Building a Shop - 106 Inspections and Concrete

Has it really only been a week? Between the daily news feeds, routines, managing brush and this construction project, days really just zip by. Today (24-June-2025), we got the concrete poured, but we had some inspection adventures along the way.

  

Inspection One

I brushed on the finishing of the rebar in my last post. The guys completed the work on Monday, June 16. In between were a few partial days around other projects to get the rebar set up and to dig out the trench and set in the PVC pipe for the lift controls. Feeling we were ready, I scheduled an inspection for Wednesday, June 18. Since this was the day before a US holiday (Juneteenth), my scheduled inspection was met with multiple other projects trying to get their inspections done before the weekend AND multiple inspectors deciding to call off, extending their respective weekends by another day. The result? The inspector was pissed before he got there, which is never a good set up for an easy inspection. We did not pass for 4 reasons:

1. rebar lying directly on the compacted gravel, not physically suspended 2" above
2. overlaps of rebar were not a minimum of 20"
3. rebar in footings supported by rebar driven directly into the ground 
4. type of PVC used (white, not grey) for the controls is not rated as electrical conduit

The rebar lying on the compacted gravel, while a fair observation, may not have been entirely fair. I have learned that it is a fairly common practice to lift the rebar as the concrete is poured. I am sure the inspector was right to point it out, remaining within the letter of the regulations. Ultimately, I want / need a floor that will not fail, so now that I've bashed him for not being fair, I'm good with it. I mean, even if the concrete pour-er does lift the rebar as they go, how do they decide how high and keep it relatively consistent? And then, when the concrete is super wet, what is to stop it from floating back down to the bottom anyway? So.. physically suspended makes sense.

Once the inspector explained that the overlap is what creates the strength at the transitions, I understood the 20" minimum overlap. This is especially important in the footings which will be supporting the weight of the building. Then, there's the rebar driven straight into the ground. The inspector felt that this would encourage premature rusting of the rebar as water would be in direct contact with the rebar beneath the concrete and rust would then leach up into the rebar within the concrete, eroding it's strength.

 

The last item about the PVC was 100% my fault. I watched numerous videos by homeowners installing their own lift in their existing garage floor and they used basic white PVC. The PVC is intended to house the hydraulic hoses for the lift plus the low voltage emergency shut off. Because the shotoff is electric, the PVC has to be rated for electrical conduit, which the white PVC is not. So, Wednesday night, I ran off to HomeDepot and got about 7 meters (20 feet) of 2" grey PVC conduit and a corresponding grey 90* bend.

 

Solving For Inspection One

wrong copper wire on left

On the afternoon of Juneteenth, Vai and his crew arrived, dressed for a barbecue, carrying bags of little concrete blocks. While a couple of his guys dug out the white pvc (under and around the rebar) and installed the grey, the other guys were removing the vertical supports and suspending the rebar on top of the little concrete blocks. In less than an hour, they had resolved all of the things that the inspector identified and then left for their family barbecue.

 

One last item that the inspector wrote down, but did not fail me for, was a suggestion to install an "Ufer". The inspector recognized that since I had something that required an electrical conduit, at some point I would need a good electrical ground. While an Ufer is becoming more common, most electrical installations are grounded with two 2 meters long grounding bars driven into the ground 10 feet or more from each other. An Ufer uses the rebar in the foundation as a ground and is an accepted grounding practice, provided the Ufer is tied into the foundation rebar at at least 3 points and the segment tied to the foundation rebar is at least 12 inches long. When I was getting the grey PVC, I got a 2 meter section of thick copper grounding wire for this purpose. I later discovered this was the wrong material.

 

Inspection Two

west footing cleared

I scheduled a follow-up inspection for Friday, June 20th and we had the same inspector we entertained on Wednesday. He knew exactly what he was looking for, so he went straight to the trouble spots. Rebar suspended above the gravel? Check. Overlaps at least 20 inches? Check. No rebar driven into the ground? Check. Grey PVC? Check. Ufer? Not quite. The inspector indicated that the Ufer needs to be rebar and that the grounding wire from the panel to the Ufer is the material that I was using. Doh! Kindly, he indicated that if I did the replacement with rebar and sent him a picture, we would get the approval for the grounding Ufer. He also pointed out that we had too much dirt in the bottom of the western footing. Again, he said if I fixed it and sent a picture of it cleared, we would get approved.

 

I found a section of rebar in the construction rubbish that had a 90* bend in it, was 14 inches long to one side of the bend and about 4 inches on the other. Basically, it was perfect for this purpose, so I tied it into the foundation rebar at 4 points, pointing the short end straight up, about 18" south of the northeast corner of the foundation. So no one tripped over it, I spray-painted it orange. Last, with a hand-held digger and a plastic cup, I cleared the western footing of debris. I sent pictures of these things (along the right side, here), and we got approved.

Concrete Pour

orange Ufer

With the approval in hand, we looked at calendars and weather projections. We wanted to pour on Friday, but we had a strong feeling (that was warranted) that we were going to get hit by rain. It rained on and off all day and the here and there all weekend, so we were right to delay.. to Tuesday, June 24th. The concrete pump arrived at 8, Vai's crew appeared shortly thereafter and the concrete truck arrived around 930. Vai's crew wanted to confirm the placement of the lift forms and they firmed them up with some cross-bracing against the exterior forms so they would not move during the pour. Then, they solved for what I had been referring to as "the wings" on the lift forms. In the drawing, there are 2" wide by 4-1/2" deep by 9" long channels that jut out from the front and rear of the main lift recess. These are for the supports for the ends of the lift when it is all the way down. Frankly, they look like tripping or tool-losing hazards for when the lift is up, so I may create some fills for when the lift is up. To create the 8 recesses, we combined a 2x6 (actual size 1-1/2 by 5-1/2) to an old fence board (3/4 by 5-1/2), cut into 9" sections and then rough-screwed onto the forms. While the wood bits are slightly wider and deeper than required, I felt that was a better situation for the arms to descend into than slots which were either too narrow or too short. If it becomes a thing, I will solve for it then.

 

gettin after it

Once the forms were ready, they started pumping concrete and in about an hour the footings, and floor were poured. I went out to pay the concrete truck and Vai's guys were finishing the last of the floor with barrows of concrete. Somewhere along the way, one of his guys rotated the Ufer into the concrete, so we fished that out. While it's no longer orange.. it's more concrete color.. I am glad I asked about it. This serves as a reminder to check everything as you go. While they are the experts, you ultimately own it. Government inspection is to make sure no one gets hurt and it's structurally sound. Any small error that doesn't get into inspection territory is yours to verify. Anyway, Vai's crew stayed for a few hours floating it smooth and monitoring the concrete. The result at the end of pour-day is pictured at the top. Now, we wait for it to cure and then we can move forward with the steel building on top of it.

 

Wrap Up 

That's it for today. I don't have any car content as I honestly have not had any time to play on the cars this past week. Around managing the concrete work, Boo and I have been clearing brush around the tool sheds and weeds along the eastern and southern sides of the new shop space. I am still waiting for the new flywheel and clutch/pressure plate from Kennedy. I hope to have them in time for Independence Day weekend so I can do the engine-trans R&R over those 3 days.

 

As always, thanks for following along-

Building a Shop - Gravel and Form

We thought we were going to be ready to pour this week, but things got complicated. Once they complete the rebar, though, we will be ready for our formal "106" -or- "foundation and placement" inspection. Then, they pour and we wait. What's described below took place last week and the end of the week before.

 

More Framing

Before the gravel could get poured in, another frame inside the initial frame was needed to hold the gravel out of the 1 foot footing. This inner frame is very similar to the outer frame they had done the prior week. It was just 4 inches shorter and 1 foot inside the first one. While a few guys were banging on that, Tim the front-end-loader guy prepared the landing zone in front of the farm house for the gravel by scraping the wood chips out of the way.

 

Graveling

By mid-morning 6-June, a Friday, 2 dump truck loads of gravel appeared. They first moved gravel with a muck cart (motorized tracked walk-behind that looks like a bathtub on treads). The muck cart broke at some point so they switched to the front end loader moving it. After a day of grinding, they got the inner frame filled with gravel, plus a little mound in the center to account for compacting. They had some left over in the truck, and rather than just leave with it, they laid down gravel across the end of the driveway 3 meters in, leaving a 6 by 3 meter rectangle of gravel.

 

Gravel Mop Up

marking the "graves"

The next morning, I was out there with a shovel and a garden rake, leveling the gravel on the driveway. I hosed it down and let it bake in the sun for the day. The next morning, I moved the old wood chips on top of the gravel, approximating the look of the driveway prior to their arrival. We believe the gravel bedding will help reduce mud from appearing at the end of the driveway where delivery trucks and the mail man inevitably park. This part of the driveway has always been the muddiest historically, and when our friends and family visit, it is inevitably where they park and walk. So, this is selfishly important too.

 

Framing

On Monday, 9-June, the guys were back to continue the preparation for the concrete pour. They had planned for compacting and rebar. We discovered a complication after the compacting. One of the items in the drawings from the beginning was accounting for a lift to be set down into the concrete. This required 2" PVC pipe to be run under the concrete in a few spots as well as the recesses for the 2 lift arms. I acquired the PVC over the weekend, but the guys needed to dig some trenches in the gravel after they got the compacting done. Similar to the excavation, lots of measuring and marking came first, to make sure it was where the plan said, and the right size.

Since the gravel had been compacted, this made the digging harder, but the hole retained it's form. Had they not compacted first, digging the rectangular holes for the lift would have been like digging a hole at the beach: the sides would keep caving in. Instead, they dug what looked like a pair of shallow graves. Inside the little graves, they framed in the forms and sent the 2" connecting pipe (for the hydraulics and electrical) between them. Last, they dug the trench and set in the pipe from the lift over to the future wall where the controller will be. All said, this took them the better part of the day.

 

Rebar

The guys were working on another project most of the rest of the week, coming by near the end of the day for a few hours to get after the rebar work. As I write this, there remains a few hours of fit and finish before we will be ready for inspection. The rebar is laid out in a grid with the ends near the framed forms bent down into the trench to give the walls the same stability that the floor will have.

 

The pictures above were taken before the rebar started but the rebar work is not yet complete. Also, I did not have a 2" PVC 45* angle to put at the end of the controller pipe to route into the box near the lower left hand corner of the last picture (into the south east corner of the framed-in form). That has since been remedied but it was not available locally for some reason. Anyway, at this rate, I expect a few more partial days of work by the guys and then we can schedule the inspection. For example, they were here yesterday for a couple of hours laying and tying the rebar into the footings. The actual concrete pour just keeps slipping out in time. I imagine lots of projects are like that.

 

Cars Update

On the cars front, I ordered the flywheel and clutch package for Hapy (72 VW Camperbus) so we are just waiting for production and shipping so I can start the engine/trans drop. I had hoped to do other things while the engine was down, like swapping out a bigger oil cooler or replacing the exhaust, but the longer this leans into Summer, the less I want Hapy in pieces and the more I want to be able to drive him. I may do the oil cooler swap anyway since it is really just swapping out parts, but the exhaust will have to wait. As I watch the shop form, I have increasing difficulty in containing my excitement for getting after Hapy details, Oliver's (78 MGB) final pieces, restarting the Zed project (79 Datsun 280ZX).. and, of course, starting on Nina (64 VW Beetle). I anticipate many fall weekends in there, out of the rain, off the mud, getting my wrench on. I cannot wait.

Thanks, as always, for following along. I'll post the rebar and concrete pour as they happen-

Building a Shop - Excavation

I return to the construction effort today. I expect this to be brief.

 

Measure Twice Dig Once

driveway approach

The concrete company we chose to work with arrived mid-morning and set to measuring and stringing lines. As they started, I talked to the supervisor/owner Vai and we agreed that since the eastern property boundary was 100% confirmed and the west was squishy, we would base all measurements off of the east line. The southern line was not as clear, but the pin in the south eastern corner was still protruding from the ground, so that was a known good point. We extrapolated where the line was, but since the minimum rear setback (distance from rear property line to a permitted structure) is 15 feet and the shop was going to be 50 feet, there was little risk of getting dinged by the inspector for possibly being a few inches off.

 

With stakes and string Vai and his team defined the target space. Using a level, they determined, and then showed me, that the grade from south to north was actually at least as pronounced as the west-to-east grade that sent us down that straw wattle search. Because of the grade, the south west corner will be the closest to the ground, leaving the north east corner (the corner opposite) the highest at nearly a foot above grade. Since the entire building will have a 1-foot tall footer, there won't be gavel spilling out from under the foundation, but it does raise the driveway entry, creating a new problem to solve later: garage access for broken (and working) cars.

 

The Dig

diggin

I will admit that when I first thought about the excavation, I expected to have to manage many yards of dirt. I was grossly mistaken. Because of the grades we discovered, most of the digging was along the southern and western edges with only a slight scrape at the north east corner. The biggest removal of dirt was for the storm outflow at the back (south east direction, but still at least 15 feet from the property lines) and the trench leading from the back of the building to it. The operator lost one of the hard rubber tracks, but otherwise they would have had the dig complete in a couple of hours.

 

Framing and Ground Shaping

With the trenches done, Vai and his team framed in the outer edges of the foundation and leveled it. We could really get a sense of the foundation at that point. They added some large blocks of broken up concrete into the space near the eastern edge, leaving space for the footer. The idea is that having the large concrete blocks is superior to 8 or 10 inches of packed gravel under a foundation pad. That much compacted crushed rock can still shift where having large concrete shapes mixed in underneath the upper layer creates more stability.

 

Preliminary Inspection

south west corner

At this point, Vai wanted to have the county inspector come in and consider the work so far. Since we based all measurements off of the eastern line, we wanted to make sure the location of the structure would be approved before we got gravel and rebar in there. Washington County, while it has its flaws, has been highly responsive to my engagements for this project. Getting a preliminary inspection was no different: go to the website, request a 106 (foundation and locating) inspection and then in the comments explain that you want a preliminary inspection. The inspector arrived first thing and after handing him the packet of permitted plans we walked the property, and I explained how we arrived at the location. He agreed with the process, checked the measurements and approved our progress. He even approved of the use of the broken up concrete and explained to me why it was a good thing. His approval went into the system, attached to the permit and it generated an email to me indicating the the location portion of the inspection has passed.

 

Wrapping Up

storm outflow

This is where we are at this point. The reason our bid was so good was in part because our job was getting fit around other ones. So, Vai and his team are floating concrete on another job and the gravel is due in the new few days. They will be returning to place and compact the gravel, do the rebar and everything else shortly after that. At least that's the plan.

 

car stuff:

Hapy: After talking with the fine folks at Kennedy Engineering, I just ordered a replacement flywheel with a stage1 clutch kit. It will arrive in a few weeks. In the meantime, Hapy is in one piece and could be roll-started into service if needed. I am looking forward to seeing the condition of the old flywheel and clutch once I get things apart and on the ground... which won't start until after the new flywheel/clutch kit arrive.