Shop Build - Part 1

Barry Temple

Member
Messages
19
Location
London, Ontario, Canada
My wife and I were looking for a couple of years for a house with a decent size 2 car garage or a lot big enough to build a garage. We finally worked the numbers and decided to stay where we were and build the shop here.

The first picture shows the back yard almost in the beginning. There were a line of trees down the side of the yard but we had to remove some because they were dying. These were the last of them that we had to remove to make room for the shop.
1 Back Corner in the Beginning.JPG

The next picture shows the biggest tree being removed. My B-I-L is up in the tree about 15 - 20 feet tying off the rope (I didn't want it to drop on the house) and my friend Keith is waiting to cut it down.
1a Tree Removal.JPG

This next picture shows some of the roots my excavator had to contend with.
3 Dealing with roots.JPG

In this picture the digging is finished. You can see the cables for power as well as gas. Also I ran some 1 1/2 inch plastic pipe for telephone, network cable and TV cable.
5 Digging finished.JPG

Now the cement guys are forming up the slab. I went with a floating slab because a poured foundation was about twice the money.
6 Forming it up.JPG

Here the guys are pouring A gravel. I wanted 4 - 6 inches of gravel for drainage under the slab.
8 Laying in gravel b.JPG

The forming is finished and ready for cement.
9 Ready for cement.JPG

Next morning the cement truck showed up and the pour started. The truck had a conveyor to get the cement to the farthest back corner of the form.
10 Cement Arrives.JPG

Here the guys are pouring cement. I wanted a 6 inch slab even though code here is 4 inches. I figured the extra thickness would help with any movement or cracking. I also ordered the cement with the fibres in it to give it more strength. For those that understand cement, it's 32 mpa, the city requirement and a lot more expensive than regular sidewalk cement.
12 Pouring Cement.JPG

The slab is finally poured and ready for building. It took most of the day but the guys were standing around for a while because the truck ran out of cement and had to go back for 1 more yard.
13 Ready for building.JPG

Part 2 to follow....
 
Shop Build - Part 2

Here we are sheeting the first wall. The walls are 2 x 6 x 9 feet high.
14 Sheeting the first wall.JPG

The wind came up as we were starting to raise the first wall. We had to hurry for fear the wall would blow over on my neighbours fence. That's my nephew John trying to nail in the braces. I'm next and then my neighbour Vic (it's his back yard we're trying to keep the wall out of), then my son Matt. The guy in the red braces is my B-I-L Johnny. He builds houses for a living so he pretty much built my shop.
16 Hurrying to brace wall.JPG

The back wall is up.
17 Back wall up.JPG

We can smile, we're almost done for the day. The day was cold with a light rain. We got soaked.
18 Smile almost done.JPG

Vic took pity on us and showed up with a bottle of brandy so we had a shot. Okay, we had a couple of shots!
19 Shot time.JPG

The next day we finished sheeting the walls. This is the view from my driveway.
20 Walls done - front view.JPG

The next weekend we put the roof on and started doing the fascia. This is another B-I-L Melv cutting fascia board.
22 Melv cutting fascia board.JPG

Johnny and Keith are installing the fascia. Keith is afraid of heights so wouldn't go on the roof and was pushing it to get to the top of the ladder.
23 Johnny and Keith installing fascia.JPG

Before the weekend was over we had the Tyvek on and were ready to start siding.
25 Garage Side - Roof on.JPG

Part 3 to follow.....
 
Shop Build - Part 3

This is the start of the insulation process.
1 Insulation underway.JPG

This is a shot of all the bundles still to be done.
2 Lots to do yet.JPG

You can see that there is a small window in the wall. It's the only window. More on that later.
3 Back Corner.JPG

This is the front entry door with the electrical panel.
4 Front entry door and panel.JPG

This is the garage door, the smallest I could get. It's 8 feet wide and 7 feet high. I wasn't going to install a garage door but I made a deal with my wife that she could park her car in there in bad weather like an ice storm.
5 Looking towards the front.JPG

Here the siding is finally underway. Keith and I put up most of the siding but Johnny started us off.
6 Siding Started.JPG

Finally got it all closed in. I held my own private flag raising ceremony. The flag is the provincial flag of my home province, Newfoundland.
7 Finally done 1.JPG

Another view of the front and side.
8 Finally done 2.JPG

Now some details about the shop. The walls are 2 x 6 construction 9 feet high. The ceiling is actually 9 1/2 feet high because of the 6 inch curb I also had installed. The outside dimensions are 21 x 31 feet. The usable floor space is 20 x 30. From the ground to the peak of the roof, it's 15 feet tall. Siding is vinyl. My wife picked out the colour. The shingles on the roof are 25 year, again picked out by my wife. The largest building I could have was 660 square feet. This shop is 651 sq ft. I would have liked bigger but didn't want to give up all the back yard. (The back yard is approximately 60 x 60.)

I upgraded the panel in the house to 200 amps then took 100 of that for the shop. It's more than I need but eventually we're going to install a hot tub driven by the panel in the shop.

The lighting is 10 - 4 foot fluorescents. I am thinking about putting spot lights over certain areas like the table saw, lathe, bandsaw, etc.

I am painting the interior with Zinsser B-I-N primer. It's supposed to be ideal for OSB.

By next winter I hope to have a gas radient heater. A friend has one and he says it keeps the shop plenty warm.

You can see by the pictures that the window is small. I want something bigger. Eventually we have to replace the front bay window so I may use that. I'll put it in the south facing wall.

If I can get the painting done this weekend, I hope to start putting up conduit for the electrical wiring. Then I can start to move my few tools out there.

For those that are interested, costs so far are approximately $20 - 25,000.00. The breakdown is:
Construction Permit - $69.00
Excavation - $1,100.00
Cement - $6,500.00
Electrical Panel in house and shop - $2,300.00
Building materials - $11,000.00
Miscellaneous expenses (lights, wire, conduit, receptacles, switches, vinyl trimboard, etc) $1,500.00

A while back I was watching "This Old House" and they were using vinyl trimboard. I decided to use that on the shop so I cased the window and entry door with it. The garage door jamb and casing are also done with it. It's expensive but now I have no maintenance (painting) on the outside of the shop

I now have to replace and extend my driveway, another $3,000.00 and put in a new fence, $1,500.00. I was going to replace the fence eventually but since the driveway will run alongside the fence, I'd rather do it now so I don't have to wreck the driveway later sinking post holes. I still have to buy some electrical supplies but that shouldn't be more than $2 - 300.00.
 
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Outstanding !

Strong work Barry, that'll do nicely ! Extra nice that you did it with family and friends. Hope you enjoy your new playroom very much.
 
Thanks everyone! I hope to get at the painting today so I can finish the electrical and get the tools moved in. My wife wants me to vacate the premises of my old shop in the basement. She wants to get her stained glass shop set up.
 
even the canuks can

beat ned in the race to a full roof:rofl: looks like you get yur ducks in a row there barry,, wont be long and you can be makin sawdust in style... well done
 
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