Building a New Wood Shop #5: Progress?

Obviously, because of the time since my last update, the progress didn’t go as hoped/planned. So I decided to do so some of the work that I was planning to do AFTER the shop was up while I ‘ve been waiting for some progress. I needed to backfill some dirt along the new foundation to keep the drainage right. And the turf around the front of the house had built up so much over the years that the rain water was draining TOWARD the foundation instead of away. This meant that I didn’t have to purchase topsoil… I could just move dirt from one side of the yard to the other. To move the dirt I rented a Toro “Dingo” for $100 for 4 hours. A Dingo is a kind of walk-behind skidsteer. This thing works very well. I took soil off to a depth of 3” to about 8”. That’s really a LOT of dirt across about 90 feet of my front yard. (I thought of renting a sod cutter but they don’t cut deep enough for the depth that I needed & there are a lot of large roots from some of the trees I cut down.)

My wife isn’t very happy with my kind of progress. She is obcessed with our lawn. I’ll be doing some sodding & seeding pretty soon FOR SURE!

The next photo shows how much I built up the dirt along the front of the new foundation.

I did find a pleasant suprise when I got home from work today… The trusses arrived.

I sure hope this means that they will be moving somewhat faster. They were delivered before the wall sections arrived & the driver placed the trusses on the sidewalk in front of my house… I live two doors from an elementary school & there’s baseball & soccer fields on the other side of the school. It’s a real busy street AND sidewalk. Two people have already asked my how long the sidewalk will be blocked. But it really is the only place long enough & flat enough to drop off the trusses. I think delivery of the trusses could have been timed better… Unless they’re in place tomorrow… Yeah, Right.

Right now I’m in the process of getting bids on installing the minimum amount of wiring in the new shop to meet the permit requirements. And possibly wiring for the heat pump, if the price makes it worth NOT doing that myself. I’m going to add wiring to the shop myself as I place the tools in position. This way I don’t have to pay for circuits that aren’t in a practical location for the power tools… And, of course, I can do the job myself for fewer $$$.

Let’s see if things start to move a little faster.

-- Frank, Florissant, Missouri "The New Show-Me Woodshop"