| Blog series by FJPetruso | updated 276 days ago | 15 parts | 13844 reads | 120 comments total |
Part 1: Frank's New WoodWorking Shop
Several weeks ago I was struck by a lightening bolt… Not in the literal sense but in the verbal sense. It came out of the blue when my wife, Sue, SUDDENLY & WITH NO WARNING, SAID… “Can you build a woodworking shop on the other end of the house so I can get my car back into the garage?” That’s how it started! This is the “other” end of my house… My yard is small so I had to make plans to put the shop within a foot of the uti...
Part 2: Brick Problem... Matching the Existing Bricks on the House
One of the problems that I have to overcome is matching the new bricks to the 30 year old bricks that are on the house. Because the front of the shop will have a 4’ high by 8’ wide window where my woodworking bench will be placed and around the window will be 2 fake shutters & the wall will be covered in a brick veneer. Problem: The original style bricks are no longer made. I went to brick makers all over St.Louis to try & find a match and the best that I could find is ...
Part 3: Progress on the Concrete Footing & Floor
Progress is good. Friday the contractors poured the footing using the “earth form” method & started building the forms for the wall & floor. Saturday they finished the forms & put in the limestone chat, leveled it & compacted the surface. Today (Monday) they poured the wall & the floor in one pour. The concrete came out nice & square & the floor is very level with one parting line through the half-way point. The men did excelent work. ...
Part 4: Concrete Forms Removed
The cement contractors came back on Monday as promised & removed the forms. The concrete looks great. Notice that the “J” bolts in the top of the wall are installed toward the outside of the side & rear walls where the wall will be covered in vinyl siding. The “J” bolts in the front wall are installed toward the inside of the front wall. This allows me to have a ledge to lay the bricks on. I’ll be bringing in some dirt to level out & to kee...
Part 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...
Part 6: Sticks Going Up & then Ike Arrives
Last Friday there was forward progress on the new wood shop. You can see that the trusses were moved into the shop area before building the walls. The work is good & the 10 foot high walls sure look nice. And you can see… I am keeping the wife happy by quickly working on the area of the lawn that I destroyed to get the fill dirt. That’s all the sod that I’m putting down. The rest will be seeded & covered with straw. And then along came Ike! Th...
Part 7: They're Raising the Roof!
The carpenters came back on Monday & got right to work. They put up the trusses & half the sub-roof. They also installed the flashing where the old roof joins the new shop. Hopefully no more leaking. The new entry doors for the shop arrived too. Nice looking doors. They’re insulated steel doors with the upper portion being thermal pane glass. They will be installed to open outward & appear to be sealed against the weather OK.
Part 8: Work on the Roof Continues,Some Siding Up, Entry Doors Installed
Tuesday the carpenters installed the remainder of the sub-roof & installed the “tar paper”. The largest wall, the one without windows was completely sided with vinyl siding. they also installed the corner strips & the entry door. The door is a good fit & operates well. You can also see in this photo of the door that I’m making the form for the 4’X7’ stoop outside the entry door. More to come.
Part 9: More Siding, More Grass, More Prep Work
They just about have the siding done. They still need to install the soffit over the old roof. I’ll need to paint the steel doors & that little bit of trim around the doors. And I’d like to see that concrete landing poured soon. It’s getting to be a pain to go in & out of the shop over that form. The front was only sided down to the top of the window to leave room for the brick & fake shutters.I’ve removed the old siding from the shared wall & remove...
Part 10: Outside of Shop Complete (with a temporary change)
Finally… An Update! I’m running out of warm weather so as you can see… I paid a bit extra to have the siding put on the front of the workshop, where the bricks will go, because I want to get the final inspection done as quickly as possible. I’ll put the brick veneer on this spring. There are new shutters & gutters & a light over the front window. On the rear of the shop, the landing by the doors has been poured, there’s a light over the doors & the outside recepticle is in...
Part 11: Interior & Drywall Update...
Here’s a view of the front of the woodshop. The drywall is ALL up. But it needs another coat on the ceiling to smooth it out. . My neighbor Earl, a carpenter by trade, helped me put up a lot of the drywall. This window is where the woodworking bench will go. Right now it’s become a place for my wife & I to relax after doing an evening or day’s work on the shop or yard. Next is a view of the rear / entrance to the woodshop. Those two 5 gallon paint containers in the corner on the r...
Part 12: Starting on the Trim Work, Gas Heater, Ceiling Fan
I’ve started puting in the trim work. And after giving a bit of thought to what kind of trim.., I decided to keep it simple & cheap. If I would get too elaborate with the trim I would find myself cleaning sawdust out of many nooks & crannies. So I chose plain ole 1”X4” lumber & will just paint it white. The front & rear windows are trimmed out. I installed the 30,000 btu gas heater & it works like a champ. And since the inspector had me pu...
Part 13: Helping out the Window A/C Unit
GARYK warned me that I would have to come up with some kind of better filter system for my window A/C unit because of the sawdust. Man was he right! Here’s photos of what I came up with… Here’s the stock filter. We use this filter material to make custom filters for switchgear at work… It’s about 15 bucks at Home Depot for a piece 1 inch by 36 inches by 20 feet. I cut the material to size & I can close the grille with two layers of material behind it...
Part 14: Painting, Lighting, Cabinets & Air Filtration Update
Well… The walls are painted semi-gloss white, I’m workin’ on paintin’ the trim & touching up. My son-in-law Buck helped me get the cabinets painted & today we installed them. This is a view of the front window with the cabinets mounted on each side. The walls are nice & bright. In fact these photos were taken after dark with the lighting that’s in the shop. You can see that I added two extra lights over the area where the workbench will be. You ...
Part 15: Fini! "The New Show-Me Woodshop"
I’m a little late in posting the blog but I can say that the new woodshop is finally done! We had a few, (about 40) friends, realatives & neighbors over for an “Open Shop”. And with my brother Tony’s award winning wine, (with custom labels I might add) we christened it… ”The New Show-Me Woodshop”. (Those New Englanders with big TV shows don’t have a thing on us Midwesterners!... Except Sponsers) Besides making a few items for the shop,...
Frank's New Woodshop Located in Florissant, Missouri
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