Above 1200 Sq/FT C Dub's Garage Build in Central NC

[Cdubu52]

Hello Ladies and Gents. After spending way too much time on this forum over the last few years, I have finally started the process of building my dream shop. In my area, it has been extremely difficult to find someone to build a shop for me. I started looking for a builder over a year ago. I went a couple of rounds with a good friend who is a custom home builder, and who built my house about 10 years ago. We talked about a ton of different options, stick built, metal, pole barn, etc. We talked design and then he went back and drew a few things up. Originally, I wanted a 2 bay 30x40 with lean-tos on each side. My plan was to enclose the back halves of each of the lean-tos and have them open to the main central bay. After drawing up some pencil plans, he took it and priced it out. His price was reasonable, but when I asked when he could start, he said he was 2 years out. I was floored. I was thinking this is a buddy who had built my house, and who I had recommended multiple other friends too. But, in his defense, the issue was, he already has 4 custom homes in front of mine. Once I understood that, I started searching for other options. At my previous home, I had a local garage builder come in and build a small shop, so I reached out to them. Guess what, nothing. I emailed, called, left messages, all went unanswered. There is another similar builder that just does garages that I reached out to and got the same thing, nothing. I even reached out to another Post Frame Builder who advertised in my area. After getting a quote and playing phone tag for about a month, they informed me that they were no longer building in my area, regardless of the fact that my area is specifically listed on their website. I was told, things change. I have never in my life had such a hard time spending money. So, I called Morton. The only thing I knew about Morton was from their website, so I tried to do a ton of research on here and I went to the local sales office to look at their sample building. I met with a great salesman and met some of the other folks in the office and I knew then I was going to have a Morton Building. Not only because I liked everyone, but also I paid my deposit on the spot. I gave them the pencil drawing that my original builder had drawn, and although it would have been a really nice building, the salesman and the price tag, helped me realized that one structure that covered the square footage that I wanted would be best. So we decided then on a 36x56 Morton Building.

Here are the Renderings:



We ordered the building in December of 2021 with a scheduled start date of April 4th, 2022. At this point I knew that I would have my work cut out for me to get the site ready for the build.


That is where my next post will start.

 

[Cdubu52]

Once we decided on the building the next decision would be where it would go. I have 3.5 acres, so I knew I could find a place. The problem was where I wanted to spend the money to get the site ready. Did I want to spend it all on dirt work or tree work? My property slopes from the highest elevation in the back to the front. There is about 150 feet of elevation change from the back of the property down to the front. I was between two spots, the flattest spot was in the trees straight off my driveway towards the back of the property. The other, was right at the top of the driveway in the yard. That area has about 8-10 feet of drop from back to front. We would have to move a lot of dirt to get a site big enough for the building, and I would have to reroute some of my utilities. And I would have potentially had to tear up some flower beds and other landscaping which I did not want to do. Ultimately, with the help of the Morton team, I decided that it would be better to take out some trees than it would to do a ton of dirt work and potentially build retaining walls.

Here is the google maps image of my house and where the shop will be located:


And here are a few images of the area. Please don't judge the yard, this was late December in North Carolina. I promise, I take lots of pride in my yard and the landscaping. On to the photos:



In the next few images you can see where we flagged of the area of the shop via the small white flags.



The flags proved to be just a general idea considering we moved the location about 10 times in that area.

Next came the tree removal. And that is where the next post will begin.

 

[Cdubu52]

Ok, tree Removal time. With my deadline of only a few months and the plan of doing most of the prep work myself, I had to start calling in friends to help. Living in the same town that you grew up in is always nice when you need things done that you dont always have the expertise or experience with. That's when the saying "I know a guy" comes in handy. So, I know a few guys that climb and cut trees, so one call and a couple days later, the tree guys arrive.

A couple before pics of the area: These pictures were taken in the fall of 2021 right before I planned on building the shop.



And then the cutting begins. I hired a couple of local guys to top some of the bigger trees and I planned on taking care of the smaller trees.


An interesting tidbit about the guys who cut my trees. They are Burmese Refugees who settled in North Carolina after being evacuated by the US Government. There are quite a few families that live around our area and work at a few of the local Universities. They have done any tree work that I have needed. They do great work and are extremely reasonable with their prices.

 

[Cdubu52]

Clean up started soon after. The cleanup was me and my buddy with a skid steer. As you will see, I ran the chain saw and he ran the Cat.



Obligatory pretty fire pictures:



Well that is until he blew a hydraulic drive line right by the fire, and right before a cold January rain. We, well mostly he, winched that piece of equipment about 200 feet with the tracks locked up. He was able to come out while I was at work, but I helped to load it on the trailer once I got home. At least the mud was good for something.

 

[Cdubu52]

Then is snowed, which slowed everything down.



In NC you can experience all 4 seasons in one day, so a week or two later temps were much better and we were able to get back at it.

 

[flip-eye]

Nice progress report, that's alot of trees!

 

[Cdubu52]

With all of the trees cleaned up, leveling began:



Once the pad was leveled, I realized that the front of the building was going to be right on top of my Fiber so I had to call the utility company to come out and move the line. I had no idea that splicing that line was going to be an all day job.

 

[Cdubu52]

Moving the Fiber was the last obstacle I had to hurdle before the building would be scheduled for production. On April 12th, my shop arrived.

 

[Cdubu52]

Day 1 of Construction began on April 26.

Im glad I had that Fiber line moved.

 

[Cdubu52]

Day 2 started with concrete to stabilize the piers.



And ended like this:



I took my daughter to school and by the time I came back, one wall was up.



I was working from home that day and by the time I finished my coffee, wall 2 was up.



By the end of lunch, 3 walls were up.

 

[Cdubu52]

By the end of Day 3, it was starting to look like a building.

 

[Cdubu52]

Nice progress report, that's alot of trees!

I had 4 chains for my saw in rotation. Im sure my neighbors hated me. I would go out in the evenings when I got home from work and just cut up trees so that when my buddy would bring the skid steer on the weekend, he could just move the debris and we could keep working. I never wanted him to be waiting on me. If a chain started to dull, I just swapped it out and then would sharpen them on a day that it was too cold or wet or just one evening when it was too dark.

Thanks for checking out my thread.

 

[Cdubu52]

Day 4. I had to go in to the office that day and only got pictures of what was completed, but the shell is pretty much complete including the installation of the windows.

 

[Cdubu52]

Like before, I was back in the office and was only able to get progress photos at the end of the day so I will put the next couple of days together.

 

[Cdubu52]

As the Morton crew was finishing up the trim, the Mason's showed up to start the concrete process. First they filled the inside of the building with gravel and then followed up by placing the forms for the pad. I decided to add on a small pad by the access door and a 36x24 apron/pad in front of the building.

 

[Cdubu52]

With the building construction complete, it was time to pour the concrete.

 

[Cdubu52]

On to the last piece provided by Morton and the completion of the contract. The only thing left was the garage door. The concrete was poured on 5/13, and the door was ordered the day they delivered my material which was April 12th. The door arrived on June 1st and installation took about an hour and a half.



I felt like the door was just too plain so I went to our local Lowes Hardware looking for the door accessory kits and I found these magnet kits.



I felt like the door was missing something and too plain. Then I pulled my suburban in just get a sense of the size of the building in comparison. I think it barely fits.

 

[GlennSullivan]

Very nice building, are you planning on insulating and heating in the future for year round use?

 

[Cdubu52]

Very nice building, are you planning on insulating and heating in the future for year round use?

Glenn, Thanks for checking out my post.

Im really not sure what I want to do. If I win the lottery, yes, I will insulate and finish the inside. I think at this point, Im going to go at it in stages. I think I want to spray foam the roof for now and see how that does. In NC, we have a moderate climate, and it does get hot in the summer, but I previously had an uninsulated shop and was fine. I think eventually, I will finish it with walls and insulation, and that is how we are wiring it. But, there is no time frame on that.

Did I see a mustang badge on the wall in your photo? Im a Mustang man myself. I have a 1966 Coupe that I have had since I was 17, so for about 28 years.

 

[Cdubu52]

Next Step - Electrical

So after a few discussions with my electrician, I reached out to the power company about my options for getting power to my shop. I had 2 options, we could run power from the house or set up a new service. We decided on a separate service. After walking the property with the engineer and waiting a couple of weeks to hear back from them, they decided that the best option would be to install a second transformer on my property. And then 3 weeks after that, they finally came out. Who knew that getting that would be an almost 8 week process. our power is underground so they dug down the side of my yard near the tree line and then into the woods where they took a right turn straight to my shop. It was over 600 feet in total and that is why they needed a new transformer. I was told, there would be too much voltage drop to run it from the original transformer.

 

[Cdubu52]

Now that the power is run and the transformer is installed, my electrician has been out here off and on over the last week. I'm hoping that I will have service and the meter installed next week. Apparently my overhead lights have been delayed but should be in next week as well. Then I'm at the mercy of the government. We are still waiting for an inspection. Apparently the county office keyed in our permit wrong, they thought I was running power to my garden shed and not this building. The inspector came out and said that the work was incomplete when he looked at the shed. The shed is right beside the shop. So we had to get a new permit and start that process again.

 

[flip-eye]

I too am a Mustang Man. I have a 69 Coupe.

Building is looking great!

 

[Maxcustody]

WOW Chris, shop looks great! What is the height of your walls? I like the colors you went with and really like the sliding windows. In NC does the power company charge you for all that electrical work they did adding an extra transformer and trenching 600'?

 

[Cdubu52]

WOW Chris, shop looks great! What is the height of your walls? I like the colors you went with and really like the sliding windows. In NC does the power company charge you for all that electrical work they did adding an extra transformer and trenching 600'?

Scott, thanks for checking out my thread, I have been subbed to yours since you started in January.

My walls are 12 feet high. I guess what I mean is from the bottom of the truss to the concrete is 12 feet. My door is 12x10.

And yes, the power company charged me about $3,500 to run that line from my old transformer, and add a new transformer. I was told if the distance was less than 400 feet it would not have needed the new transformer and would have been covered by the power company. But, because it was around 600 feet then I had to pay to have it installed. I will have a dedicated service to the shop. The engineer was frustrated with his predecessors for their placement of the original transformer from when I built my house. He thought that it was unfair to put it as far away from the house as they did and said he did what he could to apply as many credits as possible to get my out of pocket expense to be as low as possible. I think without credits, I was looking at $10,000 plus.

 

[Maxcustody]

Scott, thanks for checking out my thread, I have been subbed to yours since you started in January.

My walls are 12 feet high. I guess what I mean is from the bottom of the truss to the concrete is 12 feet. My door is 12x10.

And yes, the power company charged me about $3,500 to run that line from my old transformer, and add a new transformer. I was told if the distance was less than 400 feet it would not have needed the new transformer and would have been covered by the power company. But, because it was around 600 feet then I had to pay to have it installed. I will have a dedicated service to the shop. The engineer was frustrated with his predecessors for their placement of the original transformer from when I built my house. He thought that it was unfair to put it as far away from the house as they did and said he did what he could to apply as many credits as possible to get my out of pocket expense to be as low as possible. I think without credits, I was looking at $10,000 plus.

Thanks Chris. I was curious about your electrical because WV has something similar. I did not have to pay the POCO due to location and distance. I am glad the engineer worked with you and you did not have to pay 10k.

Understand on the wall height. 12’ is great and gives you plenty of room.

 

[GlennSullivan]

Glenn, Thanks for checking out my post.

Im really not sure what I want to do. If I win the lottery, yes, I will insulate and finish the inside. I think at this point, Im going to go at it in stages. I think I want to spray foam the roof for now and see how that does. In NC, we have a moderate climate, and it does get hot in the summer, but I previously had an uninsulated shop and was fine. I think eventually, I will finish it with walls and insulation, and that is how we are wiring it. But, there is no time frame on that.

Did I see a mustang badge on the wall in your photo? Im a Mustang man myself. I have a 1966 Coupe that I have had since I was 17, so for about 28 years.

Chris
Yes we owned and raced newer SN95 Cobra Mustangs (95 Windsor & 98 Modular) from 1998 until 2014. As we got older and our small company grew, bringing home broken cars on Sunday and working each night to get them fixed after 10 hour workdays got overwhelming and old. We sold the cars in 2014-2015. They were featured in an in the April 2001 issue of 5.0 Magazine.

 

[GlennSullivan]

 

[dmittz]

Wonderful shop build. i've enjoyed reading about your progress.

What Size electrical service did you get for the shop?

 

[Cdubu52]

Glenn, I love those Late 90's mustangs. Those came out right when I was graduating high school. I always wanted either a Terminator or a color change Cobra.

 

[Cdubu52]

Wonderful shop build. i've enjoyed reading about your progress.

What Size electrical service did you get for the shop?

Thanks for following along.

I went with a 200 Amp Service for the shop.

 

[Cdubu52]

Quick update: Electrician is moving along. He is stretched a little thin but is doing great work. He got the Liftmaster installed yesterday and is wrapping up the 220 outlets. Since Im not sure what I want for the 220 yet, we are just going to leave them in the boxes and plate them off for now. Im hoping that he is done next week. I am waiting for the overhead lights, they are about a week out. I got home after dark last night so I didnt get any photos. I will grab some this weekend and get them posted soon.

Thanks for following along.

 

[GlennSullivan]

Glenn, I love those Late 90's mustangs. Those came out right when I was graduating high school. I always wanted either a Terminator or a color change Cobra.

For their time, Terminators were absolutely awesome cars.

 

[dmittz]

Thanks for following along.

I went with a 200 Amp Service for the shop.

Very nice, I just am doing a 200amp service for my under construction shop also.

 

[Cdubu52]

Very nice, I just am doing a 200amp service for my under construction shop also.

I have a dedicated transformer, but 200 should be all that I will ever need.

 

[Mavawreck]

Nice build! I was super curious who did the building - then I saw Morton. I’ve been trying to get a Pole barn priced for months it feels like.

 

[Cdubu52]

Nice build! I was super curious who did the building - then I saw Morton. I’ve been trying to get a Pole barn priced for months it feels like.

Mav,

Thanks for checking out my build.

I sent a few emails to Morton through their website. They responded very quickly. I made an appointment at their sales office in Lexington and had a great experience. My wife and I went there and toured the sample building and met with our sales consultant. It was a great experience. It was worth the drive out there. I highly recommend it. Im so happy that I bought it from them.

 

[Cdubu52]

Small update: The electrician came by on Saturday to button up a few things. We are still waiting on the inspection. He has to add a couple more outlets and then install all of the exterior lights. Here are a few shots of some of the last few things he's done.

 

[dmittz]

Wow, that is a lot of electrical wires! awesome.

 

[Cdubu52]

Wow, that is a lot of electrical wires! awesome.

Its because I decided to go with 8 overhead lights and put 2 per switch so that I dont have to have all of them on at once. That entire bottom row of switches will be for the overhead LED. I went with a high bay light that is made locally, so of course they are not in stock. The top row will be for all of the external lights, the fan, and I put in some switched outlets so that I can run some string lights up in the rafters if I want.

 

[j p smith]

Great looking building project and property. The Foam insulation will defiantly help. My brother lives over in the New Hill area near New Hope Valley Railway. His wood shop has foam insulation. I try to get back there once a year usually around July for the Denton Tractor/Engine show or the Ken Eder show in November.