The Silver Buick wants a garage.

[TheSilverBuick]

Re: The Silver Buick wants a garage.

haha It's actually a 40x60 with a 1' retaining wall and 10' drive. Like I said, it's rough.

With my extreme ramp in my picture, it's like a 75ft long ramp 10ft wide on a 60x100ft wide lot. :D

Of course I would not undertake such a project unless I was 100% committed to living in Ely for many years. Ever thought about moving to a different house with less relief and more space? OR building a shop on a lot somewhere else in town?

I figure it this way. I, don't really ever plan to sell the house at this point, and may do like Milner351, and rent the house and keep stuff in the shop when I leave Ely some day, unless the right price is offered for the house. Also, so far the last appraisal I had done was when the market was down and it appraised $20k over what I purchased the place for. So if I sink $25k into it, figure I can at least get that back if I sell the house. Or, people loose way more than $25k in depreciation of new cars and trucks on a regular basis, and I currently can "afford" to not recover the $25k especially if I get use of the building after it's built. That of course is assuming the market completely tanks below the price I paid for the house and shop. Plausible and I just won't sell it. Another 12 years and it'll be paid off, or sooner.

As for moving around town. I've looked at the housing market a few times over the last few years and the only options are; Pay $125,000 more than my house's value for a house with a shop further from work and likely out off a dirt road (winter will suck every year, imo). Or pay roughly what I did for my house for a flat piece of ground with a modular home on it, still down a dirt road and still needs a shop built. I think I can landscape and build a shop for less than $125k and keep my desired location (I really like where I live in town), or not live on a dirt road (and be closer to work) and just pay a grand or two to landscape the land.

[SuperBuickGuy]

Re: The Silver Buick wants a garage.

I wonder what it would cost to make the entire building out of cinder block? Since you're already at half the size of the shop being cinder block, perhaps it wouldn't be that expensive to just continue it - the benefit would be ease to keep the temperature warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

[Hillbilly]

Re: The Silver Buick wants a garage.

I've been reading your thread and thought I would give my 2 cents. I am afraid you are overestimating the capabilities of your backhoe. I dig for a living and it takes me approximately 8 hours to dig a hole for a 1500 sq ft house 7 ft deep (roughly 390 cu yds), with a 320 Caterpillar trackhoe with a 1.25 cu yd bucket. My cycle time is roughly 5 scoops per minute, that is in good clean dirt. I am willing to bet that you run into rock not far below the native surface. I would agree with the other guys on here who have suggested using reinforced walls and building into the hillside. I would try to adjust my elevations so there was an equal amount of cut and fill.

[TheSilverBuick]

Re: The Silver Buick wants a garage.

Thanks for your input! I defiantely will be finding the sweet spot elevation so cuts and fills balance out (probably with a buffer of more cut than fill).

The 420E loader bucket is around 1.25 cu.ft. Which I'll be doing most the dirt moving with. I definately won't be achieving the 5 scoops per minute though. I don't have a final cut/fill volume yet, but is looking like roughly 500 cu. yds. Less deep I have to go the less I have to move. Reality will prove it one way or another, but I think there is significant fill on the up slope part, or rather the current surface has only been there since 1955 and the native surface is possibly several feet below current surface. As for digging, I do have access to equipment operators that have plenty of experience plucking at hard rock (we're hard rock miners!). Plus I have one guy that has plenty of experience building drill ramps and level drill pads with a 420 backhoe here at work.

Looking at the early volumes I'm thinking you may be right on it possibly being a two day affair. Thanks again for your input!

[mopar57]

Re: The Silver Buick wants a garage.

I love this thread, so many good guys giving good advice and great opinions! Fun reading!

[milner351]

Re: The Silver Buick wants a garage.

Randal - I will stand by your desire to build on a site you already own.

My shop is 8 miles from my house, and - well, it SUCKS.

Don't get me wrong - much better than not having a shop - but nowhere near the ideal set up of having the shop out the back door of the house.

I would build what you can afford to build now - perhaps even building the pad larger with plans to add on a non - heated fully enclosed "lean to" down the road on the additional pad. The less volume you have to heat the cheaper it will be.

[BBR]

Re: The Silver Buick wants a garage.

Deep down, I am really hoping you do it train trestle style.

[TheSilverBuick]

Re: The Silver Buick wants a garage.

:D



I don't even want to know the engineering cost of that one! 60+ and 80+ foot steel girders :o

[milner351]

Re: The Silver Buick wants a garage.

For ideas only - obviously this guy has endless money - but ideas none the less:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=12234

[Scott Liggett]

Re: The Silver Buick wants a garage.

What is the city ordinances say about using dynamite in backyard excavating? Do you think the neighbors will mind the noise and shock waves? "FIRE IN THE HOLE!!"

[Hillbilly]

Re: The Silver Buick wants a garage.

Another point I wanted to make was different municipalities have different regulations about building on fill. For example, I compacted about 4' of fill under one house and the powers that be passed it off, while another building dept. in another area required that the fill "settles" for 5 years. Either way it would be a good thing to remove the vegetation from the area that is going to receive the fill, it might even be required.

I didn't realize you were planning on using the front end, that will take even longer. ;)

Removing rock in a pit is a lot different than removing it with a backhoe in your backyard. But I do wish you the best of luck.

[TheSilverBuick]

Re: The Silver Buick wants a garage.

Stripping the vegetation is a must, rather it's required or not, I refuse to leave it there, that we can agree. Building codes here are laughably lax from what I've seen and heard. I'm well out of a flood zone and we are technically not in a seismic zone.

I can easily afford to keep the backhoe a few days, but from what I've seen at work and from the opinion of a friend that lived with me for a while that operates a 420 at work, he didn't think it would be that big of a job. Guess we'll just have to see when the day comes ;)

[TheSilverBuick]

I started this thread a bit over a year ago, and still working towards it. Slowly. But today I got some work done.

Starting this Morning:




And ended with this:







The upper level.


The lower level. The Centurion is practiacally on bed rock there.


From the back of the property line.


I have a few piles of concrete chunks I'm going to "tile" in at select places for traction and such. I'll place the car's tires on pieces tomorrow.


Also got the immediate backyard cleaned up. I may have a real backyard next summer!




So if I go to a full garage, I'll likely start at the lower level the cars are parked on and dig towards the house and fill in down hill until I have a good leveled block I can build on. The driveway will need to be straightened a bit to the right towards the bottom as well.


I may price out some of those tin carport things that are typically two car widths to set over the cars. I'm on the fence about planting grass, vs. just keeping the plant life killed off. I have all winter to decide.

[TheSilverBuick]

*Oh, and the dirt work was only about 3 hours The guy was GOOD!

[BOOOGHAR]

did he use a skid steer or back hoe ?