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

[auburnseeker]

18 minutes ago, JoelsBuicks said:

I get the chills looking at those pics.  Too frozen too soon!

 

Have you gotten any of this unseasonable weather yet in your neck of the woods?  

[JoelsBuicks]

9 hours ago, auburnseeker said:

Have you gotten any of this unseasonable weather yet in your neck of the woods? 

 

Our first freeze here came late but it was followed by a record cold day and near record lows.  But our temps are very rarely into single digits and scarcely in the teens.

 

If the unusual cold continues, perhaps the ethanol in our gas will go away and we’ll be encouraged to burn more coal.  or, does that just sound absurd?😉

 

PS - I did recruit a helper for winding the door springs. 

[auburnseeker]

1 hour ago, JoelsBuicks said:

If the unusual cold continues, perhaps the ethanol in our gas will go away and we’ll be encouraged to burn more coal.  or, does that just sound absurd?😉

 

Makes me think stronger about burning coal.  I'm pretty sure no matter what we do,  we won't match Mother Nature's Carbon foot print in CA alone.   Maybe she's trying to warm the planet up all on her own?

 

8 inches of snow to deal with this morning.  First year I have had to plow 3 times in November, not to mention probably another 3 or so smaller storms I shoveled and leaf blew.  

Of course it rained for the entire day yesterday and thawed the ground just enough that I will dig the crap out of it with the plow.

An hour of shoveling then 2 hours of plowing with another 45 minutes or so of shoveling off my office roof because of the skylights and snow raking the skylight in the kitchen so it doesn't build ice.  Then shoveling that off the deck again.  

How much fun can one guy have?

[auburnseeker]

Unfortunately I don't drink at all.  I should start though.  It might give me the courage to get stuff done I'm hesitant to do. 

Nothing else the courage to get through this winter.

I went out at 11:30 started with the shovel then got to the tractor,   plowed just a little only to discover 4 - 30 foot trees down.  One on the roof of the shed with all the limbs blocking me from getting to the rest of the driveway to plow then the others down the driveway.  

I cut them all up and dragged them off to my brush pile (quite a ways away) then finished plowing.  Went back out got the snow rake and did the kitchen skylight,  then shoveled the skylights in the office off.  Cleaned all that mess up and finished at 5PM.  Got soaked through all 3 layers the first hour messing with the trees so I came in for a quick break to get rehydrated and dry clothes then plowed for the next 2 and 1/2 or more.   Had to push all the banks back as it's so early in the winter (which hasn't even started ) that I can see getting closed in before January if I'm not careful. 

 

[auburnseeker]

I have a tiny bit of progress to post.  

I'm still waiting on final details for the garage door.

I finally got all the nailers installed and was able to get some of the Soffit material up.  It takes a little figuring out but I finally came up with the correct extensions on my trusses to make all the soffit height equal where it transitions to the roof return.   Lots of nailers to rip now to finish everything up.  I'll probably have to finagle the wainscoting to match up when I reach the other side.  That shouldn't be a huge deal though.   I'll probably have alot of time to rip material before I can actually put it up on the eves ends as there is a foot of snow on the roof and it's been there for a month. 

It's a good thing I have the lift.  I couldn't imagine doing this off a ladder.

The last picture is the garage all finished  

Just kidding.  It shows the door I'm thinking of using an extra row of glass like shown. I think it puts the size of the door into a better perspective than just one row of the glass in the top panel of a 14 foot tall door. 

[Guest]

Nice doors, even better than nice. Would the cost be prohibitive to have the door people install double thermopane glass or could they even do this?

Other than gyp-rocking I think soffits are the worst job in construction.

[Laughing Coyote]

I don't even know how you can do anything in the c-c-cold.  

[auburnseeker]

You just peck away until your fingers freeze or you get a chill.  Then go in,  warm up and do some more or give up for the day.   I use to build docks on the ice for a contractor when I was fresh out of school.  We would work as long as it was above zero.  The worst thing was bolting stuff together.  Your fingers just don't work right at 10 degrees to thread nuts onto the bolts between the foam dock skirting with your finger tips.   I'm sure I got plenty of frost bite then but it paid decent.  Of course I'm sure few other guys would show up to do that kind of work under those conditions day after day.   I was brought up to just do it when it came to work.  

I was really griping this fall because we seemed to drop to well below normal and stay there for the last month,  which is the month that's usually real nice to work outside here.  We've had 4 snow storms this month with several  smaller squalls and wet days in between which makes it tough to get much done.

 I wanted to finish more soffit work today but it was still raining as of 5PM so I just worked on the splices for the trusses. It was suppose to stop at 12 and turn partly cloudy.  You can count the sunny days we have had this month on one hand and even those turned cloudy. 

 

The windows are, I believe, single thermopane. I'm not too worried about the door windows being non High R.  The rest of the building will be High R plus.  Way beyond what the codes are. 

[SC38dls]

Be careful about going beyond code requirements. I built a 4 horse barn a number of years ago for my daughters critters. Where code called for 2x4 I used 2x6, if it called for 2x6 I used 2x8. The electrical had to be encase cable but I put it in conduit so the mice or raccoons couldn’t chew on it. The inspector came and would not sign off on it because it “wasn’t to code”. I had to go to a planning commission meeting and threaten a law suit before I got the building approved. Some of those guys just don’t get it. The letter of the law or else. 

Keep warm and keep up the good work it looks great. The doors will be worth the extra cost. 

Dave S 

[auburnseeker]

I've met with the inspector and besides being a car guy seems pretty lax about overkill.  He's just concerned that you meet code.  Beyond that is your choice.  I made sure before I went too far.  I know what you mean though.  I once built a camp for a customer (read beautiful lake front year round house)  and the only concern the inspector had was that the waste water lines held pressure.  He could care less about anything else.  I would be a little more concerned about the supply lines than the waste water.  A supply line breaking will flood a house in short order.  A waste line is going to take alot of time to do much damage.  Especially on a house with a sceptic system.  

 

 

 

2 hours ago, SC38DLS said:

The doors will be worth the extra cost. 

Of course everything is worth the extra cost it's just hard to swallow on a pay as you go plan. 

Thanks for the compliment. 

[Spinneyhill]

16 hours ago, auburnseeker said:

A supply line breaking will flood a house in short order.

Yep. Our friends up the hill stepped out of bed into water one night on a comfort stop. The house was flooded. The cause was a failed flexible hot water connection at a tap in a bathroom. Cheap connections, only last 10 years and fail catastrophically! It has been a nightmare for them having the entire T&G wooden floor replaced. Everything went wrong. Luckily it is a concrete slab, so the framing is not on top of the floor boards.

[auburnseeker]

I only got the soffit done to the man door today.  I had to put the winter wheels on my truck and slick it up with WD 40 and Fluid film.  Also pulled the step tubes off for the winter.  I probably won't use it much, more to just keep it exercised on dry days.  I can't afford to replace it with a new truck at 60G.  It's doing pretty good so far with that same greasy coating reapplied every year. 

I heard back from the garage door guy and he says they will build the door I want.  I just need to find out the particulars now.  He sent me the drawing of it.  

Hopefully not too much over 500 more. 

[auburnseeker]

I just met with the door guy today and the door comes in at $4300.  So only about 300 or so more for another row of windows.  The color sample he brought by is Ok.  So I just have to pay for it tomorrow to get it ordered.  He will let me install it without an opener which will save me about 1000 for now.  No sense in buying the opener I don't really have the extra for now if i don't plan on having real power out there for another couple of years. 

I also went to the lumber yard and dumped another $80 for 8- 2 x 10 x 8 to rip down to pieces to pad down my truss ends for the soffit,  which I can do on a crummy day.  I can also pre assemble them so I just have to slip them over the truss and screw then in place.   It's looking like barely above freezing for a high all week if even that warm, so I'm not sure how much I will get done on actually putting the soffits up.  I need to build a couple of work trays for the lift to store my tools ion,  so I don't have to keep bending down to the floor to pick things up.  Especially helpful when you are holding a board in place with the other hand. 

Edited December 6, 2018 by auburnseeker (see edit history)

[auburnseeker]

Though I don't post daily,  I do peck away at my garage build.   With one this size,  working all alone,  it takes a long time to complete every phase.  

I did manage to get my soffit done across the one end.  Finishing up just as the latest sleet storm came in.  

It was the perfect day,  cold enough the eves weren't dripping but warm enough the lift would start.  

I also tore out the extension I put on the garage door opening and jammed it out with the rough cut 2 by 10's I prestained this fall.  That one on the header was a bear especially by myself,  but atleast the lift acted as a dead man.  

I spent part of last week,  cleaning the garage and organizing the tools, fasteners,   as well as cutting up all the scraps and burning them.  I then went on,  made up all the extensions for the trusses to put the soffits up.  Finished the week off bending up a bunch of flashing.  I still have alot more to do.   Spent one day as well making a bench for my Son's work shop we gave him in the shed, even had an old vise my wife bought at Hershey to mount on it for him. 

Now I'm ready to have the door installed when it comes in.  I hopefully will be able to get some siding on this week.  Every phase takes so long,  it's hard to see any of them ever getting done. 

I also found with everything it's handy to make templates.  Here are some quickies I made up for marking the flashing where it has to be bent. 

 

[auburnseeker]

I have been making slow but steady progress.  I got about 16 feet of wall finished with siding and trim. 

With the weather warming up today after all the freezing rain,  I should be able to get the lift running tomorrow to do above the garage door.  It would be nice to get this wall done then have them show up with the new garage door.  

Someday if I ever get some money saved up,  I plan to do. stone around the foundation. 

Looks like the snow has finally melted off the south facing roof,  so I might jump over to that next week to do some more soffit work. 

I spent part of today,  bending more flashing and sorting out my lumber pile pulling out all the clean prefinished boards that I can use for full length siding , sorting out the others to be cut up for the shorter lengths.  This should help speed things up a bit as I won't have to do so much digging later when I'm on a roll. 

Looks like that bottom band board should have had another coat of stain.  I'll have to tend to that next summer so it all matches as well as touch up the brown in spots where the fibers from the wood stickers stuck to the brown stain. 

The crappy new acrylic stain definitely isn't what the old good oil based used to be. 

Thanks environmentalists for ruining another good product, substituting some more earth friendly plastic in it's place. 

[alsancle]

You getting the same rain we are?    My drive was sheet of ice this morning but then by 5:00 pm it was 50 degrees and pouring.  

 

Love the additional detail.  Roof overhangs (or ladder rakes) are critical to getting that nice 3 dimensional look.

[mike6024]

What type of siding is that? You probably mentioned it and I missed it.

[auburnseeker]

The siding is just board and batten pine.  

 

I kind of wish I went with a shadow moulding around the doors and trim to give it more depth.  Everything coming out about the same depth makes it blend together a little too much.  I imagine the garage door will help make the end a bit more stylish and with all the windows there will be alot more green on the sides of the building.  Glad I went with the soffits I did instead of just brown.  They should tie into the door nicely.  

I do wish the Pella green was a little lighter.  I matched the window and door trim to it,  but with the dark brown siding it blends more than contrasts.  Oh well it's only a garage as my wife says and will probably fade to a lighter color anyways.  

If money were no object I would have built something more like that stone garage/ carriage house. 

As it is I'm trying to pull it all together on a shoe string budget doing all the finish work by myself. 

I guess I could add some more architectural features later to give it a little more style.  I was originally thinking a wrap around porch on the near end at one time,  but that would be way down the road if ever. 

[auburnseeker]

Some small progress to report.  I  managed to get another 16 feet or so done.  Now I need to install nailers (which I started doing  as well.  Days are short and temps generally cold,  so the going is slow.  Not using the lift means alot of time up and down the ladder.  I did get the lift out Yesterday to do over the door. Hopefully I'll get another warm day so the lift will start to get the top band boards on with it.  A whole lot easier than holding the 16 foot board with one hand over your head on the ladder,  getting the fit perfect and nailing it in place. 

I would like to get this wall done before they install the door. 

Good temperatures expected for New Year's day,  but I have to pick my son up at Grandma's a couple of hours away and they are forecasting freezing precip overnight  so that will shoot alot of the day since,  I probably won't be able to leave until after 10. 

I guess it's coming along.  Here is a photo of the garage a year ago.   You have to look back occasionally for some inspiration. 

At my rate of completion though it seems like there is never going to be an end in sight. 

[edinmass]

Looks good to me! You keep plugging away and it will get finished. It’s a huge building for only one person to work on. Add in work, family, car stuff, ect......it’s understandable why things progress slowly. It’s much nicer than a pole building or one of those cheap tin type units. Having it at the house is a huge plus. Keep the updates coming.......👍

Edited December 30, 2018 by edinmass (see edit history)

[auburnseeker]

Well the one good thing is,  It is paid for to this point as is all the equipment inside and even all the siding and soffit material. Even the garage door is paid for though I haven't heard on an eta for it. 

It goes much slower that way but I'm not in debt for it.  

Hopefully the door comes pretty soon.  The wind blowing through that opening sends a chill through your bones. 

[Robert G. Smits]

I guess those of us with “tin type” buildings are second class. Guess what, my tin type was finished, heated and Air conditioned  and fully occupied in 90 days. Different strokes for different folks   You do have a nice looking building though. 

[auburnseeker]

Tin is fine for some.  When you have a custom cedar sided house with a Cedar sided garage and want everything to blend trying to not devalue the property at the same time, not liking a tin roof for many reasons stated above,  especially when building something the size of a warehouse you are trying to make somewhat inconspicuous,  you have to do what you have to do.

 If you read the thread from start to finish,  the town probably would have shot down a tin building to begin with and I can tell you how the wife felt about the idea. 

I'm glad tin worked for you.   A friend with a diesel shop has one.  Nothing wrong with it for him.  It wasn't for me.   The same reason I have wood and not Vinyl siding,  a full frost wall, 2 by 8 framing, added a roof return that cost over 1000 just for the materials and all my free labor,  10,000. worth of Pella wood inside,  metal clad exterior windows,  a. $ 4300 garage door.   

I think you get the idea.  

[mike6024]

Several of my neighbors have metal buildings. I think they look really out of place in a residential area. You have tall, new metal buildings next to older, relatively small wood frame homes. The metal buildings usually dwarf the house. Some of them have high roll-up doors so you could drive an RV into it. My home has redwood ship-lap siding. I wouldn't mind having a metal roof on the detached garage though.

[edinmass]

I have a pole building up north in New England. It was built back in the early 70’s and has held up well, but back then they looked much more like a traditional red barn, and it fits in well with the neighborhood  They are fragile and very often look out of place. They suffer wind damage easily. With the big snow loads the roofs must be rather steep, or they will collapse. The metal buildings often suffer the same fate. My pole building is only used for long term parts storage for safety. The main shop is jointed masonry with a concret roof also. Fireproof, safe, and we never have had any issues at all. Modern zoning laws restrict almost all metal building to industrial zones today. Pole building are mostly prohibited, so having something in your yard at home almost always means stick built.

Edited January 2, 2019 by edinmass (see edit history)

[auburnseeker]

10 hours ago, Robert G. Smits said:

I guess those of us with “tin type” buildings are second class.

Well if you feel second class to mine I really feel third or fourth class to this,  and this isn't even the nicest one I have seen. 

We each build what we want.  I didn't want nor could I have the cheapest quickest option. 

Same reason some guys drive a prius and others drive a diesel 1 ton truck. 

I had the Morton Catalog on my desk for nearly a year.  When I told them I wanted a shingle roof and other than metal siding they never really followed up. 

[auburnseeker]

I got a bit more done today.  Another 12 feet and finished the other side of that door.  I also figured out a way to speed things up.  I had been marking where the nails go to be sure they hit the nailers then starting them once I had the board in place.  I found if I started all the nails first I could just slap the board up and not spend so much time awkwardly trying to start the nails off the ladder.  Seems to go alot quicker. I got 10 boards up in two hours.  Hopefully I'll be able to make the corner tomorrow.  Then maybe another day to put the batten strips on.  If I'm lucky maybe then end of the building (atleast the lower half) could be finished by the end of the weekend.  Maybe that's being optimistic because I have to do some more soffit work the first warm day the lift will start so I can start working down the sides next. 

[SC38dls]

Tin or wood is all a matter of taste. You can not account for others taste. Do what you like, can afford (or not) it's your money and property,  but most of all do what your wife approves. 

Keep working it looks good.  

Dave S 

Edited January 3, 2019 by SC38DLS (see edit history)

[Jim Bollman]

last Spring I had a small building (18'X22') put up behind and down hill from out house and because of cost and location. I did all steel accept the side towards the house, that I did in the same wood siding as the house. We are also in the middle of the woods so you would have to be hiking in the woods to really see the other sides.

 

I do understand trying to make the building fit the house and neighborhood. Our previous place I put up a pole barn with a traditional gambrel barn roof and did the siding in board and batten. Looked good with our log house.

[auburnseeker]

Mine if you look you see coming up the driveway through the somewhat sparse woods especially in the winter, the far side may become visible from the main road if the trees die off.  They are mostly mature pines with not much of undergrowth so I'm planning incase they do die off and don't regenerate.  It's big enough it's hard to hide so atleast if it looks good,  it won't be so much of an issue.  With all the windows it resembles more of a rec hall than a barn.   I've been debating on whether to do the same roof return on the far end just in case.    When I get done it could easily be converted to living space,  which may help if we ever sell the place.  Not in the plans at the moment but one never knows where life takes you. 

Worst case I could always rent storage space for boats cars RV's etc if things ever get tight and we can't pay the taxes. 

[auburnseeker]

I finally finished one wall.  Well atleast the lower part. (I can't wait to get the garage door in now)  I will wait to do the upper until spring as it has to be all done off the lift.  So that's 60 foot of wall. only another 204 feet of lower wall to go.   I spent the day sorting batten strips and pre cutting a bunch to a close rough length.  Alot of them are defective for full length pieces so it's a lot of sorting to get the good ones.  It was windy and not bad this morning.  I was going to hop out on the lift and do soffits but the temperature dropped all day as the wind howled so I worked inside instead.  lots of small stuff to do to make the siding days as productive as possible.  It's suppose to be cold (highs in the mid to low 20's) so I might sort siding and do the same with that.  It's nice to not waste good weather sorting boards.   Even the siding has alot of rejects.  Might as well use the best stuff I have.  I can pre nail that and cut it to length as well. 

I would love to do cedar shakes or something up top,  but I'm not sure if I will be able to afford it when I get there.   I also have the lumber already prefinished to do it in Board and batten.   I do have 2 large vents to put in up top made out of wood,  like my friend used in the shop I posted earlier. 

 

[SC38dls]

Looking good, get the door installed and we can have a party!  Not sure you really want that kind of help but it could be fun!  

Dave S 

[auburnseeker]

I just did some math and looks like to do the upper part in Quality red cedar shakes would be around 900 and end,  plus whatever stain I would use.  

How come everything is in multiples of 1000?   

A 1000 for the roof return,  1000 for the shakes for the ends,  etc.  

[SC38dls]

Wait too long and it will be multiples of 2000’s ! 

Dave S 

[auburnseeker]

One of the reasons I am trying to get it done. (not to mention a 375 a year permit fee)  As it was I just beat the hurricanes now 2 years ago that spiked prices on materials.  They alone would have added thousands to the project.  The siding I bought from a friend and did some horse trading for as well,  plus he usually gives me a price then cuts it a bit because I remember him when I come across a nice sign or something.  Little things like that make his day, especially when I just give them to him.  

 

 

[edinmass]

You should be proud of your accomplishment of building the shop.......it looks great. The never say die attitude is rare today, and it is plainly clear to me you will be successful in any endeavor you pursue. 👍

[39BuickEight]

The shop is looking fantasic so far.  You won’t know what to do with yourself when it is “done.”

[auburnseeker]

41 minutes ago, edinmass said:

You should be proud of your accomplishment of building the shop.......it looks great. The never say die attitude is rare today, and it is plainly clear to me you will be successful in any endeavor you pursue. 👍

Now if I ever finish it and still have that Cord,  it might even hit the road some day. 

[Jim Bollman]

You could split the difference on cost and do the end you consider the front, most visible, in shake shingles and use the rough sawn you already have on the other end. Sounds like you have a lot marginal boards anyway, unless you over bought in the first place, planning for the bad pieces. I did the barn at my old place in rough sawn hemlock and had lots of firewood kindling for years from the bad pieces. I used the worse pieces on the back side where it wasn't visible unless you were snooping.

[auburnseeker]

I actually did overbuy siding by a bit as I knew there would be some scrap.  The 1000 in materials is actually per end if i go with really good grade shingles.   It would be faster to do it in the board and batten. We'll see.  It will be a few more months to go before I have to worry about that. 

Suppose to be a few real cold days this week so I will be working inside on sorting material and adding nailers inside. 

I should clear space in the heated garage and move the metal brake in there doing that on the really cold days.    There is not alot of room for a 10 foot brake though with room to work on it in there.