Greatest Girlfriend in the WORLD!

[drivesitfar]

Nine4:awesome find and can't wait to see you spiff up the inside with all the racking and metal storage cabinets you own. for some reason i didn't see this thread so maybe it was on the "dark side" of the forum where they talk about big garages which would take all my tool buying funds so i keep off that side.

i read you were talking about more electrical and you may have already figured out the best solution, but i didn't hear you mention brining in another breaker box directly from the pole or transformer so you'll have 2 separate electrical meters. guys up here do that with their big shops so they have the ability to run what ever when ever they wish to.

Jake: great idea on designing the space before moving in so are you planning on doing that the next time you get one? it's hard to do especially if you don't want to eat up a ton of money and energy moving things to and from storage units.

Alabama:Not sure how many are that blessed or cursed with that much on the forum, but that was damn funny.

Nine:good luck and it looks like you know how to pick a girl better than you pick up deals and we all know how good you are at that. all we have to do is look at a few buys in the Garage sale section.

 

[nine4gmc]

Jake, I planned to sort as I moved but there was just not way. It took me about 10 trips in my truck with it loaded down(at least 800-1000 lbs per trip), plus my friend brought his utility trailer for a few trips of the larger equipment. What I did do was put a lot of garage sale **** in one bay, hoping to sell some off quickly and get the standing tools organized(grinders/drill press/etc), then move towards the other side.

2. I moved from a shop roughly the same size(24x34), but it had two offices(one was sewing room), a retail(garage sale/CL) room and an equipment room all divided off in that space. Prior to moving, I worked up a quick sketchup and could not fit everything in how I planned so I just started moving in.

3. I definitely need a clean room, I need a computer desk and sewing table area that will not see dust/overspray etc from the shop and I also need a loft for the leftover upholstery materials and seldom used things that can not be put out in the weather. I already have an outdoor material rack for metals/plastics and things that can be left in the elements on the right side of this shop, facing the woods, out of view. (4)Initially, I wanted to keep the left bay floor open for painting with a retractable curtain and exhaust fan and the right bay open for a future two post lift, with a wall dividing front-to-back at 8' from the rear wall and 7-8' tall for a loft. Problem with a 8'x30' room is, once I come out 8', there is only about 21' to the door(door is inset about 1') and the steel framing takes up about 1' on 3 sides of the 8'x30' room. I'm getting claustrophobic just thinking about it.
Then there are no walls that I can screw to for my wall cabinets so those will have to be constructed once I figure out a floor plan. If I add them to the front of the 8'x30' room, you gotta subtract another 2' from the 21' leaving 19' and my truck is 18' leaving 6" front and back.

It seems that even though I'm moving to a slightly larger place, somehow I need more room...

5. No need to be jealous, you do NOT want my stress problems...

6. Thanks, and Daisy thanks you as well.

 

[Outlawmws]

Nine, I'll go out on a limb as say a 60A sub should be enough for a one man shop. It is for me. I put a 60 A sub in my garage, and ran 3 240 circuits and 2 120 circuits and its plenty. One guy can only run 1 or 2 tools at a time and that is the big draw.

To beat the heat, one think I would recommend is insulating the ceiling of that shop; it will make a huge difference! Also, the south facing wall minimum. consider a couple of turbines in the roof for summer.

And start planing a loft somewhere on an off wall. Massive storage plus!

Lastly, wall in the ****** car port!

Great new place, and good luck with it and your Lady!

 

[nine4gmc]

Thanks Outlaw! I will be sticking with the 60a certainly for now but wish it was 100a to begin with. I am set on finding a bridgeport or similar mill and possibly a 16" lathe eventually, 3ph equipment comes up relatively cheap at auction here and I can only lust for so long

The ceiling in the shop has four fiberglass light panels and two large(18"?) pull-chain roof vents already, then there are trees covering the entire right half of the building(south side). I get plenty of light during the day and do not need to turn any overhead lights on unless it's raining or dark out but that half the building remains shaded throughout the day and pretty cool. The left bay is open to sunlight from morning to night, not sure how well roof insulation would work with light panels built in. That's the side I want to put my standing machines in, mostly for privacy from the road. I had planned all my floor and wall cabinets along the right wall so from the road, you see nothing but closed cabinets passing by should the roll up doors be open. I have a big squirrel cage fan I planned for exhausting hot air out the back right upper corner(so it will pull air from any open door, across the shop and out). I also have some sheets of matching tin from my scrap guy that I plan to extend a lean-to on the right side where the outdoor material rack is for dry storage of lawnmowers etc. and will be moving the retail/garage sale stuff to the unused car port storage room(5'x20' lockable).

The car port front will remain open for easy access and the left side is open towards the house, the rear wall is already wicker fenced in and will get a bug screen treatment with the attached patio for relaxing outdoors and the right side is the car port storage room. Thanks again man, it's not the lady I need luck with but rather her 3 teenage children...I am used to being entirely alone M-F....

 

[nine4gmc]

Thanks Drives, I seldom ventured into the "General Garage" section as well seeing that I was renting a ****-shop for years with little to no budget and these guys are "doing it big" over here. I just got lucky and had to brag about it somewhere

I'm not sure about the second meter option but will check into it, the main neighborhood box is in the opposite corner of our lot(from the house) and would actually be a closer run than the sub panel feed. Right now, the wires run from that box, about 50-60' underground to the house, then about 50-60' underground to the shop whereas if I ran two meters, the run to the shop would only be 50-60' from the main neighborhood box.

 

[s10xtremist]

^^^ I don't know about EBR, but on my side of the river (and with Pointe Coupee Electric), the electric company is responsible for supplying the power to your meter can- including wire, conduit, etc. (up to about 200' +/-) I don't see why it would be any different over there. On my shop, I just have to have a meter can outside on the wall of my building with a sweep 90 36" under the ground. Of course, the breaker panel and all inside needs to be up to code. They'll run the wire from their box, tie it into the meter can, plug in a meter, then tie it into their box. I'm sure permits and inspections are needed, too. They were on mine. It's a few extra steps, but at least all you have to do is make sure your inside is up to code, install a meter can, pull the necessary permits, and make a few phone calls. No expensive wire and/or lengthy trenching.

 

[nine4gmc]

That's good to know xtremist, I may take that route if I get too close to overload on this sub panel. It would be easier than me running a larger wire from the house I think. Thanks

I have spent about 15 hrs over the past month on sketchup trying to figure out wtf Ima do with all my ****. Finally said f'it and started pulling stuff out and organizing. I got one wall lined with machines on stands and tonight we took the pos rack out that was in the back corner. I put my pallet rack back there with the desk and file cabinets under it. More planned for tomorrow, if I'm not too sore. I'll be sure to post some pics as well, thanks for stopping in!

 

[softailgarage]

To beat the heat, one think I would recommend is insulating the ceiling of that shop; it will make a huge difference! Also, the south facing wall minimum. consider a couple of turbines in the roof for summer.

I agree with the insulation (I did just the garage door and it made a world of difference), but I must be missing something, why not insulate the walls as well, then drywall ? Now you have your walls too.

 

[Outlawmws]

I agree with the insulation (I did just the garage door and it made a world of difference), but I must be missing something, why not insulate the walls as well, then drywall ? Now you have your walls too.

That was why I said minimum. We were discussing heat insulation not cold. I was using leftovers on my shed, and just doing the sun facing wall and one corner not protected by the door overhang made a huge difference, The wall goes from being a heat radiator to no problem.

Eventually I'll get to the rest, but mine is not a work area (Except when I'm digging...), so just keeping the worst of the heat off the stuff I'm storing was huge.

 

[Bronson]

Nice place, congrats!
Full insulation and refrigerated air........Swamper won't work.

 

[timbitca]

You should have started this thread in the Garage Gallery now that you have your own space.

Will definitely be following this one!

 

[nine4gmc]

Softail, Outlaw, Does anyone have a pic of an insulated roof metal building with the fiberglass light panels? I'm wondering how that would work?

Bronson, I may work on that eventually but for now it'll be fans and open doors.

Timbitca, I may make a thread there, I thought this was the right place because I rarely get out of the "general tool discussion" section :embarassed:

 

[Outlawmws]

Nine, are you looking to add clear panels to the roof, or insulate around existing, or both?

What does the roof support structure look like?
Edit: Never mind I found pics:

are the beams I beams or C channel?

Most industrial sites will spray foam, if I beam, you can lay 2x's on edge from channel to channel on 2 ft centers and staple foil back insulation to that. "box" off the light panels and skip there.

 

[nine4gmc]

The building frame is I beam for the center support, C channel for the two ends and all the perpendicular pieces that the tin is screwed to are 6" "S" oz "Z" channel like pictured below. There are 4 light panels already installed along with two LARGE round spring loaded open/close vents in the center of each stall shown in the other pics. I would love spray foam but just guessing, it would be pretty expensive and I'm on a little-to-no budget right now I crawl the CL for insulation sales, found some R30 fiberglass 24"x48" bundles with paper backing that would cost about $200 for the whole roof but that does not include any 2x4's, plastic, wood or foil back to hold it up there.
The cross beams:

My roof:

 

[cbacres]

Nine, I may have some pictures of my metal building that has what you are considering doing. The insulation was installed before he panels though, but they did a nice job around the skylights. They are single plane. They do sweat when cold out. But this is in central KY.
It's decent in the summer time wih door and windows opened.
It'll be tonight before I can look.

 

[nine4gmc]

My old shop was the same style with insulation but no light panels and the insulation was installed between the frame and tin panels like yours(I assume). It was a thin layer of fiberglass with plastic sheeting holding it to the tin. Looking up , you see the white plastic sheet but if it gets torn, you can see the fiberglass inside. I wish they would have did that here but no luck...

Just wondering the best way to insulate AFTER the building is built.

 

[Outlawmws]

OK the "Z" shape gives an option, you can rest one end of a 2X, and lag the other end through the holes. the ends need to be cut at a slant for it to work:

Paper back Insulation: unless you plan to Sheetrock over it, Its not to code for exposed use. for exposed you need foil backed.

Hmm, another option for a scrounger: Tee bar ceiling suspended just below the rafters, then insulation (no backing) tossed on top of the panels. Frame the skylights as mentioned before. paint the panels whiter than white before installing, and you will double your available light in there...

We did a friend's garage in tee bar with castoffs, and it was great.

 

[softailgarage]

https://www.google.com/search?q=pol...22yASj_4DICQ&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ&biw=1440&bih=711

Maybe this will help.

 

[nine4gmc]

You cannot run a 2nd 60A feed to the shop & comply w/ the NEC, only allowed 1 feed to a outbuilding, need more power then run 100A & use large panel not a dinky 12-16 space model.

I'm not too familiar with the different panel options, like 12-16 you mentioned but I do know that the sub panel at my other shop was a GE 8-16 real similar to the generic picture below. Would it be wise to swap these panels out and use only the 8-16, or could I piggy back my old 8-16 off of the 12-16 that is currently installed and have a separate sub panel box from the same 60a feed?

 

[Strouty]

We need some updates.

I showed you mine, lets see yours.

 

[nine4gmc]

I'll post up some this evening but just so you know, yours is bigger


Anyone hang a normal ceiling fan in one of these buildings? I'd like to hang a freebie fan I picked up Sunday about 4-5' from the ceiling but I just got the fan and don't have a clue to go about it yet. I'm sure I could think of something eventually but you guys are smart(or smart asses, depending) and I'm sure someone has a good idea.

 

[Kevin54]

Good God Nine.......what sort of explosion did you have in there? One poic is a nice clean empty shop, then BOOM!!!!!!! **** everywhere.

Congrats on the new digs. Once you get things straightened around, which seems like it takes forever, you'll have a heck of a shop. And I'm like the others, that looks larger than 30x30.

I like the style of the house also. The nice large porch will be great to kick back on and enjoy a cool one. Does it wrap around all four sides?

 

[s10xtremist]

I'll post up some this evening but just so you know, yours is bigger


Anyone hang a normal ceiling fan in one of these buildings? I'd like to hang a freebie fan I picked up Sunday about 4-5' from the ceiling but I just got the fan and don't have a clue to go about it yet. I'm sure I could think of something eventually but you guys are smart(or smart asses, depending) and I'm sure someone has a good idea.

Get a box (like THIS) and a 60" downrod from Home Depot/Lowes/etc. Use self-tapping screws or bolts/nuts to attach the box to a purlin, run switched power to it, then hang the fan as normal.

 

[nine4gmc]

That was fast! I feel like an idiot now, I think I will go to sleep.. Thanks

Pics of my progress when I get up this evening.

Edit, just saw your post Kevin. The shop is only 30x30, wish it were larger but I can live with it. I have the 3 walls without doors almost organized, thinking I may put up a center divider wall for more cabinet and machine room on both sides. The porch is halfway on each side of the house and all the way across the front.

 

[Outlawmws]

Nine, sounds like you are covered on the fan, be sure to hang the box securely! those fans ain't light...

Dividers: in your wanderings, get your hands on some of those old office dividers. while a shop is not a great place for carpeted fixtures, the sound deadening is also worth having, and if only 5-5-1/2 ft tall better for lighting, Passovers and the like... Plus, you can hang top cabinets from them...

 

[nine4gmc]

Problem with the carpet is I will be grinding and welding near the roll up doors a lot and don't want to start a fire. I think I want to do a short divider lengthwise about halfway/two thirds or so through the shop and 8' tall with maybe some corrugated tin on the lower 4' and pegboard on the upper. I could hang the cabinets on the 24" center studs and pegs in between for smaller tools, rulers etc.

Here are the pics finally, I did a lil more cleaning last night and had a bat fly in on me. It bounced around the ceiling for about 10 minutes then I think it landed on the top of the pallet rack and I'm guessing it's still there. I shot a few second video but how to upload it with my phone(my ftp app only does pics). I would dub this place the bat cave but that's what I called my last shop. It was pitch black in there, even during the day unless the big door was up. With the skylights, this shop is brighter in the day with the lights off than the other was with them on.

Left bay will be machines, I will move some of the smaller ones like pedestal grinders/sanders welding carts, etc to the center wall once it goes up and then I can bring my lathe over and put it by the man door at the end.

This is the back of the left bay, man door is on the left wall by the electrical panel. This will be my shipping dept, sink, garbage and fridge area. Pegboard will go behind the shipping table for tape gun, etc.

Right bay will be cabinets, work bench area and a fold down 4'x6' table for my upholstery sewing machine. Mostly for tear down/assembly and clean work compared to the left bay where the machines will be. Again, once I get the divider up, I can put more of my storage cabinets and stuff on this side of it.

and finally, the back of the right bay. My computer desk flanked by lots of storage all around. I will probably put some pegboard behind the desk area to fill the gap and get some clutter off the desk top.

Still a *********** in the center of the shop but I hope to have it cleared out by the weekend and start on the divider wall.

 

[1Garageman]

Looking a lot better!

 

[Jd34]

Very cool! Hope you stay with this girl and marry her. I couldn't imagine you coming home and seeing all of your stuff chunked out in yard if you ever piss her off

Got it looking good!

 

[Outlawmws]

Problem with the carpet is I will be grinding and welding near the roll up doors a lot and don't want to start a fire. I think I want to do a short divider lengthwise about halfway/two thirds or so through the shop and 8' tall with maybe some corrugated tin on the lower 4' and pegboard on the upper. SNIP.

That is looking really good Nine!

If you got lucky you might run into the REALLY OLD early office dividers walls: Metal panels and steel posts, about 6' tall with many using glass in the top 18-24" or so. replace glass with pegboard and you're done!

 

[nine4gmc]

That would be real cool Outlaw, I do see the newer carpet panels often at the state and school board auctions so I will have to keep a lookout for those older ones now that you mention it!

 

[fireeqpsrv]

Nine, do you get the auction emails for the Surplus auctions in Baton Rouge? I see some nice shop stuff on there from time to time.

 

[nine4gmc]

Nine, do you get the auction emails for the Surplus auctions in Baton Rouge? I see some nice shop stuff on there from time to time.

I go often, used to go to every one but now "Trade Day" in Livingston is the same day and sometimes I sell there instead. If you go, make sure you look everything over real good before bidding, most of it is broken or wore out but occasionally you find a gem! Almost my entire machine wall and a good percentage of my cabinets come from that auction. The machines all required parts/rebuilding and I just keep buying cabinets and swapping out the more damaged ones with less damaged ones and selling/scrapping the others until I get a good one.

 

[fireeqpsrv]

Check out publicsurplus.com also. I see pretty good stuff on there also. you just have to go and pick it up. I see a lot of things from south TX on it.

I have never made it to one of the auctions there. I never have time to get out and go places.

 

[MacTexas]

This is the back of the left bay, man door is on the left wall by the electrical panel. This will be my shipping dept, sink, garbage and fridge area. Pegboard will go behind the shipping table for tape gun, etc.

Looks like you have room on the desk for a couple of more lamps.

Looks like a nice place to work.

 

[nine4gmc]

Thanks Mac, I gotta dig the rest of the lamps out first, they are still buried in the center pile

 

[Outlawmws]

Nine, does that row of carry boxes on the high shelf have stuff in them? Lots of covered stowage there!

 

[nine4gmc]

Yes, one has all my airbrush stuff, one has my Foredom flex shaft, one has my dremel things, etc.

 

[southalabama]

I have pedestal envy.

Nice pedestals in the row of grinders and sanders.

 

[nine4gmc]

Thanks Alabama, I have another Baldor pedestal coming next month on a trade that will be home to the Baldor buffer that's sitting on the file cabinet next to the desk right now. Hope to get some more of those machines active soon, can't stand seeing them put away like that.

 

[Strouty]

Looking really good. You are getting ahead of me!

On another note, if I was looking for a good rugged sewing machine, what would you search for? I would like to sew canvas, codura, and leather, basically heavy thick materials.