[sdbob]

Yes, also if stone exposed ( if plastic vapor barrior isnt used)under concrete wet those as well so when pouring, the dry stone doesnt pull the moisture out of wet concrete.

[Sirrotica]

I think the best concrete floor system I've seen for strong floors is the tensioned cable system. They pull crossed cables tight before the pour, then after it cures, they release the tension keeping the slab in tension. This is the same technology used to build concrete support beams used to span bridge pilings, etc.

After removing 2, 3x3 foot sections from my garage floor to pour footings for installing my lift, I get to see how 10 year old fiber reinforced, with relief cuts, stood up. The floor is roughly 4 inches thick, and it had zero cracks other than on the relief cuts. This floor was poured by the previous owners of my house. If you look at older driveways, they poured them the same way and cut expansion cracks with trowels before the concrete cured. most time the slabs stayed intact, and just split on the expansion cracks

I also had to break some of it up with a sledgehammer to remove it, and it took a lot of hammering to get it to crack. I finally took my air chisel to score it where I wanted it to break. The score marks worked really well. much better than just hitting it with a sledgehammer randomly. There was zero mesh, or rebar, just 4 inch slabs with fiber reinforcement. I'd probably use that recipe if I had to pour another garage floor in my lifetime.

This floor was poured on old gravel road base, the old highway used to go down my driveway, and the garage is built right on the old road. The county moved the new highway about 500 feet to the west and surrendered the right of way to the previous owners of my property. I dug down a foot for the footing, and it's just small gravel under my garage floor, less than the size of a quarter.

[dataway]

CarCrazy, I spent the last week getting the 275 gal IBC, a water pump, and hoses and we use the little Honda EU2000 generator to run it, specifically to keep the concrete wet. Also use it for watering in new grass etc.

What I DON'T know at present is how long after the pour do I start to water it down?

Roof is on now so that will help keeping it wet and cool.

Sirrotica, I've heard the fiber stuff can be a real PITA to demo, just as you describe, very resistance to impact cracking.

The cable tensioning thing is all the rage these days, and evidently it's code in places with seismic activity, or places with real high clay content (Texas for instance) where soil expansion and contraction is a problem.

[carcrazy]

I started "misting" the concrete the day following the pour. A trick some of the old-timers used to do was to wet it down and then put burlap over the area to hold the moisture in (and you didn't have to wet it down as often).

[Half-Inch Stud]

Random input; General Jackson river showboat was good. Band is excellent.

[Redpiston]

Typically you would keep it wet until it met 80% design strength. I'm sure you are not breaking test cylinders, so a good rule of thumb is 5 to 7 days. Covering with burlap and keeping it wet is best, but if you can keep it wet with a sprinkler works also.

[dataway]

Yes I read that at the 7 day mark it should be at 70-80% of strength, so that gives me a target.

Have you seen how much burlap costs these days

I've certainly learned a lot about concrete curing in the last few days .... evidently some high strength cast concrete they will actually submerge in a tank of water for days. In Australia they typically build a dam around the slab and fill it with water.

The Mexican crew was out working on it Saturday. They appear to be doing some nice work, no complaints at all about the carpentry. I checked the screws in the one wall they have covered in metal and it was very impressive, screws are so straight and uniformly tightened it looks like they were done at a factory. Not a single ding, bend or scrape in the entire 60' wall. Trim all looks straight and properly applied, rat-guard nice and snug on the bottom of the panels. I stopped by and gave them $20 each for working on Sat.

I'll be busy Sunday and Monday tilling and planting about 4 acres of grass, trying to get it in before the rains come.

And ... thanks guys, the information provided in this thread has been very helpful with this build. (Even the random input )

[dataway]

Video posted of the third full day of construction. Doing trim details and covering the north wall in metal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxKB8yzDKbQ

[dataway]

A couple of pics, inside so far, and the "front" (the side that will face the side of the house)

[Sirrotica]

They always look so big, until you start putting stuff inside..........LOL

[necdb3]

Originally Posted by Sirrotica

They always look so big, until you start putting stuff inside..........LOL

And somehow if you make it twice as big as you think you need, you always wish you built it bigger.

[Sirrotica]

Originally Posted by necdb3

And somehow if you make it twice as big as you think you need, you always wish you built it bigger.

Thats, been my experience as well.

The house I purchased 3 years ago has a 30x40x8 garage, a 32x48x10 pole building with a lean to shed off of the back of the garage, it measures 24x30. A ramshackle barn that will be torn down at some point. The barn is leaning, and the timbers are failing so I store nothing in it. The barn however is connected to a recently built lean to shed that is in good shape, the lean to is 20x34. I intend on replacing the barn with a steel 30x50x14 building.

Add to that 5, 12x10 sheds. three of them are rotten, but I use one for lawn mower storage, and one for a goose house. I also have a 8x20 truck body that we use for a chicken coop.

Currently I have just a tick over 3400 sq ft in useable garage space, and I can keep everything I own under roof, first time in my life. If I build the new 30x50 barn, I'll be at 4900 sq ft of garage space, I might have too much......space

[Mr Anonymous]

Originally Posted by Sirrotica

They always look so big, until you start putting stuff inside..........LOL

There's an old farmer's saying that "there's never been a barn built big enough"

[dataway]

Just yesterday I commented to the builder that it looks smaller on the inside (kind of the opposite of the Tardis)
Will have videos of the concrete going in shortly. We're going to have a 16'x40 apron on the back of the building.

Soon I will be washing cars on concrete for the first time in 40 years. It was such a pain on a gravel driveway all these years.

[dataway]

Video of the south wall being completed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbbyow7S1nE

And a video of the shop floor being poured ... including a short rain storm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSl8anj-M2g

[dataway]

And ... the rear 16x40 apron being poured and finished.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=St6BogbLNAw

[roger1]

Very nice! I bet you are excited about being ready to use it soon.

An apron is one thing my shop is missing. I'd like to have one the exact same size as yours. Been thinking about this for a while. Right now, every time I drive a car into my shop, the tires bring in gravel that I have to sweep out.

[dataway]

Yes the fun will start in a couple of weeks when I can start moving things in, going to wait about a month before I try moving in the equipment that weighs about 10,000 lbs.

I realized when standing on the apron that it might be my favorite part of the project. Will be so nice to have a place to wash off the cars and equipment without worrying about splashing mud and gravel and no worries where the water goes.

[dataway]

New video of the mostly complete shop. Still have to install gutters and drainage, get electric hooked up, wire the inside, seal the floor, paint the man door and window, do the landscaping. Hopefully in a month it will be usable as a workspace.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CoKADFszEU

[dataway]

Sealing the garage floor with some water based penetrating sealer.

The job was every bit as boring as it is on video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtQINcEJ_W8