The slabs for the Shop & Bathhouse

The best way to do slabs is from the solid ground up to the desired inside grade. We started from the highest point of the natural grade of the land which for us was the south west corner of the shop. We wanted the floor to be at least one foot above out-side grade. We then pulled a string level from one approximate corner to the next corner getting an idea of the change in elevation; meaning the difference in the height of the floor from one end of the building to the other end, with the floor being level across. Doing this we estimated a difference of 2 1/2 feet from the south west corner to the north east corner.
Because the foundation is one of the most important aspects of a house we had it engineered by Strand Systems Engineering of Irving, Texas. Dick Martter drew up the plans and gave us excellent instructions as to how to handle the deep sand we have. it is so important to have someone that knows the details of how the cement needs to be reinforced with re-bar for maximin strength and crack prevention in your specific soil. He told us it would be better to use #3 re-bar , one foot apart to prevent any cracking.

We realized from the other buildings that we mixed and poured ourselves that this building was to large for us to do by ourselves. It took 5 guys, that do this for a living, a week to complete the slab. We could not have done this ourselves . The crew worked very hard and did the job according to our plans and they were very reasonable! Larry was the crew head , his phone # is 1-512-308-1283 for the Austin, Texas area. I would highly recomend him And his crew.

The project was started by 9 , 12 yard loads of sandy-loam, which has some clay in it to help it hold its shape.
Then Larry used a laser beam to find where the building is square. They then put up the exterior form boards and staked them to support the tremendous weight of the cement.
The cross beams were the dug and a plastic barrier was put down to help the cement stay wet as long as possible and to help moisture from wicking up from underneath the slab after it cures.

Larry and his crew had an amazing system for cutting and placing the re-bar and did this part very fast.

We placed the plumbing rough out ourselves with a good friend that is a wizard with building, he was such a tremendous help.

At this point it is important to have the fixtures that are going into the building measured so you know precisely where the drain goes. And for the floor drain we build a wood frame and packed the inside with dirt so it will be easy to dig down to place the drain just the height we want it to be.