Best way to do concrete for a Metal Building - Notched edge (2021)

[@edfrye5358]

From my experience, BBD is correct. You absolutely need a footer for a steel building pad. And you need some type of steel reinforcement in the concrete pad (rebar or heavy wire) that is placed on chairs to keep it in the upper 2/3rds of the concrete. Just laying the wire or rebar on the ground will not strengthen the pad. You can't pull up steel bar/wire and expect it to stay in place on its own in the wet concrete, it will migrate back down to the ground before the concrete hardens.The 1-1/2" notch along with the 3-1/2" ledge keeps the water out and keeps the concrete from cracking or blowing out completely when installing the anchor bolts. The 2x4 used for the ledge can be set at a slight downward angle to help move the water away. Even a 1% slope will drain water. Heavy rolled plastic used as a vapor barrier as shown in the video is a must! I was concerned about the compaction of the fill material. This amount of fill dirt should be compacted with heavy machinery. A walk behind that will only compact soil to a 1inch depth will work fine for consolidation of sand or stone. Fill dirt can settle a lot (up to 50%) if not properly compacted. This can be accomplished with a steel wheel drum or sheepsfoot roller. The finished dirt pad should be proof rolled ( I prefer each lift of fill dirt to be proof rolled). A loaded dump truck will work. Would take less than an hour for a pad this size. Any ruts or movement of the soil indicate a problem area. (This earthwork may have been done, just not shown in the video) All of these are simple things that are just not done by many contractors on these type of buildings. Also as they did in this video, all vegetation should be removed, stumps included, from the site. Before you start construction on a building, do your research. Talk to your contractors so you will all be on the same page. It will definitely pay off in the end. My opinion.

[@bigbuildingsdirect]

Ed, thank you for the detailed info! We appreciate you

[@curtwarkentin2887]

I love the notched edge. I can't say I've seen that up here in Canada but I sure think it's genius.

[@bigbuildingsdirect]

Keeps the concrete from blowing out when we put in the anchors and keeps your building dry! Win win. Thanks for watching Curt

[@briangadsby6653]

Putting that depth of fill material in with minimum compaction its defiantly going to settle and crack the concrete base

[@michaelashworth2774]

Just a couple minutes into video , and that was my first thought . I was thinking rule of thumb was always to dig down to level whenever possible , and as a last resort, build up with compacted clay material. ... And reiterate COMPACTED. Running a Sheep's foot followed by vibratory roller packer. Wire and the most fiber they will add to high PSI concrete !!

[@merbesfield]

Best to use #57 to raise the area. Nearly 100% compaction just dumping it. That slab is going to for sure.

[@MyFortressConstruction]

Just use a 2x2 for your ledge if it's about water proofing, it keeps the bearing weight of the steel over the in ground beams better. Also, the longer your horizontal run is on the ledge, the more water can pile up and be pushed up under that lip. The only reason to have that deep of a ledge is if you want to do a brick/stone veneer.

[@KpxUrz5745]

It appears your crews did good work. I have not yet had a steel building done, but have had large concrete foundations done for conventional buildings. I could write a book about the large number of really outrageous things that went wrong, none of which were in my control as the homeowner paying for it all. So at this point my biggest concern is the huge difficulty of finding competent contractors. At this point, it is hard to trust anyone. There are other big factors too, such as the concrete supplier being disreputable to the point of ruining the job. Another big factor is the county inspector who came at the last moment and forced a huge amount of extra digging for the footing that no one expected (18" deep perimeter!) I won't explain further, or else would end up writing the book about it all. Despite careful planning, there is no way I could have known so many things would go wrong.

[@imaboss1998]

That sounds expensive sorry to hear that classic government over reach

[@Olds_Pwr]

So I take it the building needs to be 3.5" wider on all 4 sides for the 2"x4" that is used for the notched edge. I have seen some building installers to say make the base a 4"-6" curtain of concrete because it is is vital for proper anchoring, and to avoid potential concrete cracking at the perimeter.

[@michaelashworth2774]

Love the edge idea

[@HighRoad317]

Excellent content

[@cisco1dog]

No rebar in the concrete, except in the footers?

[@claudewiggins7404]

Craaaack

[@maximus01152891]

Is that small compactor enough to do the job?

[@Countrysidehvacservice]

I’m getting ready to order a building man. Cash in hand. Haha. Just deciding what size I’m going with and determining concrete requirements

[@bigbuildingsdirect]

Ready to go.

[@Empress_Marsha]

This is awesome, my Husband and I are looking to build a metal structure on our property in SWFL and we love these informative videos so far!!!✔️

[@davidcastillo2543]

We're doing this We're doing that and I never saw the guy working in it 😂

[@ahdam82]

Was there any RCA is stone put down before the concrete?

[@johnnygonzales3211]

That's awesome I'm building a 40x40x6 slab.

[@ricks2104]

I am about a week away from having my concrete contractor start his work. I am doing a modified "joist" model with the "porch" area on the right and an added lean-to on the left. Do we notch the entire outside of the 48' x 30' slab or just the 24' x 30' "A" frame center portion? What about where the roll-up doors and swinging doors area? Still, notch them? It's all a bit confusing.

[@bigbuildingsdirect]

Our Building success team should have sent you the info at time of ordering. Let us know and we can get in touch

[@JoshJennings-w5k]

No rebar?

[@ironman-sp9fg]

Is 4inches of concrete really enough tho? Seems like that would easily crack with the earth movement

[@felonfriendly]

4 inch is very common and yes it will crack but any thickness of concrete will still crack, but the control joints control where it cracks. myself i will always go with 5 inches thick on anything other than sidewalk. but that is just me. ive poured plenty of slabs 4 inches thick and they were fine

[@buildings8235]

Great question. The building is anchored on the edges near the 1' perimeter wall. 4" does work though, and Jesse is 110% correct. The control joints are essential

[@JohnC-kc5uh]

Nope

[@philipdamask2279]

Good thing this was not in California where they want 6 inch lifts compacted and compaction test for 95% compaction before approving fill.

[@scottsparksjr8792]

What do you suggest for existing concrete? I currently have a 30x30 and I’m going to extend it another 12x30 so it’s going to be a 42x30 and I’m wanting to get a 22x30 building located on the side of the new addition. The rest will be for the current fifth wheel setup. Any suggestions? I’m doing it this way to save money in concrete work since I already have a good starting point. Thanks

[@bigbuildingsdirect]

Would want to make sure concrete thickness is up to minimum and future slab is pour to specs. We’ve done it before, but if not done correctly can be troublesome.

[@benayagarcia3302]

I didn't see the metal plates for the beams shop??

[@abiprates5943]

Great explanation about the Notched Edge. I will definitely use that idea. I live in Haslet Texas. My lot has 24" inclination. Any idea on how big the surround and footers I should use? Building size will be 45 x 55 sqft. Thank you so much.

[@bigbuildingsdirect]

My footers were 1’ wide x 1’ deep. Texas is most likely the same

[@michaelbrooks931]

Does the frame of the building sit in the notch? Or on the top part of the concreate with the metal siding going into the notch? Thanks!

[@alexgg7499]

@@michaelbrooks931 yes the frame that's the whole point cus it will prevent water to go in if its flat

[@SouthernSilverExchange]

@@alexgg7499 so the frame sits on the notched edge, and panels will still go down past the notch

[@MyFortressConstruction]

With our high expansion soils we typically do 1'x2' beams or 10" wide by 24" deep. #3 rebar 18" OC with a 4" slab and #5 rebar down in the beams with 2 pieces parallel down in the beam about 4" off the bottom and then two #5s parallel at the top flush with the dirt (about 4" lower than the top of the slab) and we place those same beams about every 15'-20' criss-crossed through the structure. So if it's 45' x 55' then you'd have 2 beams between the exterior beams with a 15' spacing between all of them to cover the 45' and then 2 beams in the center perpendicular to the others with about 18' between them and the outer beams. It should cost you around $8-$9 per sq ft for this. You can get cheaper, but that means less rebar and less beams and depth of beams.

[@maximus01152891]

So where is second part showing building installation on that edge?

[@bigbuildingsdirect]

We have a ton of videos right here on our channel

[@FrawGBJeepin]

How did that backfill hold up after a few years?

[@bigbuildingsdirect]

So far so good! We’ve had some washout but planting grass but keeping it good.

[@Hemenechi]

so when doing a 30'x30' building. do you do the concrete to 30'x30' or do you do 30'6"x30'6"

[@bigbuildingsdirect]

Would depend on how you want it done. And what type of anchoring we runZ

[@glm777]

Did they compact the soil after 4' of fill?

[@bigbuildingsdirect]

Of course

[@michaelaubrey1020]

I'm doing a 30 by 40 how big does my pad need to be in order to put the notch Edge in please and thank you

[@MyFortressConstruction]

Don't do the full 2x4 laying down like they did unless you're putting brick or stone later. Just ask them to use a 2x2 (it looks cleaner and does a better job than that wide of a ledge). You're only adding on an extra 3" to the width and length of the building at that point so 30' 3" x 40' 3".

[@crystalnewstead9621]

Did the company installing the building do the leveling and concrete?

[@bigbuildingsdirect]

No

[@pinegd1]

This method will cause the bottom of the wall sheeting to rust. Better to place the base plate at the edge of the slab and run the wall sheeting down an inch or two below the slab surface.

[@bigbuildingsdirect]

Depends on how install works and what type of building. If the slab is same size and you run panels down, our anchors will blow out the side of the concrete since it is so close to the ledge. That’s why we do the 1” drop and 4” extra in order to keep from blowing it out.

[@wickedeagans]

I wanna see a building ontop of the notched edge.

[@bigbuildingsdirect]

We have 15 videos of buildings installed on there check em our!

[@Jerryh31]

No rebar or mesh?

[@bigbuildingsdirect]

Rebar was done on the pad's footers. It's a bit hard to tell in the video!

[@servantsavior]

@@bigbuildingsdirect so you dont feel it is necessary to have rebar throughly the total area of the foundation? Hoping to build a shop soon and so many people have so many varying opinions.

[@bigbuildingsdirect]

@@servantsavior every state, county, area is different. It would be up to your local codes and concrete contractor. This pad, we did not.

[@jsmith3960]

You keep referring to this concrete job as “we” is that because it’s in Florida? When I spoke with your rep they said I needed to get the concrete done myself (Idaho). Also can you explain the process of getting building plans, permit, etc. what I’ve noticed, it requires going back and forth. I need to pay your engineers for a building design/plans then take that to my local office to get a building permit. Then get the concrete work done before moving on with the building. Maybe you can explain it better

[@bigbuildingsdirect]

I understand could be kind of confusing I’m using We, as in I hired a concrete guy to get the concrete done this way. Plans an permits in idaho are usually fairly simple. You do need to get as built engineering order through manufacturing once you’ve decided on your building and place your order.

[@gregorylondos534]

What part of Idaho are you at? I end to build a building in South Central Idaho. Rupert. How did things turn out for you? Greg

[@davetoothaker1497]

Do I actually need the notch

[@bigbuildingsdirect]

Not if you don’t want it

[@nsbconstruction9698]

called a sheet ledge or tin lug

[@bigbuildingsdirect]

Thanks!

[@js-wq6zy]

I guess there are zero bldg code requirements in Florida.

[@ringo119]

Florida building code book is this big thick thing, WTH you talking about? work without a permit has no inspections to pass.

[@juliusbrodowsky5563]

36x30x10

[@bigbuildingsdirect]

@@juliusbrodowsky5563 can do

[@rsnppl1603]

Why level the whole site? Just level the Foundation Area.

[@danielweinstein7189]

7:44 no wonder they stayed there so long they poured at a 10 slump.

[@denimru4637]

Thought this would be for rat edge, 🐀 to keep them out on a vertical panels.

[@RedEngin33r]

It is nearly incomprehensible that in a video that is itself a commercial for your business, has commercials inside it for random products. No shame, huh?

[@bigbuildingsdirect]

Not sure what you are referring to here. This is a video for our customers to show them ideas on concrete.

[@RedEngin33r]

@@bigbuildingsdirect What I'm referring to is that at the beginning, and several times throughout your video, commercials play for other products.

[@bigbuildingsdirect]

@@RedEngin33r I am trying to turn off those ads. Thank you for letting us know!