new shop in the works

Drew Watson

Member
Messages
2,070
Location
Salt Spring Island, BC Canada
Hi All been a while since my last post. Lots has happened in my life and now have moved to Salt Spring Island ( just off Victoria BC Canada. and am undertaking design and building a new shop. Nothing fancy. Have bounced lots of design ideas around and after talking to my Step brother and fellow family member ( Alex Reid) I think I have settled on just putting a slab on grad and building from that. 24x30 shop with 10ft ceilings and truss's with a 6 in 12 pitch. Nothing fancy maybe a 8ft rolling door and three 4 ft windows and a 3ft door. Possibly even an attic door to use the space up in the trusses. Metal roof ( green color and galv metal siding. Just been drawing the plans as I have not spent as much time with sketch up as I would have liked. Will be running 150 or 200 amp service to the shop and then going underground to the house to eliminate the over head wires we currently have on our 130 amp service. Any thoughts and ideas would be welcome. will try to get some pictures of the site as well as the drawing ideas as soon as I get some space to set up some of our computer stuff. Just sold our 1900 sqft home to move into our 5 acre 800 sqft home so a bit tight on space at the moment. I had thought about doing a pressure treated wood 2 ft foundation and then having a floor rather than the slab so that I could run the ducting all under the shop but the weight of my tools and easy access started to concern me. This way is just easier.
 
Last edited:
Nice to hear from you Drew. Salt Spring, a beautiful island according to my wife. She just spent a couple days there recently (3 weeks ago) with a girlfriend. I look forward to posts on your new shop. My advice, make sure you have plenty of naturally light with an enjoyable view, especially at your workbench.
 
It will face south with a 3x4 window and 3 ft door and an 8ft roll up door, Limited in location as it is the only place on the lot where hydro is readily available. May have to upgrade wires too just don't know as of yet
 
It is a beautiful island and pretty laid back. Lots of artistic people here. more the peace and quiet I appreciate. The last view I had was one window in a shop with a 16 ft rollup garage door. Looking at the street and my neighbors house. This will be a bit better. have to find some pictures small enough to post here. I do most of my photos in Raw now so have to convert them lots.
 
Last edited:
This sounds like a nice move Drew. I'm looking forward to watching your progress.
I visited Saltspring a couple of times and it struck me as quiet and pleasant, just as you describe.
I haven't seen your site, but I noticed when touring around how so many rural properties had simple open structures with just a roof over them. In your climate, that would be something I would do adjacent to my shop for an added workspace and dry storage most of the time.
Regards
Peter
 
Sounds like you sure found a nice spot! We've considered moving back north across the border but the cards haven't ever aligned in that direction yet..

Have fun building the shop and remember when you hit the inevitable snags that it'll be all worth it when its done!
 
Yea Peter once the shop is all done I will be adding an open air carport / roofed area for extra storage as well as prep work on logs for turning. Will have two large 1500 gallon water storage containers for summer watering of the garden as we don't want to tax the well. I have lots to do here just hope that my recent shoulder surgery doesn't slow me down too much. Just playing it by ear right now. I have a maple tree to bring down to clear up some space and it is growing out of two stumps so could be some interesting wood. We have a few others too that need to be brought down that are danger trees. We are on the south end near beaver point. I have heard that lots of famous actors have property here as well. Ryan with the dollar as it is we have seen lots of people looking north for investments that just come for a visit and stay.
 
Last edited:
I can only imagine that much space :huh: :rolleyes:

I understand the want to put in a slab it sure it easier, and down the road the space could be converted to use for cars etc, but I have to say that having made the MISTAKE of not putting a wooden floor on top of my concrete one, I would very seriously suggest that if you do end up with a slab, at least float a wooden floor on it, maybe you can't run your duct work under it, but you can surely run some wires like a wire for the tablesaw in the middle of shop etc.

Really a wooden floor is the way to go, even on top of a slab!
 
Looks like it's going to be a good build to watch. Take it easy on that shoulder, know way to many folks that have had to have re-do work due to using them too soon. :wave:
 
Actually 2 -3 acres of usable ground the rest is all terraced rock and a large pond. Unusual lot shape as it is triangular with an odd dog leg and dedicated road through the property, so a 1/4 acre across the rd but pretty much a blank slate. Of course I have to do some updating on the main house right now as it was built as a summer cabin and floor joists are over spanned and under sized. It was built on pad and post and the hot water tank is in a hole in the ground under the house. have had to pull out mouse infested insulation from under the house and will be putting in a perimeter foundation that will be insulated. The hydro panel is perfect size for the existing house but I will upgrade to either 150 amp or 200 amp service depending what the electrician says and then run it underground to the house and reconnect it with the existing panel. The rest of the structure is very sound and just 800 sq ft is perfect for the wife and me. the back of the house faces true south so sun all day long on the back deck. Shop will be facing the same so will get sun right up till it sets.
 
21930_10152668882981548_1209941191012309552_n.jpg10431685_10152668883816548_2140455977008615991_n.jpg11188313_10152669207266548_3329232210339600485_n.jpg Ok hope these work out ok size wise. just took them with the cell phone. will take some better photos later this week. Just had a machine in clearing out some big stumps of maple. Turning wood) now can figure where I want to put the shop. and get the plans in to get the permit.
 
Last edited:
Well have hit a stumbling block in the shop construction. Had plans drawn up and ready then talked to our permit office and the building inspector. Seems that unless the plans for the slab on grade ( with edge thickening ) are engineered I am limited to a 592 sq ft that works out to be a 24x24 shop ( still a fair size but not the 24x30 I had wanted). Then I was informed as we live in a climate that might see a few weeks of cold weather in the winter this puts us into a cold climate category ( required to use heat in the winter) and if I want to insulate the shop I have a whole new set of hoops to jump through in regards to insulating the slab on grade ( 2 1/2 inch ridged insulation on the outside of the 8 inch thickened slab that extends out 24 + inches on the flat from the building and 48 inches inside the building under the 4inch thick slab floor). This insulation practice is to prevent heat loss from the inside of the building to the outside that in all practical reasoning would melt any frost that would develop under the slab. This is all due to the imaginary frost level of 12 inches ( ground might freeze 2 inches for a week or two). Unless I don't insulate ( still gets too cold to work comfortably in the shop over the winter months) then I could build the shop that size on wood mud sills sitting on the ground and it doesn't matter what I do with the foundation insulation wise. It could be built any way I like. This is all to do with new building codes that I am guessing were designed for eastern Canada that have no bearing on the mild climate we live through on the west coast. Just makes my head hurt thinking of all this crap they make up. Oh and the newest mind boggling thing is with metal roofing old practice was 1x4 strapping on 16 inch centers covered in roofing felt then the metal now it is regular wood framing with plywood sheathing then felt and metal, no air circulation around the rafters that is unless on a vaulted ceiling then it is 2x4 strapping then plywood then felt and metal. Logic and old building practices are right out the window here and there is no logic at all behind this. Oh and if I do insulate than I have to get new state of the art low E windows if I don't insulate than I can install any recycled double pane windows I want. Did I say my head hurts from shaking it so hard. lol
 
Last edited:
Top