hemifalcon
Well-known member
My Escape-2982sqft Shop/Garage/Hobby Epicenter in Wisconsin
So--like many of the other threads on here have given to me a plethora of thoughts and ideas and lessons learned through reading, I intend to give back a little. A few years ago when I came across this forum I enjoyed the reads created by other members about vintage tools and soon realized the extensive efforts of many to document their hobby including mechanical and wood-crafting and the spaces which were purpose built for such activities. I long dreamt of having space to house all of my stress-relievers in one location.
Little background on me--I grew up in southeastern Wisconsin and joined the Marines when I was 18.. After nine years on active duty I made the difficult choice to leave in 2008 and see if I could make it on the outside--maybe my confidence was high even while the economy took a nosedive and I had no exact plan when I get out other than to "make it work". I soon found myself working way too many hours as a second-hand mechanic in a good friends diesel repair shop and knew it wasn't meant to last forever. The work sucked and I lost my drive for my own wrench-turning hobby. I soon found myself in a favorable position of "public service" which catered very well to my appreciation of the military way of life, albeit as a civilian.
Moving on down the road I'm with a woman who is supportive of all of my hobbies and appreciates the work and effort required to rehabilitate a forgotten mechanical relic, old vehicle or make from scratch a simple craft from wood or metal. She further knows that such hobbies require space as long as the interior of the house is not destined to have the appearance of a hoarder or interior junkyard. I too do not want the inside of my home to be occupied like a multi-unit workshop.
So--approximately a year and a half ago we settled into a house in southeastern Wisconsin which allows for both of our commutes into Illinois to be bearable after finding a very comfortable older house at a price were able to stretch for. Both the Ms. and I already have two houses from previous lives which we are able to maintain and rent out in order to save ourselves from the bankruptcy route or handing the property back to the bank and losing all the money previously invested. So--we are making it work. Before we bought our current home I made a call to the village and asked what the limitations were on building sizes and was told "1500sqft"... Hmm--ok, that'd work and we had about 1.5 acres to play with having lovely trees and lots of grass. So--we eventually bought the house and moved in..
I tried my best to become friendly with the village zoning head, although difficult, eventually I found a warm spot and was able to have a human conversation with him where he offered some practical advice on how to obtain permission to go "big". The property we had bought was actually two separate residential lots and I was told that "you can not build (a garage) on an empty lot".. Hmmm.. So--I had to merge the two properties into one.. No big deal--had to hire an attorney ($$) to do the paperwork and that took about 4 months to get done.. Next--I had to petition the village to modify the ordinance (decided with some recommendations this was the best idea as a variance could get potentially denied). So--after another four months and lots of phone calls I get good news. I review the modified ordinance and see that it allows for a 3000sqft structure on a lot my size.. Well--we all know that space creates vacuum--so what the heck I spoke with the Ms and explained to her that 2400sqft was nice, but why not max out the space although it'd be a little more expensive (but much more roomy and comfortable). I shot for the moon and here's what I ended up with: (Mind you--I kind of hate it that a lot of space is being eaten up by the building, however my grass cutting times will be shortened-no pun intended-no more storage costs, and all my "junk" stays in one place! No trees will be harmed in the process).
So--I did a lot of reading online and talking with friends whom have structures for their hobby lives and decided for cost and practicality that a wood-framed pole barn is a great way to go. I can also segment the project by contracting the building of the barn (would love to have built myself, but my brand new baby doesn't need my attention pulled away from him for his first year) and later having the concrete and necessary utilities installed which my current bank account can't support. So--after all the reading and researching and finding a suitable builder-the plan calls for a 42'x71' pole building with scissor trusses allowing plenty of height for a post lift eventually (11'6" at the wall and approximately 14' and change in the center). The building will have 24" overhangs on all sides, 18'x11' door on one end, 2 x 10x10' doors on the opposite end, 8x8' door on the north side and four windows with a man door. The garage is not destined to be fancy--but I don't want it to look out of place in a residential area. Granted--when spring/summer is here, many of the mature trees will block the view of the garage as I'm at a dead end street and I don't want it to be totally in plain view.
Currently I have plans from Cleary and Pekul, Pekul is a local builder and I've seen a number of their buildings and they are quality built. The owner came and scouted my property and is very non-sales approach in his business. Cleary--well, a good product and well known--I just don't like the sales pitch and the prices is just slightly higher than Pekul while Cleary would be using lesser quality components (garage doors). I'm going to attempt to attach pictures of the general appearance of the building and the floorplan which I intend to accomplish. I have a friend-of-a-friend who has his own excavating business who will build the leveled pad with stone and also will put a crushed stone driveway on my property for a very reasonable price thankfully. Pending the departure of this snow on the ground, he said he could start ground work next week.
Either way--this is only "the beginning".. I'm sure there will still be some hurdle$ down the road.. I still have to sell off the '99 Harley Springer and my '95 Scamp Trailer to make ends meet--shouldn't be too difficult though..
So--like many of the other threads on here have given to me a plethora of thoughts and ideas and lessons learned through reading, I intend to give back a little. A few years ago when I came across this forum I enjoyed the reads created by other members about vintage tools and soon realized the extensive efforts of many to document their hobby including mechanical and wood-crafting and the spaces which were purpose built for such activities. I long dreamt of having space to house all of my stress-relievers in one location.
Little background on me--I grew up in southeastern Wisconsin and joined the Marines when I was 18.. After nine years on active duty I made the difficult choice to leave in 2008 and see if I could make it on the outside--maybe my confidence was high even while the economy took a nosedive and I had no exact plan when I get out other than to "make it work". I soon found myself working way too many hours as a second-hand mechanic in a good friends diesel repair shop and knew it wasn't meant to last forever. The work sucked and I lost my drive for my own wrench-turning hobby. I soon found myself in a favorable position of "public service" which catered very well to my appreciation of the military way of life, albeit as a civilian.
Moving on down the road I'm with a woman who is supportive of all of my hobbies and appreciates the work and effort required to rehabilitate a forgotten mechanical relic, old vehicle or make from scratch a simple craft from wood or metal. She further knows that such hobbies require space as long as the interior of the house is not destined to have the appearance of a hoarder or interior junkyard. I too do not want the inside of my home to be occupied like a multi-unit workshop.
So--approximately a year and a half ago we settled into a house in southeastern Wisconsin which allows for both of our commutes into Illinois to be bearable after finding a very comfortable older house at a price were able to stretch for. Both the Ms. and I already have two houses from previous lives which we are able to maintain and rent out in order to save ourselves from the bankruptcy route or handing the property back to the bank and losing all the money previously invested. So--we are making it work. Before we bought our current home I made a call to the village and asked what the limitations were on building sizes and was told "1500sqft"... Hmm--ok, that'd work and we had about 1.5 acres to play with having lovely trees and lots of grass. So--we eventually bought the house and moved in..
I tried my best to become friendly with the village zoning head, although difficult, eventually I found a warm spot and was able to have a human conversation with him where he offered some practical advice on how to obtain permission to go "big". The property we had bought was actually two separate residential lots and I was told that "you can not build (a garage) on an empty lot".. Hmmm.. So--I had to merge the two properties into one.. No big deal--had to hire an attorney ($$) to do the paperwork and that took about 4 months to get done.. Next--I had to petition the village to modify the ordinance (decided with some recommendations this was the best idea as a variance could get potentially denied). So--after another four months and lots of phone calls I get good news. I review the modified ordinance and see that it allows for a 3000sqft structure on a lot my size.. Well--we all know that space creates vacuum--so what the heck I spoke with the Ms and explained to her that 2400sqft was nice, but why not max out the space although it'd be a little more expensive (but much more roomy and comfortable). I shot for the moon and here's what I ended up with: (Mind you--I kind of hate it that a lot of space is being eaten up by the building, however my grass cutting times will be shortened-no pun intended-no more storage costs, and all my "junk" stays in one place! No trees will be harmed in the process).
So--I did a lot of reading online and talking with friends whom have structures for their hobby lives and decided for cost and practicality that a wood-framed pole barn is a great way to go. I can also segment the project by contracting the building of the barn (would love to have built myself, but my brand new baby doesn't need my attention pulled away from him for his first year) and later having the concrete and necessary utilities installed which my current bank account can't support. So--after all the reading and researching and finding a suitable builder-the plan calls for a 42'x71' pole building with scissor trusses allowing plenty of height for a post lift eventually (11'6" at the wall and approximately 14' and change in the center). The building will have 24" overhangs on all sides, 18'x11' door on one end, 2 x 10x10' doors on the opposite end, 8x8' door on the north side and four windows with a man door. The garage is not destined to be fancy--but I don't want it to look out of place in a residential area. Granted--when spring/summer is here, many of the mature trees will block the view of the garage as I'm at a dead end street and I don't want it to be totally in plain view.
Currently I have plans from Cleary and Pekul, Pekul is a local builder and I've seen a number of their buildings and they are quality built. The owner came and scouted my property and is very non-sales approach in his business. Cleary--well, a good product and well known--I just don't like the sales pitch and the prices is just slightly higher than Pekul while Cleary would be using lesser quality components (garage doors). I'm going to attempt to attach pictures of the general appearance of the building and the floorplan which I intend to accomplish. I have a friend-of-a-friend who has his own excavating business who will build the leveled pad with stone and also will put a crushed stone driveway on my property for a very reasonable price thankfully. Pending the departure of this snow on the ground, he said he could start ground work next week.
Either way--this is only "the beginning".. I'm sure there will still be some hurdle$ down the road.. I still have to sell off the '99 Harley Springer and my '95 Scamp Trailer to make ends meet--shouldn't be too difficult though..
Attachments
Last edited:
