Above 1200 Sq/FT 30 x 48 shop on Lopez Island, WA

[LopezBart]

Once again, managed to spend the whole weekend working on the shop - nice sunny weather. My better half was around as well, which made things go faster. Almost completely finished framing the other end wall - the one with the big door opening, which is 11' high and 10' 6" wide. I'll be putting in swinging doors with foam inside to keep things a bit more temperate once the shop is wired and I can cut & weld steel here. I'll use a tarp for a while, I guess .

Next up - one more girt above the big door, and then time to deal with the gable ends. I need to double check the purlin lengths, and then it's time for more pulley and rope work. 10' x 2"x8" are awkward to handle solo otherwise. I've had good luck putting in temporary supports and lifting other pieces into position; this will be a bit more awkward since I won't be on that nice smooth slab. Once positioned, screwing the ends on will be interesting as well. I have some ladder jacks - I may need to give that a try.

 

[Jacko264]

Fantastic build I wish I had a big garden / land to have a garage like yours

ps I am pretty sure there is a steam boat museum on lake windemere too GB
Graham

 

[LopezBart]

Fantastic build I wish I had a big garden / land to have a garage like yours

We have 10 acres here (4 hectares), almost all wooded (fir, pine, alder, madrona and even one big leaf maple ). Clearing the land for the shop was a lot of work. Retiring here was something we've planned since we were married 40 years ago; we bought the land back when it was more reasonable on our honeymoon. We have land - any clear areas are hard-won .

ps I am pretty sure there is a steam boat museum on lake windemere too GB
Graham

Yup... it's on the list for our next trip to the UK (post retirement). Last time I was there on vacation the original was closed and the National Trust wasn't yet involved.... we did get a chance to walk some hillsides in the Lake District, see Conniston Water and wander about.... I grew up w/ Swallows & Amazons and AA Milnes stories, so visiting the Lake District and the 100 acre wood near East Grinsted was always in the cards...

 

[Cris B]

Looks like a great project in a nice setting. Looking forward to seeing the build progress and what you do with it once it's watertight and a usable workshop space.

 

[VolksWomble]

Looks like a fantastic setting, and a nice sized building. I have a real soft spot for islands! Looking forward to seeing it with some tin on it, and then seeing some machine shop action!

 

[LopezBart]

Well, at long last I have the gable ends on the building, and all the various punch list items done to complete the framing. There were many other tasks and duties that needed attention over the last two months, but at long last I'm ready for the next inspection. The assembly manual for the building does the walls next, but given our sheltered location, and wet weather this year, I'm doing the roof next so I have a bit of shelter. I've framed two small (2x4) windows at the two ends; I'll use some greenhouse triple layer polycarbonate to let in some light.
I'm off to Burning Man next week (one of the tasks I had was repairing the AC on our Airstream)...

 

[rd65]

How's the build progressing? We've got a nephew working out on the island for a few days doing some concrete work. It has been a wet month.

 

[LopezBart]

How's the build progressing? We've got a nephew working out on the island for a few days doing some concrete work. It has been a wet month.

It has indeed been wet, frustratingly often on the weekends. Since the time change I'm getting more time after work to head up the driveway and get some stuff done on the shop. I'm putting up the wall sheeting as I'm not going to work on the roof in the rain by myself. I'll snap a picture during lunch.

 

[LopezBart]

There has been a bit of progress on the shop... I added two 1/2" anchor bolts (wedge type) in each bay since I wasn't happy w/ the tendency of the 12' pressure treat sill plates to flex since they were only fastened down at the ends. Of course, since I used a sill gasket/seal, once the sill plates were hard against the floor this allowed the water to puddle nicely instead of draining under the sill plates... I got most of the pine needles out of the expansion joints, and these serve to drain most of the water from the slab, since they go out the sides of the foundation. Once we have a roof and the floods are over, I'll caulk the slits to keep the bugs (ants, most likely) out.

Once the anchor bolts were in, I started adding wall panels. Because we have eaves unlike many metal building, some panels need to notched for the eave supports.. I bought a M12 nibbler which works very well.. When I start doing the end panels, that nibbler will earn its keep slicing across all those panels.

During lunch today, I gang-drilled the 11 remaining panels for the northwest wall; I started on that side since that wall faces the neighbor's motley collection of RVs and is also the simplest. I hope to hang more panels this week if I can sneak time from work and when it's not raining. This week's weather.... maybe Saturday.

 

[LopezBart]

We had some drier weather this weekend (we still got some rain, of course), so I spent time hanging panels after doing window and door trim last weekend. The Milwaukee 12V nibbler earned its keep this weekend, as did the the 18V drill and driver. I just have 3 panels left to go on second long wall; I should have those done this week during lunch and after dinner. I'm going to add some blocking in the walls to make terminating the tops of the end wall panels easier, as well as isolating the soffited gable ends from the shop ceiling. The end panels will be interesting as they're taller and more constrained in terms of fit. I'm glad I went with window where I can easily reach them to handle the trim. Working alone definitely has one thinking of tricks to make handling awkward and/or heavy bits easier.

We're pleased with the colors as the walls blend into the gray trees.

 

[Cris B]

Looking good

 

[930dreamer]

Very nice!

 

[LopezBart]

Another nice weekend, with temperatures in the low 60s, with the only rain Saturday night. Last weekend I put up blocking to keep the soffit separated from the roof. This weekend I managed to cover 60% of the far end wall w/ panels. The panels at the peak are 16' tall and are difficult for me to handle solo - they're about 35 lbs and awkward to get into place, but my wife has been in CA for the last couple of weeks, so solo it is.

I layout, drill and cut the panels on the quick workbench I made using some 2x6s and a couple of HF sawhorses. An automatic center punch helps speed things up. That 12V Milwaukee nibbler does a fine job.

I should have the end wall finished this coming week; next up is the trim around the big door, and then sheeting that wall. After that I need to do the corners and j-trim that holds the soffit panels up.

 

[930dreamer]

Another nice weekend, with temperatures in the low 60s, with the only rain Saturday night. Last weekend I put up blocking to keep the soffit separated from the roof. This weekend I managed to cover 60% of the far end wall w/ panels. The panels at the peak are 16' tall and are difficult for me to handle solo - they're about 35 lbs and awkward to get into place, but my wife has been in CA for the last couple of weeks, so solo it is.

I layout, drill and cut the panels on the quick workbench I made using some 2x6s and a couple of HF sawhorses. An automatic center punch helps speed things up. That 12V Milwaukee nibbler does a fine job.

I should have the end wall finished this coming week; next up is the trim around the big door, and then sheeting that wall. After that I need to do the corners and j-trim that holds the soffit panels up.

Looking good, be safe.

 

[elmer]

Looking forward to seeing a roof.

 

[LopezBart]

Looking forward to seeing a roof.

Yes, me too . I'm trying to figure out a way to do that w/o moving the ladders constantly, as I did the one roof panel that's up working from ladders poking up between the purlins as can be seen here in the background:



I've done roofs that have plywood sheeting underlying the metal roofing; I've not yet sorted out how to put these panels on in a faster fashion. Renting a small scissor lift would be one way. I'm not yet comfortable clambering up and down the purlins; the lower ones are pretty narrow to sit on .

 

[Joemctag]

Yes, me too . I'm trying to figure out a way to do that w/o moving the ladders constantly, as I did the one roof panel that's up working from ladders poking up between the purlins as can be seen here in the background:



I've done roofs that have plywood sheeting underlying the metal roofing; I've not yet sorted out how to put these panels on in a faster fashion. Renting a small scissor lift would be one way. I'm not yet comfortable clambering up and down the purlins; the lower ones are pretty narrow to sit on .

It doesn’t matter how long it takes. We’re sure that you’re gonna get it done exactly like you want and that’s what matters.

 

[LopezBart]

Well, it's been a long time since I posted an update. By the beginning of June, I was here:

I spent much of the test of June re-plumbing the boiler water feed on our 19' steam launch for a steam boat gathering in Klamath Lake, Oregon. I was quite exhausted from the prep work, and felt very tired during the meet and driving back.

When we returned from the meet, I continued to get more and more exhausted; perhaps I'd gotten the flu? Well, one morning my wife noticed I had yellow eyeballs.. and off to the emergency room I went. Turns out my liver was really unhappy with something - we still don't know what. Two weeks in the hospital in Seattle, countless tests, IVs... Attending, fellows, residents and interns all came to look at the mystery guy. I went home in early July, and have been taking lots of medications w/ weird side effects, and getting weekly blood tests since then. In August I felt well enough to head down to CA for another load of tools and metal from that garage. Our son needed the space w/ his housemates.... We loaded the utility trailer and the truck, and hauled another few thousand pounds north:

With the days shortening, and the meds making clambering on the shop roof trickier than I liked, we hired some folks to put up the roof last weekend. They were done in a day with eight guys. I still have trim to put up, but that's pretty simple. My wife snapped this as I was replacing the Home Despot scaffolding platforms, which were made w/ plywood w/o waterproof glue:

I'm now working on the last wall; lots of fiddly corner and soffit work to do, but having a reasonably
dry space to work is a huge win. Looks like another good rain this next weekend . I'm now planning the
spray foam steps, the design details of the doors, and the windows details.

 

[Mr onetwo]

Will be a nice little shop.I hope your health improves.

 

[LopezBart]

Thinking about insulation & covering for our shop on this rainy Friday night... what I've come up w/ so far is as follows:

• Closed cell spray foam, 4" in the 2x8 ceiling bays, 2" in the 2x6 wall bays.
• 3.5" x 24" mineral wool in the walls and ceiling over the spray foam.
• 3/4" plywood over the walls to 10' so I can hang stuff anywhere; all the wiring & panels will be surface mounted w/ EMT. Likely unpainted except behind the machine tools and any other messy tools since I like the look of plywood.

The open decision is the covering for the ceiling rock wool. Strictly speaking, I could leave it exposed I guess, but it's probably better to have something over it. We have exposed rock wool in our daylight basement ceiling w/o apparent ill effects; that space is just used for storage, though. In the shop, the rock wool would be a lot more likely to accumulate dust. Some alternatives I've mulled over include:

• Drywall. Meh... I'd farm this out; hanging, taping and painting a cathedral ceiling is just not for me. The shop may well spend time unheated if we're away, so I'm not really enamored....
• Plywood. Better - looks nicer; I'd likely leave it unpainted again. Awkward to single-handedly install.
• 16' metal roofing panels. Workable; easier to install than plywood, also a two person job. No painting
• Radiant permeable foil barrier or permeable house wrap run from peak to eaves under the purlins to isolate any fibers and reflect light, with 2x4s screwed length-wise along the bottom of the purlins to help retain the rock wool and foil/wrap. Likely the easiest to install, and best noise attenuation; least damage resistant, of course, but repairable w/ tape . Could also orient the 2x4s 90 degrees to the purlins - this might be better.

Any comments, thoughts appreciated... I'm not fond of the smell of PVC, so I've ignored things like Trusscore or FRP panels.

 

[LopezBart]

Despite a lot of rain and other work, I've made some more progress on the shop; just two more panels left to install on the last wall. Then it's on the remaining three corners and the soffits. The hinges for the doors (7" weld-on barrel hinges from Amazon) arrived today. The doors will be skinned w/ the left-over siding from the door cut-out.

 

[LopezBart]

This week I finished putting up the wall sheeting and corners, and started on the j-trim for the lower soffits.



I used my new Huepar laser (bought on sale as an experiment) which works pretty well to set some horizontal lines for the soffit.


Barbie and I spent several hours helping some friends nearby putting up lights in their trees.



A photo from last year's display:

 

[y'sguy]

Man, you have a beautiful place there. I love this area. I just wondered if you consider painting the interior iron before raising it? The place looks great.

 

[LopezBart]

Man, you have a beautiful place there. I love this area. I just wondered if you consider painting the interior iron before raising it? The place looks great.

Thanks - we love it up here. We bought this property on our honeymoon in 1983 (my wife had just inherited some money from her grandfather, who had always said - "buy land - they're not making any more of it" - I was a poor grad student at the time).

I thought about painting the trusses briefly, but the existing "paint job" is quite rough - it looks more dipped than sprayed; a matte color would be essential. With 20 truss components (5 trusses w/ 4 parts each), each one of which would need at least 2 positions for painting, it would have been a pretty time-consuming task all by itself - really only feasible w/ spraying gear which I don't have as yet.

It will likely stay red iron until someone else is in charge and cares to change it.

 

[LopezBart]

Well, we were back down in CA for the holidays visiting the kids, and buying more tools (48" Whitney Jensen finger brake, 48" Pexto shear and a home built 3'x5' welding table). Those will stay in our trailer until the shop gets spray foam & plywood added. The weather has been largely well above freezing, which makes puttering around in the shop easier.

I have managed to spend some time working in the shop over the last couple of weeks, and I made the 38"x84" man door out of some 2x6 T&G car decking that was left over from our house build. Fastened them together with #14x2.5" T30 big head timber screws... picked up some 12" T-hinges at Harbor Freight... this afternoon I test fit the door w/ my wife's help this afternoon; it's pretty heavy and is a lot easier to manage w/ two people. I was happy to see the door & opening were both square. The door is leaning against two blocks fastened to the door jam....

Next up is using some solid gray Cabot stain I picked up cheap on the outside of the door; the inside will get a coat of sealer and (later on) paint to keep it looking reasonable. I need to order a low aluminum threshold and put that in. Once that's done, I'll mount the hinges and hang the door. I'll put in a simple sliding bolt for now; a proper dead bolt and door knob will come once the interior is finished. Once the door is hung, I'll put the 16mm triple wall polycarbonate I got last week into the window openings.

 

[Krfjkm]

Nice looking door! Like those big head screws.

Did they ever figure out why your were fatigued and yellow eyed?

 

[LopezBart]

Nice looking door! Like those big head screws.

T30 drive; they're self-tapping but I drill a small diameter 3/32" pilot hole so they don't try to follow the wood grain.

Did they ever figure out why your were fatigued and yellow eyed?

They're actually not positive, but so far they're going with a diagnosis of auto-immune hepatitis, which seems to be under control with medications (steroids & immuno-supressants). It sometimes goes away, so I'm hoping that will be my experience.

 

[GrabberOrange69]

I hadn't checked in in here before, but what a great build and thread. Wonderful, actually, shops, lathes, chalk lines...and then Burning Man. Just finished reading it all.

As for your boat, I'll just say 2 words: African Queen. If you know...you know.

 

[LopezBart]

Just a bit more accomplished this weekend: got the door hung, bought some 1x4 cedar to use as door stops and window trim, cut one of the windows out of triple wall polycarbonate, and ripped up some of the cedar for first window install. Low 40s and windy all day; wore long johns w/ coveralls. Temperature is dropping; might get a bit of snow tonight.

I used some of my chainsaw wedges to help fit the door. The threshold was supposed to be here already, but maybe Wednesday now...

 

[LopezBart]

Well, another weekend has gone by, and some more shop work is done. At least it warmed up a bit; working when its 40F is annoying. My brother stopped by (Barbie is in California) and gave me a hand with the door. I decided to trim a bit off the bottom to make the door sweep fit better, so we scribed the door in place using a block on the threshold. Here we are remounting the door....

Here's the door, remounted with the door sweep on (it mounts from the front). I added a pipe handle to make it easier to open....

I then decided to spend some time fitting the first window; I'd ripped the trim from some cedar 1x4 the previous weekend using the funky table saw I got for free at the local "Take it or leave it". The window material is triple wall polycarbonate. It still needs some of the neutral silicone caulk on the outside, but I'll wait w/ that until both windows are in. Those vice grips (and a bunch of others) came w/ the welding table I bought in CA... all made in USA . They had plenty of reach to hold the trim in place from the back, unlike the rest of my clamps.

View from the outside... yes, it's raining again. One can see the door sweep w/ the rain shield and the threshold as well. Next weekend I cut out the other window, rip its trim and the door jam stops and get everything installed.

 

[rattle_snake]

Hand made door looks great!

 

[LopezBart]

I've been busy welding up the first big door frame:

Next up I bolt the door back to the welding table and unbolt the hinges, and paint everything. The outside of the door will be skinned with the panels I cut out for the door opening, and the inside will be 3/4" plywood like the rest of the walls. You can make out the tabs where 2" wood stringers will be fastened to provide support for the metal and plywood. After the metal is installed on the doors and I fix a couple of annoying roof leaks, I'll bury the electrical cabling and we'll be ready for spray foam, and then it's on to plywood & electrical.

Now that I've retired, I've got a lot more time to work in the shop... exactly what I was planning .

 

[The Cobbler]

Now that I've retired, I've got a lot more time to work in the shop... exactly what I was planning

give it time. next you'll be wondering how you had time to work

 

[OccupantRJ]

Great build and postings! I have 1/2 BC plywood on my shop walls and have been very happy with it. It is also lighter to install by yourself, and I have lots of items hanging on the walls. Prices should be cheaper Than the 3/4”.

 

[M.Brane]

Dig that old Lincoln!

 

[LopezBart]

Dig that old Lincoln!

I really like that welder; all the copper makes for a really satisfying (and very analog) arc "dig". The only solid-state part inside are the diodes/rectifiers for producing the DC.

 

[LopezBart]

Great build and postings! I have 1/2 BC plywood on my shop walls and have been very happy with it. It is also lighter to install by yourself, and I have lots of items hanging on the walls. Prices should be cheaper Than the 3/4”.

I've been waffling about the plywood thickness; the horizontal girts are 24" OC, and the walls are a bit under 10' tall; the trusses are 12' apart, so unless I add blocking or **** strips of plywood there will be unsupported edges.

 

[SilverJimmy]

I used 4’x8’-3/4” T&G plywood for the walls in my new shop. I only have a pressure treated 2x4 at the floor and then the horizontal girts @ 34” and 84”. The 2x4 is glued and screwed down and then all the plywood is screwed into the girts every 16 inches. I was very concerned about cost for all of this and the 3/4” was more per sheet than the 1/2” but after figuring the cost to frame every edge and time required to do that the 3/4 won! And this wall is solid, not any flex at all and I can mount anything anywhere I want, and if I decide I want to move something it’s just a simple couple dabs of caulk and paint and the old mount spot is gone.