Shop in a small Texas town

[NUTTSGT]

Sorry for the delay in updating. We've had a lot of rain the last couple of weeks and it’s stopped all progress. We got close to 18" of rain in the Houston area in a short period of time. I have standing water in my yard and that has delayed the delivery of the building. I called the building people yesterday and we are just waiting for the area to dry up, so hopefully they can deliver by the end of the week or early next week. Stay tuned and thanks for the patients.

Rain delay ? man I'd love to have a rain delay.

 

[DEEDDUDE]

Quick update. The shop finally showed up. The erectors will be out tomorrow to start so hopefully I'll be able to update daily. Just a few pics.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Heck yeah, I can imagine how big that smile is on your face.

 

[bluejeep]

Looks like the same pile of steel that Mueller delivered to me. You will really like those doors. They are smooth and one easy yank and they go right up. I am 100% satisfied with Mueller.

 

[shovel]

I hope you get enough dry weather to get started. I'm about 70 miles East of you and we've been getting lots or rain every day. That is what usually happens when you have a building to go up, a fishing trip planned, tee times....

 

[DEEDDUDE]

I hope you get enough dry weather to get started. I'm about 70 miles East of you and we've been getting lots or rain every day. That is what usually happens when you have a building to go up, a fishing trip planned, tee times....

Forecast shows to be clear with a small chance for the next week to 10 days. The building was supposed to be here no later than the 26th of last month and rain the first part of this month put us this far behind. Fingers crossed everything is smooth sailing from here.

 

[DEEDDUDE]

Heck yeah, I can imagine how big that smile is on your face.

Eric, the smile on my face was bigger today. Check out what they got done.

My son took these pictures thats why they aren't real clear, he's not as excited as I am.

 

[DEEDDUDE]

Looks like the same pile of steel that Mueller delivered to me. You will really like those doors. They are smooth and one easy yank and they go right up. I am 100% satisfied with Mueller.

jeep, my steel came in with mud and dirt all over it. I'm sure I'll spend a day or two just cleaning the shop once it's complete before I start moving stuff in.

 

[blownhemi]

Looking good.

 

[HOTFR8]

Nice progress.

 

[Falcon67]

Sweet - that's quite an erection.

 

[DEEDDUDE]

Hemi and Hot, Thanks

Sweet - that's quite an erection.

Falcon, uh.... thanks for noticing?

Thanks to everyone who is watching this tread, the words of encouragement help with the frustration that goes along with a build like this.

Also thanks to Ryan for having a site like this so we can share ideas.

 

[shopboy13]

Cant wait to see it come togrther man Good luck

 

[bluejeep]

Looking good! Amazing how fast it goes once you get things moving. Looking forward to more updates.

 

[DEEDDUDE]

Guys, sorry for the delay. Been working late, getting home late and then the neighbors come over and stay late. Didn't realize the building would be a conversation piece. The first pictures are from friday and the last pictures are from today. Enjoy.

 

[DEEDDUDE]

Today's

At this rate they should be complete by Friday, then my work begins.

 

[cj7365]

Was reading throught the whole thread, maybe I didn't read it, did you hold back any payment on your concrete work, because you were not satisfied with the job? Or at least do a report with the BBB, any kind of comensation??

Oh by the way, nice big shop, I have a 30x50 Mueller Bldg,as others have said, they are great, I needed some more of the foam inserts that go between the outside of the walls and the top of the roof, also a couple of rolls of tape for the insulation, no charge at all

 

[DEEDDUDE]

Was reading throught the whole thread, maybe I didn't read it, did you hold back any payment on your concrete work, because you were not satisfied with the job? Or at least do a report with the BBB, any kind of comensation??

Oh by the way, nice big shop, I have a 30x50 Mueller Bldg,as others have said, they are great, I needed some more of the foam inserts that go between the outside of the walls and the top of the roof, also a couple of rolls of tape for the insulation, no charge at all

Cj, I paid the guy in 5 installments. At the end of the job I was ready to get them off the property. I didn't pay them until they installed a new culvert, they tore the other one up during the job. The BBB is a joke, red tape and BS. They do nothing for the consumer. Had dealings with them in the past.

The builder didn't think he had enough insulation so I called Mueller yesterday and talked with them; they said they "gave" me another roll. Neighbor had the same problem you did and they "hot shoted" the parts out.

This whole job has been a PITA, concrete ***** and the building a month later than promissed. The only exception is the erector has been awesome. They are knocking the job out and I haven't heard one excuse. I'll be happy when it's done. It will service the purpose I built it for. Thanks for looking.

 

[NUTTSGT]

It's looking good. The only advice I can give now is to try to get some fill under that sidewalk before it creates more problems.

 

[DEEDDUDE]

It's looking good. The only advice I can give now is to try to get some fill under that sidewalk before it creates more problems.

Thanks Eric. The fill dirt is the next project. Hopefully by next weekend I'll have the dirt here, I'm looking for a tractor guy now as we speak.

 

[bluejeep]

Looking good. I bet they will be done by the weekend. What are your plans for the electrical? I am going thru that now

 

[Falcon67]

That looks now to be about the same size all around as a friends shop in Abilene. You are going to like the space. The issues with delivery and concrete that don't have imminent threats to life and property will soon fade. Been there, had those problems.

At least you got rain - every time you were getting it we could only watch it on radar. For now, it all goes right around us, or forms up just to the east.

 

[DEEDDUDE]

Looking good. I bet they will be done by the weekend. What are your plans for the electrical? I am going thru that now

Jeep, My plan is to run a 200 amp service to the building. I'll need to dig about 90' of trench to the hook up. My neighbor did this about this time last year so I've been looking to him for advice. He came over yesterday and I was telling him he could do the sub-panel install. Ha...Ha... He's been a lot of help.

Lights. Unsure. I was thinking the CFLs, but now I'm thinking the 2-4' bulb jobbers on the three center beams for now. Should be more than enough to get started. I have'nt measured them yet, but I think I can get 4 back to back on each side.

My plan is to run the single wire stuff through plastic pvc conduit. I was kinda looking forward to the metal conduit, but that will take more time.

Everything is still being planned........in my head.

 

[DEEDDUDE]

That looks now to be about the same size all around as a friends shop in Abilene. You are going to like the space. The issues with delivery and concrete that don't have imminent threats to life and property will soon fade. Been there, had those problems.

At least you got rain - every time you were getting it we could only watch it on radar. For now, it all goes right around us, or forms up just to the east.

Falcon you are correct. It's a fading memory. I' bet I have this building full in no time.

That rain you see on the radar doesn't always fall here. I think it get's vaporized by the heat before it makes it to the ground. We have a small chance of some rain this weekend. We need it, but I would like to get a few things done before we get any heavy rain. I need to haul in about 30 loads of dirt to fill the low spots in front of the building and drive. I'll need to put grass down also.

Damn, just thought o something else to add to the list of things to get done.

Thanks for the encouragement guys.

 

[Kevin54]

It's looking good. The only advice I can give now is to try to get some fill under that sidewalk before it creates more problems.

Both the sidewalk and the apron needs fill under it. The bad thing is...you'll never get it under there and even if you did, it will not be compacted. In a short while, you'll more than likely have broken concrete in those places.

Make sure you take pictures of every little problem and put them into a photo book along with the dates things were hosed up. If you don't get any satisfaction or compensation from the concrete guys, you'll more than likely have to go to court over it. And take some closeup pics with a tape measure showing how large the voids actually are. A lot of pics will speak for themselves.

 

[Nighttrain]

^^^ Kevin that may not be worth the his effort. The labor down here for cement work is mostly undocumented workers. I think when he brings in all that dirt it will flow in a bit. Yes not the best but trying to get someone to come back out fix it is just a PIA.

The build looks great. I like how the used more purlins than normal. It must be due to hurricane wind rating.

 

[DEEDDUDE]

Kevin, Nighttrain is correct, it’s not worth my time to even mess with these people. I educated myself and thought I made the right decision on which concrete company to use; I was wrong. The concrete finish ***** too. My plan after the erection crew is complete is to haul in some fill dirt and then immediately cover it with grass.

Nighttrain the building is hurricane rated for 119mph. 4 years ago we moved to this brand spanking new house and 4 weeks later we tested the houses strength, it withstood 130+mph winds. Hopefully the building can survive too; I’m not looking to test its strength. I hate hurricanes. Back when Alicia came through in the early 80’s she left us homeless for a period of time. A good friend of my mom let us stay in her garage apartment and saved us from living under a bridge.

Thanks for the comments and concerns. I’ll try to get some new pics tonight.

 

[DEEDDUDE]

Well I got a phone call today stating that the erection crew couldn’t finish this week. They informed the building manufacturer that we were shorted a number of items, other items damaged and other items not made correctly. The erector called the company Monday and they are just now getting the needed parts and the major parts won’t be here until Tuesday evening. What a major disappointment. The erection company has been nothing but awesome. I’ve called their main office several times and I’ve let the management know these guys are doing a great job.

I loaned the erectors my generator for power because our outside electrical outlets are junk, been that way since new. They used it a couple days with no problems, but broke the pull cord two days ago; no problem this stuff happens. I pulled it to the side so I could replace it this weekend. Yesterday I notice a bunch of rope (cord) sitting on top so I go over for a closer look thinking that they tried to fix it but couldn’t, hell no.. they fixed it and didn’t say a thing. When I called them this am to talk about the material issue I made sure to thank their boss, I didn’t expect that, again these guys are awesome. The last people I loaned the generator to was the concrete guys, they stole one of my conversation plugs. The plug only cost $6, but I had to waste time getting another one.

With that said if anyone near the Houston area needs an erector for a metal building contact me and I will be sure to vouch for these guys.

 

[vr4joe]

WOW that shop is huge!

 

[DEEDDUDE]

Small update without pictures. Still waiting on Mueller to get me the parts to finish, may be Wednesday before they're on site. Just made a deal on installing the doors and they should be installed before the end of the week. SO hopefully the building will be complete this weekend and I can start on the dirt work and electrical.

 

[bluejeep]

Any updates?

 

[DEEDDUDE]

Jim Thanks for asking. I’ve been meaning to update you guys, but I’ve been busy cleaning the shop and planning my next move. Mueller delivered the building with a couple hundred pounds of mud and dirt, I worked most of the day Saturday cleaning and sweeping. I finally got the shop “dried in” Friday. As with my luck, Mueller ordered the wrong parts so there was a delay in getting everything to finish, also the erection crew got busy and had to work me back into the schedule; so that delayed the finish another two weeks. We’ve had a lot of rain so I haven’t taken any new pictures, maybe tonight if I’m not too busy digging the trench for the electrical.

 

[richtersrodz]

Great looking place... Don't give yourself a stoke with the little things. In the big picture, you might look back in 6 months, and not even care.. I just went though all of this building our new house. The builder never listened to our requests, and everything was done how he "felt" it should be, instead of pulling out his cell phone and calling us to ask. But never failed to call, when he needed me to approve a bank draft. If I could have, I would have fired him, and could have done it better myself, but work got in the way.

 

[DEEDDUDE]

Thanks Richtersodz. We went through the same BS when building our home 4 years ago, hopefully I get the shop finished so I can start on some of my projects; then my mind will be consumed with something else. The headaches of building rods.
Thanks again.

 

[richtersrodz]

By the way.. that 54 looks cool.. I'd love to drive that to work everyday..

 

[DEEDDUDE]

Hey guys. Sorry for not updating you more often.

I finally got the trench dug and the light company came out yesterday and hooked us up. No red tag.

I’ll take pictures of the trench just to remind me of the hard work it was to get power to the building. I broke a new shovel and had to pick axe some of the trench, our soil here is tough. I couldn’t run a trencher through the area because of the underground power wires; so I dug it by hand and that took a while. It took so long due to work, weather and health, but the hard part is complete now.

I still need to run the conduit for the lights and receptacles and wire the shop. I’m working long hours every day of the week so I don’t have a lot of free time. Hopefully I can get the shop wired by Christmas.
I’ll try to update more often, no promises, but I have a few projects planned. I’ll try to keep you guys updated.

 

[DEEDDUDE]

By the way.. that 54 looks cool.. I'd love to drive that to work everyday..

Thanks. The 54 is one of my projects. Hopefully once I get the shop in useable condition I'll get back to the 54. Planning a mustang II front and s-10 or camaro rear and maybe a different engine and transmission.

 

[DEEDDUDE]

Added pictures. Two post up.

 

[DEEDDUDE]

Small update. I had a day and a half off this weekend and I got my north and east walls electrical completed. These are the unfinished photos. Hopefully I have lights by Thanksgiving, my next day off.

These photos were taken after dark so they didn't turn out well.

 

[cj7365]

Looking good and looks like you have some power in there by Thanksgiving. Keep us updated. Not sure if you have bought lights yet, I have a 30x50x10 I have 8 3 bulb T-8 lights it up fine.