Garage and road project

[Sir Henry]

It’s a warm sunny day so I thought I would play on my tractor. Maybe jumping on it (okay crawling on) might not have been such a good idea just 13 days after kidney surgery but I was getting cabin fever.

They delivered another five loads.

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I still have another 30 loads coming in the next few days to few weeks.

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I had a quarter load dumped at the bottom of the driveway.

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[daytime dave]

Take it easy but enjoy your seat time Gene.

[Sir Henry]

I leveled the last six loads and will be getting 29 more loads delivered today. This is a view of where the garage will be from halfway up the hill.

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And here is the view from where the garage will be. In both pictures the car is parked in one of the stalls.

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There will be a level parking lot 40 feet wide by 50 feet long in front of the gage and a level spot 50 feet wide by 30 feet deep behind the garage. Living on a hill is great for the view but it makes building very expensive. In total with the garage, RVport and Alice’s shelter I will have a total of 70 loads of 15 yards each. Each load is between $280 and $320 depending on if it’s clean gravel, building gravel or large rock. The far majority is at $280 but it’s still expensive.

[Mags]

That is about what we used to pay for rock. Then Knife River bought out the local quarry. Now it's $500 a truck load and doesn't seem to matter what type. Clean drain rock 1-2" diameter. Driveway rock - 3/4 minus (small gravel mix with some sand and a little clay binder). Fillment Material (reject), basically dirty drain rock.

[Sir Henry]

That is about what we used to pay for rock. Then Knife River bought out the local quarry. Now it's $500 a truck load and doesn't seem to matter what type. Clean drain rock 1-2" diameter. Driveway rock - 3/4 minus (small gravel mix with some sand and a little clay binder). Fillment Material (reject), basically dirty drain rock.

Loads were about half as much before 2020.

[Hatchdog]

Every time I look at your pictures of all that rock the Steve Miller song “Keep on a rocking me baby” pops into my head.

[Sir Henry]

I got about two more hours of tractor seat time today. The tractor has just over 186 hours on it.

The tractor and Ford Transit are both parked where the front two stalls will be. All pictures are taken at 1X power.

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The view of where the garage will be from my front deck which is 185 yards away. You can’t really see the van and tractor although the garage will be partially visible.

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Even from the upstairs windows it will barely be visible.

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This will be the best view of the garage from 115 yards away.

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I don’t think it will be visible from the back door.

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[Sir Henry]

A couple more pictures. The first picture is 1X power and the second is a slight telephoto looking back at the house and RVport.

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[dave77]

Will this be more of a shop than a garage? Quite a long walk to your house.

[Sir Henry]

Will this be more of a shop than a garage? Quite a long walk to your house.

It is a ways up the hill. Part of the reason I’m putting it so far away is so you don’t see it from the road.

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I want to add a greenhouse on the right and didn’t want so many buildings visible. The garage will be mostly for winter storage. The existing garage down by the house (not visible in picture) will be a winter shop. It has its own propane tank and will be insulated and heated. The big garage up the hill won’t have heat.

About 20 years ago there was a barn where the RVport is now. The barn didn’t look like a traditional barn with a gambrel roof. My RVport is quite similar to what the old barn looked like. Or that is what the old timers tell me. I had the previous owner draw me a picture and I duplicated it as best I would while changing its purpose.

[Hatchdog]

Your rock work is looking great. In fact the same can be said about your entire place. Bet the neighbors are happy to have you around in more ways than one!

[Sir Henry]

I got three loads delivered today and the fourth load was delivered by a younger driver. He missed the driveway and cut the inside edge too close and was in the native clay. I’ll have to wait till it dries out and level it. Here I filled in half his ruts. Kids!

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[Sir Henry]

The work continues. Friday I had another nine loads delivered and it’s now spread out. The top has a 50’ x 200’ level spot. I say level although it slopes slightly out from a 40’ x 60’ spot. That spot will need to be another 6” higher and be a true level for the concrete work.

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I figure I’ll need another 15 loads.

[Sir Henry]

It poured all night and this is the project this mourning. All that rain is good for the road gravel as it packs it.

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This is what I did two years ago. The water perks down to the native soil and drains nice. I still have to do drainage on the new road.

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I’ll sure be glad when this project is completed. It’s been a large part of my life all winter and spring.

[Sir Henry]

The concrete man started work today leveling and will be putting out the forms in the next few days. The mud is scheduled to be poured Friday.

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[Sir Henry]

All systems are go for a pour tomorrow.

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[dave77]

What is the white panel below the reinforcing, insulation? Will there be concrete under it? Doesn't seem thick enough otherwise but maybe it's just the angle of the 2nd photo, looks more like 4"+ in the other 2 photos.

[Sir Henry]

What is the white panel below the reinforcing, insulation? Will there be concrete under it? Doesn't seem thick enough otherwise but maybe it's just the angle of the 2nd photo, looks more like 4"+ in the other 2 photos.

The white is insulation to keep the floors warmer in the winter and more important to keep the floor dry when it’s above freezing. The metal forms are a full nine inches and have three-quarter inch rebar every two feet in a cross pattern.

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The road gravel compacted and is almost as hard as concrete. Hard enough he couldn’t drive support stakes into it.

This shows how big the level pad is. It took 815 yards of gravel to made the pad deep and wide enough to turn my Transit van around without having to back up.

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This shows the cross rebar and electrical wires.

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A lot of water can come off the hill and I’ve made a peninsula for the garage. The ditch is two feet deep in front and five feet deep in the 50 foot length.

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[Sir Henry]

The pour begins!

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I’m doing my part.

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He sure has all the right equipment.

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I was surprised they mixed it right on location. No waste and they can sit for hours or if needed for days.

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[Sir Henry]

The pour consisted of four mixers and a conveyor truck. It took about two hours and included twelve people. All have left except two people.

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