Placer's 30x40 farm shop in PA

Placer · Jan 3, 2016

First I have to say how much I've enjoyed reading about everyone's garages/shops on here. All very inspirational and have given me lots of ideas on what I can do with my own little area.
A quick background- I am a full time farmer and purchased our farm several years ago. On it was a 30x40x12 bare bones pole building. Since we were trying to earn a living (and keep the bankers happy) I wasn't able to put any time/money into this shop so it just became the proverbial dumping ground for EVERYTHING. Tools, non-tools, kids bikes, etc. Little by little the once spacious shop no longer has space to pull in a truck/tractor to work on it without having to shift stuff from one place to another.
Finally, I said enough is enough and with a little inspiration from here started reclaiming my space.
Immediate plans-
1 - sort and get rid of stuff I don't need/use.
2- insulate and skin the walls
3- add ceiling and blown insulation
4- install insulated overhead door to replace the damaged slider
5- heat
6- organize
7- drink copious amounts of beer throughout the process (should move up to number 1).

I should be clear that this won't be a thread full of high dollar finishes and such. This is a working farm shop and all equipment that comes thru here is meant to earn its keep.
I hope you come along for the ride and contribute your ideas and I embark on this effort.
Here are some pictures of the absolute mess I am attacking.

And a couple of random shots around the farm to "set the stage" of what we do around here.

Duker · Jan 3, 2016

Placer said:
1- get Friends to drink copious amounts of beer to help me throughout the process.

I fixed number 7 and made it number 1 for you!

Congrats on getting started in the process. You have a building with some good "bones" it will make a great working shop.

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Placer · Jan 3, 2016

Duker said:
I fixed number 7 and made it number 1 for you!

Congrats on getting started in the process. You have a building with some good "bones" it will make a great working shop.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Ha, thanks.
It should probably actually read-
1- get friends to come and do actual work under the guise of drinking copious amounts of beer

JBourquin · Jan 3, 2016

I'm already jealous, you've got a great shop to work with.

Placer · Jan 3, 2016

JBourquin said:
I'm already jealous, you've got a great shop to work with.

Thank you-
I'm very much looking forward to getting it insulated/heated and organized so that it become a more enjoyable place to work and hang out.

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Placer · Jan 3, 2016

Gonna have to do this job one wall at a time-
Move stuff off of wall, insulate, vapor barrier, nailers, plywood- lather-rinse-repeat.
Scored the 7'2" r19 batts from the local Morton building installer. They had a few extra rolls left over from a recent job and were planning on sending them back to their warehouse. I just happened to call the day before they went. Big score for me.

stuff stacked everywhere.

6 mil vapor barrier

2x4 nailers

finally some skin on these walls - went with 7/16" OSB

drivesitfar · Jan 3, 2016

Placer: i just saw you already started your thread so thought i'd make a post and follow along. love the TO DO list and i agree with post #3 for the best way to have a little fun and maybe get more work done. or just have them over to fix the farm equipment if you need help after you get shop set up.

one suggestion i might add before you end up building a lot of shelves out of wood is to keep your eye out for steel pallet racking. you can get 10 or 12 foot depending what will fit inside your shop and you don't need a bottom shelf so you can place machines, tool boxes and pallets of goods right on the floor. here's a quick photo of what i'm talking about.

as i mentioned in the intro thread you have if you put a link to this thread in your sig line you might get more followers when you are posting elsewhere if you haven't done that already. also posting good pictures of not only your barn, but of other projects and maybe cool pictures of your local area might get more viewers and help or ideas as you might need some.

cheers and best of luck, but looking great so far

Placer · Jan 3, 2016

drivesitfar - that's a great idea with the pallet racks. I'll keep my eye out for them. A couple or areas I'm planning on building a shelf at the 8' height mark so that I have complete open space under. I've got an old international loadstar that needs some love and I'll need all the open wall space possible to be able to pull it in all the way.

drivesitfar · Jan 3, 2016

Since you have tall ceilings like i do at my storage unit i bought 12 foot racks that were 4 foot deep and put 8 foot beams on them and placed them so i could drive my utility trailer under them and use the space above the trailer for storage. i'll try to get you a better picture if you don't quite understand or maybe you can see what i'm talking about in this picture.

wasfast · Jan 3, 2016

It may be far easier to rent 1 (or 2......) steel containers to store the majority of things during the interior work. You'll end up moving things 3-4 times which really slows down getting the walls done. It also forces a decision with each thing you pick up (do I really need this?) to move to the container.....

Kevkx125 · Jan 3, 2016

Looks good so far and 30x40 is a nice size shop I have the same size.

spike99250 · Jan 3, 2016

If I may make a suggestion, switch out the 6 mil poly for some type of breathable housewrap. With heat on the inside, any cold, moisture laden air, that sneaks in is going to condense on that plastic and start a myriad of problems inside that wall.

malibu101 · Jan 3, 2016

Very nice place you got there!

If you don't want to divulge on the internet I fully understand. Where about are you in the Lehigh Valley? I'm on the northern end of the LV.
The pics showing the mountain in the back like like many places around me.

morgantm · Jan 3, 2016

Good looking operation! What fencing do you use for your hens? We use the Premier here but I'm not totally in love with it.

Placer · Jan 3, 2016

wasfast said:
It may be far easier to rent 1 (or 2......) steel containers to store the majority of things during the interior work. You'll end up moving things 3-4 times which really slows down getting the walls done. It also forces a decision with each thing you pick up (do I really need this?) to move to the container.....

I was thinking of doing that but ended up trying to save a few bucks when I could. Did cull a lot of junk in the moving around though.

Placer · Jan 3, 2016

spike99250 said:
If I may make a suggestion, switch out the 6 mil poly for some type of breathable housewrap. With heat on the inside, any cold, moisture laden air, that sneaks in is going to condense on that plastic and start a myriad of problems inside that wall.

Too late for that. We wrapped up the walls portion today.
This was the method the Morton building lbs guy told me to go. From my understanding the purpose of the vapor barrier is to prevent migration of moisture thru the walls. Any moisture that comes into the interior should not be a problem because the heated air will dry it. Is that wrong?

Placer · Jan 3, 2016

malibu101 said:
Very nice place you got there!

If you don't want to divulge on the internet I fully understand. Where about are you in the Lehigh Valley? I'm on the northern end of the LV.
The pics showing the mountain in the back like like many places around me.

Thank you.
We're in Bushkill township.

Placer · Jan 3, 2016

morgantm said:
Good looking operation! What fencing do you use for your hens? We use the Premier here but I'm not totally in love with it.

Thank you
We just switched to premier from Kencove so I can't really say if it's the right move or not. So far we like it but it's only been a few months. Ask me again in a year

spike99250 · Jan 3, 2016

Placer said:
Too late for that. We wrapped up the walls portion today.
This was the method the Morton building lbs guy told me to go. From my understanding the purpose of the vapor barrier is to prevent migration of moisture thru the walls. Any moisture that comes into the interior should not be a problem because the heated air will dry it. Is that wrong?

It is more of a problem on the exterior side of the plastic, picture a soda can in the summer.
Hopefully your building is pretty well sealed up and you won't have any problems. I don't want to cause you any concerns, I was just making a suggestion.

Nhrafan26 · Jan 5, 2016

Eastern PA here as well. Not far from you at all. Probably 45 minutes at most. Right along the mountain. I'll be following along.
I just put up a 30X40 pole building last month, will be pouring the concrete this spring and organizing everything. I am trying to come up with a plan which is good i have all winter to take my time.
Can you tell me who the Morton building is in the area? I've heard you can get good deals from them on all kinds of stuff.
I'm looking for white metal to do my ceiling in and possibly the walls too. I'm either going to spray foam or blow in insulation.
Building link in sig.

Placer · Jan 6, 2016

Nhrafan26 said:
Eastern PA here as well. Not far from you at all. Probably 45 minutes at most. Right along the mountain. I'll be following along.
I just put up a 30X40 pole building last month, will be pouring the concrete this spring and organizing everything. I am trying to come up with a plan which is good i have all winter to take my time.
Can you tell me who the Morton building is in the area? I've heard you can get good deals from them on all kinds of stuff.
I'm looking for white metal to do my ceiling in and possibly the walls too. I'm either going to spray foam or blow in insulation.
Building link in sig.

Morton buildings in the area is the Phillipsburg NJ location
(908) 454-7900
Good luck.

Placer · Jan 6, 2016

Got a good bit more done over the weekend on the walls.
Still a few sheets to put up to button it up then I can start on the ceiling.

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