New (very old building) shop

[Lynn]

Of all the concrete work I have done over the years, I consider this walk to be my biggest failure. It was too hot, I ordered too stiff a mix, and just could not get it skreeded as smoothly as I like before troweling. Still has trowel marks in it. Oh well, at least it is just a workshop and not my residence.

Apparently, it is still smooth enough to ride a bike on. That's one of my twin grandsons. I remember posting on here when they were born. Can't believe they are seven years old already.

[luzl78]

How much is concrete per yard in Oklahoma?

[Lynn]

This is where it really gets interesting. You saw earlier where I had to cut off the bottoms of all the studs (after building a temporary wall to hold the roof up) and have a mason rebuild the brook stem wall.

I was thinking I would be doing the same thing with the next two thirds of the wall. I was wrong.

This middle section was even less stable than the West 1/3 of the wall. Even before removing tin, there were sections I could swing in and out about 6 to 8 inches. I knew the studs were rotten; I didn't know how bad the stem wall was.

There was a small bathroom in this area. I decided to demo the whole thing. Poor construction, and not enough room for a deep sink. Sorry, did not take pics of the bathroom area before and after. Good news is demo is fast and relatively easy. Bad news? It was mostly what was holding things up on that part of the wall.

First pic is the toilet flange. You can see how bad the wood is on the wall. Most of the studs had already been sistered; and not very well.

Second pic is just outside where the toilet flange is. You can see the brick stem wall down there.... about a foot below grade. There was nothing bigger than a tooth pick left from the bottom sill plate it was so rotten. A few studs were just sistered directly onto the stem wall with no sill plate. At first I thought about just getting more brick and building it up even higher. But, the farther East we went the farther below grade the stem wall was, so that ruled out just building it up.

Time to get creative. Stay tuned.

[Lynn]

Below that brick stem wall is a huge concrete footer. I don't know how deep, but at least another two foot below the brick. So, I decided the brick wasn't even that important. After sawing off the bottoms of all the studs, and removing some more tin (for room to work) we just hit each brick with a baby sledge; if it moved we took it out. When we got down to all solid brick, we just built an 18 inch wide form around it that was two inches taller than the inside slab. I made it the exact same height as the retaining wall that we put between the warehouse side and the workspace side. I drilled four 5/8 holes in the retaining wall and ran 5/8 rebar (#5 to you guys who know the lingo) out of that wall and into what would be the new concrete stem wall. We ran the rebar x 4 the entire length. Also tied into the concrete that is the drive under the east 12 x 12 door). That concrete is over 10 inches thick, and I didn't want to try busting it out.

First pic shows my second temporary wall (covers the middle third). Second pic I call three sisters. It is where someone had tried to sister studs.... twice. But they were still rotted. You can't put wood below grade and expect it to survive.

Next few pics are of the wall right after it was poured. For only the second time ever, I under estimated the amount of concrete. Had to make a run to the hardware store and buy 8 more bags to mix by hand. Ugh. I hate mixing concrete in a wheel barrel.

Last pic shows where I cut out the hideous concrete around the old toilet flange. It was horribly uneven. And besides, I needed a place to bring city water into the building. Did I ever tell you about my water supply? I really can't remember. Well, it is just a pex line running from a building four lots over through a chain link fence, then through a hole punched in my South wall (drilled really, not punched... the wall is solid brick and mortar, 19 inches thick) then snaking around to the shop over to the bathroom. We send the guy $20 every few months so we have water. Well, I got the City to put in a water meter and run City water to the North side of my building... but that's another story.

Anyway, that gray pipe you see sticking up is 2 inch conduit for the new City water line to come through. I ran a 6 inch conduit for the sewer line. The old sewer line just ran on top of the dirt and was partially exposed. Nice.

Got that wall poured. Notice the giant stakes holding the forms in place. 18 inch thick concrete builds up a lot of pressure when you are pouring and poorly reinforced form walls are a disaster waiting to happen. So I made stakes out of 2x4. Really took a lot to pound them in this rocky soil. Several layers of gravel, some asphalt and who knows what else. Many of them, I had to put a 20 inch masonry bit on the hammer drill and drill down just to make a hole to get the stake started. I am thinking I need Super Dave to come visit for a weekend, so we can knock this out.

Notice the gap in the anchors near the east end. Decided to install a pedestrian door there. Until now, you could only get into the building via a garage door.

[Lynn]

This gives you an idea how bad the rot was. I had to cut 8 feet off the bottom of the studs in this section.

[Lynn]

Guess I misplaced the camera about this time, as I have very few pics from this point on.

We still had a sliding door in the 12 x 12 entrance. Really heavy. The roof sagged about 4 inches above that door. I jacked up one end and built a temp frame for the West end of that door. You can see where I have four 2x6's screwed together, with a latch to accept the door lock. Obviously, the building is VERY susceptible to a break in. Fortunately, you can throw a rock and hit the police station. I would go by from time to time and ask the local constabulary to keep an eye on the place with an extra patrol each night. So far, so good.

First pic is the door brace from the outside; second from the inside. Last pic is of the new stem wall with the form removed. Notice I left all the 2x4 stakes out in the drive area. Figured to use them to reinforce the sidewalk form for the next step.

I can't find very many pics of the new stem wall after removing the forms. Probably on Sherri's phone. Here is one showing just the edge. Speaking of edges, it will probably be "on edge" rotated 90 degrees. Almost always happens when I transfer from my phone. I get them oriented correctly on my computer, but when I post, they come out 90 degrees off. BTW, I never could have done this without that scissor lift. What a life saver.

Had to wait for the plumber to rough in the toilet flange and vent stack before pouring the sidewalk and the small piece of slab for the bathroom.

It was about this time that we had some 80 mph winds come through and blow off about 1/3 of my modified torch down bitumen roof. Fortunately, insurance picked up the tab. Replaced that part of the roof with TPO. Really nice product. Almost makes me wish the wind had taken off all of it.

[Burd]

Wow. A lot of work there. Nice job your doing. I saved my moms 1.5 garage when I started the trade, I remember how much work that was, your project is huge.

[markinnaples]

Congrats on getting all of that done, it's going to be killer when it's done.

And that's a great story about the old water line, lol, just throwing the guy $20 every month or so. Hilarious.

[Lynn]

Originally Posted by markinnaples

Congrats on getting all of that done, it's going to be killer when it's done.

And that's a great story about the old water line, lol, just throwing the guy $20 every month or so. Hilarious.

I can't take credit for that one. It was that way when we bought it. The guy I bought it from owns the other building that has been supplying my water. I knew I was going to have to pay for a water meter and water line.

[scuncio]

Looking good!