We’re about to purchase a fridge lorry body to turn into a butchery unit. I’d like a floor drain in each compartment to make wash down as easy as possible, though that means I need to run a pipe under the unit.
Has anyone been there done it or got suggestions for a nice easy way to support the body above the concrete slab (existing, so I don’t want to dig it up and build the drain into it) enough that I can get under and install the pipe? Doesn’t matter if it’s a squeeze but it will need to be more than the 150mm of the pipe.
I’ve considered:
1. Railway sleepers - think I would need to stack 2 to get the height, so dimensionally I think this will stack up to too much tolerance.
2. Building or casting padstones or some sort of support wall from blocks or concrete - Not discounted entirely but I’m not a bricky so it will be a slow job, happy enough pouring concrete though. Allows for custom height so they could be levelled, if I cast them might I have to allow for some slump? Could always pack them after building though if it wasn’t a roaring success dimensionally. Should be able to pre level these with a laser level. Will have to allow some cure time before the body arrives
3. Off the shelf padstones - would need to stack these for height, so potentially need to join them together? Could level with shims if necessary.
4. Heras fencing blocks - not sure on their compression load capacity, think I will need to stack them to get the height.
5. Sit the body on the floor and build a false floor - I think this will be a nightmare to seal and I will end up with a manky puddle in the bottom of the container that I can’t see. Also uses valuable clear height in the butchery.
6. Structural steel - could bolt this to the slab and replicate a sectional version of the chassis rails. Can shim to deal with the level. Cost might be an issue, or rust depending on the time period. Not yet looked into this properly.
As you can tell - I haven’t settled on a perfect solution yet so feel free to suggest whatever comes to mind.
Has anyone been there done it or got suggestions for a nice easy way to support the body above the concrete slab (existing, so I don’t want to dig it up and build the drain into it) enough that I can get under and install the pipe? Doesn’t matter if it’s a squeeze but it will need to be more than the 150mm of the pipe.
I’ve considered:
1. Railway sleepers - think I would need to stack 2 to get the height, so dimensionally I think this will stack up to too much tolerance.
2. Building or casting padstones or some sort of support wall from blocks or concrete - Not discounted entirely but I’m not a bricky so it will be a slow job, happy enough pouring concrete though. Allows for custom height so they could be levelled, if I cast them might I have to allow for some slump? Could always pack them after building though if it wasn’t a roaring success dimensionally. Should be able to pre level these with a laser level. Will have to allow some cure time before the body arrives
3. Off the shelf padstones - would need to stack these for height, so potentially need to join them together? Could level with shims if necessary.
4. Heras fencing blocks - not sure on their compression load capacity, think I will need to stack them to get the height.
5. Sit the body on the floor and build a false floor - I think this will be a nightmare to seal and I will end up with a manky puddle in the bottom of the container that I can’t see. Also uses valuable clear height in the butchery.
6. Structural steel - could bolt this to the slab and replicate a sectional version of the chassis rails. Can shim to deal with the level. Cost might be an issue, or rust depending on the time period. Not yet looked into this properly.
As you can tell - I haven’t settled on a perfect solution yet so feel free to suggest whatever comes to mind.
