Blank Canvas 30x40 PA Pole Barn

[worldrider555]

First time garage owner and first time poster. A lot of the works has already taken place but I am going to try and update this thread as I continue.

Background info:
December 2019 we move into what we hope will be our home for a long time. Its a ranch home on a little over 2 acres, but the best part for me is the approx 40x40 pole building that the previous owner put up about 5 years ago. The inside footprint is 30x40 with a 10 foot overhang that acts as a patio. When I moved in the inside was basically untouched besides some basic electrical, a diy epoxy floor coating (peeling pretty badly), a metal ceiling, and an old pellet stove.






Basically this was more or less the ideal garage for me. It has 3 doors, 2 front and 1 on the rear, 10ft ceiling height ( I would have preferred 12), and a totally blank slate on the inside.

The plan for this space is for multifunctional use. Car/motorcycle work, woodwork, a small bar area, parties, and just general hobby work.

Goals:
Insulate and cover the walls, tons of storage, bar area, run water line, more electrical, and then enjoy.

Stick around, I have about a years worth of updates and then we will continue from present day.

 

[worldrider555]

Next step after moving in was to figure out a plan for insulation. I read probably hundreds of threads and thought I had settled on a plan. I was going to put 1.5 inch xps foam board between the horizontal 2x4"s of the walls and then stud out the walls and finish with fiberglass batts. This was about January of 2020 and the pellet stove was making zero progress heating up this drafty uninsulated building.


The start of the XPS foam



So this was slow going insulating this way, and my plan changed when I had a professional insulating company come by to give me a quote on blowing in fiberglass in the attic. He looked at what I was doing and sold me on doing 2 inches of spray foam on the walls and then I believe 24 inches of blow in fiberglass in the ceiling for $3800. Before I did that though I had to stud all the walls on approx 24" centers.









I am very happy I splurged on the foam. The difference is night and day.

 

[worldrider555]

Here's some of the photos from the 2x4 wall framing. I placed sill plate foam beneath the bottom PT 2x4 and then toe screwed that into the the main posts spaced 8ft on center. then I ran studs up 24" on center. I opted to not secure the walls to the floor so it can float as needed.

 

[worldrider555]

So this brought me to about March 2020 and then covid hit. While I had 3 months off from work due to the mandated closure of my business, I didn't exactly want to be dropping a lot of funds into the garage. I did have a few other projects that needed to be done though.

The house has an inground pool, but no fence. I have 2 small daughters who at the time couldn't swim. So a fence was mandatory before the pool was opened. I settled on a black aluminum fence for the bulk and then I used a safety fence that can later be removed once the kids are grown.

I thought it turned out pretty well for my first fencing project. Its 100% level throughout. I wanted it to follow the curved path of the concrete as much as possible to eliminate dead space between the patio and fence where weeds could grow. I ran into a lot errant concrete that had to be busted out and almost hit a couple pool pipes, but it all worked out great.













You can also see our new quarantine dog rescue "boomer", you'll see some more of him as time goes on.

 

[worldrider555]

Another project was installing a new roto-molded hot tub I got earlier in the winter. Its an aquarest AR600 with upgraded heater and pump. The rotomolded tubs caught my attention with their durable construction, no wood to rot, and cost. This one was slightly more than 2k delivered and has all balboa components. It runs off 110 or 220 depending on how you have it setup. Currently its running on 110, but I ran a 6 gauge wire before the spray foam was put up and have a hot tub box in place for later on.

 

[MrScott99]

Nice place you have there! Looking forward to following along as you post updates.

 

[Kevkx125]

Looks nice WR5, where about in pa are you? Welcome to GJ hope you like it, looking forward to seeing what you are doing with it.

 

[worldrider555]

Nice place you have there! Looking forward to following along as you post updates.

Thanks!

 

[worldrider555]

Looks nice WR5, where about in pa are you? Welcome to GJ hope you like it, looking forward to seeing what you are doing with it.

Green Lane, Montgomery county

 

[worldrider555]

During the spring I also picked up a playset from costco, which took a pretty long time to put together doing it solo. Probably about 15 hours or so. Hopefully the kids get some use out of it.








I also went ahead and started moving a few things in from storage, including my Kobalt tool chest. This was kind of tricky to transport and unload by myself, but I got it done.

One constant in a lot of these photos is my trusty 4x8 aluminum trailer. I can't say enough about how handy this thing is. I tow it around with my ford focus and there really is no limit to the supplies I can grab with this thing. Basically all the materials throughout this whole build has been picked up with it.

 

[worldrider555]

Another thing I've done is really scour facebook marketplace for deals on tool boxes, cabinets, etc. I was able to snag a few toolboxes, a shop fridge, cabinets, rolling cabinets, and a bunch of hand tools for a good price. I also got a really great bar and stools for cheap that I'll put a picture up of soon.

 

[Kevkx125]

Looks like you have made some progress, nice score on the box's and tools, any updates ?