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Shop Renovation

27K views 113 replies 38 participants last post by  Lenny 
#1 ·
Shop Renovation #1

Hi everyone. Just over a month ago I wrote that I retired from work and mentioned that the timing coincided with the start of a shop renovation project. Here is the post, "Benchmark: http://lumberjocks.com/topics/19102. At the time, the foundation walls had been poured. A lot has taken place over the past month but not on the shop. Our contractor is building a mud room at the front of our house in addition to this shop renovation and he decided to work on the mud room first. He has completed the exterior work there and has only a tile floor and finish carpentry left to finalize the project. This week he began framing the shop. He has the two new walls up and has inserted a laminated beam to carry the load of the roof so he can cut out the studs that used to be the outside wall. New trusses, or half-trusses will be installed to continue the roofline out to the new wall.

I am quite excited that I have purchased two fixed skylights that will be installed in the new roof but that will be covered in my next update. Thanks for checking in on me. More to follow!

Here's a shot of the two exterior walls:


This shot shows the laminated beam towards the top of the wall. The cross member studs on the outside wall show where a through-the-wall air conditioner will be located. I am trying to cover all the amenities. Right now when the A/C is installed in the window, I have no window to open on a nice day.


A shot of the door wall:


A shot from an upstairs window. The contractor has removed the gutter and has begun to prepare for the new trusses. If you notice in the background, there is another structure being built. While all this is going on, I am building a 12' X 12' shed!
 
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#30 ·
Roof and Skylights

Today was a big day. My skylights went in! But, I get ahead of myself. On my last post, 12 days ago, I left off showing where the roof trusses were to be placed. John, my contractor, designed and laid out an elaborate rafter system to, in essence, tie together three roof lines. You can see in the first picture there is a family room roof in the foreground, a garage roof to its right and the existing roofline of my shop. John put in these half trusses and then, as I said, proceeded to marry up the 3 rooflines so it now appears more uniform. He has a tad more shingling to do tomorrow and the roof is done. John and I discussed the location of the skylights and I think/hope I made a good choice. At times they appear too close together, but from inside the room, I think they are just right. I still have to imagine what it will look like with the wall that is coming down, no longer there. I neglected to take a picture of the inside view today so I will include that in the next update. The skylights are 8 feet apart along a stretch of 18 feet. I believe one of them will be right above my TS and assembly table. (That is once I make one!) Anyway, I am quite excited to have these installed. John was impressed with the quality of the product and the installation procedure. He assures me they will be leakproof. Thanks for checking in on me.

This first photo shows the half trusses. John, continued the line of the trusses towards the existing peak and slightly above it. He then added a return piece down to the existing peak. Sorry I didn't get a picture of this before he sheathed it but see the second photo for an idea of how this works. He also built up the existing garage roof (to the right of the downspout) so it became level with the family room roof (to the left of the downspout).



Below is a shot of John installing the skylights today. If you look at the gable end, you can get an idea of what I meant about the new roofline being higher than the old and how the return pieces I mentioned were incorporated.



Next, is a shot of John's progress mid-way through the installation. The white material is a rubber membrane that envelopes the walls of the skylight. The photo also gives a good angle of the finished rooflines. Left and right of the downspout are now one plane and the new shop roofline meets it in a valley in the corner.



Below, the skylights are fully installed and you get a good shot of the rooflines. Oh yeah, in the background you can see that Lenny the Snail has sheathing on the shed roof. Oh well, no hurry I guess.



I hate to detract from my shop renovation but I am quite proud of these shed rafters that I made myself with John's encouragement and advice. Well, I am proud that I made them, not the end result. I actually feel they came out awful but it's a shed not a piece of furniture so I will live with it. It is not evident from the angle of the photo but they are not flat and even and since I did them one at a time instead of batch cutting them, I had to return my miter saw to the necessary angle each time. Needless to say, they are not all "spot on". Still, I made them myself and they work. I am proud to be building this shed from the ground up.

 
#31 ·
real nice progress Lenny, looking at it from the outside, it's a tremendous addition of space to your existing shop! way to go.

plus with that cool shed holding all the non WW related stuff, that can only get better.
 
#56 ·
And the Wall Comes Tumbling Down

Today was another big day for the shop renovation, perhaps even bigger than the skylights installation. I spent much of Friday night and all day Saturday, moving tools, disassembling my dust collection system and otherwise clearing the wall space. Then it was on to removing the T111 that I use on my shop walls. Since I had installed the siding with 8d nails, it was not a completely easy task to remove it. I was fortunate that John, my contractor, had cut through many of the upper nails when he installed the LVL (laminated veneer lumber) beam that now carries the load of the old roofing system. Still, there were plenty of stubborn 8d nails to get at. I used a pry bar and hammer to pry the siding away from the studs and in some instances I drilled around nail heads so they would pop through, I managed to remove all the T111. Next I removed the insulation and the electricity that was in the wall (I had already disconnected the wiring from any live circuit.).

This is what the shop looked like before the renovation began. It's the wall to the left that was to come down.



This morning John arrived and was pleased with my weekend accomplishments. I left for a dental appointment and upon return, this is what I saw:



Yee ha! Open space! John took down the old door and the wall. All that remains is to remove the concrete lip between the old and new space and fill in the gap. John is subcontracting the demo to someone with a jackhammer. Here is another view of the non-existing wall:



It sure is nice to see for the first time, how much additional space I have. Again, the shop is going from eight feet wide to 23 feet wide. I also saw for the first time, how the daytime lighting will look and I am satisfied that the one wall window, the skylights and the window in the door will be sufficient for the space. More than likely, I will have overhead lighting on anyway. There is a door between the shop and the garage. I was standing in that doorway when I took the "before" photo. When I want cross ventilation, I will leave the garage door and the door between the two spaces open. They are in line with the window.

The vinyl siding has been placed on the exterior walls and the door installed. Although the air conditioner is not in place, the sleeve that holds it is. John sealed this opening well to prevent air/water infiltration.



I think once the concrete demolition is done, John will be just about finished and I will take over. I have decisions to make about where to run electricity for tools, whether to leave the roof rafters showing or put in a ceiling, etc. I have a plumber coming on Wednesday to discuss heating. If the heater I was using is not large enough for the new space, I have to decide on what to have installed. I am leaning towards a Modine Hot Dawg heater or something similar. A number of LJs have them and like them. For a woodworking shop you need to purchase the sealed combustion type.

I guess an update on the shed project is now expected. I completed the shingling and ridge vent installation last week so, the roof is sealed. I have started on the siding. Once that's done, there's rake boards and corner boards to put up and I will make a door and be finished. Thanks again for checking in on me.

 
#68 ·
Congratulations on your grand wall tear down.

That's going to be a fantastic shop. That was some real planning, buy a saw first, & then go for the larger shop.

Your retirement is going to be all the more pleasurable now.
 
#84 ·
Lots of Warmth in the Shop

Hi. It's been about a month since my last update. John, my contractor, has left the building. He did a fabulous job completing this expansion project over the summer. I am delighted with the end result. Thank you John.

Once John finished, I began working on the interior space. I continued the electrical wiring from the old shop, into the new, making sure to include plenty of receptacles, including some up in the "ceiling" area. For lights, I decided on four 2 ft. by 2 ft. troffers. Then it was on to insulation. I put R-19 between the trusses along the roofline. In order to do so, I had to build out the 3 1/2" truss to 7". I used the R-13 wall insulation that John kept from the old wall and bought the additional insulation required. I have also started putting T-111 on the walls.

Regarding heat, I was planning (hoping) to buy a new heating unit (Hot Dawg or similar) for the shop but a plumber ran the numbers and determined that my shop calls for 11,000 btu and my family room calls for 16,000 btu. I was hoping for the opposite but my family room has lots of glass. We needed an update to the heating unit in our family room and I was planning to move my 8,800 btu unit from the shop to the family room. So, since there is a call for higher btus in the family room, we bought a unit for that space and I am going to make the 8,800 btu unit work in my shop. I got the heat going about 2 weeks ago but did not use it until I finished the insulation.

Here are a few shots of the shop showing insulation, electricals and the heating unit:

Wood Flooring Floor Beam Gas


Wood Fixture Beam Composite material Wood stain


Door Wood Floor Flooring Personal computer


Today there was much warmth in the shop. I don't speak of the kind you operate via a thermostat. No, this was in the form of four northeastern LJs visiting my home/shop. Ellen (Ellen35), Lorna (moonls), Lisa (Dustbunny) and Gary (GBlock66) joined me today for a tour of the shop, shop talk and lunch. We had a great time and I enjoyed the company immensely. I asked for opinions on tool placement, dust collection, workbenches (I need to build one), etc. and these folks offered plenty of good advice/opinion. They even diagnosed the noise I have been hearing when I use my bandsaw. Thank you folks for tolerating my many questions of how you would use the space, where you would place tools and what type of workbench you think is better. By the way, I am glad you preferred to have lunch in the shop. That was my preference too.

Here is a photo of us during lunch:

Jeans Smile Chair Tableware Comfort

Left to right it's Gary, Lorna, Ellen, Lenny and Lisa

Here's another shot of folks standing outside the shop, next to a picnic table I recently completed. I will be posting it soon:

Building Window Table Property Wood


A thanks to Gary for thoughtfully bringing 5/4 cherry shorts for our taking. Given the current contentious political environment, I am proud of how democratically we took turns selecting pieces. Once again, to Lisa, Lorna, Gary and Ellen, I enjoyed your visit!

Oops, almost forgot…the shed. Here's a photo of the completed shed. Well, except for doors which I have started on. Thanks again for checking in on me.

Property Building Shade Tree Land lot
 

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#85 ·
Lots of Warmth in the Shop

Hi. It's been about a month since my last update. John, my contractor, has left the building. He did a fabulous job completing this expansion project over the summer. I am delighted with the end result. Thank you John.

Once John finished, I began working on the interior space. I continued the electrical wiring from the old shop, into the new, making sure to include plenty of receptacles, including some up in the "ceiling" area. For lights, I decided on four 2 ft. by 2 ft. troffers. Then it was on to insulation. I put R-19 between the trusses along the roofline. In order to do so, I had to build out the 3 1/2" truss to 7". I used the R-13 wall insulation that John kept from the old wall and bought the additional insulation required. I have also started putting T-111 on the walls.

Regarding heat, I was planning (hoping) to buy a new heating unit (Hot Dawg or similar) for the shop but a plumber ran the numbers and determined that my shop calls for 11,000 btu and my family room calls for 16,000 btu. I was hoping for the opposite but my family room has lots of glass. We needed an update to the heating unit in our family room and I was planning to move my 8,800 btu unit from the shop to the family room. So, since there is a call for higher btus in the family room, we bought a unit for that space and I am going to make the 8,800 btu unit work in my shop. I got the heat going about 2 weeks ago but did not use it until I finished the insulation.

Here are a few shots of the shop showing insulation, electricals and the heating unit:

Wood Flooring Floor Beam Gas


Wood Fixture Beam Composite material Wood stain


Door Wood Floor Flooring Personal computer


Today there was much warmth in the shop. I don't speak of the kind you operate via a thermostat. No, this was in the form of four northeastern LJs visiting my home/shop. Ellen (Ellen35), Lorna (moonls), Lisa (Dustbunny) and Gary (GBlock66) joined me today for a tour of the shop, shop talk and lunch. We had a great time and I enjoyed the company immensely. I asked for opinions on tool placement, dust collection, workbenches (I need to build one), etc. and these folks offered plenty of good advice/opinion. They even diagnosed the noise I have been hearing when I use my bandsaw. Thank you folks for tolerating my many questions of how you would use the space, where you would place tools and what type of workbench you think is better. By the way, I am glad you preferred to have lunch in the shop. That was my preference too.

Here is a photo of us during lunch:

Jeans Smile Chair Tableware Comfort

Left to right it's Gary, Lorna, Ellen, Lenny and Lisa

Here's another shot of folks standing outside the shop, next to a picnic table I recently completed. I will be posting it soon:

Building Window Table Property Wood


A thanks to Gary for thoughtfully bringing 5/4 cherry shorts for our taking. Given the current contentious political environment, I am proud of how democratically we took turns selecting pieces. Once again, to Lisa, Lorna, Gary and Ellen, I enjoyed your visit!

Oops, almost forgot…the shed. Here's a photo of the completed shed. Well, except for doors which I have started on. Thanks again for checking in on me.

Property Building Shade Tree Land lot
oh yea lenny…ive been waiting for this day also…as i knew you would be getting together and enjoying the new shop and the wonderful visitors..so great to see you all together…cant wait to see your shop progress and be shop ready….get your tools in place and making sawdust…enjoy your new heated expansion….grizzman and oh i forgot, i love the picnic table…great design and the whole look …its a great build…always fun to sit at a table you made and enjoy being with family and friends…
 

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