LumberJocks Woodworking Forum banner
7K views 30 replies 13 participants last post by  Bikerdan 
#1 ·
In the beginning, there was nothing...

I am building a shop!!! I'm so excited to have this experience. I know it might be hard, there will be issues, it will be time consuming, but the rewards are many! I hope to put this experience in a blog format here to document my experience and hopefully help those of you with questions and that might be thinking about taking on their own project like this.

In this entry, I just want to introduce myself and give a brief description of my project.

I am an amateur wood worker and tinkerer. I consider myself fairly handy and love building and fixing things. I've been doing most of that in a small corner of a full two car garage. I have recently been put in a position where I can do something about it. I have a small portion of my yard that I have decided will be perfect for a detached shop. Like I said before, I love building things and this falls within that category. It doesn't hurt that I can save thousands of dollars doing it myself.

I will be building a 16' x 22' foot stick built shop with a monolithic foundation that includes a small curb wall in order to raise the bottom of the wood framing the required 6" above grade allowing it to sit flush with an existing cement pad. It will have a window, a man door, and an 8' x 10' garage door. My plan is to do as much of it as I feel comfortable with. That includes the framing, roofing, electrical and some of the finish. I will sub out the cement and stucco required by the city to match my home. I also decided I would try to save some money on plans and make them all myself. If I fail, I can always go buy them somewhere. :)

Well good news! My plans were approved and I just got my building permit yesterday!!! Woo hoo! They aren't the best plans, but they were enough to do the trick. I'll include those plans here so everyone can see. (Don't make fun of me… :))

I have been talking with the subs that I will hire out and have a meeting to discuss details going forward coming in the next couple of days.

I estimate this project to cost me about $12,000. That doesn't really include anything I build inside the shop such as shelves and storage.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope it helps you. I'm always open to suggestions so if you have something helpful, please feel free to chime in with them.

Here are my plans. (I know parts of it are a little unprofessional, but it was enough to get the building permit…)

Plant Infrastructure Road surface Architecture Urban design


Map Schematic Font Parallel Technical drawing


Rectangle Font Parallel Slope Diagram


Rectangle Slope Font Parallel Building
 

Attachments

See less See more
8
#2 ·
In the beginning, there was nothing...

I am building a shop!!! I'm so excited to have this experience. I know it might be hard, there will be issues, it will be time consuming, but the rewards are many! I hope to put this experience in a blog format here to document my experience and hopefully help those of you with questions and that might be thinking about taking on their own project like this.

In this entry, I just want to introduce myself and give a brief description of my project.

I am an amateur wood worker and tinkerer. I consider myself fairly handy and love building and fixing things. I've been doing most of that in a small corner of a full two car garage. I have recently been put in a position where I can do something about it. I have a small portion of my yard that I have decided will be perfect for a detached shop. Like I said before, I love building things and this falls within that category. It doesn't hurt that I can save thousands of dollars doing it myself.

I will be building a 16' x 22' foot stick built shop with a monolithic foundation that includes a small curb wall in order to raise the bottom of the wood framing the required 6" above grade allowing it to sit flush with an existing cement pad. It will have a window, a man door, and an 8' x 10' garage door. My plan is to do as much of it as I feel comfortable with. That includes the framing, roofing, electrical and some of the finish. I will sub out the cement and stucco required by the city to match my home. I also decided I would try to save some money on plans and make them all myself. If I fail, I can always go buy them somewhere. :)

Well good news! My plans were approved and I just got my building permit yesterday!!! Woo hoo! They aren't the best plans, but they were enough to do the trick. I'll include those plans here so everyone can see. (Don't make fun of me… :))

I have been talking with the subs that I will hire out and have a meeting to discuss details going forward coming in the next couple of days.

I estimate this project to cost me about $12,000. That doesn't really include anything I build inside the shop such as shelves and storage.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope it helps you. I'm always open to suggestions so if you have something helpful, please feel free to chime in with them.

Here are my plans. (I know parts of it are a little unprofessional, but it was enough to get the building permit…)

Plant Infrastructure Road surface Architecture Urban design


Map Schematic Font Parallel Technical drawing


Rectangle Font Parallel Slope Diagram


Rectangle Slope Font Parallel Building
Congrats on getting your plans approved! You're going to have a blast Building this shop.
Couple suggestions…put the garage door opener on the side of the door. It frees up the ceiling and looks nicer. Would still put a receptacle there but put a pull down hose reel in that spot. Our shops are almost identical. I would plan on 6-4' led light fixtures which will give you plenty of light even with the single 4 foot window. 5 might be pushing it. 6 for sure will light that place up. Enjoy the build.
 

Attachments

#3 ·
In the beginning, there was nothing...

I am building a shop!!! I'm so excited to have this experience. I know it might be hard, there will be issues, it will be time consuming, but the rewards are many! I hope to put this experience in a blog format here to document my experience and hopefully help those of you with questions and that might be thinking about taking on their own project like this.

In this entry, I just want to introduce myself and give a brief description of my project.

I am an amateur wood worker and tinkerer. I consider myself fairly handy and love building and fixing things. I've been doing most of that in a small corner of a full two car garage. I have recently been put in a position where I can do something about it. I have a small portion of my yard that I have decided will be perfect for a detached shop. Like I said before, I love building things and this falls within that category. It doesn't hurt that I can save thousands of dollars doing it myself.

I will be building a 16' x 22' foot stick built shop with a monolithic foundation that includes a small curb wall in order to raise the bottom of the wood framing the required 6" above grade allowing it to sit flush with an existing cement pad. It will have a window, a man door, and an 8' x 10' garage door. My plan is to do as much of it as I feel comfortable with. That includes the framing, roofing, electrical and some of the finish. I will sub out the cement and stucco required by the city to match my home. I also decided I would try to save some money on plans and make them all myself. If I fail, I can always go buy them somewhere. :)

Well good news! My plans were approved and I just got my building permit yesterday!!! Woo hoo! They aren't the best plans, but they were enough to do the trick. I'll include those plans here so everyone can see. (Don't make fun of me… :))

I have been talking with the subs that I will hire out and have a meeting to discuss details going forward coming in the next couple of days.

I estimate this project to cost me about $12,000. That doesn't really include anything I build inside the shop such as shelves and storage.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope it helps you. I'm always open to suggestions so if you have something helpful, please feel free to chime in with them.

Here are my plans. (I know parts of it are a little unprofessional, but it was enough to get the building permit…)

Plant Infrastructure Road surface Architecture Urban design


Map Schematic Font Parallel Technical drawing


Rectangle Font Parallel Slope Diagram


Rectangle Slope Font Parallel Building
More lights, mine is 12Ă—16' with 8'4" ceiling, I have 6 glass industrial fixtures that had 300 watt lamps in them now have (3) 82w compact fluorescent and (3) 100w equivalent LED and (2) one lamp 4' LED strip lights over the windows that are sliding door glass turned sideways on south facing wall.
 

Attachments

#4 ·
In the beginning, there was nothing...

I am building a shop!!! I'm so excited to have this experience. I know it might be hard, there will be issues, it will be time consuming, but the rewards are many! I hope to put this experience in a blog format here to document my experience and hopefully help those of you with questions and that might be thinking about taking on their own project like this.

In this entry, I just want to introduce myself and give a brief description of my project.

I am an amateur wood worker and tinkerer. I consider myself fairly handy and love building and fixing things. I've been doing most of that in a small corner of a full two car garage. I have recently been put in a position where I can do something about it. I have a small portion of my yard that I have decided will be perfect for a detached shop. Like I said before, I love building things and this falls within that category. It doesn't hurt that I can save thousands of dollars doing it myself.

I will be building a 16' x 22' foot stick built shop with a monolithic foundation that includes a small curb wall in order to raise the bottom of the wood framing the required 6" above grade allowing it to sit flush with an existing cement pad. It will have a window, a man door, and an 8' x 10' garage door. My plan is to do as much of it as I feel comfortable with. That includes the framing, roofing, electrical and some of the finish. I will sub out the cement and stucco required by the city to match my home. I also decided I would try to save some money on plans and make them all myself. If I fail, I can always go buy them somewhere. :)

Well good news! My plans were approved and I just got my building permit yesterday!!! Woo hoo! They aren't the best plans, but they were enough to do the trick. I'll include those plans here so everyone can see. (Don't make fun of me… :))

I have been talking with the subs that I will hire out and have a meeting to discuss details going forward coming in the next couple of days.

I estimate this project to cost me about $12,000. That doesn't really include anything I build inside the shop such as shelves and storage.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope it helps you. I'm always open to suggestions so if you have something helpful, please feel free to chime in with them.

Here are my plans. (I know parts of it are a little unprofessional, but it was enough to get the building permit…)

Plant Infrastructure Road surface Architecture Urban design


Map Schematic Font Parallel Technical drawing


Rectangle Font Parallel Slope Diagram


Rectangle Slope Font Parallel Building
Thanks for the suggestions. Love the idea of a pull down hose reel there. Light is a big issue in my current work space. I will definitely make sure I have enough lighting.

Hermit - I'd love to know more about your shop and how you have it setup if it's close to the same size and layout.
 

Attachments

#5 ·
In the beginning, there was nothing...

I am building a shop!!! I'm so excited to have this experience. I know it might be hard, there will be issues, it will be time consuming, but the rewards are many! I hope to put this experience in a blog format here to document my experience and hopefully help those of you with questions and that might be thinking about taking on their own project like this.

In this entry, I just want to introduce myself and give a brief description of my project.

I am an amateur wood worker and tinkerer. I consider myself fairly handy and love building and fixing things. I've been doing most of that in a small corner of a full two car garage. I have recently been put in a position where I can do something about it. I have a small portion of my yard that I have decided will be perfect for a detached shop. Like I said before, I love building things and this falls within that category. It doesn't hurt that I can save thousands of dollars doing it myself.

I will be building a 16' x 22' foot stick built shop with a monolithic foundation that includes a small curb wall in order to raise the bottom of the wood framing the required 6" above grade allowing it to sit flush with an existing cement pad. It will have a window, a man door, and an 8' x 10' garage door. My plan is to do as much of it as I feel comfortable with. That includes the framing, roofing, electrical and some of the finish. I will sub out the cement and stucco required by the city to match my home. I also decided I would try to save some money on plans and make them all myself. If I fail, I can always go buy them somewhere. :)

Well good news! My plans were approved and I just got my building permit yesterday!!! Woo hoo! They aren't the best plans, but they were enough to do the trick. I'll include those plans here so everyone can see. (Don't make fun of me… :))

I have been talking with the subs that I will hire out and have a meeting to discuss details going forward coming in the next couple of days.

I estimate this project to cost me about $12,000. That doesn't really include anything I build inside the shop such as shelves and storage.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope it helps you. I'm always open to suggestions so if you have something helpful, please feel free to chime in with them.

Here are my plans. (I know parts of it are a little unprofessional, but it was enough to get the building permit…)

Plant Infrastructure Road surface Architecture Urban design


Map Schematic Font Parallel Technical drawing


Rectangle Font Parallel Slope Diagram


Rectangle Slope Font Parallel Building
Nice! I'm in a very similar situation. Need to move my projects out of the basement and have decided to do the same thing. I'm doing 15'x30' with a little loft space above. Your plans look great. I'll be watching your progress…and learning along with you! Please keep us posted, and good luck.
 

Attachments

#6 ·
In the beginning, there was nothing...

I am building a shop!!! I'm so excited to have this experience. I know it might be hard, there will be issues, it will be time consuming, but the rewards are many! I hope to put this experience in a blog format here to document my experience and hopefully help those of you with questions and that might be thinking about taking on their own project like this.

In this entry, I just want to introduce myself and give a brief description of my project.

I am an amateur wood worker and tinkerer. I consider myself fairly handy and love building and fixing things. I've been doing most of that in a small corner of a full two car garage. I have recently been put in a position where I can do something about it. I have a small portion of my yard that I have decided will be perfect for a detached shop. Like I said before, I love building things and this falls within that category. It doesn't hurt that I can save thousands of dollars doing it myself.

I will be building a 16' x 22' foot stick built shop with a monolithic foundation that includes a small curb wall in order to raise the bottom of the wood framing the required 6" above grade allowing it to sit flush with an existing cement pad. It will have a window, a man door, and an 8' x 10' garage door. My plan is to do as much of it as I feel comfortable with. That includes the framing, roofing, electrical and some of the finish. I will sub out the cement and stucco required by the city to match my home. I also decided I would try to save some money on plans and make them all myself. If I fail, I can always go buy them somewhere. :)

Well good news! My plans were approved and I just got my building permit yesterday!!! Woo hoo! They aren't the best plans, but they were enough to do the trick. I'll include those plans here so everyone can see. (Don't make fun of me… :))

I have been talking with the subs that I will hire out and have a meeting to discuss details going forward coming in the next couple of days.

I estimate this project to cost me about $12,000. That doesn't really include anything I build inside the shop such as shelves and storage.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope it helps you. I'm always open to suggestions so if you have something helpful, please feel free to chime in with them.

Here are my plans. (I know parts of it are a little unprofessional, but it was enough to get the building permit…)

Plant Infrastructure Road surface Architecture Urban design


Map Schematic Font Parallel Technical drawing


Rectangle Font Parallel Slope Diagram


Rectangle Slope Font Parallel Building
Thanks SemperSailor. Good luck with yours as well. Hope to see your progress too!
 

Attachments

#7 ·
In the beginning, there was nothing...

I am building a shop!!! I'm so excited to have this experience. I know it might be hard, there will be issues, it will be time consuming, but the rewards are many! I hope to put this experience in a blog format here to document my experience and hopefully help those of you with questions and that might be thinking about taking on their own project like this.

In this entry, I just want to introduce myself and give a brief description of my project.

I am an amateur wood worker and tinkerer. I consider myself fairly handy and love building and fixing things. I've been doing most of that in a small corner of a full two car garage. I have recently been put in a position where I can do something about it. I have a small portion of my yard that I have decided will be perfect for a detached shop. Like I said before, I love building things and this falls within that category. It doesn't hurt that I can save thousands of dollars doing it myself.

I will be building a 16' x 22' foot stick built shop with a monolithic foundation that includes a small curb wall in order to raise the bottom of the wood framing the required 6" above grade allowing it to sit flush with an existing cement pad. It will have a window, a man door, and an 8' x 10' garage door. My plan is to do as much of it as I feel comfortable with. That includes the framing, roofing, electrical and some of the finish. I will sub out the cement and stucco required by the city to match my home. I also decided I would try to save some money on plans and make them all myself. If I fail, I can always go buy them somewhere. :)

Well good news! My plans were approved and I just got my building permit yesterday!!! Woo hoo! They aren't the best plans, but they were enough to do the trick. I'll include those plans here so everyone can see. (Don't make fun of me… :))

I have been talking with the subs that I will hire out and have a meeting to discuss details going forward coming in the next couple of days.

I estimate this project to cost me about $12,000. That doesn't really include anything I build inside the shop such as shelves and storage.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope it helps you. I'm always open to suggestions so if you have something helpful, please feel free to chime in with them.

Here are my plans. (I know parts of it are a little unprofessional, but it was enough to get the building permit…)

Plant Infrastructure Road surface Architecture Urban design


Map Schematic Font Parallel Technical drawing


Rectangle Font Parallel Slope Diagram


Rectangle Slope Font Parallel Building
Congratulations and enjoy the journey.
 

Attachments

#8 ·
In the beginning, there was nothing...

I am building a shop!!! I'm so excited to have this experience. I know it might be hard, there will be issues, it will be time consuming, but the rewards are many! I hope to put this experience in a blog format here to document my experience and hopefully help those of you with questions and that might be thinking about taking on their own project like this.

In this entry, I just want to introduce myself and give a brief description of my project.

I am an amateur wood worker and tinkerer. I consider myself fairly handy and love building and fixing things. I've been doing most of that in a small corner of a full two car garage. I have recently been put in a position where I can do something about it. I have a small portion of my yard that I have decided will be perfect for a detached shop. Like I said before, I love building things and this falls within that category. It doesn't hurt that I can save thousands of dollars doing it myself.

I will be building a 16' x 22' foot stick built shop with a monolithic foundation that includes a small curb wall in order to raise the bottom of the wood framing the required 6" above grade allowing it to sit flush with an existing cement pad. It will have a window, a man door, and an 8' x 10' garage door. My plan is to do as much of it as I feel comfortable with. That includes the framing, roofing, electrical and some of the finish. I will sub out the cement and stucco required by the city to match my home. I also decided I would try to save some money on plans and make them all myself. If I fail, I can always go buy them somewhere. :)

Well good news! My plans were approved and I just got my building permit yesterday!!! Woo hoo! They aren't the best plans, but they were enough to do the trick. I'll include those plans here so everyone can see. (Don't make fun of me… :))

I have been talking with the subs that I will hire out and have a meeting to discuss details going forward coming in the next couple of days.

I estimate this project to cost me about $12,000. That doesn't really include anything I build inside the shop such as shelves and storage.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope it helps you. I'm always open to suggestions so if you have something helpful, please feel free to chime in with them.

Here are my plans. (I know parts of it are a little unprofessional, but it was enough to get the building permit…)

Plant Infrastructure Road surface Architecture Urban design


Map Schematic Font Parallel Technical drawing


Rectangle Font Parallel Slope Diagram


Rectangle Slope Font Parallel Building
Just posted my plans on a separate blog, Bikerdan. Can't wait to get going. I've been advised a few times now to add more windows for natural light and add as much interior lighting as possible, so I'm re-thinking my window plan. I might even consider a long dormer with transom-style windows for more light. I've never even built a roof before, so dormers might be "too long of a putt" for me at this point. We'll see.
 

Attachments

#9 ·
In the beginning, there was nothing...

I am building a shop!!! I'm so excited to have this experience. I know it might be hard, there will be issues, it will be time consuming, but the rewards are many! I hope to put this experience in a blog format here to document my experience and hopefully help those of you with questions and that might be thinking about taking on their own project like this.

In this entry, I just want to introduce myself and give a brief description of my project.

I am an amateur wood worker and tinkerer. I consider myself fairly handy and love building and fixing things. I've been doing most of that in a small corner of a full two car garage. I have recently been put in a position where I can do something about it. I have a small portion of my yard that I have decided will be perfect for a detached shop. Like I said before, I love building things and this falls within that category. It doesn't hurt that I can save thousands of dollars doing it myself.

I will be building a 16' x 22' foot stick built shop with a monolithic foundation that includes a small curb wall in order to raise the bottom of the wood framing the required 6" above grade allowing it to sit flush with an existing cement pad. It will have a window, a man door, and an 8' x 10' garage door. My plan is to do as much of it as I feel comfortable with. That includes the framing, roofing, electrical and some of the finish. I will sub out the cement and stucco required by the city to match my home. I also decided I would try to save some money on plans and make them all myself. If I fail, I can always go buy them somewhere. :)

Well good news! My plans were approved and I just got my building permit yesterday!!! Woo hoo! They aren't the best plans, but they were enough to do the trick. I'll include those plans here so everyone can see. (Don't make fun of me… :))

I have been talking with the subs that I will hire out and have a meeting to discuss details going forward coming in the next couple of days.

I estimate this project to cost me about $12,000. That doesn't really include anything I build inside the shop such as shelves and storage.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope it helps you. I'm always open to suggestions so if you have something helpful, please feel free to chime in with them.

Here are my plans. (I know parts of it are a little unprofessional, but it was enough to get the building permit…)

Plant Infrastructure Road surface Architecture Urban design


Map Schematic Font Parallel Technical drawing


Rectangle Font Parallel Slope Diagram


Rectangle Slope Font Parallel Building
I could see more windows if you were building a bigger shop. In my 20Ă—22' shop I wouldn't want to give up valuable wall space to get more natural light. Before deciding you're going to add more windows, carefully plan on where your dust collector and ducts will go. Will your duct design take up wall space? Will you have upper cabinets on your walls?
Any lumber storage planned on walls? That will require a good amount of wall space. Where will you hang your clamps? If on the wall that will require a lot of wall space. Heating and air? That takes up wall space. Shelving, tool storage etc….takes up wall space. I'm not sure what you're going to be working on that requires that much natural light but chances are, you'll have the lights on anyway. Just my opinions and i dont regret not putting in more windows. Keep us posted. Looking forward to following your build.
One other recommendation, several plugs on the exterior. Sometime this year, I will be adding to the back of my shop a dedicated spray/finish booth. Not huge, approximately 3' deep x 8' long with a shed type roof. I have power ran to the area.
 

Attachments

#10 ·
In the beginning, there was nothing...

I am building a shop!!! I'm so excited to have this experience. I know it might be hard, there will be issues, it will be time consuming, but the rewards are many! I hope to put this experience in a blog format here to document my experience and hopefully help those of you with questions and that might be thinking about taking on their own project like this.

In this entry, I just want to introduce myself and give a brief description of my project.

I am an amateur wood worker and tinkerer. I consider myself fairly handy and love building and fixing things. I've been doing most of that in a small corner of a full two car garage. I have recently been put in a position where I can do something about it. I have a small portion of my yard that I have decided will be perfect for a detached shop. Like I said before, I love building things and this falls within that category. It doesn't hurt that I can save thousands of dollars doing it myself.

I will be building a 16' x 22' foot stick built shop with a monolithic foundation that includes a small curb wall in order to raise the bottom of the wood framing the required 6" above grade allowing it to sit flush with an existing cement pad. It will have a window, a man door, and an 8' x 10' garage door. My plan is to do as much of it as I feel comfortable with. That includes the framing, roofing, electrical and some of the finish. I will sub out the cement and stucco required by the city to match my home. I also decided I would try to save some money on plans and make them all myself. If I fail, I can always go buy them somewhere. :)

Well good news! My plans were approved and I just got my building permit yesterday!!! Woo hoo! They aren't the best plans, but they were enough to do the trick. I'll include those plans here so everyone can see. (Don't make fun of me… :))

I have been talking with the subs that I will hire out and have a meeting to discuss details going forward coming in the next couple of days.

I estimate this project to cost me about $12,000. That doesn't really include anything I build inside the shop such as shelves and storage.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope it helps you. I'm always open to suggestions so if you have something helpful, please feel free to chime in with them.

Here are my plans. (I know parts of it are a little unprofessional, but it was enough to get the building permit…)

Plant Infrastructure Road surface Architecture Urban design


Map Schematic Font Parallel Technical drawing


Rectangle Font Parallel Slope Diagram


Rectangle Slope Font Parallel Building
All great points. I thought about the natural light as well. My choice of one window boils down to wall space. Wall space is just to valuable. I will need all the storage space I can get. I will just have to compensate with more overhead lighting. I love the idea of some external outlets. Those will really come in handy! Thanks for the feedback guys.
 

Attachments

#11 ·
So it begins

Hey everybody! It's been a bit since my last post. Things have been going a little slow due to weather and vacations. The last post was just to introduce the project. At that time, nothing had been done except for getting the building permit.

Since then, I've broken ground!!! The first step is to get the foundation and floor poured. This is one of the only couple of stages that I'm going to stand back and let an expert take care of for me. I need to make sure this part is done right!

For anyone else that might be considering doing this sort of build, here are a couple of special considerations that I've made for this part of the build. First, if you're doing a curb around the outside like I am you will need to make sure that you have the correct widths for the openings. In my case, I'm going 38.5 inches for the 3-0 man door and 10'2" for the garage door. This allows room for casing and weather stripping to be installed for the garage without having too much overlap of the garage door. I also am making sure that they use blocks to leave a cut out in the stem wall where the garage door track will come down to the floor. I'm making sure that we have conduit for both the elecric coming in and also for anything I want to run to the otherside of the garage. Finally, I'm having a garage door entry gutter installed to help with water since I'm trying to keep the garage floor as level as possible since it's going to be used as a shop. There will be a slight slope for the first couple of feet of the floor.

In the pics, you can see how the location was prepped as well as the first stages of forming. There is still a bit to be done before the pour. Conduit needs to be laid, the outer portions of the form need to be installed with some backfill done.

I hope this is helpful and if any of you have any thoughs and/or suggestions, please speak up! I love to hear your ideas.

Plant Building Window Tree Branch


Property Plant Plant community Tree Land lot


Plant Tree Road surface Grass Residential area


Plant Property Building Tree Road surface


Property Plant Building Tree Road surface
 

Attachments

#12 ·
So it begins

Hey everybody! It's been a bit since my last post. Things have been going a little slow due to weather and vacations. The last post was just to introduce the project. At that time, nothing had been done except for getting the building permit.

Since then, I've broken ground!!! The first step is to get the foundation and floor poured. This is one of the only couple of stages that I'm going to stand back and let an expert take care of for me. I need to make sure this part is done right!

For anyone else that might be considering doing this sort of build, here are a couple of special considerations that I've made for this part of the build. First, if you're doing a curb around the outside like I am you will need to make sure that you have the correct widths for the openings. In my case, I'm going 38.5 inches for the 3-0 man door and 10'2" for the garage door. This allows room for casing and weather stripping to be installed for the garage without having too much overlap of the garage door. I also am making sure that they use blocks to leave a cut out in the stem wall where the garage door track will come down to the floor. I'm making sure that we have conduit for both the elecric coming in and also for anything I want to run to the otherside of the garage. Finally, I'm having a garage door entry gutter installed to help with water since I'm trying to keep the garage floor as level as possible since it's going to be used as a shop. There will be a slight slope for the first couple of feet of the floor.

In the pics, you can see how the location was prepped as well as the first stages of forming. There is still a bit to be done before the pour. Conduit needs to be laid, the outer portions of the form need to be installed with some backfill done.

I hope this is helpful and if any of you have any thoughs and/or suggestions, please speak up! I love to hear your ideas.

Plant Building Window Tree Branch


Property Plant Plant community Tree Land lot


Plant Tree Road surface Grass Residential area


Plant Property Building Tree Road surface


Property Plant Building Tree Road surface
Dan, it looks like a good start to me. Keep up the good work and keep the pix coming.
 

Attachments

#18 ·
A solid foundation

Finally! After days of planning, waiting, questions, weather issues, more planning, and more waiting, it's finally done! I have a foundation to build on! As you can probably tell, I'm really excited.

There were a couple of changes I was able to squeeze in to the plan before the pour. I added a Ufer ground and ran conduit to an electrical cement floor box so I'll have power ran to the middle of the room. I mostly plan on using that for my table saw and for running power to a set of outlets mounted on my out-feed table / assembly table.

Then, the weather finally got to a point where it was consistent enough for the pour to happen. We had to bring in a couple of trucks worth of cement and a pump truck to get the cement to the pad without tearing down fence or driving super heavy trucks on my driveway.

Cloud Sky Building Wood Vehicle


The first problem with the pour was that the trucks were both late so we didn't get started until about an hour after scheduled. The second truck was even later than the first one. That was a pain because the cement was setting up quickly and we still had to get j-bolts in and things smoothed out. That gets tougher when the cement is getting thicker and thicker.

Plant Building Tree Road surface Urban design


After the cement was finally all dumped and smoothed, the j-bolts were put in, and much of the smoothing had taken place, the upper inside forms were able to be removed. This allowed us to smooth the inside and make it all nice and pretty. Many hours later and into the early night we were finally done and cleaning up.

And here it is almost cured enough to start building on!

Plant Sky Road surface Tree Asphalt


Idn't she purdy! Woohoo!

One issue I have though is that the outer form for the back wall curb bowed a little. No one noticed until after the j-bolts were put in. Doh! That means I need to set the base plate for the wall back far enough that the corners hang over a little while the center of the cement wall protrudes a little. That sucks… :/ I think I can make it work though. My biggest worry there is that the bolts are following the outer edge (1 3/4 inches away mostly) which means they won't all be in the middle of the base plate. I may end up having to saw some of them off and epoxy some replacements into the wall in the correct spots. Oh well… Not much I can do about that now.

Here is a graphic to help describe the problem I just outlined. It's a bit exaggerated, but you get the idea:

Rectangle Parallel Square


So now I'm about to place my first order for materials. I am going through one of the big box hardware stores. They were quick with a quote for materials that they put together for me based on my plans. It's pretty good but they assumed a lot. They picked incorrect colors for windows, soffit, facia, and drip edge. They chose the wrong shingles. They forgot the wood for the garage door header also. There are a few more little things they didn't include.

Someone in a comment to a post on this forum mentioned a hardware retailer that has a tool online that was really helpful. It walked through a wizard like set of forms asking questions about size, openings, materials and so forth. In the end it pops out a plan with material list. That list was much more detailed than the first one I got. Using them both together I think I have a pretty good list of materials for my first order.

Here is the thread with the reference to the online tool:
click here

Thanks for keeping up on this blog! I hope you find the information helpful. If you have any suggestions for the project along the way, feel free to speak up. I love hearing your thoughts. Also, if you'd like to hear more detail about anything specific, let me know.

Happy building!
 

Attachments

#19 ·
A solid foundation

Finally! After days of planning, waiting, questions, weather issues, more planning, and more waiting, it's finally done! I have a foundation to build on! As you can probably tell, I'm really excited.

There were a couple of changes I was able to squeeze in to the plan before the pour. I added a Ufer ground and ran conduit to an electrical cement floor box so I'll have power ran to the middle of the room. I mostly plan on using that for my table saw and for running power to a set of outlets mounted on my out-feed table / assembly table.

Then, the weather finally got to a point where it was consistent enough for the pour to happen. We had to bring in a couple of trucks worth of cement and a pump truck to get the cement to the pad without tearing down fence or driving super heavy trucks on my driveway.

Cloud Sky Building Wood Vehicle


The first problem with the pour was that the trucks were both late so we didn't get started until about an hour after scheduled. The second truck was even later than the first one. That was a pain because the cement was setting up quickly and we still had to get j-bolts in and things smoothed out. That gets tougher when the cement is getting thicker and thicker.

Plant Building Tree Road surface Urban design


After the cement was finally all dumped and smoothed, the j-bolts were put in, and much of the smoothing had taken place, the upper inside forms were able to be removed. This allowed us to smooth the inside and make it all nice and pretty. Many hours later and into the early night we were finally done and cleaning up.

And here it is almost cured enough to start building on!

Plant Sky Road surface Tree Asphalt


Idn't she purdy! Woohoo!

One issue I have though is that the outer form for the back wall curb bowed a little. No one noticed until after the j-bolts were put in. Doh! That means I need to set the base plate for the wall back far enough that the corners hang over a little while the center of the cement wall protrudes a little. That sucks… :/ I think I can make it work though. My biggest worry there is that the bolts are following the outer edge (1 3/4 inches away mostly) which means they won't all be in the middle of the base plate. I may end up having to saw some of them off and epoxy some replacements into the wall in the correct spots. Oh well… Not much I can do about that now.

Here is a graphic to help describe the problem I just outlined. It's a bit exaggerated, but you get the idea:

Rectangle Parallel Square


So now I'm about to place my first order for materials. I am going through one of the big box hardware stores. They were quick with a quote for materials that they put together for me based on my plans. It's pretty good but they assumed a lot. They picked incorrect colors for windows, soffit, facia, and drip edge. They chose the wrong shingles. They forgot the wood for the garage door header also. There are a few more little things they didn't include.

Someone in a comment to a post on this forum mentioned a hardware retailer that has a tool online that was really helpful. It walked through a wizard like set of forms asking questions about size, openings, materials and so forth. In the end it pops out a plan with material list. That list was much more detailed than the first one I got. Using them both together I think I have a pretty good list of materials for my first order.

Here is the thread with the reference to the online tool:
click here

Thanks for keeping up on this blog! I hope you find the information helpful. If you have any suggestions for the project along the way, feel free to speak up. I love hearing your thoughts. Also, if you'd like to hear more detail about anything specific, let me know.

Happy building!
That is very cool…..I would be so excited that I couldn't sleep. congratulations on getting this far…

Yes, she sure is "purdy"
 

Attachments

#22 ·
Fast forward...

...and through the miracle of television… we just so happen to have one done right here!

SO SORRY GUYS! It's been a looong time since I posted last. I guess it was just a little too ambitious of me to think that I could write this blog at the same time as work and putting so much time into this shop. Not to mention vacations and other life interruptions. (and possibly being a little lazy… :/)

Well, I've at least been taking pictures throughout the build and will attempt to catch you all up.

The plan is to release a few blog posts to summarize the main steps in building the shop starting where I left off last:

1) Framing
2) Roofing
3) Door, window, etc…
4) Electrical
5) Stucco, soffit, and facia
6) Final pics and wrap-up

In this post, I'll start with framing. I'd have to say that framing was one of the most rewarding parts of the build. It's so exciting to see things going up so quickly!

It can also be a little frustrating at times. The biggest hiccup I had was that I put in too small of a header over the window area and ended up having to tear it out and put in a bigger one… You can see in one of the pictures the header is smaller than in the next.

Plant Property Sky Tree Cloud


Wood Tree Shade Composite material Plant


Wood Tree Land lot Plant Wood stain


Plant Tree Wood Land lot Sculpture


Putting trusses up was also a challenge. Although, with a friend, we were able to get them all up in one night.

Lighting Wood Beam Line Triangle


Sky Building Tree Wood Plant


Here I've built out the gable ends and facia boards with blocking between the trusses.

Building Wood Brick Brickwork Window


And finally sheathing the roof. That was a bit challenging for me as I'm a little sketchy about heights. Good thing is I have some climbing gear that came in handy!

Building Window Tree Sky Wood


All in all, the framing wasn't technically difficult. It was extremely helpful to have a couple of extra hands for the trusses and sheathing. The framing inspection went well with one exception. I failed because sheathing nails had missed a couple of feet of one stud. Easy fix and inspection cleared easily after that.

Next, roofing!
 

Attachments

#23 ·
Fast forward...

...and through the miracle of television… we just so happen to have one done right here!

SO SORRY GUYS! It's been a looong time since I posted last. I guess it was just a little too ambitious of me to think that I could write this blog at the same time as work and putting so much time into this shop. Not to mention vacations and other life interruptions. (and possibly being a little lazy… :/)

Well, I've at least been taking pictures throughout the build and will attempt to catch you all up.

The plan is to release a few blog posts to summarize the main steps in building the shop starting where I left off last:

1) Framing
2) Roofing
3) Door, window, etc…
4) Electrical
5) Stucco, soffit, and facia
6) Final pics and wrap-up

In this post, I'll start with framing. I'd have to say that framing was one of the most rewarding parts of the build. It's so exciting to see things going up so quickly!

It can also be a little frustrating at times. The biggest hiccup I had was that I put in too small of a header over the window area and ended up having to tear it out and put in a bigger one… You can see in one of the pictures the header is smaller than in the next.

Plant Property Sky Tree Cloud


Wood Tree Shade Composite material Plant


Wood Tree Land lot Plant Wood stain


Plant Tree Wood Land lot Sculpture


Putting trusses up was also a challenge. Although, with a friend, we were able to get them all up in one night.

Lighting Wood Beam Line Triangle


Sky Building Tree Wood Plant


Here I've built out the gable ends and facia boards with blocking between the trusses.

Building Wood Brick Brickwork Window


And finally sheathing the roof. That was a bit challenging for me as I'm a little sketchy about heights. Good thing is I have some climbing gear that came in handy!

Building Window Tree Sky Wood


All in all, the framing wasn't technically difficult. It was extremely helpful to have a couple of extra hands for the trusses and sheathing. The framing inspection went well with one exception. I failed because sheathing nails had missed a couple of feet of one stud. Easy fix and inspection cleared easily after that.

Next, roofing!
Great workspace !!! Keep us updated !!
 

Attachments

#31 ·
Up on the rooftop

Time to put on my big boy pants and climb up on the roof! The eaves are about 11 feet off of the ground, the peak is just about 14, and yes, I'm a bit nervous about heights. Which is funny because I love to rock climb. That actually came in quite handy considering I have a rope, harness, and some other gear to help keep me safe up there. Using that, I felt quite a bit safer up there and by the end, was moving around quite comfortably.

First thing was to get the drip edge on (just the eaves for now) and then the tar paper. I used ice and water barrier for the first row and then 30# tar paper for the rest of the runs. For staples, I used a Stinger Hammer Nailer which came in quite handy. You can see a couple of ripples in the paper. I was a bit worried but they ended up not being a problem and do not show up under the shingles. The biggest challenge with this stage was getting the runs straight. If you make any adjustments to the strip after you've stapled any of it down, you will cause ripples in the paper. I found out later that if it's bad enough, it's best to just cut the paper and start from the cut with an overlap of the paper that is already down. It also helps to unroll and put staples down the middle of the row first for a few feet and then come back and put staples on the rest of it. It helps keep those ripples out. Finally, I came back and put the drip edge on the rakes.

Sky Tree Plant Shade Wood


On to the shingles. Somehow I timed the roofing to come in the hottest part of the summer… Wonderful. I had to make sure that I only worked in early mornings because the singles would get hot enough they would get damaged when I stepped on them.

I started with a starter strip of shingles that I made from cutting tabs off of a standard 3 tab shingle. Then I put down the architectural shingles after that. You have to be careful that you match the manufacturers instructions for nailing pattern and overlap. Otherwise, you might end up with places that water can make its way through to the underlayment. I found it easiest to put down about 5 rows of shingles at a time.

Also, in this picture you can see my climbing rig. I had the rope coming out of the ridge vent opening so I could go down either side of the roof if needed.

Tire Wheel Property Building Car


I just worked my way to the top and made sure I left an opening where the ridge vent was cut in.

Plant Building Wood Tree Cottage


You'll see in the pictures that the window went in and the garage door was getting cased. Ignore that, I'll get to that in more detail on the next entry.

I opted to use a ridge vent for venting the roof area. It was really easy to install and seems to make more sense than having gable vents. I used stuff that came in a roll. You just unroll it and nail it down over the vent, then come back and put the cap shingles down over the top. Again, make sure you're following the nailing patters and fastener requirements for your shingles and roofing materials.

Building Window Wood Tree Roof


The only thing left was to install the eave returns or "eyebrows". For that I just framed the eaves back into the front of the building following the pattern of how my house is done. I then installed drip edge and shingles as before on top of the eyebrows. I also installed a faux gable vent to match the house for consistency.

Window Plant Building Wood Tree


FINALLY! I can get off of the roof! This was one of the most exciting parts for me as I new that progress would pick up at this point. Working around the summer heat, weather, vacations and everything else seemed to make this part of the project drag out. By the way, that scaffold you see there, it was probably the single most useful purchase I made while building this. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I might even buy two…

Time to get ready for stucco!

Thanks for following this build. I hope it's been helpful so far. And please, if you have any questions or comments, let me know! I'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback.
 

Attachments

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top