way fiber optic cable runs
the boom lift is a must and we don't yet want any heavy equipment on the slab
this is where we are at last night; there is a man door on the closest bay
my shiny new HF plasma cutter to cut new holes on 3/8" steel plates
instead of 4" on center they made the holes 3" on center; fixing them so to fit the studs already on the footing requires hogging out the holes to oval shape and cannot be done with drilling
We are at 110 cu yards of concrete now and there are still the apron on all three sides plus an expansive concrete pad on the front side of the building to pour.
I got the opportunity to manage the construction of one of these buildings (40X125) in Alaska for my church. The concrete footers for the main beams were 4'x4'x6' deep. We poured the slab in December. In Alaska. had to construct a Visqueen tent to keep the concrete heated while the slab cured.
I don't recommend pouring concrete in Alaska in December.
That's going to be one sweet pit building for the 2.4 mile 40 ft wide paved road course @Eddie07S said you were building next summer.
My comment had a “wink” at the end... All in jest...
If it were to happen, though, I doubt we would ever hear from him again... He would be too busy wearing out tires...
Hell we hadn't heard from him for months anyway. Peer pressure probably won't work, but it doesn't cost anything to try. Who knows, we might get a NAM Invitational track weekend complete with gourmet meals out of it!
Wow, I missed all these posts since mine. I for some reason didn't get any notifications. Thanks guys for the remarks. We have been busy racing against the weather. Here are more latest photos of how things are coming along.
I am a part of the crew up high raising the roof beams. Just three of us that day.
We forgot to put in the rebar as electrical ground so I pounded two 8' galvanized ground stakes before we pour the 5' wide apron on three sides. I am the electrician for this whole project.
We have been getting a lot of rain now. The rough in ABS pipes are for the bath and a kitchenette, as well as provision for a loft above this whole bay since the high side roof is 20' tall.
Here you can see the generous front eave taking shape. 10 feet of overhang. The sides and back are 5 ft.
These are the sidings inside out in this view.
The standing seam roofing which will requires renting an electric seamer to finish the crimps. I chose this color for minimum solar gain.
All our bolts for the columns are preset into the footings and they are perfectly placed.
I want insulation around the perimeter of the stem walls to keep the heat in since I prep'ed for hydronic heat. The pipe insulation warped stub is the grounding rod to protect it from the apron's concrete soon to be poured.
I tasked myself to cope the base channel around all the posts and door openings, as I want them to be neat and tidy.
I used shallow cut and managed to use one thin cutting disc for all these cuts.
We lucked out to hit a dry and warm day by scheduling the concrete delivery and line pump in advance. The rests of the days around it was all rainy.
We managed to got the last minute details done before the concrete arrived near noon. That includes the three big buried pipes for the downspout drains and a sleeving for the propane line and risers that has yet to be ran. That is the hose of the line pump.
The apron would make erecting the sidings on the three sides that much easier.
We had two concrete trucks delivering the 13 yards as they max out at around 11.
We covered the aprons with insulating blankets so they don't freeze overnight. Here I installing the base channels for the siding to be fastened to.
The roof beam extensions for the front overhand are massive so requires renting another piece of equipment so the crew can work safely.
More screw ups from the steel company. All the window jams are 4 inch too tall as they didn't take into account the 4" stem wall elevation from finished floor. We cut and re-welded the flanges.
We have so much rain these two days the utility trench is filled with water. Next week the crew will help me pull the copper wires for the 100A sub panel. I have #2 and #6 ground so they are good for up to 150A or so but my main panel max breaker amperage is 125A. I can upgrade the sub panel disconnect breaker to 125A to maximize the amperage.
We are close to framing up the four window openings. There are two more above the one on this end. The overhangs of the roof easily add 50% of cost because they are labor intensive to erect, and add greatly to the structural loads.
I gifted myself a used scissor lift which will be available all the time inside the barn. It was delivered by the seller tonight.
I don't remember if I mentioned the amount of fills we brought in and compacted to prepare the building site. As I want to have a good size paved front patio we have to raise the elevation of the whole area a lot. In all use brought in about 170 truck loads of pit run and gravel. The county required we have a geo engineering firm approve the fill and test the compaction before the foundation and slab could be poured. I have learned so much in this project.
I have to remind myself there can never be any heavy equipment on the inside slab. This is because of the 2" rigid foam insulation under the slab. They are rated by PSI per mm of compression based on their density. They can handle cars and trucks and small tractor, but not anything heavier.
I had asked for a turnkey installed quote for the three 12'x14' garage doors. I feel the price is too high so I am now considering specifying them and order them myself for DIY installation. Of all the ones I looked at so far the Clopay thru Home Depot has the best price, design, and quality. It does not make sense now to cheap out on the R value of them since the building have good amount of insulation. I want to have windows for some natural light.
This configuration has injected polyurethane foam which makes the door panels that much stronger over the polystyrene sandwiched construction.
This online quote is closer to the final specs but I still have to triple check the dimensions and options. Like buying a car, you have to be able to say no to some options to cap the total price.
Here are some older photos that cover some other work that I haven't posted.
I decided to prep the whole slab with hydronic heat tubings but provisioned them for 4 zones. That gives me the option to selectively not heating some area.
I cut a new hole for the 2" conduct at the 200A main breaker behind the three car garage. It can send up to 125A service to the barn.
I managed to keep the 2" conduit bends at 360 degrees total I also mapped out how to run a generator feed to the house while also feeding to this panel using existing conduit the PO provisioned for other purpose.
I repurpose many of this sump pump basin as valve boxes
These are the cheapest good quality shut off valve that allow me to drain the water for winterizing the building if needed.
For each branch of buried fresh water line I install a shutoff in case the branch got compromised so I can keep the supply to the house uninterrupted.
There are many side projects since I have the excavators and crew here. Here I install a generator lockout plate for the main house and retrofitting a feed from the generator thru the other main panel.
Here is the sewer rough out for the bath along a wet wall for efficient space use.
this is a pump sewer basic for the barn which pumps the sewer uphill to the septic waste pipe at the main house
the pump basin with the riser cover removed
you can see the 2" pump sewer line going uphill towards the main house
this 100A sub panel may be upgraded to 125A
this T junction for the water line to the cabin that is 630 ft away down hill. I later install a shut off valve at this junction in case the cabin branch is compromised.
another side project - a concrete pad so I can put a stair up to the attic of the three car garage on the outside
concrete pad for the propane tank feeding the barn's radiant heat boiler; next to it is a new yard hydrant I sunk to serve the small fenced garden
the sea of red is the radiant floor heat tubings under the rebar grid; we poured the slab at the same time with the stem wall and the ditch like footings around the whole perimeter which my guy know how to do in one pour.
I cut the control joints for the slab
hauled home all the windows and doors in one trip
six 5x4 windows
two 36" man doors; the other stuff are the insulation batt for the roof and walls; both the Lotus and Desire were both evicted for being deadbeats not paying rent
I operated this boom lift to hoist my main guy up so he can help install the top girts on the front side wall
Not many contractor will trust a homeowner with their life on a heavy equipment
I retrofitted this conduit for a fiber optic cable run between the main house and the barn, and the cabin while I have all the ditches dug
That is one hell of a project. And you have made it look “easy”.
In comparison, I am struggling to replace the 2 sinks in our main bathroom. The “contractor” forgot to get the braided water lines... Plus I have been known to procrastinate.
So, go you... And thanks for sharing.
PS: I think this web site does notifications once for the first post after you last looked at a thread that you have subscribed to. There are no more notifications for any subsequent posts. Maybe you missed that notification and that is why you missed some of the some of our posts? Just a thought.
Hi all. I have meant to come back and post more of the "barn" project and of course about cars including Desire. Only I discharged the paid workers whom I call bots in June of 2022 as they were burning my cash faster than Titan Rocket its fuel. I have been running solo ever since doing all the heavy liftings which are HVAC, lift, hydronic heating, garage doors, man doors, and detail work. I also have a plan for a loft on one of the bays.
I took an unplanned cross country trip in July of 2022 to Upstate New York to pick up another Lotus. While on the road I tried to plan to meet up with Eddie07S as I gather he must live near Watkins Glen. It was a short notice to him and unfortunately the week didn't land on what would take him to meet me at the track. I picked up the Lotus in less then 20 miles from the track.
I drove from PNW to Upstate New York to pick up this Lotus
It is a Elise Cup R that is virtually new - not street legal
here is a photo of the barn back in July 2022 when I was waiting for the garage doors that I would install myself; Desire now sports a set of coilovers with Swift springs
I picked up some of the missing vertical tracks but these were the least of the ongoing nightmare with the door company
Good to see Desire is still alive and kicking. Often wondered how you are.
I'm planning to take some track classes this spring. Goal is to start by tracking the MINI, and, then eventually working my way into vintage racing with a 67-68 Mustang. Although Lotus has my attention. 😊
I always struggle with hiring contractors. My expectations are unreasonably high, and I almost always wind up frustrated, no matter how clearly I lay out expectations and deliverables in advance. You have always seemed more exacting than me--I can only imagine how the "bots" must have irked you.
pnwR53S - I was honored that you thought to try to meet up…So close yet so far away… So much of the NAM community are interesting people, yet hard to meet in person because of distances between members. Maybe the next time if either of us is traveling…
Glad that you made it back home without incident and, boy, what a gorgeous car!
Looking forward to hearing about this “new” vehicle in your stable.
@pnwR53S Here’s to hoping that this finds you still having some track fun. I have been following another R53S owner who has prepped his MINI for the track. And, I found out the other day that the track he is running at is the same one that you frequented:
If you are still doing track events there and you happen to see the red MINI from that post please be sure to introduce yourself and tell him Eddie sent you.
Plus I have been known to procrastinate. 
