Started construction this week!!! (page 3&4 very pic heavy)

jeepinmatt

jeepinmatt

#1 WEBWHEELER
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Joined
Mar 24, 2005
Location
Stanley, NC
<Pics on pages 1 and 2 are gone. They were on Webshots, and Webshots deleted everyone who didn't upgrade to their new entity. I may try to repost some of them.>

I guess this could be a "Build thread", but its not all that 4x4 related. The wife and I are building a garage-apartment on our land so that we can stop paying rent and get out of Charlotte. My goal is to do the majority of the work myself. I do plan on paying someone to frame it due to complexity of the roof structure and the time it would take me. I'll try to update on a semi-daily basis. Here's the timeline so far:
September 07:bought land
December 07- got engaged and planned on having a house or something built by June 08
January 08- started clearing for garage/apt based on a barn
February 08- bought adjoining parcel
February 08 to June 08- went back and forth with Gaston County building inspections about my plan
May 08- Power company ran underground lines and installed 50KVA transformer (at my request, for no charge!)
June 08- Got married (at least something went according to plan)
June 08 to June 09- cleared and logged more land, probably 1-1/2 acres cleared now, built 4wheeler trails, built new roads, built a jeep trail
June 09- wife and I agreed on a garage/apartment plan and ordered it
July 09- slab foundation on plan won't work, have to draw my own foundation plan
August 09- get shocking material quotes, realize that we will run out of money much quicker than anticipated
September 09- draw foundation, submit plans
10/2/09- Got building permit!!!
Once that was done, I got the Saw service inspection and got power turned on. Then we went about marking off the site, measuring the fall, putting up batterboards, marking foundation lines, etc.
10/19/09 I finally broke ground. Heres a few pics. Of course I wouldn't know what to do without the supervisor.
11/27/09 Started laying foundation.
11/18/10 Foundation filled
12/6/10 Slab poured
Here's some links to help navigate:
Footings: http://www.nc4x4.com/forums/showpost.php?p=588034&postcount=28
Well: http://www.nc4x4.com/forums/showpost.php?p=591087&postcount=37
Block: http://www.nc4x4.com/forums/showpost.php?p=627336&postcount=47
Foundation: http://www.nc4x4.com/forums/showpost.php?p=909103&postcount=51
Fill and Slab: http://www.nc4x4.com/forums/showpost.php?p=909121&postcount=53
 

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That sounds like an awesome idea, I can't wait to get the heck out of Charlotte. I really hate living IN Charlotte where we live it is not really safe for kids to play outside ( to many weirdos ) and I'm tired of living so close to other people. I wish we could something like this but with 3 kids we need more space.
 
I saw similar plans several years ago and I thought that was a great idea. When things get right, build a bigger house beside it, you still have a nice cottage/detached garage.

Addinn on is also a possibility.

If you use your garage space carefully, that's plenty enough space for 2 people.

I'd love to have a place where all I can see is trees!!

Congrats.
 
GONOVRIT said:
Can you get that tractor anytime? I know someone else you could dig for;)
Click to expand...
Yes, I have full access to the tractor. My dad and I go halves on everything. He always says you can pay the man or buy the tools. What you need done Josh?


Got all of the backhoe work finished up today. It is really tricky trying to dig a 24ft span with a 30ft piece of old iron. Now the hard part starts, getting everything squared up and cleaned out. There is about 3ft of fall from front to back, so I am having to step the foundation, which will be a lot of shovel work in virgin clay. If anyone wants to dig, come on by. Im hoping to get it all done before it rains so I can get it inspected and signed off. Didn't have the camera with me today, so no new pics. Hopefully Ill get some tomorrow of the cleaned up and finished footings.

Its amazing how big the piles of dirt are just from digging the footings, and its also amazing how little ground the piles cover when you spread them out.
 
rbo1577186 said:
I saw similar plans several years ago and I thought that was a great idea. When things get right, build a bigger house beside it, you still have a nice cottage/detached garage.
Addinn on is also a possibility.
If you use your garage space carefully, that's plenty enough space for 2 people.
I'd love to have a place where all I can see is trees!!
Congrats.
Click to expand...
Thanks! We really like being out in the woods a bit. Right now there is not a single private spot in our yard. I cant even find any bushes to pee in.

The long term plan is to build a 3-4 bedroom house directly beside, and the overhung portion will be a breezeway between the house and the garage. We will have to find a bunch of money between now and then though.
 
Just plan on moving all your equipment over here round december:lol: Lotsa trees to come down and grading to be done. If I get a spare minute anytime I'll call ya and see if I can be of any help. Good luck!
 
pigpen said:
nice set up man, and your how old? and where is that gonna be at? i need that backhoe too! lol
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Thanks. Currently 25, but I guess I don't act my age. My wife is older though, shes 26 :lol: We'll be conveniently situated between the bustling metropoli of Dallas and Stanley. Ill be happy to rent equipment, but I'll be running it too. I will let you play on it some, but its kinda like letting someone borrow your rig. Shoot me a PM if you're serious.
 
GONOVRIT said:
Just plan on moving all your equipment over here round december:lol: Lotsa trees to come down and grading to be done. If I get a spare minute anytime I'll call ya and see if I can be of any help. Good luck!
Click to expand...
Sounds like a plan. I should be temporarily done with it for December. I can knock out all the trees and stumps in a day, and then we'll have a big ol fire, and start the digging. Probably take less than a week if there isn't too much rock.
 
Got the footings finished up today. I swear I moved 10k pounds of dirt with a shovel. I had to dig out for 6 piers, each hole was roughly 36x36x18", but the middle was already busted up by the backhoe. Also had to bust up and then dig out 3 spots where the backhoe couldn't reach. Makes you wonder how they used to build things in the olden days.
I've got a few pics downloaded, now uploading to webshots, then I'll offload them here.

Tomorrow will be putting up the concrete dams and grade stakes. Hopefully monday will be inspection and tuesday pouring.
 
Looks awesome man. I really dig the building plan too.
 
It has been a tedious 2 weeks. We had to clean the footings out twice because of rain. The water isn't really a problem, but the layer of mud and silt all has to be shoveled out. The first time it was going to rain, I decided not to cover anything, as it seemed like the simplest solution. The second time, we had already put in grade stakes and dams, so I covered everything with tarps and plastic. It was pointless, everything turned into buckets, even though I had it staked up tightly. Cleanup the second time was also much more difficult, as I had to work around the stakes and dams. Ill get pictures up here in a minute.
 
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