[Farmall] Only Slightly off topic: Shop and Storagebuilding forFarmall Tractors

[ivan]

Larry ,  Last year was the first winter in the addition .  It was built to
store suff (camper,72 chevy,tractors) as opposed to a work area .But I
wanted the option of being able to heat it if need be .  It is set up in
zones , one being warm all the time with the bathroom ( water line is under
it ) . No problems with cracking .   Concrete is fiber reinenforced ,not
that that means didle because if its gonna crack it will .But it is much
easier to work than mesing with wire . One thing , of all the cement we have
poured around here I have only had one slab crack , that one was on an
uneven grade and not much gravel under the one end  . I attribute it to not
enough gravel for it to float on .  I dont pour anything now without 6 " of
gravel .
I took a different aproach to installing the lines . Plastic vapor barrier
over the gravel . Double bubble over that , covered with sheets of tin .
Same type used for the building ,except wrapper grade .  Laid face down ,
pipe laid into the channels and held in with conduit clamps every 2 ft or so
. However the ends of metal were held back about 12 " from the outside walls
to make looping the ends easier. .   As the cement was poured we were able
to run over it with no problems .
The water is heated with an outside boiler with radiators in the shop and
house . Really cold days I turn the garage off and only pump the heat into
the house with the exception of the bathroom where the water line s are .
Slow to heat up but very comfortable after and will stay warm for quite
awhile . I confess I got lazy an went without a fire for a couple days and
never had the water freeze.   I usually use about 4 ton of coal & a couple
cords of wood per year , didnt see much change .
I dont know of any maintence requirements . I however use antifreeze instead
of plain water in the boiler , its kinda costly but I dont worry about going
away in the winter and having anything freeze .  With the price of oil going
up I imagine the plastic pipe is too .  But it was worth every $ in comfort
. In fact I have 10 ' ceilings in the woodshop and I'm seriously looking at
pouring another 4"of concrete on top of the floor with plastic in it .
Ivan