When we bought this house and property 8 years ago, it came with a 24x40 utility shed/barn on it, which we converted into a stable for the girl's horses...
Fast forward to 2020. I needed something to keep me from going stir-crazy during all this COVID drama/BS, so I started planning a new workshop for my car projects. Nothing fancy, just a pre-fab steel building, but as I started planning the project it became vary clear (very early) that more than 60% of the total cost of the project ends up at ground level. Footings, concrete slabs, extra inspections, the $$$$$$$$ was adding up like crazy.
So one day while I was out there with my measuring tape and my stakes and string, I glanced over at that old tin barn, and realized I was doing this ALL WRONG - That old building ALREADY sat on a concrete foundation (in fact, we had to spend a ton on thick rubber mats to protect the horses hooves from the concrete). and that got me thinking: Why not just set up a new barn for the animals, and convert the old building into my workshop? Every one of the pre-fab steel building companies I looked into offered a "direct to ground" anchoring system, and the more I thought about it, the more sense it made... Except for one thing. I only get to be 50% of the decision making process around here, and the other half is impaired by her COMPLETE lack of ability to pre-visualize ANYTHING.
So, I shifted gears, and started drawing plot plans, and using the steel companies' design tools to draw up some more "barn looking" structures... When I was ready, I took my drawings, and my yellow pad full of notes, and went to work on my sales pitch.
It took a couple more weeks, and about 72,000 more design revisions on the building company's website (our sales rep deserves a medal) but finally, we had a plan for a 3-wall structure that would serve the primary purpose.
8 weeks later, they arrived to throw up the primary structure. In the meantime, I had 70 tons of fill to spread and compact to set the grade. My little tractor got a workout.
These guys were AMAZING- it was 110F+ every day they were out there, but a crew of 4 had this building up, anchored, and trimmed out in 4 days. They REALLY deserve a medal.
They anchor these buildings to the ground with these huge corkscrew anchors that screw into the ground about 4 feet (they used 36 of them on this project) - pretty cool, and from a building permit standpoint, this is still considered a portable, non permanent structure- resulting in an easier (cheaper) permit process, to boot.
Once the primary structure was up, the project was half over- Now it was my turn to build out horse stalls, do the electrical sub panel and run for the lights, and run a water line for a hose barb.
Another 4 weeks later, here's where we are... The animals are all moved over, and she has runs set up for all her fancy pure breed chickens
And the old building is abandoned.. Ready to be gutted, cleaned up (it's gonna take me 2 days with the pressure washer, easily) and walled back in. Hopefully, now that cooler weather is here, I will be able to grind on this project through the winter, and be ready to start moving in tools and junk by next spring...