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Howdy folks -- I am currently building a man cave in a bit of an oddball community with shared power available but I can also install my own electrical service. My questions are about the shared power and meters as I'd like to wire up my new building on this service until I have a need for my...

Homepage says that you must use coupons to get the price. Sounds like it is just "parking lot sale prices" and not an actual parking lot sale? TIP #1: you only need to give the cashier the coupon CODE to get the price. I use the screenshot function on my iPhone or computer to clip the coupons...

I don't thing the OP needed completely new upper tracks -- probably just 2 to 3 feet of track to get extra vertical height, which likely can just be trimmed off the back of the existing tracks as less horizontal track is needed anyway after the high lift conversion. I just finished my DIY high...

I'm getting a little excited about this idea! The look would be pretty cool both as a floor and a ceiling underneath. Plus, it would be hard to come up with another design that would take up such a small amount of vertical space. Estimating the cost of SYP lumber -- comes out to under $500 to...

I'm not that experienced at sizing metal but did find this load/span table for H (W) beams... this seems to suggest that 18ft is the max allowable span for the W8's? (I'm only going to 20'.) Seems like most W8's might be adequate for the needed load, however. Would a W10x12 be more...

Thanks for the feedback everyone! Keep it coming!! :-) Great stuff. For wood, I would like to try to use Southern Yellow Pine considering it is local -- very local. I'm in a National Forest in the Piney Woods of East Texas. I know it is heavier but it is also stronger and I'm guessing that...

Thanks guys! I'm glad you found the original project, Kevin. I found the image on google image search on some site where it had been reposted. Nice to know a those extra details and confirmation that it is indeed repurposed dimensional lumber. I wondered about reinforcing that provides...

While searching for ideas on how to build a thin framed/floored mezzanine over the living room of my man cave, I came across this picture which appears to show a solid 2x4 floor in the loft area. It looks pretty cool and I've been intrigued by the idea ever since I came across this. Is this...

My biggest cost so far is the first contractor I had to fire, then the second that ran off with several thousand $$. PLUS the work that he did was junk and not to my satisfaction, so now I have actually ended up hiring a couple guys off his crew that I liked (and he disappeared from them as...

It is unfortunately a complex topic and there are a myriad of options. A lot depends on what your intended use is for the building, the climate zone you are designing for, and your budget. I am not an expert and am just sharing the things I *think* that I've learned from going through the...

FWIW - I am too trying to build an air-tight building but I am also installing a "rain screen" system behind my metal walls and roof as I think there a lot of benefits from doing so. I think I'll have extra wet-weather resiliency with a backup drainage plane behind the metal and also during hot...

Whoa! I don't think that is where the thinking shifted at all! Google "build tight and ventilate right" and also look at ERV (energy recovery ventilator) and HRV (heat recovery ventilator) systems. Also, "building tight" is a LOT more complicated than just sealing up every crack and other...

Here are some good diagrams of various ways to build an envelope. These are for residential construction so of course it isn't necessary to go this far on an outbuilding. But it is good to help understand some of the concepts. Note where they have furring strips in the assembly for a...

The profile of the R-panel is what makes it "self-venting" but yes that means it isn't air-tight. That's where your secondary house wrap, vapor barrier, rigid foam or even just sheathing like OSB comes in... if you want to make use of that venting. They make screens to go in there and they...

As per my post on vapor/moisture barriers - just keep in mind that I believe your double bubble will function as one, which will necessitate your planning on allowing a way for all layers of insulation and other materials underneath it to dry inwards. For example, it might be a bad idea to use...

As for your question about house wrap and since you also mentioned moisture barriers... What you really need to be looking at is "permeability" of the different materials you are considering and the total "wall assembly" you plan with all the layers of different materials and how they are...

I'm in the process of putting up 2 layers of 3/4 polyiso rigid foam right now. Also taping the seams. This is going to cover the entire outer skin of my building, right under the metal (actually, I'm also going to put 1x4 lathing strips to create an extra air gap behind the metal). Anyway...

Keep in mind that (I believe) the R values that garage door companies advertise are the insulation value of a point on each PANEL -- not for the whole garage door assembly. So when you factor in the cracks between the panels and the gaps at the edges, etc, you are looking at a fraction of the...

This is a pic of the pre-existing building that I'm trying to extend and frame in the walls to create a workshop. It gives you a better idea on the steel framing members.

The tubing is 3x3 structural steel on each section. I know it looks more like 1x1 in this pic! But still, I do wonder if they have enough strength to be the primary load bearing members. My contractor says it will be fine but he isn't exactly the "licensed" type so I'm trying to research it...