# Installed our 1000 lb I beam Trusses on outer columns today, PICs included



## fge (Sep 8, 2008)

OK, so finally some progress… This past week we have been welding up I beams and welding tabs onto the I beams for the 8" Purlins. Each I beam truss is 46' wide, free spans 40' and weighs more than 800 lbs each. We rented a sky trach fork lift for the weekend and have an 8 hour clock. We managed to install 3 of the 5 total trusses today and will install the final 2 trusses tomorrow. I will say, being this is our first go around at this, it was a bit nerve wrecking.

I can certainly say when this is all done, we will be very proud of ourselves since we have not outsourced but rather built the building on our own, from concrete and foundation, to welding up and wiring and plumbing and final finish out of showroom/office/break area, all completed with in house labor. I do believe I will hire an insulation contractor to come in after and spray the entire building with 3" thick foam. Unless I can find a way to do that ourselves, otherwise we will have to hire it out. The other thing we are very happy with is that we have purchased materials as we had profits from our kitchen jobs. So we will not have a payment on the building, it will be fully paid off.

One side note to put out there, next year we are scheduling the initial breaking of ground for our future home. We intend on building the exact same 40*80 metal structure, but we will erect non structural interior walls per sketch up drawings I have been working on so we are very excited about our future barndomium. We will pay cash as we go so it will take us probably 3 years to complete, but in the absence of a mortgage, it will be well worth the patience.

So as promised, here are pics:










OK, this is my trusting wife standing inside our new shop, trusting that those 1000 lb trusses were welded really good and will not be falling down as she stands for a photo moment. I love her so much, she is the best in my world 










Trusses welded together on the ground










Guys working hard 










Goodness were they heavy, but look so nice in place 

More pics to come in a few minutes…...


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## fge (Sep 8, 2008)




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## fge (Sep 8, 2008)

I bought a Hobart stick welder new last year and that welder is a very nice welder and just does an amazing job. It helps that our guy Eric is a very good welder. Oh, and I stuck my first ever weld today, Eric had me weld the ground purlin to the column, no biggy but it sure was fun to do and I think I found a new love.

And certainly last, but not least was my father running the fork lift. Fun day all around for all of us and very exciting.


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## fge (Sep 8, 2008)

In case anyone is curious, we used 3 1/2" oil field pipe for the columns that bear the weight of the nearly 1000 lb I beam trusses. The pipe is very heavy duty, extremely strong and has roughly a 3/8" thick wall.


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## moonie (Jun 18, 2010)

cool I remember thsos days.


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## cabmaker (Sep 16, 2010)

Looking good Jerry !


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## fge (Sep 8, 2008)

Thanks for the comments. We should make fairly steady progress from this point so I will try and post more pics throughout the week. This upcoming week we will put up the 8" purlins on the trusses and then install the R panel on the purlins.


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## fge (Sep 8, 2008)

We have our 8" purlins installed on the trusses now. It is quickly beginning to take shape. I keep getting excited and anxious. It is fun watching our dream shop come to completion. Tomorrow we will be installing R panel sheets on the roof. I will try to get a few pics of the progress tomorrow and see if I can get those loaded onto the computer this week.


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## Texcaster (Oct 26, 2013)

That's going to be a fantastic shed Jerry! With a sofa, fridge and a tv, I'd never leave.
We didn't have a mortgage either. With the profit from our house in town we bought our block of dirt outright. We lived in a caravan & large tent for two years and saved every dime ( sub tropical, a person can camp out almost year round ). I then quit my job and built the house to lock up in 6 mos… I built every door and window! I got another job and finished the house and put up my shed about a year later, 1991. I haven't worked for a boss since.


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## fge (Sep 8, 2008)

Bill, you are certainly right. I look forward to the office area about as much as the rest of the shop. I will be honest though, I have done the shop layout on sketchup and it looks like we will need to add a 10 to 15' extension along the 80' length. I built the side walls high so that adding on would be doable in the future. My side walls are 12' high. When we bought our land, we also paid cash for an 80s model single wide, a small one, and that is what we live in and we basically have no room. So needless to say, the shop will probably be more comfortable than our trailer we live in.

I have great respect and appreciation for those that have sacrificed and persevered to achieve their dream. And to have that dream without a mortgage 

Bill, I can surely say, I enjoy camping but I am really not sure I could have camped to the extent you did 

We do have a small land payment on our 13 acres, we owe on our land what many might owe on a new truck or car, so it is not that bad. We are currently on a 4 year payoff note. Having gone through the housing market crash in our recent history and being stung extremely bad, I have had a bad taste for banks and mortgages/credit in general. Now we operate with total cash. When we run low on cash, that is it. If we have no or little cash, we don't buy. Our projects are done with cash from draws provided by customers, our final check or two ends up being close to pure profit since we do pay cash, hence no material credit is due at the end… I don't know how this method of cash only will work out for us in the end. Actually, we utilize a debit card for everything and pay contractors/labor with business checks so that we always have a ledger history of business transactions. But it is still the same as cash. Even all our tools/machines are cash purchases so everything is owned outright. In my mind, I think if there is a storm, we should be able to weather it fine since we will have little to no overhead apart from basic utilities.

Downside to our cash only style, we broke ground on our 40*80 shop 13 months ago, and approximately 14 months later we will complete it. Next December we intend on breaking ground on our future home we intend on building with our own hands/labor, and I am guessing we will take approximately 3 years to total completion / finish out as we will build as we have cash.

So back to our shop project. In case anyone is interested, here is a


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