Enough of COVID...what are you doing to the house?

[GreyGhost]

My kid runs a good size plumbing supply, he sells a ton of Sharkbite to plumbers. They use them for repairs, said every plumber he knows keeps standard sizes as stock in their trucks.

Every plumber (and most homeowners) should have sharkbite ball valves in 1/2" and 3/4". Fastest way to stop a disaster if your main shutoff decides not to work (i have two shutoffs in now so unlikely both fail) . Getting a test cap on a flowing pipe (especially if it is hot water) can be almost impossible.

 

[Mad Mike]

Need 1 yrd of concrete for the shed...

50 bags + mixer from HD + delivery = $480 all in
1 concrete truck for hour = $700-800

BUT...I need 3-4 guys with wheel barrels running up and down for that hour.

Ugh...

LxW*55.5 (in feet) will tell you how many Sacrete bags you need for a 3" pad. a 10x12 typically needs 67 bags.

If you're going to mix, you're better off getting Portland ($25) by the bag. 6x40kg bags + 1/3yd sand and 1/2yd gravel. Probably closer to $200. Cheaper if you have any leftover gravel.

 

[Mad Mike]

It's what they said. Truck will stick around for a max of 1 hour. So 1 yrd = 27ft3 = 10-15 runs.

Almost should be doable with one person...almost.

No way you'll do that with one person. Of that hour, you probably have 40 minutes of working time, setup and cleanup time is included and that takes about 20 minutes.

You'll need 1 person for placing and at least 2 hustlers to run the concrete. Unless your runners are brutes, expect 20 runs -- moving and dumping 200lbs loads of sloshy concrete is all a weekend warrior will be able to handle. I say 3 men and 3 wheelbarrows + 1 man for placing.

I'd go with the mixer. Relaxed timetable, it will take longer but fewer workers are needed.

 

[Mad Mike]

This is the plan. Can’t find 2 guys for this weekend so I’ll move it to next Saturday.

I’m not hand bombing 50 30kg bags.

You can 'bomb' the bags in wheelbarrows. 3 bags per run (180lbs) is not that hard - 4 bags if you're a brute.

 

[mimico_polak]

No way you'll do that with one person. Of that hour, you probably have 40 minutes of working time, setup and cleanup time is included and that takes about 20 minutes.

You'll need 1 person for placing and at least 2 hustlers to run the concrete. Unless your runners are brutes, expect 20 runs -- moving and dumping 200lbs loads of sloshy concrete is all a weekend warrior will be able to handle. I say 3 men and 3 wheelbarrows + 1 man for placing.

I'd go with the mixer. Relaxed timetable, it will take longer but fewer workers are needed.

So far I've got 3 available for running (me, cousin, and BIL) and dad to level out the concrete. Just not this weekend. Which is fine as this isn't critical path.

I didn't consider the mixing my own cement part, but that seems trickier considering ratios, materials, and know how.

 

[GreyGhost]

I didn't consider the mixing my own cement part, but that seems trickier considering ratios, materials, and know how.

A friend was a landscaper and did quite a bit of concrete. He just measured in shovels going into the mixer/wheelbarrow. One shovel cement, two shovels sand, four shovels gravel, mix, add water, mix some more. Lather rinse and repeat. You can change ratios to achieve different strength if desired.

 

[mimico_polak]

A friend was a landscaper and did quite a bit of concrete. He just measured in shovels going into the mixer/wheelbarrow. One shovel cement, two shovels sand, four shovels gravel, mix, add water, mix some more. Lather rinse and repeat. You can change ratios to achieve different strength if desired.

And my dad put 6000psi concrete for parging around the exterior of my house...

 

[GreyGhost]

And my dad put 6000psi concrete for parging around the exterior of my house...

I'll trust him. Thin layers are a different beast.

 

[Mad Mike]

When rona was going bankrupt last time (reno depot maybe?) I bought all the 3/4 copper they had. That is now air lines in the garage and I can sell it later to fund my retirement.

I'm still conflicted about investing in a large compressor. Given the advances in cordless tools and my lack of huge air hogs (sand blast cabinet, plenishing hammer and plasma come to mind) paying a lot for a compressor doesn't make sense. If I come across something cheap (and hopefully quiet), I have a few options on places to install the compressor.

I got a lightly used 60 gal upright for next to nothing, I don't really need one that big, a 30 @8cfm would be adequate. It's a 10 year old commercial oilless with less than 200 hours (48,000 hours to go!) It's replacing an 8gal 5CFM that's served me well for nearly 20 years.

The only quiet compressors are screw types - all piston pumpers are noise-makers. The nice thing is a bigger compressor won't be running non-stop when I'm using small tools.

 

[oioioi]

Thanks. This weekend I'll focus on the siding as we can now start putting up the first panels.

Tonight I'll level out the pad in the back, and toss in a weeping tile just to add further drainage in that corner, and then start laying gravel throughout the week. Got the tamper, got everything else, and will frame it up before the weekend.

Plus a week's vacation next week so HOPEFULLY make some solid progress.

I'm actually starting to clean up the yard from all the ditch / pad digging, and thankfully my neighbour needs soil to level out some large parts of his yard so I take the dirt from my house, and just walk it a few doors over and dump at his lot.

Make sure to include 1-2 conduits into your framing.

I would go with a 1-1/2" PVC from the edge of the pad where your outside wall of future shed will sit to somewhere away from the shed.
This was you can can add electrical later running it through this conduit.

The second one can be future proof for whatever you may come up with.

 

[GreyGhost]

I got a lightly used 60 gal upright for next to nothing, I don't really need one that big, a 30 @8cfm would be adequate. It's a 10 year old commercial oilless with less than 200 hours (48,000 hours to go!) It's replacing an 8gal 5CFM that's served me well for nearly 20 years.

The only quiet compressors are screw types - all piston pumpers are noise-makers. The nice thing is a bigger compressor won't be running non-stop when I'm using small tools.

I'm using makita low-speed compressors in the garage (MAC2400 hooked up all the time, MAC700 and additional air tank added in parallel on rare occasions where I want more air). Not quiet, but much quieter than most. Rolair pistons are much quieter still (my dad has my rolair). I think California Air Tools use a similar system but I haven't heard them. Basically small pistons in parallel. Some big belt drives with induction motors can be quiet (relatively). I don't need silent but I would like to continue a conversation in the garage and not hear the compressor inside the house.

 

[Mad Mike]

So far I've got 3 available for running (me, cousin, and BIL) and dad to level out the concrete. Just not this weekend. Which is fine as this isn't critical path.

I didn't consider the mixing my own cement part, but that seems trickier considering ratios, materials, and know how.

Not rocket science -- if you can make Lemoncello and count to 3, you can mix concrete. You need at least 2 buckets, one for the portland (must stay dry) and another for the sand, gravel and water. You can use more buckets, just make sure your Portland bucket never gets wet.

3 buckets of gravel
2 buckets of sand
1 bucket of Portland
3/4 bucket of water

Toss them in the mixer in that order ratio, mix for at least 3 minutes on high and you have concrete.

 

[Mad Mike]

Make sure to include 1-2 conduits into your framing.

I would go with a 1-1/2" PVC from the edge of the pad where your outside wall of future shed will sit to somewhere away from the shed.
This was you can can add electrical later running it through this conduit.

The second one can be future proof for whatever you may come up with.

3" PVC drain makes an excellent conduit to an outbuilding. You can fit water, power, and comms in the same pipe.

Nice to be prepared, if your wife makes you live out there, it's nice to have power and water.

 

[backmarkerducati]

Concrete from the truck will be wet (concrete and water) and will weigh more than concrete bags assuming you mix them at the shed (not sure but back of the napkin tells me 3 quartz per bag so ~10% more per volume, so hauling 10% more weight overall)--but take my math with a grain of salt. From your prices quoted before bags are also cheaper, and cheaper yet if you mix gravel and cement like MM pointed out. Hauling mixed concrete also comes with risks of spillage that can be a mess. Wipe out a wheelbarrell full of wet concrete is much worse IMO than one carying a few bags. Working time also becomes a concern if all is not going as expected.

Seems like a no brainier to go bags one way or the other?

 

[Mad Mike]

I'm using makita low-speed compressors in the garage (MAC2400 hooked up all the time, MAC700 and additional air tank added in parallel on rare occasions where I want more air). Not quiet, but much quieter than most. Rolair pistons are much quieter still (my dad has my rolair). I think California Air Tools use a similar system but I haven't heard them. Basically small pistons in parallel. Some big belt drives with induction motors can be quiet (relatively). I don't need silent but I would like to continue a conversation in the garage and not hear the compressor inside the house.

Low-speed piston compressors are oilless -- they use intake mufflers to keep them reasonably quiet, but that only works for low cfm applications. Once you get over 2.5CFM, oilless become clangers, way noisier than oil splashers.

I prefer oilless. A little noisier but zero maintenance (no oil monitoring or changes, oil and no belts). 50,000+ hours of useful life is more than I'll ever use.

 

[GreyGhost]

Low-speed piston compressors are oilless -- they use intake mufflers to keep them reasonably quiet, but that only works for low cfm applications. Once you get over 2.5CFM, oilless become clangers, way noisier than oil splashers.

I prefer oilless. A little noisier but zero maintenance (no oil monitoring or changes, oil and no belts). 50,000+ hours of useful life is more than I'll ever use.

The makitas are oiled (3.3 and 4.2 cfm). The rolair is oilless and 2.4 cfm (although they have one that is very similar but 4.5 cfm).

 

[mimico_polak]

Make sure to include 1-2 conduits into your framing.

I would go with a 1-1/2" PVC from the edge of the pad where your outside wall of future shed will sit to somewhere away from the shed.
This was you can can add electrical later running it through this conduit.

The second one can be future proof for whatever you may come up with.

How would this look with the 3" conduit proposed by @Mad Mike? I want power in the shed.

The 200V will be going to the existing shed as that's already powered. But unfortunately I have 30ft of concrete pad b/w the 2 sheds, meaning I'd probably have to cut into it. Or do a bee line from the laundry room...

Red - Option #1
Blue - Option #2



@backmarkerducati I'm actually leaning toward the cement truck simply due to time and having it take an hour, instead of a full day. For a difference of $200-300...it seems to me to be the better option, BUT I did not consider the water weight.

 

[GreyGhost]

How would this look with the 3" conduit proposed by @Mad Mike? I want power in the shed.

The 200V will be going to the existing shed as that's already powered. But unfortunately I have 30ft of concrete pad b/w the 2 sheds, meaning I'd probably have to cut into it. Or do a bee line from the laundry room...

Red - Option #1
Blue - Option #2

View attachment 61564

@backmarkerducati I'm actually leaning toward the cement truck simply due to time and having it take an hour, instead of a full day. For a difference of $200-300...it seems to me to be the better option, BUT I did not consider the water weight.

I thought you did tunneling for a living?

As for mad mikes suggestion, look carefully at electrical code. THHN plus water pipe in the same conduit is probably a code violation. You may be able to pull direct bury cable and water and classify it as a sleeve not a conduit but those code intricacies are way above my pay grade. I keep power in its own conduit. Use a second one for signal/water/yelling at family in the house.

 

[mimico_polak]

I thought you did tunneling for a living?

As for mad mikes suggestion, look carefully at electrical code. THHN plus water pipe in the same conduit is probably a code violation. You may be able to pull direct bury cable and water and classify it as a sleeve not a conduit but those code intricacies are way above my pay grade. I keep power in its own conduit. Use a second one for signal/water/yelling at family in the house.

Tunnels yes…not trenches! That’s a whole different world.

 

[Hardwrkr13]

What's my cheapest/quickest option for footings for a kids 10x10 playhouse as well as another small 6x6ish platform? Was thinking piles but could I get away with using deck blocks instead as that would be much cheaper.