Shop build - prep and slab

The shop building is separate and a pretty simple structure - just a basic rectangle 32'x80' divided into 2 sections 30' & 50' long.  The front section is shorter and is garage space for working on cars and the tractor.  The rear section is the wood shop.  The plan is to build this first so I have a place to store stuff and work on things for the house.  There were a lot of delays starting including permits and getting the materials in place.  Weather in May and June was also horrible and caused a lot of delays.  We are using Structural Insulated Panels or SIPs for all the walls and they require more engineering up front than regular framed walls, but then go up really fast. 

The excavator did the main roughing out of the pad and then I did the final grading with the tractor.  The foundation is a floating slab, but built with insulation to protect it from frost heaves.  This type of foundation is called a "Frost protected shallow foundation" and there are design specs available for various climate regions.  So here are the pics of the slab prep and build...

Pad with the center trench for a footing for the dividing wall and ready to start setting foam (starting around June 18 2013)

The rear half foam completed by me and my daughter in a couple hours:

Front half completed next.  Weights are to keep it from blowing away

After completing the perimeter foam, we added wire mesh reinforcement and then laid out radiant tubing for in-floor heat:

Here the forms are set for the slab pour

And these next photos are of the pour - 75 yds of concrete and a pumper truck to place it:

Here they are power troweling the pad.  This thing looks like a hoot to drive!

 Finished slab.  It was a hot day and there is a lot of concrete and insulation, so the heat generated was contained so it cured pretty fast.

Next up, the shop build...