The Build Begins

[Deleted member 995608]

How did you set the poles? Are they buried directly in the soil?

I learned the hard lesson of cementing wooden poles in the soil. Doesn't take long for the the post to rot after being entombed in cement.

 

[Wertles]

Woodenhead- the posts are laminated. You can get them in any length, they are perfectly straight and only the bottom is pressure treated. They are certainly a lot lighter than the pressure treated 6x6's that they put up today for the lean to.
Heating is definitely wood. I figure, since it's free and will work with or without power, I'll take it. I built a double barrel wood stove. The kit cost about $80 and I have lots of positive experience with them.
I am leaning toward the T5 fixtures. They are the most energy efficient with a 20,000 hour bulb life.

JHawes- these posts are between 4 and 5 feet down. At the bottom of the hole, there is a cement block that the post sits on and then 1 bag of concrete in each hole. That's code for here so there was no discussion on the matter.

Today's progress

 

[Woodenhead]

Moving right along! Looks cold but at least it's clear and dry.

That is one down side with the Metal Halides, they take a few minutes to get bright (it's like a sunrise in the shop) and if you shut them down they'll need 20mins or so before they'll come back on. This isn't an issue for me, once I turn them on I just leave them on for the day. I also wired them in 3 circuits (front, middle, back) so I only turn on what I need. Power is very cheap here so it's really a non issue for me.

What's the plans for the floor? Fill inside and around the shop, pack it in lifts, then pour a floor?

 

[Wertles]

Woodenhead- I need to get some fill to bring up the grade. Today I got about 25 2x10's and screwed them into the posts. You can see that in the last picture of today. This coming spring, I will be getting 6 inches of fiber reinforced concrete.

Today's progress, all the trusses installed, bracing and boards installed, and rafters for the lean to started. For some goofy reason, the building inspector is requiring them to be every 1 foot on center. A bit of overkill if you ask me for a lean to.

 

[mwilson]

I think that the 1' on center for the lean to is so that that snowload on it can't pull the main building over and down.
We lost our brand new Dealership building in Gorham, NH that way when I was a kid. The overhang / lean to on the front pulled the building over and then it went down.
We had a bad year that winter. 1968-1969, there was a lot of snow.

Mike.

 

[Woodenhead]

Looks like you got some good help, things are moving fast. Better hurry up, I think you have snow coming!
16' is a fairly long span, what size are the rafters on the lean to, likely 2x8 maybe 2x10? My buddy had a 14' wide lean to on a place he bought. It was 2x6 on 24" centers and they were sagging bad and hadn't even seen snow yet. We added another 2x6 in between to make 1' centers. More is better, especially with the snow you can get. I remember going through Rochester 20+ years ago after an ice storm destroyed all the trees.

With the amount of fill you need compaction will be very important (obviously) and it will be difficult inside the building, especially around the edges so expect it to settle. 6" fiber will be a hell of a floor, obviously the fiber will help hold it together but re-bar or welded wire will be cheap insurance so if it still cracks one day it won't shift.

 

[fest3er]

We had a bad year that winter. 1968-1969, there was a lot of snow.

Yes, there was a lot of snow then. I remember those years in Methuen fondly. 6 foot drifts, snow piled 8 foot both sides of the driveway, walking ¾ mile to and from school (up hill both ways, doncha know) in all weather, though the parental units insisted on driving us when it was below 0°F.

Code can be strange. Inspector here insisted I have the 10x18 shed I built on blocks be 'tied down' (or at least look like it was). And insisted all of the roof joists (16" centers) be tied to the walls with hurricane straps. Four 4' lengths of rebar sharpened and driven through the river rock they call soil here, four gate hinge pins and sturdy u-clamps torqued to 90 ft-lb. Inspector was satisfied. It's amazing how fast one can use a case of 3½" nylon-coated nails with a nail gun.

Triangles are your friend, provided they're really everywhere they need to be. The roof of the Hartford Civic Center collapsed because the engineers didn't have them in the roof overhangs. Once that started to give, the rest followed.

 

[Wertles]

Finally a break in the weather. Roofing was pretty much finished and they started on the sides today as I left. I'm not sure what's up with the white trim over the black roof. I haven't seen that before but if it bothers me, I know where to pick up a little paint to make it match in the spring.

The rafters on the lean to are 2x10. I'm sure there is enough strength there now to support any snow Rochester has to throw at it. I have been doing my research on lights. I am going to go with 15 8 foot T8 light fixtures (5 over each bay) then some additional lights over the work area. Doing the math, 15 would have been enough for the whole place but more is definitely better. T5 is really expensive for the gain in light.

The next thing to research is the cost of spray foam insulation as compared to regular. I know the foam is much better but if it is only going to cost me an extra log on the fire every hour to maintain the heat, I am not willing to spend thousands more for the foam. It is way to easy to spend money on this thing.

 

[Deleted member 995608]

Just a thought. If ya go with spray insulation, install extra conduits near the corners or center of walls for future provisions. I install a few extra in everything I build. It makes it super simple to add electrical, TV or phones circuits later on.

 

[Wertles]

Well I checked into spray foam insulation today and wow. Just wow. $9000 for walls and ceiling. Compare that to traditional insulation at $2500 and I will have no problems burning 2 extra logs in the stove an hour to maintain the heat. Today's progress. Time consuming trim and soffit, tyvek covering, windows and doors installed and most of one gable end sided.

I even decided to break the building in.

 

[Wertles]

Phase 1 complete. The warm up this week really made a mess of things. The plan now is to let the upcoming freeze firm everything up and next Wednesday bring in fill to level things out. After that, overhead doors.

 

[Woodenhead]

Coming along nicely. First thing I did when I moved into my shop was turn the truck around inside cause I knew it would be the only time I'd ever have room to do it .

 

[Deleted member 995608]

I'd almost kill to have saturated soil like in those pics. California is a giant desert dust bowl right now waiting to burst into flames.

 

[DonFitzwater]

I'd almost kill to have saturated soil like in those pics. California is a giant desert dust bowl right now waiting to burst into flames.

Careful what yours ask for!

 

[DonFitzwater]

Wertles, what's the plan for the floor? Did you mention that already and I missed it?

 

[Wertles]

Wertles, what's the plan for the floor? Did you mention that already and I missed it?

6" of fiber reinforced concrete to be poured in the spring. The ground has been settling for some time but I want a full winter of freeze thaw cycles to really get things stable. Next Wednesday I am getting some really sandy soil that compacts very quickly and quite well. As one truck dumps it's load, the bobcat will move it and it will be immediately compacted layer by layer. I am hoping they bring in the stone then as well. It would make it a whole lot easier to work in there this winter.

After the fill is in, I'm going to rent scaffolding to get the OSB on the ceiling, at least the front half. I think it will make for an easier/cleaner installation of the overhead doors.

 

[SOOT]

Dang, thats gonna be a nice shop!

 

[DonFitzwater]

Cool. I'm jealous!

 

[Wertles]

Had the week off. The weather was finally cooperative.

Floor got leveled.

Overhead doors installed.

Ceiling finished.

Back wall insulated and finished. The bottom panels are just tacked on. They will need to be removed for concrete.

 

[Wertles]

Haven't updated in a while because most things really wouldn't show up without pictures. The wiring is 99% done. 4 more outside boxes to wire up. The main feed isn't there yet but I have a generator plug on the outside of the building so shortly I can have power at any time without running extension cords. All the walls are insulated and covered with OSB. I was going to buy a paint sprayer because it would only cost a few dollars more than renting one but yesterday we got bored and just got curious how long it would take to roll. I had the first of at least 4 five gallon buckets of primer and my dad just went to town. I will probably end up saving myself $400 and just roll it. It went pretty quickly and I'm sure I can get some other family members or friends to come over and help make it go even faster.