April Wilkerson Shop Build

[Maddog10]

Do any of you guys keep up with her YouTube stuff? She currently has a video series going where she is building a new 40'x72' shop on her own. Only parts that she has contracted out is the concrete slab, the electrical rough-in, and the spray foam insulation. As someone who has not yet built a new shop or home, I find this stuff fascinating. Lots to learn for a guy like me.

Here's a link to the first video if you think you might be interested. As of now there are 6 videos and she is up to the point of putting up wall sheathing.

 

[Lelandwelds]

I like her. She reminds me of that AT&T girl, "Lily", Milana Vanyntrub.

If you have any swimsuit photos, please post.

 

[mike93lx]

There is already an active post on her shop build.

 

[Maddog10]

There is already an active post on her shop build.

Sorry. Must have missed it. I did do a search for "April Wilkerson" and nothing popped up on it, but I only searched the General Garage Discussion and Garage Gallery forums... Can you provide a link for the existing thread?

Mods, once a link is provided feel free to close this one.

 

[bagged89s10]

Her channel is great and he shop build is amazing. Everyone should subscribe to her channel.

 

[garagelogician]

I like her. She reminds me of that AT&T girl, "Lily", Milana Vanyntrub.

If you have any swimsuit photos, please post.

I will agree that she is very easy on the eyes (and I don't think she tries to hide that fact)...that said...she's a married lady and I wouldn't want to disrespect her or her husband on a public forum that she might visit. She is also a competent builder/fabricator/video creator/overall great DIY-er that fits right in with many others here, so maybe we should focus on what she is doing/has done vs. how she looks.

 

[PNWguy]

I hadn't heard of her till now. My new shop is about the same size, so I'll start tuning in.

garagelogician - thanks for your comments. As men, I think we can do better, and can treat women who build things as people rather than eye candy. She appears to have the goal of showing skills rather than skin, and we should respect that.

 

[garagelogician]

I hadn't heard of her till now. My new shop is about the same size, so I'll start tuning in.

garagelogician - thanks for your comments. As men, I think we can do better, and can treat women who build things as people rather than eye candy. She appears to have the goal of showing skills rather than skin, and we should respect that.

 

[Stuart in MN]

Here's the other current discussion: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=384380&highlight=wilkerson I've been following along as well, it's going to be a nice shop. I wonder what kind of deal she got from the foam insulation people for featuring them on her video? That's a whole lot of foam.

 

[JamesW84]

I've been watching it as well. Reading the comments, it appears that some of the things may not be to code in some areas, so keep that in mind before you mimic her. She is in a rural part of Texas without many/any building codes enforced.

 

[Crazyjake8493]

I hadn't heard of her till now. My new shop is about the same size, so I'll start tuning in.

garagelogician - thanks for your comments. As men, I think we can do better, and can treat women who build things as people rather than eye candy. She appears to have the goal of showing skills rather than skin, and we should respect that.

She could very easily exploit being an attractive woman in a male-dominated area, but she does not and instead chooses to focus on and create solid content, and I respect that.

 

[Jack_Toepfer]

Just watched all of the videos... thanks for the heads up.

 

[Kaizen]

Just saw she got the whole thing spray foamed. Assuming for free. Christ that’s like 20k. Jealous


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[tapered-pin]

spray foam costs $0.40/SF per inch for open cell, $1/SF per inch for closed cell.

so it's not terribly expensive, but it IS terribly efficient. well worth the cost.

 

[Kaizen]

spray foam costs $0.40/SF per inch for open cell, $1/SF per inch for closed cell.

so it's not terribly expensive, but it IS terribly efficient. well worth the cost.

disagree on that. too expensive for my garage. agree it is the most efficient. if she had paid at the cost you quote it would have been over 18k. that's a huge chunk of anyone's garage build. and that is the cheap stuff. closed cell would be about 30 THOUSAND DOLLARS. damn. doubt insulation increases the value of a home that much.

She is getting a ton of free stuff is my point. good for her but no one is gonna give me free spray foam. i'd take it. hell i'd take anything anyone was giving me for free

 

[Maddog10]

disagree on that. too expensive for my garage. agree it is the most efficient. if she had paid at the cost you quote it would have been over 18k. that's a huge chunk of anyone's garage build. and that is the cheap stuff. closed cell would be about 30 THOUSAND DOLLARS. damn. doubt insulation increases the value of a home that much.

She is getting a ton of free stuff is my point. good for her but no one is gonna give me free spray foam. i'd take it. hell i'd take anything anyone was giving me for free

We don’t know that she’s getting anything for free (unless you know something I don’t), but I’d say it’s definitely safe to assume she’s getting some significant discounts due to her exposure. It’s impressive how far she’s come in her craft though. Went from essentially not knowing anything about woodworking or carpentry a couple years ago to self-building a 40x72. I applaud her.

 

[tapered-pin]

disagree on that. too expensive for my garage. agree it is the most efficient. if she had paid at the cost you quote it would have been over 18k. that's a huge chunk of anyone's garage build. and that is the cheap stuff. closed cell would be about 30 THOUSAND DOLLARS. damn. doubt insulation increases the value of a home that much.

open cell , or "cheap stuff" as you call it is still MUCH more efficient than fiberglass insulation over it's lifetime.

I dont care what you do to your house, it's your house, you can make all the bad decisions for it you want, it's your money and you're the one that will have to pay for it.

It's a FACT that open cell insulation is superior to fiberglass, it's a one time and done insulation option that will never lose it's R value in the slightest. fiberglass insulation is at best a 25 year solution that will have less than half it's original R value at the end of it's lifetime.

You can give your opinion all you want. No matter how loudly you scream it or how many times you say it, it will never be fact.

Foam insulation will pay for itself in heating and cooling savings, fiberglass insulation will cost you more in the long term than foam, that is a fact.

 

[Kaizen]

We don’t know that she’s getting anything for free (unless you know something I don’t), but I’d say it’s definitely safe to assume she’s getting some significant discounts due to her exposure. It’s impressive how far she’s come in her craft though. Went from essentially not knowing anything about woodworking or carpentry a couple years ago to self-building a 40x72. I applaud her.

Most of her tools and Welding equipment are all sponsored. For her to give the name of the outfit I’d say it was at least a deep discount. She has managed to get some serious sponsors/free stuff and I’d expect the spray foam is no different.


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[Kaizen]

open cell , or "cheap stuff" as you call it is still MUCH more efficient than fiberglass insulation over it's lifetime.



I dont care what you do to your house, it's your house, you can make all the bad decisions for it you want, it's your money and you're the one that will have to pay for it.



It's a FACT that open cell insulation is superior to fiberglass, it's a one time and done insulation option that will never lose it's R value in the slightest. fiberglass insulation is at best a 25 year solution that will have less than half it's original R value at the end of it's lifetime.



You can give your opinion all you want. No matter how loudly you scream it or how many times you say it, it will never be fact.



Foam insulation will pay for itself in heating and cooling savings, fiberglass insulation will cost you more in the long term than foam, that is a fact.

Wtf ? I disagreed with you saying it’s not terribly expensive. I agreed it is the most efficient. My opinion that it’s expensive stands. Relax man. You selling spray foam or something? Sure sounds like it.


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[isb cornbinder]

I have not subscribed to her channel, although I have to admit I have watched a few of her videos. There is very little there of interest to me.

 

[PFSard]

It's a FACT that open cell insulation is superior to fiberglass, it's a one time and done insulation option that will never lose it's R value in the slightest. fiberglass insulation is at best a 25 year solution that will have less than half it's original R value at the end of it's lifetime.

Foam insulation will pay for itself in heating and cooling savings, fiberglass insulation will cost you more in the long term than foam, that is a fact.

I didn't realize this. Can you provide a link so that I can educate myself regarding this??

 

[dfiler2]

Thanks for posting this, I din't see the other one and would have missed this. I do a lot of work for a couple of young ladies who re-purpose furniture, I keep telling them they just need more confidence and they could do it all. They will enjoy this.

 

[Maddog10]

I have not subscribed to her channel, although I have to admit I have watched a few of her videos. There is very little there of interest to me.

For someone who is well-experienced in the carpentry field (don't know if that's you or not) I could see where there is nothing really to be gained from her videos. For someone like me though who has never framed a wall or overseen a building constructed from the ground up, there is a lot of interesting information that is filmed, edited, and explained well.

I don't watch all of her stuff. In fact I've seen a very small percentage of her video library. I know she builds a lot of things that are practical and would translate to most standard shops though.

 

[isb cornbinder]

For someone who is well-experienced in the carpentry field (don't know if that's you or not) I could see where there is nothing really to be gained from her videos. For someone like me though who has never framed a wall or overseen a building constructed from the ground up, there is a lot of interesting information that is filmed, edited, and explained well.

I don't watch all of her stuff. In fact I've seen a very small percentage of her video library. I know she builds a lot of things that are practical and would translate to most standard shops though.

I don't mean any disrespect to AW. Her channel is interesting, but I would rather watch Adam Booth, Keith Fenner, Keith Rucker. This Old Tony, Mathias Wandel, Northern Farmer and The Anderson Cattle Company and Brian Block.

 

[fartymarty]

I think her main appeal that got her started was she did a lot of projects in a Fort Worth 2 car garage sized out building shop with typically available tools.
However I worry that with a new huge shop and much sponsored new tooling that the connection with her base audience might suffer a disconnect. I hope I'm wrong about that.

 

[niget2002]

I think her main appeal that got her started was she did a lot of projects in a Fort Worth 2 car garage sized out building shop with typically available tools.
However I worry that with a new huge shop and much sponsored new tooling that the connection with her base audience might suffer a disconnect. I hope I'm wrong about that.

I agree with this.

I love watching Frank Make's, but my problem is I find myself just lusting after his shop/tools more than watching what he's doing.

 

[Stuart in MN]

but I would rather watch Adam Booth, Keith Fenner, Keith Rucker or Brian Block.

I follow all those guys, plus a bunch of others - it's to the point where I hardly turn the TV on, there's too many Youtube shows to watch.

 

[PNWguy]

I watched her shop build, because it's almost exactly the same size of building I'm planning. I was curious about how she designed it, and why she made certain decisions. I like the porch and the wainscotting, and will probably do something similar on mine.

There's a pretty wide variety of YouTube channels out there. Her content isn't as interesting as Fenner or Rucker (to me), and she's clearly going after the newbie. I feel that my skills (in general) are better than hers, because I've been a woodworker/metal fabricator/machinist for 30 years, and she's just getting started. But I applaud her for having the right combination of skills, on screen personality, video length, content, etc. If it was easy, more people would be doing it, or doing it well.

In all honesty, making a living as a "youTube Creator" is a pretty amazing proposition. 30 years ago I wanted to bee the host of This Old House, and she's doing her own version of it. What a country, eh?

I just wish she'd build faster so I can learn from her mistakes. I need to have my drawings finalized pretty soon!

 

[isb cornbinder]

Grants Pass Oregon. I buy thousands of dollars of Old Ford parts from Bob Drake Reproductions in GP,O.
You said, "what a country, EH? Only Canadians are allowed to say EH and then only if they are from east of Saskatchewan. ;-)>

 

[PNWguy]

Grants Pass Oregon. I buy thousands of dollars of Old Ford parts from Bob Drake Reproductions in GP,O.
You said, "what a country, EH? Only Canadians are allowed to say EH and then only if they are from east of Saskatchewan. ;-)>

The Drakes live about a mile down the road from me, and I went to high school with his daughter. He's got a pretty big shop in town.

I'm fully fluent in NAFTA, so I throw around a little Spanish & Canadian.

 

[Firebrick43]

I didn't realize this. Can you provide a link so that I can educate myself regarding this??

Fiberglass in itself does not actually degrade per say.

I "assume" he referring to issues such as poor installation (gaps, compression, sagging, air sealing) and the fact that R value test are tailored to show fiberglass more favorable than it actually performs at higher delta T. The test are permormed at a temp deferential of a few degrees not 70 degrees differential in a cold northern climate. These will cause convection currents in fiberglass degrading the comparative R value compared to foam

All these things together it would be easy to see a spray in foam to perform nearly twice as well; especially in extreme climates.

But all this also completely ignores that dense pack cellulose or even sheet foam can be installed much cheaper than spray foam with the same high performance. Spray foam is a convenience product in that stand point.

 

[gunguy]

I've been watching it as well. Reading the comments, it appears that some of the things may not be to code in some areas, so keep that in mind before you mimic her. She is in a rural part of Texas without many/any building codes enforced.

What's not done to code? Not intended to be confrontational, just curious. I know she caught some flak on the steel carport build for her folks from some viewers but as far as I know it's still standing.

If I were to ding her on anything, it would be when she does structural projects like the carport or electrical projects like adding circuits to her old shop, she should in my opinion say she had a licensed engineer, electrician, plumber, etc. review her plans or work(if she did). If nothing else, it would help silence the internet snipers. As she grows in popularity and more and more people rely on her for guidance and inspiration, she has a responsibility (real or not) to show the correct and safe way to do things and the project is structurally sound. Again, just my opinion.

While there are some things I might do a little differently, she shows her way and usually explains why she did what she did. She also admits when she makes a mistake or in hindsight realizes a better way of accomplishing a task or procedure.

Worth viewing in my opinion.

Jim

 

[tapered-pin]

I didn't realize this. Can you provide a link so that I can educate myself regarding this??

SURE, Here you go...
happy to help..

 

[ARFLY]

She has some great stuff in her videos. I used some of her ideas when we built our house last year. The builder then took those ideas and featured it in other houses he was building.

 

[onemanarmy]

Thanks for posting this, I din't see the other one and would have missed this. I do a lot of work for a couple of young ladies who re-purpose furniture, I keep telling them they just need more confidence and they could do it all. They will enjoy this.

Yep...attractive women can literally do whatever they want, and most likely be successful.

 

[Maddog10]

New video up if it interests anyone. Installing shop walls and ceiling... 3/4" plywood walls all the way around. That oughta be sturdy enough.

 

[Stuart in MN]

New video up if it interests anyone. Installing shop walls and ceiling.

I watched it last night. Looks real nice, although it's certainly not the cheapest wall covering available. Installing 3/4" plywood sheets 12 feet up must have been a real workout, too.

 

[R. Deschain]

I will agree that she is very easy on the eyes (and I don't think she tries to hide that fact)...that said...she's a married lady and I wouldn't want to disrespect her or her husband on a public forum that she might visit. She is also a competent builder/fabricator/video creator/overall great DIY-er that fits right in with many others here, so maybe we should focus on what she is doing/has done vs. how she looks.

and that folks is taking the High Road that we should all aspire to.

 

[R. Deschain]

Yep...attractive women can literally do whatever they want, and most likely be successful.

funny story: My wife is accidentally is two of my videos, one in a bikini top walking through the yard WAY in the background. Both of those vids have large spikes in my YouTube analytics numbers. I think it says something about YouTube's (or at least my Channel's) demographics

 

[Wolfman6]

funny story: My wife is accidentally is two of my videos, one in a bikini top walking through the yard WAY in the background. Both of those vids have large spikes in my YouTube analytics numbers. I think it says something about YouTube's (or at least my Channel's) demographics

What's your channels name?