Footing Pour, Backfill, Pad Prep - Lessons Learned - VersaTube Garage DIY Build

Part III of building a 24’ x 30’ detached Versatube steel garage in our backyard.
Setting the rebar in the forms, pouring the cement footing/foundation and backfilling all occur in this stage.
Had I dug the trench wide enough in the prior step, reinforcing both the top and bottom of the form would have been easier… however the trench was narrow and I did not install enough reinforcement on the bottom of the form leading to slight bowing out of the form at the bottom. Structurally no issues, but the footing required more mud than calculated and we ran out.
The footing took quite a long time given the number and size of the rocks we have. It is not easy digging. Looking back we would have started with a trench 2x the width of the footing frame but we tried to make it as narrow as possible which created a little extra digging. Carting the dirt by hand to the other side of the yard was a mistake that we are stronger for making. Ultimately the process worked out and yielded a nice footing!
The steel shop / garage is by VersaTube. They are not the cheapest option available but they are a fantastic company to deal with, top notch customer service, which makes for a huge plus with the average do it yourself - er.
When we bought the house the backyard hadn’t been touched for many years, the wood frame shop with cedar shingle roof had been there since the house was built in the 1950’s. The foundation was built with individual cinder blocks laid on their side like piers to support the corners and middle of 8 x 8 posts running horizontally. It was essentially a low level pier and skirt foundation. The cinder blocks had mostly broken and the levels were all off. Though we would have liked to save the building it seemed to be more effort than it was worth (and we wanted a bigger detached space).
Ultimately the garage will serve as a way for us to triage materials for the house remodel that we are planning!
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Music:
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Et Voila Chris Haugen
#foundation #footing #forms #concretefooting #concretefoundation #diy #trench #backhoe #towablebackhoe #harborfreightbackhoe #skidsteer #rebuild #metalbuilding #garage #shed #pourafoundation #pourafooting #diggingtools #diggingdirt #diggingrock #excavation #excavate #rockyground #diggingfooting #hangingrebar #diyconcreteforms #woodforms @Harbor Freight @Harbor Freight Review

[@needless2say723]

Great video and well executed plan.

[@GetBusyBuilding]

Thanks! We're looking forward to more concrete projects in the future.

[@herbb8412]

You ran out of cement?
How did the stone, sand, and water stay together? 😆

[@GetBusyBuilding]

Good catch… ran out of concrete. Always something

[@jeffcoldon1496]

snap tye next time