The first thing you are going to have to do is rent you a bobcat or skid steer and get all the topsoil off the area where your pad is going to be then you'll really know how much fill you need
Agree with Jim Topsoil has to be stripped before any material is added but any calculation for fill will depend on depth of topsoil as it likely is not evenly spread out over the area you are trying to fill in
I'm a professional land surveyor. To figure your grade fill manually, break up the area into smaller rectangular sections and figure the fill from the lowest point in the rectangle to the highest for depth then length times width times that depth all divided by 2 will give you the fill amount to level that one rectangular area. If you are going to fill that same area higher than that then just add a simple length times width times height volume above that. Overall just break it up into smaller areas then add all the volumes up. Or if you have a buddy with AutoCAD software you can compute it easily. Don't forget about the compaction factor when you buy fill material. Anyway, I enjoy the channel. Can't wait to see how it turns out.
I'm a Nurse by trade, but reading some comments, there are some people out there with not only good ideas, but with years of experience giving you ACTUAL FACTS about how to proceed. Plus its all free, says a lot about the quality of your subscribers! Great job guys.....
I would consider putting the root cellar under the low corner of the pole barn. Do concrete block walls for the root cellar then use the remaining dirt for the pad leveling.
Hey! Saw a lot of great comments that are extremely helpful and thought I'd throw in a few observations. Yeah you would want to dig down and remove the topsoil for sure. Calculate the thickness of the concrete pad, gravel, and any sand base that are to be used. I've seen a lot of people use the 3-3-3 method...3 inch sand base, 3 inch gravel base, 3 inch thick concrete pad...base soil, sand and gravel all compacted well. Not sure if I'd put anything directly on base soil...that is a big investment to not have a better foundation. A small workshop that would be a quarter of the size might be okay for just a pad, but sounds like you want to put in a decent amount of valuable items in there... last thing you'd want is a cracked floor all over the place. Good idea to throw down a wire fence with an 8"x8" square on it, works like mini rebar to help hold the concrete together. So soil wise, once you find out how thick you need for your foundation area - soil from the front can be moved from the high spot to the low spot. The low spot only gets the topsoil off, so then the excess from the front gets moved to the back to level it out. As well, you may want to reshoot the measurements and make a grid at 5' intervals.. you might find out that the last 5' actually drops 2' on it's own, which would mean you don't need as much fill as you think in the front part based on a gentle even slope. Washroom is a great idea, you'd be surprised at how often it would get used! A small 500 gallon holding tank and a two run septic system should work with the slope you have behind the barn area and should be adequate for the amount of use. Electrical is always a tough one, if you know you are never going to move the tool...conduit in floor is awesome. But you are committed to losing that area if you need the extra space for a project...in that sense, the tool can move but that plug is still in the way. Sickening how these types of projects snowball so quickly into having to think about so many aspects, you try to think of every possible detail and make the best decision but something always seems to come up to make it more difficult!
My dad was an excavator contractor (basements, septic fields, anything to do with moving dirt!) when I was growing up. I can't count how many hours that I stood holding that pole, as a kid,.... usually in the freezing cold ! While Dad took his measurements for a job.
II would like to recommend you think about a wood floor for your wood working shop area due to fatigue standing on concrete all day. It would also make it easier to rerun electrical in the future if yu ever decide to change the layout of your wood shop. Set on at least 6 inch boards with planking on top or 12 inch boards if you ever think about a dust collection system. just my 2 cents
Remove all the topsoil. Put your fill dirt in 4" to 6" compacted lifts . To figure the yardage add your 4 corners grades , divide by 4 and then divide that by 27{number of cu. ft. in cu. yd.} 0+1+1+3.66=# .If you remove 1' of top soil add that foot to your 4 corner grades. Also raise your subgrade above the existing grade so you get good drainage away from your building.
Being that the elevation change isn’t very drastic, If your tractor is capable - would you consider REMOVING earth from the higher elevation points? Then A- you wont have compaction issues with fill dirt later on (cracked slab, etc). B- Save yourself a little money not having to bring fill dirt in. Going to be a great addition to the homestead; cant wait to see it all come together!
I agree, you need to remove the topsoil before you start grading, hidden creek homestead is right, it will make grading easier and should save you Money, I would save some topsoil to top dress the slope after the pole barn is finished, hope this helps.
Chris Guins on his Letsdig 18 videos on RUclips, has done any number of site preparations, including several pole barns and the building pad for his own home. This might be very well worth checking out, before you get too far into the construction phase...
I hope you looked at R&R Builders. They're from Illinois and do awesome work. If you don't already have a builder, you should check out their work/videos. I wish I could get them to come to NC. to build mine.
In a similar scenario with a far greater difference which was 14 feet between the highest and lowest points. We split the difference, reducing the highest end seven feet and raising the lowest point seven feet and the rest levelled between those two which created a perfectly flat area which was 84 ft x 40 ft. The raised area was compacted in layers 6 inches at a time with a compacting roller and sloped away from its edge and compacted to give it support. The top soil all needs to be removed to prevent any growth and only subsoil compacted Both in the raised area and the excavated area. This will ensure that the whole area is compacted to the same degree and hopefully prevent any major movement of the pad.
There are a lot of good suggestions in the comments. Here are mine. I would use your initial measurements as "rough idea" of how much fill you might need. I would go ahead and remove the topsoil and level the earth underneath closer, then re-calculate how much more fill you need. Along with that, I would consider packing the fill so you will probably need slightly more than what you calculate. I am by no means a professional. This is just what I have observed here in Florida when something like this is going in.
Calculate How Much Soil You Need Determine how much soil you'll need by using a simple formula. Keep in mind that most soil is sold by the cubic yard. There are 27 cubic feet in one cubic yard. In this example, you need to fill in 3" of soil to level a space that is 10' x 15'. Convert the inches you need for soil depth into feet. Example: 3" of soil (3" ÷ 12"=.25') Multiply the length by the width by the depth of soil needed. Example: 10' x 15' x .25' = 37.5 cubic feet Divide the cubic feet by 27 (that's the number of cubic feet in one cubic yard). Example: 37.5 ÷ 27=1.3889 cubic yards Round off your answer to 1.4 cubic yards. This is how much soil you'll need. Sloping Yard If your yard slopes toward your house and water runs into your home, you need a create a drain and slope the yard away from your home. This is a job that will require excavation equipment and possibly building a retaining wall. Unless you are experienced in this type of garden leveling, it's best to consult a landscape professional. Leveling Your Yard Is an Easy Process For most uneven yards, it's an easy process to level it. Choose the technique that best addresses and remedies the uneven spaces in your yard.
That’s going to be a nice pole barn Evan that will be nice when you get it up one of the barns is close to the house I am having work done to doing work on the inside they been using a jacking it up and redoing the inside and put the new shed on the front of it it has another shed on the other side of the barn and going to put a new metal roof on it I will be glad when they get it done materials is high for barns looking forward to the next video and the pole barn on your place y’all stay safe and talk to you next time 😎
Make sense to allow for a Bathroom in the build, particularly as you are allowing for future a prep-room. Also you will digging out a considerable amount of dirt from the highest level of the field, so surely that needs to be done before calculating how much dirt you need to bring in from outside,
Omg....first U are a professional video maker, then you wired the barn. I hadn't gotten to the house yet but I bet you built it also. Now this....is there anything you can't do? U R 1 smart man
Hi, Firstly, love the channel. I have set out buildings before and would suggest the following: Change your corner markers for taller ones. Then marke your required finished compacted soil grade on each one. Then mark your finished compacted stone grade on each one. then mark your finished concrete grade.( I use different coloured weatherproof tape) When that is done I would run a string line between the marker posts for each 3 reference grades and establish a number of intermediate markers all nicely marked so you have plenty of visual references to help you grade to. You need to scrape the surface and remove that spoil before you commence grading. Use a Bobcat to cut and fill with soil withing the perimeter (compacting every 4 inches) of the build before you even think about ordering fill material as piles of soil get in the way, you need to receive the fill material in a timely manner where you can process it. Factor in membrane under stone, Reinforcement for concrete, expansion joints in concrete. Please also make sure the finished pad is above the highest ground level and I would run a french drain around the building for surface and roof run off water (perhaps to the pond). The roof rainwater run off will be considerable and will also offer you some water catchment options for drinking water for the animals and watering plants etc. Good luck.
Nice builders level. I think the bathroom is a good idea. Maybe a composting stool would save a lot of drain pipe work. Someone else suggested the root cellar under a corner of the pole barn. Might be an idea worth exploring. Just a thought if you drop your power down from above you can always get in the attic to move it if needed. Not near as easy to move in cement. Your barn build it the way you want. I’ve never heard anyone say I should have built it smaller. Lol. I’ll be looking forward to your posting on the build it will be fun to watch. Stay safe. Bruce from Mason Michigan
Blackberrys make pies and jam or what you know as jelly. People over here in the UK 🇬🇧 go out picking them from the bushes along the roadsides, many go home with bags full of them day after day. Blackcurrants were cultivated in gardens for the same reason. Rebekha would have a field day making it for putting in the root cellar. I know she does that. Wish I had enough land to make myself a workshop for my hobbies of carving and woodworking.
I've watched many seasoned professionals building pole barns across the US. To a man, they have all removed the topsoil using a dozer or skid steer, before the bringing in fill material, which is then vibro compacted before any stone or concrete is applied.
SUGGESTION: the first time I built a barn I put a couple of floor switches in but the proved to be in the way sometime. There was also an unfortunate spill in the barn that shorted one of the plugs out and being under concrete I didn't want to tear up the floor so I wound up running an extention cord to my tools. The next barn I built i ran the conduit overhead. I love it! I have 2 reel cords that hang from the ceiling with 50 foot cords that automatically roll back up when I want it to. I also have 8 overhead receptacles place in the ceiling do I can drop a cord anywhere I want to. Of course I have the usual receptacles in the walls but I love the set up and spills are nothing but a thing. I'll never put electricals in the floor again. Russ (Florida)
I’m going to follow up this project carefully because I’m planing a “garage”/workshop for this summer. I’m planing to insulate and place pex for radian heat (the furnace may come in a few years). But thanks to your ideas I’m going to plan for a toilet drain (it may come when there is money to connect to a septic). I’m also planing for another electrical service (besides my house’s). Up here, in Ontario, there are still few more weeks of winter and at least foot and a half of snow.
This is gonna be great, excited to follow along. I’ll be watching. Once spring comes I’ll be busy working on my own list of projects. Exciting times. Have a good one, Chad.
Bring in crushed stone to establish grade. tamp every 4 inches of lift. Yes it's more money but any leftover can be used for driveway or drive. DO NOT use fill dirt. In my shop I run conduit in the floor to my tablesaw , 230 and 115 v duplex box. Also ran conduit under the floor stubbed up in each wall then horizontal to each outlet box. Lights and switch boxes fed from overhead. Conduit will allow you to change/add circuits later. In the floor hot water heat is the most efficient for the money I think. Roughing in for bathroom makes sense even if you don't need it or want it later.
Something to think about when running power is to consider running power from either a wall or from overhead. If you move machinery around and have wheeled equipment frequently those power stubs will get in the way. Also, do plan for a bathroom, now is the time to plan and prepare for the future. I am going to put one in my wood shop. Much more work and expense after the fact.
Evan and rebeca . Hold on before building. Many counties require a 35 foot set off Property side lines also if housing livestock of any type a 100 foot from neighbors property line . If you have a grade drop of any significance why not take advantage of it and build a bank barn on that side you can load and unload trailer and truck easy . Just a thought 💭 keep on living the good life
I would take away 1 foot of soil from the highest spot and more from that corner of the building to slope away from that high point so you would buy less fill and have pitch away from all sides or the building. Also drive in T-posts in the low spots to establish finish grade. Good luck Vic
Don't start bringing in fill until you have had an excavating professional on site. As someone else has said, the All top soil must be removed first then the building level must be determined from the level of the substrate. If the topsoil level is absolutely uniform, the difference of the 4 corners will remain the same. Since your levels between 2 diagonals are the Same and the other 2 are separated by 2 feet, theoretically you should not require any material added to or removed from the site. Simply cut one foot from the high corner and add it to the low corner. Maybe a half day's work for a reasonably good dozer operator.
Well, I know now Rebecca is 5'4'' and you are 5'11'' lol. Sounds a super good plan for your pole barn. Enjoy your planification. Will stay tuned to see progression. Keep the good work. God bless you guys.
You could take the higher end and fill in the lower end, but you would have to figure out the cut/fills that would balance it all out, then you could add a uniform thickness across the whole barn site. If you fill up to meet the highest grade, you will need quite a bit extra to slope the sides and make is accessible to equipment. Let me know if you have questions, I am a civil engineer by trade.
Do you plan on doing everything yourself, other than having dirt hauled in by the truck load. You should buy a used skidster your gonna need it down the road for moving all that earth around and plus your gonna have beef in the near future, at least start looking at auction price or market place.most farmers have one you would be surprised how much you will use one, just an idea or observation!!..who ever haul in your dirt may be able to tell you how much dirt and gravel loads you will need?
Dear Evan, First off, you have to allow a larger pad for the building to support the building. When you grade the pad, add an extra five to ten feet on all sides, plus the slopes to receive fill. And you have to figure the fill material for all of this. Be sure you are not getting strippings (top layer of clearing ) but good, compactable, fill soil. Compaction should be in the range of 90% to 95%. And then... the question of shrinkage has to be addressed. Non-compacted soil loses it's volume when compacted. This is called shrinkage and runs in the range from 2% to 2.5%. To figure fill material, add the 4 corners (including the extra area outside the pad and 1/2 the slope) and average them. Now multiply that number by your pad square footage (plus extra added pad) to get cubic feet. Divide by 27 to get cubic yards. Multiply by 2700 (pounds in a cubic yard) and divide bu 2000. This will give you the tons. This grading project should not be done when the soil is wet as soil will only compact when the moisture content in at a certain level, or lower. Non compacted fill will only come back to haunt you in the future. It takes 5 years for soil to start settling. If I have totally confused you, please feel free to contact me. David Terrell Comer, GA
If you turn the grade rod around it should be laid out in decimal feet (10ths of a foot). Surveyors use this as it makes the math easier. 🙂 the volume of fill needed will still come out as cubic feet and can be easily converted to cubic yards by dividing by 27. You’ll get a great idea of what you’ll need. 🙂
With that much of a difference in grade you may want to consider pouring a footer and then a knee wall before adding your fill dirt. I believe you would have issues with your fill washing out from under the slab causing settling and cracking without support. On roughing in conduit in your slab, I would go ahead and put floor boxes in instead of just stubbing up conduit. These boxes are flush to the finished floor and do not create an obstacle to walk around or trip over. Make sure you take measurements and document where the conduit is at in the slab so if you ever set anchors or drill thru your floor you don't hit the conduit. Finally, if your going to use trusses, look at "scissor" trusses as an option to give you the extra headroom for pulling in tractors or maybe putting in a post lift for working on vehicles. Just my 2 cents on your project, eager to see you all get this build started, Great channel!!
Run your power outlets down from above, not up through the concrete - any time you want to change things around it is a big hassle, and there are always changes as unforeseen necessities arise. Also, a cubic yard of fill is around a ton, different rocks, sand or clay types will effect this, but it is the general assumption used to roughly calculate the amount of fill needed.
Did you read the directions first? Lol my guess is the root cellar should be closer to the house? The pole barn sounds great! You might want to contact Mike Simon(DirtPerfect) for some tips on figuring out amounts of fill.
if you are going to run electric in the floor you might want to run a large conduit/sewer size pipe to put an air line inside maybe even water so it can be replaced in the future. yes you need to make sure you have a good base also make sure when you pore your concrete to add thickness anyplace you will want to put something heavy (like a lift or where you park trucks and tractors) good luck
Over the years on my farm, and with my building projects, I always try to remember to look at interior space of a building. Most people look at outside dimensions. So a 52’ x 76’ pole barn might only have 50’ x 74’ of usable space when you take away wall widths. And remember when dealing with fill dirt, truck loads are loose fluffy dirt, and then you compact it. So if you need 500 yards fill, that’s going to be compacted fill, and your going to need a few more loads after getting it compacted than a guy thinks. Also probably going to need a lot of extra fill to tapper the slope off from the building pad to the surrounding grade. I would like to see your finished slab a foot higher, or more, than surrounding grade.
Just put in a compost loo system, then you do no have to put in drainage. It is just an "emergency" loo. We have a bucket with a toiletseat on a plank of wood over in our allotment, and that has worked for over 40 years!
I've always been told if you remove dirt from the high end then you won't have compaction issues that you do when adding dirt to the low end. I hope you guys get it all figured out! Good luck! I've been excited for this build since you mentioned it a while back.
I commented earlier but forgot something. Site prep prior to placing fill. Remove all grass, tree stumps and so on. Scarify surface down about a foot and remove topsoil if good quality for later use. Compact the area real good for the start of a solid surface. Some would consider removing some material from higher ground to lower ground to start with a more uniform material across the site. Settlement is directly proportional to amount of undisturbed ground to thickness of fill to compaction effort.
I modeled the dimensions of the slope and also factored a 30 degree slope around the building. The amount of fill would be roughly 215 cubic yards. The 30 degree slope is a little steep but it will give you a good starting point.
Watching RUclips on TV but have to comment on my phone and sometimes just don't find the matching video.....thought it would be ok to tell you that moving all those cement pieces did make the place look good
Hello from OK-love your channel and all that you do-your pole barn is going to be great to watch being built-looking forward to seeing what you and Rebecca do in 2021
figure the area at 56 ft width, on each end of the building. then add together and divide by 2. then multiple by the 76 ft length. divide by 27 for cubic yards. that is the way the dump truck volume is measured. that is the way I leaned to do cross section calculation for road building in surveying class. now it is all done by a 3d computer model for cuts and fills. if you want to be more precise, do the elevation at 1/4 points on the 76 feet length. repeat the process and calculate for 19 feet. you would do it for 4 areas and add together for total cubic yards.
Good luck with the calculations, if I can’t figure it on my fingers and toes it don’t get figured. Thanks for sharing with us Evan and Rebecca, best of luck with your projects. Looking forward to seeing them here on RUclips. Fred.👍👍👏🏻👏🏻
Great idea to rough plumb for a bathroom. we did the whole thing in our house in our basement... sink, toilet and shower. haven't finished it yet but it is there when we finish our basement. you never know how you may use it. We had friends that needed to house their aging parents and were considering making a nice apartment for them in their pole barn. That way it gives everyone privacy and their own space but close enough for senior care. Maybe all you do is use it for doggy baths. who knows.
The $150 difference between the rotary laser level and the builders level is money well spent. You can do it yourself. it does not require two people. Plus many more uses later as the build develops. JMHO
Here is a suggestion, I have done my fair share of butchering you might want to consider conduit running to a bandsaw in your butcher shop. A professional meat grinder is also handy along with a two-sided deep stainless steel sink, just a suggestion. The pole barn is just like buying a Cadillac you got to pay for the extras.
I've never built anything that big or complex,so my fuzzy math would be of no help. That's gonna be a big ole fancy barn. Mines just got a small concrete pad and will eventually get some gravel around the lean to sheds,lol.
I know nothing about calculating for that kind of fill, but there is a RUclipsr out there called let's dig 18 he is an excavator and absolutely great at what he does and he should be able to help you if you can get in touch with him. Nice guy does fantastic work. Wish you the best with this building, you guys are living my dream love watching you.
Excited for you guys and the building of the pole barn. I completed construction of a house last year with the plans to build a 30x40 pole barn this year. During the building we included some provisions for the pole barn like water and drain to the septic and for in floor heat fed by our geothermal system which was sized accordingly. I would highly recommend you include plans for a bathroom and utility sink. You should research self composting toilets if you don’t want to tie into the existing septic. My pole barn will be close to the house so hookup was not a big issue. I’m hoping you will share the cost of the construction as I know people will ask. I can’t help with the soil calculations, but just make sure the fill is compactable so things don’t settle later and cause problems. Good luck with the project. 👍👍👍
Do not place the new barn at an angle to the house ....... it will sit better to your eye if the lines are parallel. After all you will see both buildings as you drive up to the house and not necessarily the field line boundary. Also if you take a pruning course your fruit trees will eventually have a better shape as they mature ...... their scaffolding at the moment isn’t great Great fun watching you .
I would be taking a skim of topsoil off first for the basic floor plan.Then using your lowest point as a datum,triangle measurement(half the build floor) 1'9"(half of 3'8")' + 3% should give you a rough idea on the hardfill you require.
Have you thought about purchasing a golf cart? 41 acres warrants something to get from place to place. Like how you and Rebecca work together. Decided to join your followers by subscribing to your channel. When will you get your cattle (cows)?
I wouldn’t want to put fill under my building. Even if you compact it will settle for a long time. You would need to figure drainage from the high side such as a Swale so the water won’t run down to the building. By all means put in a bath and water. Good luck.
The best approximation to the volume of aggregate you need is to calculate the volume of the box (length 76’, width 52’, and depth 3’8”) then divide by 2. It is the same principle of the area of a triangle; imagine the volume of the box and then cut it in half from corner to corner. 76x52x3.666= 14,488^3’ /2=7,244^3’ or 268.3 cubic yards. However this is only an educated guess. Should you need the exact volume you have to calculate it according to the topography and the elevation curves, which involves way more work than measuring only corners.
Evan: I have used an android calculator for a long time and strongly suggest that you take a look at it. Android app "Handynan Calculator ". I'm positive you will find it very useful for most of your projects. 🇨🇦 A strong and heartfelt Thank You to Rebecca for her front line care. 👍
👋 Good morning. This is going to be an interesting project. 🤷♀️ My opinion would be of no help to you. Hahaha. I have no clue but will be watching. 💞 I hope it works out well for you folks. Be blessed and enjoy that sunshine I see. 👏👏👍🙏☝️
Put extra conduits into a corner for future ie. brining cable/satellite from the house, internet service or anything else. Being in the business for 20+ years I have seen so many times that people don’t think they’ll need it and a year or less goes by then they want something.
The first thing you are going to have to do is rent you a bobcat or skid steer and get all the topsoil off the area where your pad is going to be then you'll really know how much fill you need
I would also remove the top soil, over time, the top soil will compact uneven due to breakdown and can cause problems to the pad above.
Agree with Jim Topsoil has to be stripped before any material is added but any calculation for fill will depend on depth of topsoil as it likely is not evenly spread out over the area you are trying to fill in
Agreed, plus he can move that topsoil down below the house where he has a lot of clay which would be a win/win by improving the soil there too.
I'm a professional land surveyor. To figure your grade fill manually, break up the area into smaller rectangular sections and figure the fill from the lowest point in the rectangle to the highest for depth then length times width times that depth all divided by 2 will give you the fill amount to level that one rectangular area. If you are going to fill that same area higher than that then just add a simple length times width times height volume above that. Overall just break it up into smaller areas then add all the volumes up. Or if you have a buddy with AutoCAD software you can compute it easily. Don't forget about the compaction factor when you buy fill material. Anyway, I enjoy the channel. Can't wait to see how it turns out.
I'm a Nurse by trade, but reading some comments, there are some people out there with not only good ideas, but with years of experience giving you ACTUAL FACTS about how to proceed. Plus its all free, says a lot about the quality of your subscribers! Great job guys.....
I would consider putting the root cellar under the low corner of the pole barn. Do concrete block walls for the root cellar then use the remaining dirt for the pad leveling.
Hey! Saw a lot of great comments that are extremely helpful and thought I'd throw in a few observations. Yeah you would want to dig down and remove the topsoil for sure. Calculate the thickness of the concrete pad, gravel, and any sand base that are to be used. I've seen a lot of people use the 3-3-3 method...3 inch sand base, 3 inch gravel base, 3 inch thick concrete pad...base soil, sand and gravel all compacted well. Not sure if I'd put anything directly on base soil...that is a big investment to not have a better foundation. A small workshop that would be a quarter of the size might be okay for just a pad, but sounds like you want to put in a decent amount of valuable items in there... last thing you'd want is a cracked floor all over the place. Good idea to throw down a wire fence with an 8"x8" square on it, works like mini rebar to help hold the concrete together. So soil wise, once you find out how thick you need for your foundation area - soil from the front can be moved from the high spot to the low spot. The low spot only gets the topsoil off, so then the excess from the front gets moved to the back to level it out. As well, you may want to reshoot the measurements and make a grid at 5' intervals.. you might find out that the last 5' actually drops 2' on it's own, which would mean you don't need as much fill as you think in the front part based on a gentle even slope. Washroom is a great idea, you'd be surprised at how often it would get used! A small 500 gallon holding tank and a two run septic system should work with the slope you have behind the barn area and should be adequate for the amount of use. Electrical is always a tough one, if you know you are never going to move the tool...conduit in floor is awesome. But you are committed to losing that area if you need the extra space for a project...in that sense, the tool can move but that plug is still in the way. Sickening how these types of projects snowball so quickly into having to think about so many aspects, you try to think of every possible detail and make the best decision but something always seems to come up to make it more difficult!
My dad was an excavator contractor (basements, septic fields, anything to do with moving dirt!) when I was growing up.
I can't count how many hours that I stood holding that pole, as a kid,.... usually in the freezing cold ! While Dad took his measurements for a job.
II would like to recommend you think about a wood floor for your wood working shop area due to fatigue standing on concrete all day. It would also make it easier to rerun electrical in the future if yu ever decide to change the layout of your wood shop. Set on at least 6 inch boards with planking on top or 12 inch boards if you ever think about a dust collection system. just my 2 cents
I agree. I have had both and I by far prefer the wood floor. As you get older, your feet will thank you.
Remove all the topsoil. Put your fill dirt in 4" to 6" compacted lifts . To figure the yardage add your 4 corners grades , divide by 4 and then divide that by 27{number of cu. ft. in cu. yd.} 0+1+1+3.66=# .If you remove 1' of top soil add that foot to your 4 corner grades. Also raise your subgrade above the existing grade so you get good drainage away from your building.
Being that the elevation change isn’t very drastic, If your tractor is capable - would you consider REMOVING earth from the higher elevation points? Then A- you wont have compaction issues with fill dirt later on (cracked slab, etc). B- Save yourself a little money not having to bring fill dirt in. Going to be a great addition to the homestead; cant wait to see it all come together!
I agree, you need to remove the topsoil before you start grading, hidden creek homestead is right, it will make grading easier and should save you Money, I would save some topsoil to top dress the slope after the pole barn is finished, hope this helps.
Yes I totally agree unless you remove the top soil compaction will be a problem
Chris Guins on his Letsdig 18 videos on RUclips, has done any number of site preparations, including several pole barns and the building pad for his own home. This might be very well worth checking out, before you get too far into the construction phase...
LOVE his channel. Talk about satisfying? I’d highly support this recommendation!
I hope you looked at R&R Builders. They're from Illinois and do awesome work. If you don't already have a builder, you should check out their work/videos. I wish I could get them to come to NC. to build mine.
you need to cut down the high areas and use that soil to raise your low areas up commonly refered to as cut and fill for your barn
Hi.... Thank you for sharing your video homestead 👋 bye 👋 bye 👋 bye 👋 🎥👍👍👍
In a similar scenario with a far greater difference which was 14 feet between the highest and lowest points. We split the difference, reducing the highest end seven feet and raising the lowest point seven feet and the rest levelled between those two which created a perfectly flat area which was 84 ft x 40 ft. The raised area was compacted in layers 6 inches at a time with a compacting roller and sloped away from its edge and compacted to give it support. The top soil all needs to be removed to prevent any growth and only subsoil compacted Both in the raised area and the excavated area. This will ensure that the whole area is compacted to the same degree and hopefully prevent any major movement of the pad.
There are a lot of good suggestions in the comments. Here are mine. I would use your initial measurements as "rough idea" of how much fill you might need. I would go ahead and remove the topsoil and level the earth underneath closer, then re-calculate how much more fill you need. Along with that, I would consider packing the fill so you will probably need slightly more than what you calculate.
I am by no means a professional. This is just what I have observed here in Florida when something like this is going in.
Cord drops for your electrical needs is a much better option, easy to move if needed, don’t have to worry about getting water or other debris in them.
Calculate How Much Soil You Need
Determine how much soil you'll need by using a simple formula. Keep in mind that most soil is sold by the cubic yard. There are 27 cubic feet in one cubic yard. In this example, you need to fill in 3" of soil to level a space that is 10' x 15'.
Convert the inches you need for soil depth into feet.
Example: 3" of soil (3" ÷ 12"=.25')
Multiply the length by the width by the depth of soil needed.
Example: 10' x 15' x .25' = 37.5 cubic feet
Divide the cubic feet by 27 (that's the number of cubic feet in one cubic yard).
Example: 37.5 ÷ 27=1.3889 cubic yards
Round off your answer to 1.4 cubic yards. This is how much soil you'll need.
Sloping Yard
If your yard slopes toward your house and water runs into your home, you need a create a drain and slope the yard away from your home. This is a job that will require excavation equipment and possibly building a retaining wall. Unless you are experienced in this type of garden leveling, it's best to consult a landscape professional.
Leveling Your Yard Is an Easy Process
For most uneven yards, it's an easy process to level it. Choose the technique that best addresses and remedies the uneven spaces in your yard.
10x 10 with 3 inches i read... ??!! equals one cubic yard
Ref Root Cellar: Dig a pilot hole to find the water table. In spring or the wettest time of year.
That’s going to be a nice pole barn Evan that will be nice when you get it up one of the barns is close to the house I am having work done to doing work on the inside they been using a jacking it up and redoing the inside and put the new shed on the front of it it has another shed on the other side of the barn and going to put a new metal roof on it I will be glad when they get it done materials is high for barns looking forward to the next video and the pole barn on your place y’all stay safe and talk to you next time 😎
Make sense to allow for a Bathroom in the build, particularly as you are allowing for future a prep-room.
Also you will digging out a considerable amount of dirt from the highest level of the field, so surely that needs to be done before calculating how much dirt you need to bring in from outside,
It's always a good day when we get to see a video from you. Thanks for sharing ❤️
Omg....first U are a professional video maker, then you wired the barn. I hadn't gotten to the house yet but I bet you built it also. Now this....is there anything you can't do? U R 1 smart man
Hi, Firstly, love the channel. I have set out buildings before and would suggest the following: Change your corner markers for taller ones. Then marke your required finished compacted soil grade on each one. Then mark your finished compacted stone grade on each one. then mark your finished concrete grade.( I use different coloured weatherproof tape) When that is done I would run a string line between the marker posts for each 3 reference grades and establish a number of intermediate markers all nicely marked so you have plenty of visual references to help you grade to. You need to scrape the surface and remove that spoil before you commence grading. Use a Bobcat to cut and fill with soil withing the perimeter (compacting every 4 inches) of the build before you even think about ordering fill material as piles of soil get in the way, you need to receive the fill material in a timely manner where you can process it. Factor in membrane under stone, Reinforcement for concrete, expansion joints in concrete. Please also make sure the finished pad is above the highest ground level and I would run a french drain around the building for surface and roof run off water (perhaps to the pond). The roof rainwater run off will be considerable and will also offer you some water catchment options for drinking water for the animals and watering plants etc. Good luck.
Nice builders level. I think the bathroom is a good idea. Maybe a composting stool would save a lot of drain pipe work. Someone else suggested the root cellar under a corner of the pole barn. Might be an idea worth exploring. Just a thought if you drop your power down from above you can always get in the attic to move it if needed. Not near as easy to move in cement. Your barn build it the way you want. I’ve never heard anyone say I should have built it smaller. Lol.
I’ll be looking forward to your posting on the build it will be fun to watch.
Stay safe.
Bruce from Mason Michigan
Blackberrys make pies and jam or what you know as jelly. People over here in the UK 🇬🇧 go out picking them from the bushes along the roadsides, many go home with bags full of them day after day. Blackcurrants were cultivated in gardens for the same reason. Rebekha would have a field day making it for putting in the root cellar. I know she does that. Wish I had enough land to make myself a workshop for my hobbies of carving and woodworking.
I've watched many seasoned professionals building pole barns across the US. To a man, they have all removed the topsoil using a dozer or skid steer, before the bringing in fill material, which is then vibro compacted before any stone or concrete is applied.
SUGGESTION: the first time I built a barn I put a couple of floor switches in but the proved to be in the way sometime. There was also an unfortunate spill in the barn that shorted one of the plugs out and being under concrete I didn't want to tear up the floor so I wound up running an extention cord to my tools.
The next barn I built i ran the conduit overhead. I love it! I have 2 reel cords that hang from the ceiling with 50 foot cords that automatically roll back up when I want it to. I also have 8 overhead receptacles place in the ceiling do I can drop a cord anywhere I want to.
Of course I have the usual receptacles in the walls but I love the set up and spills are nothing but a thing.
I'll never put electricals in the floor again.
Russ (Florida)
Can’t wait to start the build.🐓
You should also think about having a tub sink so you can wash parts and other things. Just a suggestion. Makes life a heck of a lot easier.
I’m going to follow up this project carefully because I’m planing a “garage”/workshop for this summer.
I’m planing to insulate and place pex for radian heat (the furnace may come in a few years). But thanks to your ideas I’m going to plan for a toilet drain (it may come when there is money to connect to a septic). I’m also planing for another electrical service (besides my house’s).
Up here, in Ontario, there are still few more weeks of winter and at least foot and a half of snow.
This is gonna be great, excited to follow along. I’ll be watching. Once spring comes I’ll be busy working on my own list of projects. Exciting times. Have a good one, Chad.
Great video and good idea for a future bathroom!!!
We need to do the same things as you. A bathroom us an excellent idea.
Bring in crushed stone to establish grade. tamp every 4 inches of lift. Yes it's more money but any leftover can be used for driveway or drive. DO NOT use fill dirt. In my shop I run conduit in the floor to my tablesaw , 230 and 115 v duplex box. Also ran conduit under the floor stubbed up in each wall then horizontal to each outlet box. Lights and switch boxes fed from overhead. Conduit will allow you to change/add circuits later. In the floor hot water heat is the most efficient for the money I think. Roughing in for bathroom makes sense even if you don't need it or want it later.
Something to think about when running power is to consider running power from either a wall or from overhead. If you move machinery around and have wheeled equipment frequently those power stubs will get in the way. Also, do plan for a bathroom, now is the time to plan and prepare for the future. I am going to put one in my wood shop. Much more work and expense after the fact.
Evan and rebeca . Hold on before building. Many counties require a 35 foot set off Property side lines also if housing livestock of any type a 100 foot from neighbors property line . If you have a grade drop of any significance why not take advantage of it and build a bank barn on that side you can load and unload trailer and truck easy . Just a thought 💭 keep on living the good life
I would take away 1 foot of soil from the highest spot and more from that corner of the building to slope away from that high point so you would buy less fill and have pitch away from all sides or the building.
Also drive in T-posts in the low spots to establish finish grade.
Good luck Vic
Don't start bringing in fill until you have had an excavating professional on site. As someone else has said, the All top soil must be removed first then the building level must be determined from the level of the substrate. If the topsoil level is absolutely uniform, the difference of the 4 corners will remain the same. Since your levels between 2 diagonals are the Same and the other 2 are separated by 2 feet, theoretically you should not require any material added to or removed from the site. Simply cut one foot from the high corner and add it to the low corner. Maybe a half day's work for a reasonably good dozer operator.
Well, I know now Rebecca is 5'4'' and you are 5'11'' lol. Sounds a super good plan for your pole barn. Enjoy your planification. Will stay tuned to see progression. Keep the good work. God bless you guys.
The barn is goin to be awesome
Looking forward to this build!!! Good Luck!!! Thanks...Peace!!!
Bill
I’d stick a bathroom in with shower and man cave. A place where you can clean up after work, chill out a little - before heading ho,e for dinner etc
You could take the higher end and fill in the lower end, but you would have to figure out the cut/fills that would balance it all out, then you could add a uniform thickness across the whole barn site. If you fill up to meet the highest grade, you will need quite a bit extra to slope the sides and make is accessible to equipment. Let me know if you have questions, I am a civil engineer by trade.
Do you plan on doing everything yourself, other than having dirt hauled in by the truck load. You should buy a used skidster your gonna need it down the road for moving all that earth around and plus your gonna have beef in the near future, at least start looking at auction price or market place.most farmers have one you would be surprised how much you will use one, just an idea or observation!!..who ever haul in your dirt may be able to tell you how much dirt and gravel loads you will need?
Dear Evan,
First off, you have to allow a larger pad for the building to support the building. When you grade the pad, add an extra five to ten feet on all sides, plus the slopes to receive fill. And you have to figure the fill material for all of this. Be sure you are not getting strippings (top layer of clearing ) but good, compactable, fill soil. Compaction should be in the range of 90% to 95%. And then... the question of shrinkage has to be addressed. Non-compacted soil loses it's volume when compacted. This is called shrinkage and runs in the range from 2% to 2.5%. To figure fill material, add the 4 corners (including the extra area outside the pad and 1/2 the slope) and average them. Now multiply that number by your pad square footage (plus extra added pad) to get cubic feet. Divide by 27 to get cubic yards. Multiply by 2700 (pounds in a cubic yard) and divide bu 2000. This will give you the tons. This grading project should not be done when the soil is wet as soil will only compact when the moisture content in at a certain level, or lower. Non compacted fill will only come back to haunt you in the future. It takes 5 years for soil to start settling. If I have totally confused you, please feel free to contact me.
David Terrell
Comer, GA
If you turn the grade rod around it should be laid out in decimal feet (10ths of a foot). Surveyors use this as it makes the math easier. 🙂 the volume of fill needed will still come out as cubic feet and can be easily converted to cubic yards by dividing by 27. You’ll get a great idea of what you’ll need. 🙂
Get rid of the top soil. Use a composting toilet in your pole barn. If you put in water you have to put in heat to keep it from freezing.
With that much of a difference in grade you may want to consider pouring a footer and then a knee wall before adding your fill dirt. I believe you would have issues with your fill washing out from under the slab causing settling and cracking without support. On roughing in conduit in your slab, I would go ahead and put floor boxes in instead of just stubbing up conduit. These boxes are flush to the finished floor and do not create an obstacle to walk around or trip over. Make sure you take measurements and document where the conduit is at in the slab so if you ever set anchors or drill thru your floor you don't hit the conduit. Finally, if your going to use trusses, look at "scissor" trusses as an option to give you the extra headroom for pulling in tractors or maybe putting in a post lift for working on vehicles. Just my 2 cents on your project, eager to see you all get this build started, Great channel!!
Run your power outlets down from above, not up through the concrete - any time you want to change things around it is a big hassle, and there are always changes as unforeseen necessities arise. Also, a cubic yard of fill is around a ton, different rocks, sand or clay types will effect this, but it is the general assumption used to roughly calculate the amount of fill needed.
Did you read the directions first? Lol my guess is the root cellar should be closer to the house? The pole barn sounds great! You might want to contact Mike Simon(DirtPerfect) for some tips on figuring out amounts of fill.
if you are going to run electric in the floor you might want to run a large conduit/sewer size pipe to put an air line inside maybe even water so it can be replaced in the future. yes you need to make sure you have a good base also make sure when you pore your concrete to add thickness anyplace you will want to put something heavy (like a lift or where you park trucks and tractors) good luck
Over the years on my farm, and with my building projects, I always try to remember to look at interior space of a building. Most people look at outside dimensions. So a 52’ x 76’ pole barn might only have 50’ x 74’ of usable space when you take away wall widths.
And remember when dealing with fill dirt, truck loads are loose fluffy dirt, and then you compact it. So if you need 500 yards fill, that’s going to be compacted fill, and your going to need a few more loads after getting it compacted than a guy thinks. Also probably going to need a lot of extra fill to tapper the slope off from the building pad to the surrounding grade. I would like to see your finished slab a foot higher, or more, than surrounding grade.
Looking forward to this build.
I can't wait to see when you get going on this project. It's going to be awesome.
very cool C'mon!!
Just put in a compost loo system, then you do no have to put in drainage. It is just an "emergency" loo.
We have a bucket with a toiletseat on a plank of wood over in our allotment, and that has worked for over 40 years!
if they are going to put in plumbing for the butcher room a bathroom is no big deal
I've always been told if you remove dirt from the high end then you won't have compaction issues that you do when adding dirt to the low end. I hope you guys get it all figured out! Good luck! I've been excited for this build since you mentioned it a while back.
Can't wait to see you all's 1st build. Lookup Earth bag for your root cellar build. It might be what you want.
I commented earlier but forgot something. Site prep prior to placing fill. Remove all grass, tree stumps and so on. Scarify surface down about a foot and remove topsoil if good quality for later use. Compact the area real good for the start of a solid surface. Some would consider removing some material from higher ground to lower ground to start with a more uniform material across the site. Settlement is directly proportional to amount of undisturbed ground to thickness of fill to compaction effort.
I modeled the dimensions of the slope and also factored a 30 degree slope around the building. The amount of fill would be roughly 215 cubic yards. The 30 degree slope is a little steep but it will give you a good starting point.
Watching RUclips on TV but have to comment on my phone and sometimes just don't find the matching video.....thought it would be ok to tell you that moving all those cement pieces did make the place look good
I ordered my tshirt last night!
This will be a fun journey and a learning experience!😊❤️
I’m a handy man in the 618. If you are looking from some local help reach out. As flat as your property is you can’t be far from where I am.
Wish I knew how to help you out, but I'm looking forward to watching your progress. Exciting things ahead!
Excited for the build!
Hello from OK-love your channel and all that you do-your pole barn is going to be great to watch being built-looking forward to seeing what you and Rebecca do in 2021
Well done with the bathroom dont forget the shower.
figure the area at 56 ft width, on each end of the building. then add together and divide by 2. then multiple by the 76 ft length. divide by 27 for cubic yards. that is the way the dump truck volume is measured. that is the way I leaned to do cross section calculation for road building in surveying class. now it is all done by a 3d computer model for cuts and fills.
if you want to be more precise, do the elevation at 1/4 points on the 76 feet length. repeat the process and calculate for 19 feet. you would do it for 4 areas and add together for total cubic yards.
Good luck with the calculations, if I can’t figure it on my fingers and toes it don’t get figured. Thanks for sharing with us Evan and Rebecca, best of luck with your projects. Looking forward to seeing them here on RUclips. Fred.👍👍👏🏻👏🏻
Great idea to rough plumb for a bathroom. we did the whole thing in our house in our basement... sink, toilet and shower. haven't finished it yet but it is there when we finish our basement. you never know how you may use it. We had friends that needed to house their aging parents and were considering making a nice apartment for them in their pole barn. That way it gives everyone privacy and their own space but close enough for senior care. Maybe all you do is use it for doggy baths. who knows.
Are you two planning on building the entire pole barn by yourself. If so that's a big task.
The $150 difference between the rotary laser level and the builders level is money well spent. You can do it yourself. it does not require two people. Plus many more uses later as the build develops. JMHO
Great start! I just love barns !❤
Nice!
you can dig down from the hight spot and fill the low spot
Here is a suggestion, I have done my fair share of butchering you might want to consider conduit running to a bandsaw in your butcher shop. A professional meat grinder is also handy along with a two-sided deep stainless steel sink, just a suggestion. The pole barn is just like buying a Cadillac you got to pay for the extras.
😎👍😎👍The following formula should work for the building project: E = mc2
I've never built anything that big or complex,so my fuzzy math would be of no help. That's gonna be a big ole fancy barn. Mines just got a small concrete pad and will eventually get some gravel around the lean to sheds,lol.
...good luck with the prep, stay safe..
I know nothing about calculating for that kind of fill, but there is a RUclipsr out there called let's dig 18 he is an excavator and absolutely great at what he does and he should be able to help you if you can get in touch with him. Nice guy does fantastic work. Wish you the best with this building, you guys are living my dream love watching you.
Looking forward to your videos of the pole barn build. We are starting a build also
Are you concreting the entire floor? I'd recommend a stud frame building because it's much easier to finish off the inside.
Only change i would make is not putting the dog runs on the back where you cant see them. Put stuff you dont want to see back there.
If you are going to put a concrete floor in you will have to compact all of your backfill. Compact in 6" lifts.
Excited to see this. Really enjoy your videos.
Excited for you guys and the building of the pole barn. I completed construction of a house last year with the plans to build a 30x40 pole barn this year. During the building we included some provisions for the pole barn like water and drain to the septic and for in floor heat fed by our geothermal system which was sized accordingly. I would highly recommend you include plans for a bathroom and utility sink. You should research self composting toilets if you don’t want to tie into the existing septic. My pole barn will be close to the house so hookup was not a big issue. I’m hoping you will share the cost of the construction as I know people will ask. I can’t help with the soil calculations, but just make sure the fill is compactable so things don’t settle later and cause problems. Good luck with the project. 👍👍👍
Cheaper to dig it down to level than build it up.
I agree with Tommy
Do do underfloor heating in the floor if only in the garage and workshop
All the tube and insulation is provisional enough
Do not place the new barn at an angle to the house ....... it will sit better to your eye if the lines are parallel. After all you will see both buildings as you drive up to the house and not necessarily the field line boundary.
Also if you take a pruning course your fruit trees will eventually have a better shape as they mature ...... their scaffolding at the moment isn’t great
Great fun watching you .
I would be taking a skim of topsoil off first for the basic floor plan.Then using your lowest point as a datum,triangle measurement(half the build floor) 1'9"(half of 3'8")' + 3% should give you a rough idea on the hardfill you require.
Have you thought about purchasing a golf cart? 41 acres warrants something to get from place to place. Like how you and Rebecca work together. Decided to join your followers by subscribing to your channel. When will you get your cattle (cows)?
I’m curious of what your budget for pole barn is? It would be great if you kept track of expenses and then totaled it up at end of build!
I wouldn’t want to put fill under my building. Even if you compact it will settle for a long time. You would need to figure drainage from the high side such as a Swale so the water won’t run down to the building. By all means put in a bath and water. Good luck.
I came up with 330 cubic yards needed based on your measurements, assuming 13 yards per load that should be 25 truck loads.
The best approximation to the volume of aggregate you need is to calculate the volume of the box (length 76’, width 52’, and depth 3’8”) then divide by 2. It is the same principle of the area of a triangle; imagine the volume of the box and then cut it in half from corner to corner. 76x52x3.666= 14,488^3’ /2=7,244^3’ or 268.3 cubic yards.
However this is only an educated guess. Should you need the exact volume you have to calculate it according to the topography and the elevation curves, which involves way more work than measuring only corners.
Evan: I have used an android calculator for a long time and strongly suggest that you take a look at it. Android app "Handynan Calculator ". I'm positive you will find it very useful for most of your projects. 🇨🇦
A strong and heartfelt Thank You to Rebecca for her front line care. 👍
👋 Good morning.
This is going to be an interesting project. 🤷♀️ My opinion would be of no help to you. Hahaha. I have no clue but will be watching. 💞 I hope it works out well for you folks. Be blessed and enjoy that sunshine I see. 👏👏👍🙏☝️
Put extra conduits into a corner for future ie. brining cable/satellite from the house, internet service or anything else. Being in the business for 20+ years I have seen so many times that people don’t think they’ll need it and a year or less goes by then they want something.
Composting toilet and dry well for dirty shower water is what I use.