The toy box and the big shop, my New shop Build.

[Paul Dobbin]

I used 1/4" black commercial striping tape with the peel off clear cover.  It's been good for 10 years.

Edited April 6, 2019 by Paul Dobbin
spelling error (see edit history)

[JoelsBuicks]

It looks fantastic and although you’ve battled about everything, the progress is impressive. 

 

[auburnseeker]

Well we blew through spring and are now nearing Summer.  Seems I made steady but extremely slow progress.  The wife was under the weather for a Month so her duties with the kids and house fell on my shoulders, that wiped out march into April.  Then the snow finally melted and we had some massive clean up as the early snow and frequent bad storms with high winds brought down piles of limbs and a few trees.  I dug the crap out of everything with the plow as our first snow came the 2nd week of November and never left. The ground not being froze yet,  really lended itself well to being torn up by the plow.   Not to mention the piles of sand and Ash everywhere from all the ice storms we had.  

I think I leaf blew for 2 weeks.  I ran 5 gallons of gas through the thing.  Of course this was between the rain storms. 

I finished the soffits off down the side of the building in April , They are tongue and Groove wainescoating with mitered ends and was able to get alot of the long batten strips on.  Also putting up the top band boards. 

I sorted, ripped the boards for the far end to a standard width and even got all the ones that won't need to be stained that had the cup the proper way pre screwed so they will go up quick when I get to the far end. 

I figured out a sill with a drip edge I could bend up for the lower windows , cut and bent , painted to match then installed all of those on both sides.  

I did the same for the top and even managed to trim out all the windows down the drive side, so that side other than a small molding  I want to put up in the soffit to seal it up better is done.  Of course that doesn't include the stone work on the bottom but that's not needed or in the budget at this time to get the CO.  

I actually managed to also get 2 of the upper windows on the power line side trimmed out and short batten strips on.  I have everything pre cut with screws already started for the remaining 4 so I will hopefully be able to get those done tomorrow.  

It will be nice to have the two long sides pretty much finished.  

I need to go over to the lumber yard and get Cedar shakes now for the gable ends. That's going to be another $1000.   They all still have to be stained as well so probably another 5 gallon pail of stain at $250. 

I'm going with the middle grade shakes as they had a wider exposure so it won't be quite so busy on the end and the quality as well as size of each shake is much better than the cheap ones.  It's going to be about twice as much as the cheap ones but the savings will probably come in, if you figure in the time it takes to install alot more of the cheap shakes.   

That Gable end is going to be the next project. 

As you can see the wife already suggested flowers in planters and the bench to make it look a tad Homier. 

Of course the darn planters were $50 each then I bought smaller ones to drop inside so I could take the flowers out to put them out in the rain for water and try to winter them over in the other heated garage.  The liners were another 15.00 each then I had to build platforms in the bigger ones for them to sit on.   All these stupid little jobs always turn into bigger projects. 

I also managed to tick one of the things off the wife's wish list.  She has been saying how she would like some nice flowers to replace the bushes that randomly reseeded in front of the house so it looked like a jungle.  I decided this year I was going to take care of that wish and dug them all out,  moving them out to along the bank of the new shop.  I left enough space so I could still drive the lift and tractor down through but they do make it look a little less industrial.  I couldn't kill them either as they are / will be nice bushes some day and they don't grow too big.   Of course that was another project to put them in. 

I then dug down and took out 8 inches of dirt in the flower garden area, then went and got new soil for flowers and bags of manure to refill it.  Of course a few hundred dollars later in flowers weed screen, Mulch etc.  and she finally has the garden she wanted.  As usual she started helping  and about a 1/2 hour into the job gave up and I got to finish it. 

Here are some updated photos I took today.  It goes real slow when it's a one man show and these side jobs keep popping up. 

[auburnseeker]

Here are some shots of the "garden" Project. 

The lilies by the bushes were another one of those someday projects.  We brought them from our old house and stuck them in a corner where no one could see them just so we had them then they multiplied like crazy into a big mass.  The garden started with doing the first tier,  of course once you get going you might as well finish so I tore the rest of the bushes out up top moving around what was left then putting in all that stuff we were going to plant "someday"   Hopefully it all fills out nice.  Of course that means I'll be putting in Annuals every year.  I think I like to just find ways to make more work for myself. 

 

[Robert G. Smits]

Are you sure you were not a professional builder in a previous life?  What a fantastic building.   Love the terraced gardens in front of the house.  I did similar for our last house.  Took all summer and then we sold it three years later and moved to the ranch. Wish I would have known!!!!

[auburnseeker]

It will probably be the same here.  We will get everything finished off then decide the winters suck and move somewhere else. 

 

I do have to admit I had some practice before I started building. 

This was my first big project I did from scratch for a customer.  Took 2 years with 1 full time helper and a few phases we had a couple of extras. 

I did everything but the Electric, plumbing, Chimney, and actually setting the windows. 

[auburnseeker]

Small update for today. I finished trimming out the last 4 windows.  Now that side is done as well.  I also went to the lumber yard and got 1/2 the shakes.  

The wife started the dipping process.  Looks like it is going to go pretty quick,  so I'll be working on the gable soffit on Probably Tuesday as it's suppose to rain Monday.  

Tomorrow I'm taking the day off the garage and cleaning my truck as well as putting the summer wheels and equipment back on it.  I haven't washed it since Hershey.  I still have Hershey Mud on the Summer wheels and tires.  

Hopefully there will be enough time to dig the Hudson out of the garage and get it out for the Summer.   Just too much to do and not enough time. 

[mike6024]

What type of roofing did you go with? From the picture I'm not sure what it is. Some architectural composition shingle maybe, thicker.

 

[auburnseeker]

They are just a Chateau green "lifetime" architectural shingle.  I'm sure lifetime means the life of the shingle.  whatever that is really suppose to mean.  Probably a 30 years shingle if I'm lucky so I can be re roofing it when I'm 75.   or selling the whole complex when I'm 65 and moving someplace further south. 

[39BuickEight]

Looks fantastic!  The house and the shop.

 

As a property insurance adjuster, I can confirm the stated life expectancy of any particular shingle is 99% meaningless.  They are only as good as person handling and installing them.

[auburnseeker]

Funny part is we bought this place from a roofer.  The existing garage never got capped.  Since he is still holding the paper,  I mentioned it to him and he sent 2 guys over one day to do it.  They capped it,  no vent ridge.  I even went out and mentioned it,  they said it was all they had and they didn't have the longer nails for the vent.  I told them I'll run down to the lumber yard a mile away and get everything,  needless to say it is all on without the vent ridge.  Better than it leaking though.  Now I'm going to rehab a coupola, basically build a new one from scratch and just reuse the copper roof,  they left behind when he hauled his junk out and install that.  I should have just done it myself,  but I'm not crazy about roofing.  Now I will have to drag the small coupola up there and put it on. 

[auburnseeker]

I did take a couple of days off the Garage project and really finally cleaned my work truck, inside and out.  I haven't done that in a couple of years.  Waxed polished, the whole 9 yards.  With my pending literature haul being delivered I also finally had a real good reason to take the winter door covers off the other garage and Fire the Hudson up for the summer (finally).  I ran great.  I eventually even took it for a 10 mile or so spin.  Runs just like it did in the fall when I put it away.  Reminds me I really need to swap out the cobbed up exhaust for the new custom bent one I have waiting for it in the corner.  Plan is to put the literature in the Hudson bay so I can get it sorted in short order.  Meanwhile the Hudson will have to share the big garage with my daily beater until I get the Hudson bay cleaned back out. 

The new shop will make a nice back drop for car photos in the future when I get the end finished up. 

[victorialynn2]

On 6/13/2019 at 7:28 PM, auburnseeker said:

 

 

 

Nice trucks and what a great job on the garage. It is probably the classiest “shop” I’ve ever seen. 

 

One of these days I will go through dad’s pics I hauled home, (then to Medford, then back home). He had a couple nice looking Hudson pick ups like that. He sold them before I got there. They caught my eye and I really like the looks of them. 😍

[auburnseeker]

I would love to see the pics if you ever get a chance to dig them out.  

Thanks for the kind word s as well.  

The wife really hated me "ruining" the property as she called it building the big monstrosity but when we go for walks around the property in the evening we walk by the garage sometimes, as it's on a side loop that's flatter than the hill loop, and she comments how good some things look on it.  So I guess, though she's not thrilled with it,  it gets a pass. 

She's the one that thought it needed flowers out front.   It must be growing on her. 

Didn't hurt I was able to put her truck inside when they were calling for hail either.  

[Robert G. Smits]

I suspect the $$$ you sunk into it may have something to do with her opinion.  Wife's always know that no matter the size we will FILL it.

[auburnseeker]

5 hours ago, Robert G. Smits said:

I suspect the $$$ you sunk into it may have something to do with her opinion.  Wife's always know that no matter the size we will FILL it.

Well to a small degree yes.  We are both a little picky though and I can understand you have to live with something ugly every day,  so why not make it nice and as least intrusive looking as possible.  Of course and still be on a budget.  

She thought I was nuts to upgrade to the nice door,  or roof returns, among other things,  but she always seems to like it better when I do stuff like that.  She still thinks it looks like a Walmart super center,  but just a little better looking one.  

[Robert G. Smits]

It would have been a lot cheaper to throw up a commercial metal building like I did but the result speaks for itself.  Out here on the ranch esthetics don't count for much.  Most people think I store hay in it. 

[1937hd45]

Is that an aftermarket or special order grille, never seen one down here. Bob 

[auburnseeker]

Seems like years since I posted an update as I haven't had much to post.  I did get back to the project though and have finally just about finished the one gable end.  I had to quit 2 rows from finishing the shakes when the skies opened up. 

I finished all the soffits on this end as well.  Of course prep work was done over the summer including more staining and precutting as much material as possible.  It took about a week and a hlf to get this far,  but weather slowed things down,  plus I ran out of shakes and had to get some more prefinished. 

I also was short on flashing and had to bend up enough for both ends.  

I also have 2 nice vents for each end that I pre finished brown,  changed my mind and stripped then restained them green.  Screened the back sides in and made metal flanges to install them.  Got up in the lift, went to cut the openings only to find out they fall on just about every brace of the piggy back and upper plate of the lower truss.   Regardless of how I looked at it ,  there is no way to install them or even build new ones to install.  Even if i shortened them significantly,  they still wouldn't fit.   The plans didn't call for them as it has a vented ridge and soffit but I though they would look nice and be practical.  They were made by a friends friend the same as the ones for his building but his building probably had a different truss layout so it wasn't a problem for him. 

I'll probably build a custom ornamental brace for each end and stain them with the same natural wood finish I used on the soffits.  Kind of a bummer as that's one reason I ran short on shingles. 

I prebuilt the trusses for the roof return on the other end and after finishing the last little bit on this end over the weekend.  I'll get a fresh start on the far end after Hershey.  As usual winter is knocking at the door and I'm in a hurry to try to get it finished up.  I did pre finish all the trim for the other end,  but now we are about 8 bundles of shingles short to finish so I need ot get all 8 bundles stained before I can finsih it.  I also believe I'm going to run short on wainscotting for the soffits so I need to get some more of that and prefinish it. 

I really wanted to finish that end today,  but I guess it will get done probably Sunday as we have a huge town wide sale to deal with Tomorrow and Saturday. 

Here is a first part of the week photo and one taken today by the wife while I was at work. 

 

Edited October 4, 2019 by auburnseeker (see edit history)

[auburnseeker]

The dark photos hide the different colors but it looks much nicer on a sunny day. 

[Paul Dobbin]

I'm glad you listened to your wife an put in the potted geraniums.  Looks more civilized.   

[auburnseeker]

I'm actually the one that likes to dress things up.  She doesn't mind planting if it can be done quick.  When I start talking clearing stuff out,  digging down adding good dirt,  weed screen , mulch,  constant miracle growing she throws her hands in the air and says you are too fussy. 

 

I tore out some bushes at the house,  and actually moved them over to the shop as I couldn't just kill them,  then did just that by the house this year to two flower gardens.  Watered them every day and fertilized twice a week,  but the results showed. 

Next year I'm going to expand that some more and maybe some more landscaping around the shop. 

Things are in a bit of disaray in the photos as I just sanded the deck clean and we refinished it. 

[Jim Bollman]

Only so much you can do with a dark photo but I had to try.

 

[auburnseeker]

That does help.  I'll try to get a photo tomorrow once it's done. 

[Billy Kingsley]

Just read the entire thread. Thank you for sharing with us. I have zero knowledge of building a building and I knew it had to be complicated, but I'm seeing all sorts of things I never even thought about. I appreciate that you're telling us the costs as well, most people seem to be secretive about that sort of thing. Your shop is actually bigger than my entire house! 

 

I hope I get a chance to see your Hudson at some point. Lake George is my favorite place in the world so I spend as much time there as I can. 

[auburnseeker]

You are welcome to stop by.  Just PM me ahead of time to make sure I will be around,  though I usually am.  At Hershey right now thankfully.   Lots of work to do when I get back to beat old man winter, so I better enjoy this time off.  

[Billy Kingsley]

Thank you! I had a prior engagement planned for the week of Hershey but that won't be an issue going forward...I plan to start attending next year, can't wait! Not sure when I will be able to get back to Lake George but I hope it will be soon.

[auburnseeker]

Halfway through Fall and Hershey behind us,  I have started finishing off the back side which was completely bare still.  

I had to get out the excavator and retrieve some big rocks to build the wall out then do a bunch of filling before I dared run the lift along the back wall.  It's still a bit tight and even though I ran the 10,000 lb excavator right along the edge of hte wall,  then tampoed it with the tamper, as well as waited for the 2 inches of rain to come through,  that 20,000 lb lift still leaves a pretty big dent.  

I think it's good to go though as I'm 2 feet away from the top of the wall in the tightest spot and the ground I'm running on is original fill from when we did the building.  The extra I added was for a cushion. 

I pre built the trusses for the roof return and go those finished as well as the banding board on today.  I also got all but the last section of facia board on,  which we stained this morning as my Friend wasn't able to drop them off until this morning.  I have a big pile of lumber inside but it 's all been rejected for one defect or another,  so I wanted fresh good material for those facia boards.   Doing it all alone is a real pain,  but I use the lift as a dead man and positioning the big heavy lumber isn't too bad with some gentle use of the controls which is a tad tricky as she has quite a bit of play when trying to be real precise.   Things as simple as striking a line become a big task.  I got the string all set, got to the other end,  pulled it tight and it unhooked.  Well a few choice words later and running the lift carefully back down to the other end as I hug the building,  I get it hooked up.  Pull it tight again ,  strike the line and due to a small bow in the wall it only strikes about 10 feet at a time.  Back down through and strike it in short segments,  then it's finally done. 

I should be able to finish that up tomorrow,  get the trim board on ,  hopefully the plywood down which is pre cut and if I'm super lucky,  maybe even the row of ice shield.  It's suppose to rain in the afternoon so it all depends on when that hits. 

The roof return and some other Misc.  materials ended up running another $2000.  Amazing how fast all these little trips to the lumber yard and hardware store add up. 

You can see the piles of shakes we are trying to dry in the one photo as the lumber yards supply must have gotten wet.  Nothing like doping extra work.  8 bundles had to be split apart and set out to dry.  

The wife has been staining away so I think there are only 3 left to go.  

I precut all the soffit material so that will go up quick when I get to that phase. 

I also bought a Porter cable narrow crown cordless stapler to put the shakes up.  Hopefully that will work well as dealing with the air hose getting caught almost every time I picked it up on the other side got old real fast.  

The nailer was brand new on ebay with 2 batteries for 170.00 shipped and that included the ebay warranty.  I wouldn't normally buy a warranty but for $10 it has full replacement for the first month even if i break it or drop it.  Even with the warranty it came in cheaper than the cheapest one I could find anywhere else and few had an extra OEM battery.  

All my green trim boards are stained and many are even pre screwed.  I'm trying to get the lift work done as fast as possible to beat winter which could come any day after the first of November.

There are days I wish I had just closed my eyes held my nose and bought a cheap metal building so it would be done,  but then when I step back and look at it,  think this was the right choice.  I just seems like the work on it will never end or the money needed to invest to get to the next phase.  Pay as you go and doing the work all on your own,  sure slows things down. 

I am sure the wife would have never said a metal building looks good,  but she has said more than once that things look nice on it. 

I'll keep trudging along and hopefully some day it will be done while I can still enjoy it.  (the garage when it's done,  not the work involved to get it there) 

[Walt G]

I so admire your patience, ambition , skill  and care you have with this enormous project. You are an inspiration to all who are reading this.

Walt

[Bhigdog]

Around here temporary supports and aids are called cripples and using them to build single handed is called crippling a building together. Time consuming for sure but nothing is more rewarding. 

Nice work.........bob

[auburnseeker]

Thanks for the kind words.  It is rewarding though a tad frustrating to make such slow progress.  I was fortunate enough the rain held off today until quitting time after 5:30 so I was able to get all the prestained facia and shadow boards on as well as start and run the soffit on each end up about 20 boards so it's out of the way of the roof  to continue once i get the roof on.  Plywood , ice and water shield as well as maybe even get a few shingles down.   I already precut all the plywood so it's just a matter of slapping it down.  The cordless Hitachi framing nailer works great for that.  No hoses to mess with.  I'll only have to run hoses out for the roofing nailer.  

When I get a little more progress I'll post some pictures.  

Raining hard right now so I hope it doesn't wash out those trenches that Bertha dug.

[auburnseeker]

I've made some progress this week with the nice weather we have been having.  Here is a photo earlier in the week and one today before a few more hours of work.  The wife and I got the shakes quite a ways up,  but unfortunately ran low and will have to prefinish a few more to finish up. 

Roof return is all done,  Facia, upper Soffit and trim boards.  

Unfortunately the Weather looks like it might turn to winter next week with highs in the upper 30's.  I was really hoping to get decent weather through atleast part of November.  This will be the 3 rd year in a row that Winter arrives a Month early. 

I could almost wrap the outside up in a week if the weather were to hold.  I have all the siding pre cut and even prescrewed stacked just inside the back door.   So glad I added the doors at each corner as well.  You can't imagine the number of times I have had to go in and out to get tools and material. 

There are about 9 bundles of Cedar Shakes on each end of the building.  I have to thank the wife for prefinishing them for me.  She doesn't help much in the garage,  other than brake pedal on brake jobs,  but she's not afraid to grab a paint brush or in this case on the big areas jump up on the lift with me and feed me shingles.  We did almost all these shingles in 2 days.  Those were partial days as well as I still have to run my business. The Left side is now finished almost all the way to the peak.  As I mentioned the last photo was before i went back up this afternoon as I finished just as dark was setting in.  It took longer as well as we were really running short on shakes and using scraps and rejects up.  I think when I quit,  I have about 15 shakes left and they are all about 4 inches wide. 

Tomorrow is suppose to be heavy rain so I'll have to take that off and work inside,  either adding nailers inside or cleaning out the other garage to get my new toy in.  (more to come on that later when it arrives, suppose to be here Friday) 

  Maybe Soffits on the roof return Friday (they are all pre cut and Finished) as we won't have the shakes done to finish up top.  Hopefully Monday or Sunday afternoon on those.  The time change will hinder things as well as it will be dark at 5PM.  Boy I really wished I lived some place where winter was a month or two long and not 6. 

 

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Whens the party? 🤔😉

[auburnseeker]

The open house will be some time in 2024 if I can scrounge up another 100G or better to finish things up.   It all adds up.  $30 for nails here, 50 for screws there.  Another $50 for a bundle of shingles.  $185 for another 5 gallon pail of Behr Stain.  That's this week.  It never ends.  I told the wife maybe this winter I can get a tad ahead as I will have bought all the stuff for the outside and winter will halt me from doing much more.  Of course I was thinking I could always start running wiring  just to get it roughly in place and install the outlet boxes with the wiring just run out of them.  I imagine I could eat up a couple thousand in rolls of wire. That won't include the service wire to bring power in. 

Of course I could jump back to the small garage and finish the ceiling off or atleast all the windows. 

[edinmass]

Randy, you have more ambition and talent than 99 percent of the people I know..........I’m 100 percent sure you shop will end up exactly the way you want it. The only factor is time..........you will get there. I for one enjoy watching the progress. Best of luck, and congratulations on your new toy..............Best, Ed

[Robert G. Smits]

Agree with ED.  Each time I sign in I check to see if you have made progress on your building.  Thanks for sharing with us.

[auburnseeker]

It seems looking back that when ever I post a couple weeks worth of work,  it doesn't look like I have gotten much done when compared to other's builds.  Maybe it's size and or materials. One of the reasons I don't post alot as it just doesn't look worthy of posting the progress until it really shows.   I try to do pretty nice work as well,  so even up high,  the soffit work is probably as good as alot of work people have done in their houses.   No reason to cut corners and do so/so work if you have the choice to do it right. Of course as anyone knows that's done it,  that usually takes longer and often costs more.

 I got a nice compliment from my friend that built his shop (well with his crew of guys)  and does really nice work.  He said it really looked nice and the choice of the garage door and soffits really set it off nice. He knows though after years of building stuff what it takes to make everything come out nice. 

Yes it's still not what I would have loved to build,  but that would have been no where in the budget.  Something like a real Carriage house would have been awesome, with an upstairs and dormers.  Nice stonework and more style.  Compromise had to be made somewhere, between being practical, affordable (we've blown past that) , and what I would really like to have. 

For what it is I do like the way things are turning out. 

Next year with some landscaping it should really start looking nice.  When I get to the electrical phase I'll also have some nice Decorative lights out front. Might even eventually do a couple of small roofs over the door ways or the original plan was to put a small covered porch over the one door way that wraps around the corner closest to the old shop.  Stuff could be added later to enhance things a bit.  Right now goal is to get that CO. 

 

Of course I have a new distraction coming, but I have to stay focused on the garage and the weather is about to turn so I probably won't get to use it this year anyways. 

 

Many thanks to Ed for hooking me up with Andy who helped make the deal on the new toy work out. 

 

Now to get out to the garage and get it cleaned out so I have some space for it when it arrives tomorrow. 

[edinmass]

Randy.....don’t thank me too much till the DV-32 shows up and you take it for the first test drive!  🤫

 

Its fun making new contacts in the hobby that eventually evolve into friendships through this web page. My next ambition it to stop by the new shop and take a photo of it with a car while we are on tour in the area. It may take months or even a year or two, but I think it would be fun to give Randy and his wife a ride in an over the top car............👍

[auburnseeker]

I'll let you know how that first test drive goes.  Hopefully it's not too temper mental,  but then again I know just the tech to walk me through the problems.  

 

I better get to work on the shop so it's atleast presentable when you show up.  I Probably won't have time to get the Italian marble down but we'll try our best. 

Looking forward to that ride if you ever get up this way.  

 

Back to work.  Like my wife says,  living the dream  I just didn't think it would involve quite as much work and $$. 

[auburnseeker]

Update on the shop build.  

The weather is about to turn completely south with snow and highs in the mid 30's forecast.  I have been working until after dark a few nights and was able to get all the upper Soffit done, trim boards and shakes,  which we used every scrap one we rejected and the fat part of the cuts but managed to just finish it.  I even managed to finish the lower soffit yesterday and got the band boards up along the bottom. 

I still have some nailers to install inside for the siding but I'll then be ready to side,  which is all prefinished and even pre screwed. 

I figure if I start from each end and carry them to the center I can fudge that easier than one end or the other.  About 61 or 62 pieces of siding and that end will be sided.  Hopefully it warms back up next week to put the upper band board up once I get the siding on. 

I don't think I'm doing too bad as I have resisted the temptation to just go in and work on the New toy in the heated garage.,  rather than freeze or get soaked.   I figure there will be plenty of days this winter.  It will be really nice to finally get the siding done though,  so the shell is finished and get my CO. 

I didn't put any windows in this side as I have a couple of ideas for this wall and wanted it solid.  I even thought of doing a faux street scape so I could put some signs up in their original setting. 

Nothing else there will be plenty of room for my 40 foot neon sign. 

Edited November 6, 2019 by auburnseeker (see edit history)