Dug a hole

[john70t]

Pin a few lamented notes inside of 'the now' experience.
Someone will find them much later.

[dad911]

I don't see support for the slab.

We like to leave a shelf, and a garage that big I would put 2 piers down the middle.

Originally Posted by dad911

I don't see support for the slab.

We like to leave a shelf, and a garage that big I would put 2 piers down the middle.

Interesting thought about the piers. I'll have to ask. The slab will be supported by stones/gravel/sand, compacted down and allowed to sit while the building is framed in.

Here's where things stood today, after the forms had been removed. The slab company is different from the foundation guys. A lot of what you hire a general contractor for is who he knows and how good a job he does managing them.









This shows the relative positions of the man door to the garage and the back door of the house. Main electrical input to the house is to the right of the light above the door, where it goes in to the main panel. The white conduit through the foundation is where the conduit from the house will enter the garage. Electrical panel will be just above on the wall next to the door.



Plan is to run electrical runs through the slab. Heavy machinery--welders, compressor, blast cabinet, milling machine, lathe--will go in the back room of the garage where the high wall is.

[71T Targa]

Maybe I missed it, but have you considered in floor heat? Should work great in this climate.

[javadog]

I would have put the main electrical feeder below grade. I usually go at least three feet deep.

I wouldn't tun any electrical through the slab, I'd run it all overhead, so it could be moved or modified later.

Your garage, feel free to ignore my advice.

Originally Posted by 71T Targa

Maybe I missed it, but have you considered in floor heat? Should work great in this climate.

Funny you should mention that. It's a distinct possibility, now that I have more time to work on the slab. Researching it now.

Originally Posted by javadog

I would have put the main electrical feeder below grade. I usually go at least three feet deep.

I wouldn't tun any electrical through the slab, I'd run it all overhead, so it could be moved or modified later.

Your garage, feel free to ignore my advice.

The main feeder will be below grade, albeit only about a foot. As to the wiring, I am still undecided about through the slab or overhead, depending. Probably will be a combination of both, but I'll run the conduit through the slab to provision for it.

I never ignore advice. I asked my builder about dad911's piers, and he said they would not be necessary because of how hard he soil is and th type of fill he plans to use. We'll see if he's right.

[cabmandone]

In floor heat is good as long as you keep the doors closed. Once air temp drops it takes an eternity to warm back up. It's great when you're laying on the floor but you're gonna have a lift so there isn't going to be much of that going on.

That’s a good point, Nick. I tend to like to keep the door open when I work. Around here you can do that much of the year. The 7 months when it’s 50 degrees and raining. We call that summer here.

More progress yesterday and today. We wanted to make sure that the unopposed wall at the back had adequate drainage to avoid water intrusion through the could joint at the bottom, hence the fairly complex drainage system.

We brought in 28 yards of crushed stone to replace the dirt removed from where the slab will go. The dirt was not replaced because it had too much residual root and other vegetation in it. I decided to replace it with stone rather than take a risk.

The foundation is the hard part, in terms of cost overruns from unknown/unanticipated complications. Foundation work, which often carries nasty surprises, seems to be the phase of construction that yields the most litigation. We wrote the contract as a fixed price deal, but laid out methodology to price change orders that might come up at this stage. My approach with contractors is to build a trust relationship, which means not forcing them to take risks that might result in them losing money on my jobs. This job, plus the deck the same builder already completed, will make for relatively lengthy engagement, and I want everyone to feel like they are being treated fairly. This seems to yield a better product with less expenditure of stomach acid. I keep a close eye on things, yes, but I'm not interested in pinching every penny to the detriment of the work.

I have a friend who does the opposite--he hires the cheapest guys he can find, then almost always ends up firing them. He ends up perpetually pissed, and it ends up costing him more than if he went with a quality outfit in the first place. To him, everything has to have a winner and a loser, but in seeking advantage so hard, he always ends up losing.

Build it fast, build it cheap, build it well. Choose any two.

[rusnak]

Originally Posted by javadog

I would have put the main electrical feeder below grade. I usually go at least three feet deep.

I wouldn't tun any electrical through the slab, I'd run it all overhead, so it could be moved or modified later.

Your garage, feel free to ignore my advice.

I would have put the main electrical feeder below grade. I usually go at least three feet deep.

In Calif, we would go at least 14" of cover.

NEVER PUT CONDUIT OR PIPE IN THE SLAB. JFC fire your GC

Originally Posted by rusnak

I would have put the main electrical feeder below grade. I usually go at least three feet deep.

In Calif, we would go at least 14" of cover.

NEVER PUT CONDUIT OR PIPE IN THE SLAB. JFC fire your GC

???

Not sure what you are saying here, rusnak.

[rusnak]

I'm saying that Javadog is 100% on the money with his post.

You do not want to have any conduit, or pipe in the slab. You want to have sufficient cover (dirt) compaction beneath the slab. This assumes that you have had a soil test done, and the Geotech has recommended a minimum ground cover in his report.

You also need to have adequate fall around the structure so that water does not migrate beneath the foundation and worse, up into your finished floor. If you do not attend to this now, then you'll be excavating and repouring your flatwork later.

What you're calling "foundation work" goes under the category "site work" and is your source of risk. Someone did not do his homework. I would excavate the roots and crap. You need compaction. Roots will decompose. Enough of it, and you'll have methane gas in your building.

Originally Posted by rusnak

I'm saying that Javadog is 100% on the money with his post.

You do not want to have any conduit, or pipe in the slab. You want to have sufficient cover (dirt) compaction beneath the slab. This assumes that you have had a soil test done, and the Geotech has recommended a minimum ground cover in his report.

You also need to have adequate fall around the structure so that water does not migrate beneath the foundation and worse, up into your finished floor. If you do not attend to this now, then you'll be excavating and repouring your flatwork later.

What you're calling "foundation work" goes under the category "site work" and is your source of risk. Someone did not do his homework. I would excavate the roots and crap. You need compaction. Roots will decompose. Enough of it, and you'll have methane gas in your building.

I brought gravel in specifically so we would not be re-using the roots and crap. And we'll be doing compaction too. Pretty sure there won't be any problems, but I'll make sure with my builder. I haven't decided yet how to run the power--the main electrical panel for the house is about six feet from the garage, right next to the door.

At Webb's suggestion, I looked into using radiant floor heat, and I think I'm going to go with that, which will involve encasing poly heating tubes in the slab. It's cost effective and well suited to our fairly mild climate. I'll be doing that install myself.

[cabmandone]

For in floor around here you need insulation along the exterior walls that extends below grade and then insulation below the floor. Make sure you do your homework on in floor heat. I'd still HIGHLY recommend a hanging heater or a mini split like you have on your home (noticed a Mitsubishi outdoor unit).

[daepp]

In CA for residential, absolutely nothing runs in the slab. Plenty of gas, water, sewer penetrates through the slab, but nothing runs in it. And electrical is brought up through the stem walls that support the walls. Just an FYI.

Originally Posted by cabmando

For in floor around here you need insulation along the exterior walls that extends below grade and then insulation below the floor. Make sure you do your homework on in floor heat. I'd still HIGHLY recommend a hanging heater or a mini split like you have on your home (noticed a Mitsubishi outdoor unit).

Good thought. I like the minis, esp because they allow for AC and work well. That's a potential heat source too. Plenty of time to figure it out, because the slab goes in last.

[RWebb]

Yes, the floor heat is great, but slow to change, so a mini-split is a good add-on - I have both in the house

After a bunch more research, I think I will bag the floor heat and go the mini-split route. It can be run off the same compressor as currently works for the house. Thanks, Cabby, for the suggestion.