Above 1200 Sq/FT From Urban Pie Factory To Mountain Barn

[jake28]

A snapshot from long before my tenure.


Hello friends,

When graduating from college, my dream home was a barn with a small loft apartment above a workshop, a wood stove, an old truck, a dog, and blond twin girlfriends. Probably in Vermont.

I’ve struck out on the barn, the twins, the dog, and the green mountain state. Wood stoves are banned unless grandfathered in in San Francisco. Someday I may make it to Vermont. Sometimes one must compromise.

I’m nearly two years into the build and just shy of three months from move in. I’ve documented nearly everything, so the Netflix bingers amongst you might enjoy the flow of updates.

To [mention]lilscorpion [/mention][mention]sakurama [/mention] [mention]Vertigo Cycles [/mention] and others I’ll add with time, thank you for the inspiration thus far.

 

[Balor]

Show and tell me more.

 

[bargainhuntingking]

Not your bronco then?

 

[Modern Jess]

Welcome from 50 miles South! I recognized the city as soon as I saw the picture, natch. Looking forward to bingeing this one.

 

[rixtrix1]

MORE, please.

Sent from my SM-J320V using Tapatalk

 

[jake28]

Inspiration: ‘90s - Oct 2018



I’m building a workshop, and also my home.


A snapshot of one interpretation of my dream shop/home by architect and fabricator Ollie Lundberg. https://www.lundbergdesign.com

I’ve spent most of my formative, and certainly happiest, time on this planet in workshops, garages, and factories. Stodgy old woodworkers, tattooed motorcycle mechanics, and career-factory workers have each been role-models at various points. Their varied methods, tools, and workbenches have offered tangible examples of the potential inherent with the right mix of time, experience, tools, and space.


Ollie’s shop, pictured above, displays so many of the themes I’ve sought to find and make in my own home and shop. The apartment, once his home, is small, but efficient. Neat decor, tasteful furniture, and plenty of light offer the creature comforts. The industrial look is a natural byproduct of the building’s history and intended purpose, not a trope.


The workshop occupies the majority of the space, and is inseparable, physically and mentally, from the living area. One of the greatest luxuries I have in building my shop now is that I’m unmarried (as of yet) and have no children (as far as I know.) My shop-to-be will be a refuge from the stresses and pressures beyond my walls, rather than an escape from family and chores. Like Ollie’s shop, old tools will abound, alongside slabs of wood saved for just the right projects.

Getting to the actual building, shortly.

 

[jake28]

The Pie Factory I Now Call Home

The Search: July 2018 - November 2018

My realtor was taken aback when I gave him a sort of a creative brief for what I was looking for in a building to buy: minimum of a 9’ garage door, parking for at least four cars, space for a bachelor apartment. And it had to be priced as a project. He got to work.

I eventually found the building scrolling through a website for commercial real estate:
www.loopnet.com

- Previously used a pie factory. Then storage. Then vacant.
- 25’ x 75’ lot with the two story building covering every square inch.
- 10’ roll up door
- zoned for commercial and residential

Pressing fast forward: I did a walk through with a friend and contractor. It was scary. Bordello red walls, flickering incandescents, and heavy insulation on every surface to muffle machines made it a great setting for an episode of CSI.




Bathroom in lightwell. Because you can. Complete with vinyl mural.




And someone might have been living in the attic.



Noting that everything would have to come out, and biting off more than I could comfortably stomach, I struck a deal.

 

[Horror Business]

Exciting project! Would love to see a before of the exterior, to understand the context and how this fits in to the urban fabric of your new neighborhood. Subscribed.

 

[turbowoodworker]

Great look. Love to see more. subscribed.
I could imagine this being one of the coolest project places on GJ, rivaling the old firehouse build posted (Chicago, maybe?).
Thanks for sharing and keep the pictures coming.
Rick

 

[TriumphFan]

I'm in for the ride. Can't imagine a married man being able to get away with this.

 

[jake28]

Why do any of this? Tools and the plan.

The post I should have prefaced all of this with, an answer to “why are you building” now that we’ve gotten started in “what.”

The shop will be home to a mix of woodworking tools, metal working and machining tools, and a curious collection of mostly non-running, definitely-rusting motorcycles, cars, bicycle frames, and ill-advised Craigslist purchases.

Like many here I obsess over the tools going into the shop, but I want to give due credit and paint a picture of the some of things I hope will emerge from the shop as well.

A smattering of the vehicles and tools soon to fill up the space.

Project 1: 1969 Grumman step van. Purchased, stolen, recovered, motor blown, but in generally good shape. I bought this last year and will be converting it to a good truck for a local business.


Project 2: 1973 Fiat 500. Motor swapped and massaged from a whopping 13 HP to 19 or so. But, power means little when railroad trucks can **** up bicycle-width tires. Frame needs a bit of welding, there is rust I’m going to ignore, and the brakes are occasionally categorized as ‘optional.’


Just a few of the derelict motos.
69 (or so) Honda S90. Motor blown. PO dipped every inch in grey rustoleum. But it’s pretty.


82 Honda CT90 - EV conversion. This one is actually up and running, but needs some love.


The perpetual project. 82 Honda XL500, FT500 motor bored out to 550, CR front end, Random exhaust. The loudest bike on the west coast when it runs. Which is maybe once per year. Wheelies well.


I’ve got most of a bike-frame jig, crafted from 80/20, sitting in a box that I’m looking forward to doing some more frames on.


So that I can build more silly things like the custom steel electric delivery bicycle.

 

[Dumber than lumber]

Awww dude!
You **** **** **** S-U-C-K
So jealous of your space and the projects.
And you seem to be young!
I hate you. Did i tell you that You ****?
(Signed, Your friend on GJ

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

That is going to be a great space. I’ll have to show my daughter, she is such a pie nut instead of cake at her wedding she served pies.
Must of had at least 10 different varieties.

 

[jake28]

Shop inspiration: wood and metal

Once upon a time, in a state far far away called Rhode Island, I went to art school to get a degree in Industrial Design.

I went in looking to acquire a rather specialized set of experience and professional toolsets that I could apply towards solving the world’s problems.

A few months before graduating, one of my professors issued a warning: “you won’t have access to shops like these when you leave.”

I took this a threat, and put down my beer and picked up the Craigslist app, and started scouring both coasts for old machinery. It’s a habit I maintain today. I graduated with a couple Kennedy tool boxes of literal tools, in addition to the metaphorical ones I’d paid dearly to acquire.

The metal shop that I was steward of. Bridgeports and south Bend heavy 10s galore. And a Tormach CNC when I was sick of turning dials. I’ve got a smaller Lathe and desk-top South Bend in crates waiting to get set up.


And one of the two wood shops that I had a key to and where I got to teach undergrads the finer points of how to keep digits attached, and why turning on a wood large while texting was a bad idea.


Photos to indicate that while far from being a production environment, I’ve been fortunate enough to spend a lot of time using and wearing on other people’s stuff, and used that time to inform my shopping list.

 

[bargainhuntingking]

Welcome from 50 miles South! I recognized the city as soon as I saw the picture, natch. Looking forward to bingeing this one.

Yes, definitely a Bay Area building front.

 

[larry4406]

But did you get the blond twin girlfriends?

 

[jake28]

But did you get the blond twin girlfriends?

Negative ghost rider. When I started the project in Nov. I had zero blond girlfriends, which it turns out is the exact right number to take on a building project without distraction, or needing to accommodate anyone else's wants. However, on Jan. of 2019 I met a lady on a chairlift, who is now expecting things like dedicated closet space.

 

[fourbyford]

RUN!! The closet is just the beginning!

 

[gofastwclass]

RUN!! The closet is just the beginning!

Haha, they aren't all bad. Mine wanted me to build a bigger shop - so I did. I know this is rare but mine actually likes what I do. As a trade I did get us a newer house that happens to come with some nice closet space in the process.

Cool plans Jake28.

 

[jake28]

Interlude: soliciting feedback.

What would you all like to hear about?
There are plenty of directions I can go, and lots of content to share, but I’d love to hear what folks are most interested in.

Possible topics, which I’ll cover at different points:
-demo and concrete work
-discoveries behind the Sheetrock
-reframing
- future plans
- wood furniture projects to come
- recent furniture projects that will go in to the space

I’m doing this to give something back to the GJ community that I’ve learned so much from, so, I’m actively soliciting your input.

Phrased differently, what are some of your favorite threads here, and what makes them stand out?

 

[jake28]

Feb ‘19 or so: Exploratory demo

Having made a deal on the place, I was able to get an over the counter permit to mitigate some exceedingly visible dry rot, which in turn provided the room to peel back some of the drywall and see what I was about to contend with. It quickly became apparent the building was in far tougher shape than I’d anticipated.

Evidence of rot was hard to ignore. exhibit A:



There is a parking lot directly adjacent to the building. The neighbors park their trash cans against the building. This is fine and dandy until an overly zealous parking job bumps the cans up against the house, and promptly peels off 2 lengths of 1x12 redwood siding. All of a sudden I had windows where I didn’t want them.



Remedied with scrap from a pallet, conveniently labeled with a description of much of the building.

 

[Modern Jess]

Possible topics, which I’ll cover at different points:
-demo and concrete work
-discoveries behind the Sheetrock
-reframing
- future plans
- wood furniture projects to come
- recent furniture projects that will go in to the space

Yes, please!

It's your thread, you get to choose what to ruminate on. I'm here for the ride regardless. But seriously, I think I'm very interested in the construction of the shop as it takes shape -- any aspect of that that you care to write about.

Phrased differently, what are some of your favorite threads here, and what makes them stand out?

Some of my personal favorites:
Mid-Century Moto Mecca Makeover
44 Bikes Frame Shop
The Concrete Underground
Mech33’s garage remodel with in-ground scissor lift in California
New Post-Modern Garage/Workshop

There are more, but these are the ones that I have links handy for.

 

[jake28]

Jan - June ‘19 (or so). Making plans for a box


I couldn’t touch the outer shell of the building without a serious set of building department reviews, so I used the constraints of renovating the existing shell of the building to get the workshop and living spaces I was seeking.

Footprint is 25’ x 78’


Downstairs:
- open floor plan, ADA-accessible bathroom ensured it could be a legal workshop.

Upstairs:
- 2 apartments, one for me and a smaller sort of in-law unit when friends come to town, or to rent out to a student or traveling nurse in need.

- patio. One of the amazing conditions in SF is that you need a minimum of 110 square feet of open space per residential unit, in the form of patio, yard, or roof deck. Since the building covers the entire lot, and a roof deck would have required going beyond the envelope of the building, I opted to effectively carve out an open air patio in the middle of the building to satisfy the requirement.

I tweaked the plans many times over the course of a couple of months, and made the mistake of enlisting several friends who are architects for input. I was quickly swamped with good ideas, and spent too much time waffling on relatively small decisions.





I’m happy with the shop ‘layout’ in that it is a blank slate. There are structural things I would do differently now to inform the second floor layout, but I’m generally happy with where I landed. Since this building is a physical representation of my own values and interests, the design process prompted a reckoning and self-evaluation that I wasn’t prepared for, but am grateful to have had the chance to do.

 

[WSHILL]

What are your dimensions? Very nice shop layout.

 

[jake28]

What are your dimensions? Very nice shop layout.

25’ x 78’. Thanks for the note, sometimes I overlook some of the more basic stuff.

 

[hewey]

Awesome thread, really looking forward to following your projects and progress. And all of your suggested topics/themes sound ace!

 

[jake28]

Pressing Fast Forward: August 2019

With the help of a deft and talented architect, I was able to get the permits I needed to start demo and rehabilitate the building. I can’t stress how much I learned to appreciate the value of an architect on a first-name basis with planners and building inspectors, who kept me out of the purgatory of a review that could have lasted 18-24 months.

With stamps and approvals, I could start to peel back the layers of paint and sheetrock, and remove the few interior walls in the building.

Stripping the downstairs walls of sheetrock and revealing the extent of the drop ceiling. I delighted in finding an extra 18” of basement ceiling height.


Had an amazing, hard-working, and good-humored crew taking care of the demo.


Scraping away sheetrock revealed more sheetrock, than lath and plaster emblazoned with either death threats or punk rock lyrics. Old buildings are often lovely representations of one of my favorite words: palimpsest. I this case the previous markings were not erased, just covered up and written over.

Finding small moments for delight, in the form of 1908-period old growth Redwood dimensional lumber.



And moments of frustration and preparing to shake the piggy bank, when finding small sections of the old mudsills that were largely, mud.



As of August ‘19, there was more light in the building, but not at the end of the tunnel.

 

[Darby9]

Subscribed. Hello, neighbor.

Those demo pics look like my place 8 eight years ago, "mud" sills and all. We ended up bracing the floor joists on 8x8's, replacing the bottom 6' of the studs across the back wall, an then letting it back down on a new sill, anchored into the concrete with threaded rod and epoxy. And shear panels on both stories for the back 1/3 of the house for seismic. My rear neighbor isn't a parking lot but a grocery store, and they had a shed built across the back of my house at one time. Similar problems as your trash can situation.

 

[schaumi]

Great thread. Your writing style makes it very enjoyable to follow along. As for content, I like the progression of the building renovation. Keep the updates coming!

 

[ConCretin]

This is shaping up to be an epic thread. Looking forward to the journey.

 

[crab]

Yep, you're doing what most of us have dreamed of doing, I'm hooked.

 

[Brian R]

Awesome. I once lived in a house built around 1910 and can still remember removing plaster and lathe to uncover dimensional lumber. Currently working on a renovation and so most of my moments of frustration and piggy bank shaking are behind me (knock wood) but can't wait to see how this unfolds.

Please post more of everything (especially the two wheeled vehicles).

 

[jake28]

Going back in time: Apr 1906 - Oct 1961

Climb aboard my time machine, fueled by the historical records of the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection. (Note, Photos to be added shortly)

Apr 18, 1906
I wasn't there to witness it, but by many reports, for most residents of San Francisco and some surrounding areas, Apr. 18 of 1906 wasn't a particularly good day. At 5:12AM the ground started shaking, due to mounting frustration between the continental and oceanic tectonic plates. They plates had it out, and if I was a better geologist I could tell you who won, though for folks trying to secure their china, loved ones, and safety, it didn't really matter.

The city shook, the city burned, and the city needed to be rebuilt.

Nov 1, 1906
The first historical building permit I could find. A Mrs. B Healey fills out an building application form in particular detail, with promises to erect (or perhaps re-build) a single story wooden-framed building. 25' wide x 67' long x 23' high with plans for it to be occupied by two families. Stamped, approved. Mrs B. seemed cool.

June 13, 1929

Mr A.B. Peluffo humbly applies to "raise house 10 feet a basement is to be used for apple peeling machinery for the Rich Pie Factory." with an estimated cost of work of $1,000. A.B. as his friends surely called him, had vision and chutzpah, and was going to raise the roof to peel all the apples. Stamped, approved.

Sept. 21, 1929
Mr A.B. Peluffo, feeling the wind at his back, returns to planning and applies to convert the two units on the second story to a single large loft room, for "pre-paring apples for pies" at a summary cost of construction of $200. Mr A.B. the maverick, the titan of pie, needed space to shop his apples in half. And he was to have it. Stamped. Approved.

Nov. 6, 1929

The drama. The heartache. Just a few months later, A rather terse application to do "Fire Repairs" to the pie factory. Stamped. Approved. I was to find these 'fire repairs' in short order.

Oct 1940, July 1957, Oct 1961
A series of applications to repair and update the concrete foundation, to help the building drain, the vent the toilet, and to repair sheetrock. The building remained a pie factory through all of this time. It stayed in the same family too.

 

[jake28]

This is shaping up to be an epic thread. Looking forward to the journey.

Thanks LLWillysfan, your thread is on my list to dig into.

 

[jeffcoll]

Interlude: soliciting feedback.

What would you all like to hear about?
There are plenty of directions I can go, and lots of content to share, but I’d love to hear what folks are most interested in.

Possible topics, which I’ll cover at different points:
-demo and concrete work
-discoveries behind the Sheetrock
-reframing
- future plans
- wood furniture projects to come
- recent furniture projects that will go in to the space

I’m doing this to give something back to the GJ community that I’ve learned so much from, so, I’m actively soliciting your input.

Phrased differently, what are some of your favorite threads here, and what makes them stand out?

All of it! Maybe follow the timeline as things happened?

 

[bdbecker]

So glad I found this thread before it became 100+ pages of awesomeness that would take me a month to read through. Now I can just keep up with the new posts and enjoy the ride.

 

[MrScott99]

Ohhhh, this is gonna be a good one! I too am glad to have come across this thread while it is still in its earliest stage. Looking forward to following it!

 

[Robey5]

Lookin sweet.

You certainly have taken on a project; the idea of a historical building makes me a bit ill (especially if you have to do special permitting to do work on it...)

In for the ride!

 

[larry4406]

I'm in! Keep it up!

 

[PugetDude]

Subscribed, this one is going to be epic!