Your local building dept/inspector should be able to answer all your
questions concerning code issues. I assume you will have to take a permit to
buld the new shop so they will probably ge tinvolved at some time anyway.
Steel buildings can be finished both interior and exterior so that you will
never know that it was a steel building inthe first place.
I would tend to remove the existing slab and foundation and start over.
Consider excavating into the slope some more and building a retaining wall
that is independent of the new building. This could be done with the
landscape type retaing walls that you stack up and fill with gravel and
backfill or any one of another methods. I would make it seperate from the
building though.
Also consider building a pole style structure or one of its many derivitives
instead od a preengineered steel building. I built a 1200 sq. ft. shop,
finished inside and out, with a shingle roof(30 yr) and completely drywalled
interior, including electrical for 6500.00. This was 5 yrs. ago. I could
duplicate it today for the same amount. Granted all the labor was furnished
by me, but it is not hard. Actually easier than stick framing. From the
inside or out you can't tell it was built pole style. It really is the
simplest and most economical way to build.
Just my 2 cents
Richard
P.s. That included heat too
>From: Eric Murray <ericm@lne.com>
>Reply-To: Eric Murray <ericm@lne.com>
>To: shop-talk@autox.team.net
>Subject: shop/slab questions
>Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2000 08:20:39 -0800
>
>My place was a working farm of some sort at the turn of the century.
>We're currently restoring the barn whose foundation had cracked along
>one side. The old concrete was easy to break up- it was cement and
>sand, no gravel, and the concrete has softened a little in some places
>or wasn't all that 'rich' a mixture to begin with.
>
>Behind the barn is a foundation and slab that's about 32'x32'. I scraped
>off most of about 80 years of leaves and soil that was on it this
>last weekend. It looks like it's got a pretty good foundation around
>the outside of the slab, but some of the the concrete in the middle is
>crap- you can dig into it with a shovel. Some other parts look good,
>but are uneven. It looks like it was poured in small sections and at
>different times. I don't think that it's settled or cracked. It's on a
>flat carved out of a slope, with a small retaining wall on one side and
>part of the back, and a slope falling away from it on the other side.
>It's also about 2' taller than the ground behind the barn, with a dirt
>ramp leading up to it.
>
>I'd like to build a shop there. It's the best spot I've got unless I
>want to bring in a D9 and move a few hundred cubic yards of overburden.
>I was thinking of just putting up a metal building, since it's
>hidden behind the barn I don't really care if it's not all that pretty
>on the exterior, but I'd like it nice inside.
>There's enough room to put in a driveway around the barn to get to the
>shop.
>
>
>Ascii art:
>
>
> 4' retaining wall
> |
> v
> --------..........
> | . -> steep downhill
> | .
> | . ->
> | .
> | slab . -> steep downhill
> | .
> ->| . ->
> | ...................
> | ssssssssssssssssss <- 2' slope
> |
> |
> |
> | flat area
> |
> |
> |
> retaining wall (1' here, 4' in corner)
>
> -------------------------
> | | r
> | | o
> | | a
> | barn | d
>
>
>The slab isn't good enough for a shop- too uneven and too crumbly in spots.
>
>
>So, here's the questions (you knew this was coming): Can I
>pour a new slab over the old one? Is that to code? How do I
>find out what code is?
>
>Also, how much space should I leave around the metal building on each side?
>If I want a 3' walkway on both sides, that'll leave 26' in width.
>That's ok, but I'd like wider.
>
>The garage floor being 2' higher than the driveway will be a bit of a
>problem for low-slung cars (but not for bikes, other than needing a bit
>of momentum to push a bigger bike up the slope). I'll probably work
>on cars some but mostly on bikes, but I'd like it to appeal to car people
>also for when (if) we sell the place. Should I just spend the extra $$
>to have the old slab/foundation ripped out and make it level with the
>driveway? (and build new higher retaining walls) Given that I live
>just outside Silicon Valley where construction labor is 2-3x what it
>is in the rest of the country?
>
>Finally, any recommendations for metal buildings which can be insulated
>and finished nicely inside would be appreciated.
>
>Thanks for reading this far!
>
>--
> Eric Murray Consulting Security Architect SecureDesign
>LLC
> http://www.securedesignllc.com PGP
>keyid:E03F65E5
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