Over the weekend I had to use the tractor to drag my truck out of the mud that is my driveway.
Some may wonder why the driveway is a mud bog run, well I live where the ground is flat. On top of that I don’t really want to literally dump a bunch of money in it for more gravel right now.
The long term plan is to bury the power-lines to the house and the shop. The lines will run pretty much under or directly beside my driveway so why put down gravel that will just get dug up and have to be replaced at several hundred dollars a load?
I also want the driveway laid correctly. I learned how roads are built from my grandpa who worked most of his life for MO-DOT. If done right I have to remove about two feet (60 cm) of soil about 22 feet wide (6.7 m) and 80 feet long (24 m). A base layer of rip-rap goes down about a foot (30 cm) thick, then three inch minus (8 cm) about four inches thick (10 cm), then two inch minus (5 cm) another four inches thick, on top of that is four inches of inch minus, then two inches of pea minus. Now what does minus mean? When rock is crushed it comes in two forms: clean, and minus. When it passes through the crusher it hits a series of screens, the first may have spacing of three inch by three inch so anything larger is sold as rip-rap or fed back through the crusher. Anything less than three by three would be three minus. The next screen would be two by two, so anything larger would be three clean and smaller is two minus. The screens get progressively finer until you get to sand screen and each one works the same. Clean rock does not compact, whereas minus does. All gravel will to some extent allow water to percolate through it, and the rip-rap allows for optimum drainage. If laid and compacted correctly the result is a driveway that is nearly as solid as concrete. The method is time proven as well since this is the same method the ancient Romans used to build their roads and quite a few of them are as good today as when they were laid 2,000 years ago.
Basically I don’t want to waste time and material because of digging the trench for power lines, gas lines, and an upgraded water main that can all go in the same trench, but as noted either under the drive or right beside it. I want the power buried for both safety, and eventually a carport that happens to be on the end where the power comes in.
Once the shop is up I can start looking at digging the trench and driveway–another of those big tractor jobs that justified buying it. That may be the first time I have to pull a permit for upgrades as well. The catch is I may not be able to afford that as soon as the shop’s shell is up as the property beside me recently sold and I now need the yard surveyed to fence it. I have to start the process of getting an encroaching building from that property removed, and a temporary easement to my disabled neighbor on the other side–she can only use her backdoor and her drive also encroaches…surveys save trouble, always survey before building!
So I have the shop going up, A LOT of fence to install–400 feet/122 m on just one side! Plus getting a property lawyer involved–I did my divorce, I am not about to handle property issues myself 😳
On the shop, the ceiling joists are in place! It is amazing how much that changes your perception of the space as it now feels much more like a room already.
And yes I set them in below freezing weather, with snow and ice all around. As I am writing this the combination sheathing and siding goes up tomorrow.
Thirteen sheets of siding doesn’t look like much, but with fasteners was almost $600 😳 I need another 21 sheets for the building…I need to write up a current cost breakdown of this project for y'all.
As most are aware I do everything by myself, and the first two sheets were a bit of trouble getting in place. I had to stand them, align them, and fasten them...
Between sheets two and three I had an idea.
I wrapped the ratchet around a ceiling joist, then hooked under the bottom edge, and ratcheted them up! Once sort of in place I could maneuver each panel securing a top corner, then lining it up and securing it lower.
By day’s end I had one side mostly sided–there is a small piece needed at the far left yet. I’d have liked to have done the end too but time did not allow for it. Between fighting the first two panels and the mud being three inches deep things went a bit slower today.
Next weekend by the forcast looks like rain--as does most of the week--but hopefully I will be able to close the ends and start on the bay doors. With luck the roof on this section will go quickly. Once roofed I can move some stored items about in preparation to drop the next section of the old building. I should be getting into the areas where the demo will be slow, but most of the 2 by 4’s can be reused.
That’s all for now
Maura out
