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51K views 368 replies 96 participants last post by  robscastle 
#1 ·
Site Selection and Shop Orientation

This whole year has not been very productive for me. A little over a year ago we lost our plant to a fire and since I've always worked hard long hours for over 40 years it certainly knocked me for a loop. I was planning on working another five years or more. However, after much soul searching my brother, his wife, and I decided that since we were in our sixties and had all worked so hard for many years that we really didn't think we had it in us to start over from scratch. We decided that it was best to just retire.

Since I wanted a shop at least 25 X 25 and there was no where for a shop that size where we lived we had to start looking for a house with a shop or at least enough land to build one on. After much hunting we finally found one and moved in about six months ago. It has taken me this long to decide exactly what I want to do and I have decided to build a 30 X 30 shop with 10 ft high walls.



There is an older small red barn on the property (pic above) that will make a great place to store some lumber, jigs, and hardware, among other things, and it is roughly 15 X 24. I have decided to place my shop near the back of this barn.



The picture above shows the barn by looking across my back yard. My shop will be a short walk from the back door of our basement. I have an office in the basement where my computer and all of my books are and there is also a bathroom connected to my office. So my shop will not be far from my office and bathroom. The shop will not have any water.



The site of the shop (above) will be a few feet behind the red barn and turned to an angle so that it can be more easily worked in with the existing gravel driveway. Since the driveway will need to have access to the back yard and basement this orientation of the shop will give me a good easy way to walk back and forth from the shop and basement.



As you can also see (above), the shop location will also be easily accessible from the driveway and garage on the main floor of the house.



I will be able to easily back my pickup to either the barn or the shop or continue on to the basement.



From the picture above you can see the garage and driveway. From the corner of the drive to the garage, the shop will be down from the right of the picture about 50 feet or so.



The picture above gives a better view of the section of the driveway that passes in front of the shop location and going back toward the basement. By removing the tree and two bushes near the center of the picture we will be able to turn the driveway more directly toward the basement.

The next segment will show the beginning of the construction of my shop. Thanks for reading.
 
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#118 ·
Pouring Floor

The pouring of the floor went well. The moisture barrier was placed down and the forms for the floor were set and fastened in place using the top edge of the wall and measurement as a guide. The floor forms were amply fastened and braced so they would not move during the pouring. The rebar was bent down to tie the floor and walls together and more rebar was laid in and tied to the rebar in the walls. We originally thought that we might need to build a temporary dirt bridge to allow the concrete truck to pull up onto the gravel a short distance but fortunately we worked around this and poured all of the concrete with out any undo strain. We worked the concrete so that the forms on the front and the rest of the rebar were completed in time to be poured. It all worked out well.





























The concrete took a nice finish and looks good. The next step will be the framing of the walls. Thanks for reading this blog.
 
#154 ·
Framing the Walls

I made a decision early on that the shop would have 10 ft walls and 2 X 6 studs. I think that the shop will be better built and will hold more insulation. I wish that I could have taken more pictures and that I had a wider selection. The framing went well and the pictures should be self explanatory.



























Thanks so much for reading this blog.

helluvawreck aka Charles
http://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com
 
#191 ·
Putting the Exterior Sheeting on Walls

The next step in the construction of my shop was to install the exterior sheeting. This will stiffen everything up prior to putting up roof trusses and the rest of the sheeting. Since these pictures should be self explanatory, I won't bother to comment on each picture.























The next step will be the roof trusses and the rest of the exterior sheeting. Thanks for reading this blog about the construction of my shop.
 
#226 ·
Roof Framing and Sheeting

I apologize for the delay in getting this part of my blog up. I've been a little busy and I'll try not to let it happen again. I'm sorry that I don't have a more logical group of pictures for this part but the pictures should speak for themselves with little or no commentary from me. You should be able to see that there will be an attic storage space.



































I appreciate you reading my blog about my shop and I'll try to do a better job on the next part.
 
#264 ·
Siding, Heat Pump, Insulation, Steps and Deck

In this part I document the installation of the siding, heat pump, insulation, steps and deck. Everything went fine and since a picture is worth a 1000 words no commentary should be necessary.













In the picture above you can see the electrical service. It is a 200 amp, 230 V, 1PH service.



I chose to put a heat pump in the shop. I will have both heat and air. However, I am planning on setting the thermostat to come on at the high and low point of 80 and 60. In other words if the temperature is above 80 then the air will come on and when it gets below 60 the heat will come on. If this proves too costly then I will expand the range to 82 and 58. I know that air and heat is a luxury sometimes in a shop. I've worked over 40 years in manufacturing plants without the benefit of heat or air and I could go without if necessary. However, I'm 63 years old and going on 80 so I'm hoping that I can afford the luxury of heat and air. Besides it should make me a little more productive.



We had to put a number of steps on this door and we had to have at least a 4' x 4' landing. We made it 4' x 8' and it will be a nice place to take a break.







I appreciate you reading my blog about the construction of my shop. Thanks.
 
#270 ·
...I can feel your motivation level rising. Going to be an awesome space to work in.

Work Safely and have Fun. - Grandpa Len.
 
#297 ·
Finished Shop, Equipment in Shop But Not Setup

This is the last part in this blog about my shop construction. The following pictures show a few last stages on the completion of the building. Some of the pictures show some of the machines as they were being uncrated or shortly after the crates were hauled out. The last two pictures show the building after it had been completed. The last four pictures of the equipment shows the machines as they were shot looking toward the machinery from each corner.

Of course now the important work begins. The shop is not completed until it is set up and everything is in it's place. There will be some cabinets and carts built, a lumber rack built, clamp racks, and other pieces of equipment. And of course we can't forget all of the jigs, fixtures, and work stations. But all of those things will be in a blog about the shop itself and this one has been a blog about the construction of the building. I hope that soon I can put up my first post on the blog about setting up my shop.

































The next four pictures shows what the machinery looks like after most of the crates and boxes were hauled away. A few of the pieces of equipment may be moved to another spot but this is close to the setup I had in mind.









The following two pictures depict the way the completed building looks.





I appreciate all of you reading this blog about the construction of the shop building and I hope that you will read my blog about the setting up of my shop which is coming soon. Thanks
 
#298 ·
HOAW, (goofy abbreviation of your handle)

You have a wonderful workshop, full of beautiful tools.

I have to admit to serious envy.
But in a practical sense, it would be out of the question for me on many levels.

Congratulations!

d
 
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