South African "Werkswinkel" Workshop

katotter · Jul 2, 2019

So after many moons, many monies and many other projects, I am finally in the market to start erecting my newest addition. I will post my plans at firs and then progress as we go along, it might take some time but I will get there in the end.

I bought a steel structure off a fellow farmer and it laid bare for a white, till I had time to sand it down and prime it again. It is constructed from 100*65mm I beams and 100*75mm Lipped channel for the roof purlins. The old galv sink sheets will be replaced with new bent and modern ones. Majority of the wall will be sink sheets and some will be brick and mortar.

Here is where I propose to build the workshop. The red is my entire property the blue is the proposed build site.

I had to build a retention wall in order to level the area that I will be building on.

Filling commenced, note that this is not cheap in RSA as machines are very expensive to hire, roughly $350 per day dry.

The basic structure is 9.0m x 18.0m (30ft x 60ft) and I will be adding a 3.0m x 18.0m lean to structure to add an external storage area.

DynoDave · Jul 2, 2019

Congrats!

I cannot see the pictures you posted.

Bighead38 · Jul 2, 2019

DynoDave said:
Congrats!

I cannot see the pictures you posted.

I can’t either.

Stuart in MN · Jul 2, 2019

Here are the pictures - when using imgur, you have to change the URL of each picture from https: to http:.

katotter · Jul 3, 2019

Stuart in MN said:
Here are the pictures - when using imgur, you have to change the URL of each picture from https: to http:.

Thank you so much, I will edit my original post now.

katotter · Jul 3, 2019

So here are the basic plans, I might change it a bit here and there but it is supposed to look like this when I am done. The side with three doors are for my builder, he is permanently employed and stays on the land with us, I am building him a new spot, his current place is poorly built, although livable, its not the best.

That's the idea anyway.

rixtrix1 · Jul 3, 2019

Looking for ward to this. Welcome!

silver6933 · Jul 3, 2019

Is the retaining wall, in the picture, finished? Those look like cement brick stocks.

What is the loading on the wall?

Grizz1963 · Jul 3, 2019

Mooi.

Ek kyk vir jou.

ZRX61 · Jul 3, 2019

Is the builder who lives on your land the same guy who built that retention wall??

Guster · Jul 3, 2019

Good luck with the build. What do you have planned for the inside?

PS. Is jy seker? Dit lyk vir my meer na 'n paleis as a werkswinkel.

katotter · Jul 4, 2019

rixtrix1 said:
Looking for ward to this. Welcome!

I have a garage thread on here from 2013, but it died when I moved out and had to put all my stuff in storage, this one will be for keeps.

silver6933 said:
Is the retaining wall, in the picture, finished? Those look like cement brick stocks.

What is the loading on the wall?

The wall is not finished, it will get mortar plaster (rendered) and painted at the end. It virtually has no load because it is not retaining on the sides as well, thus it only holds in about 2-4 feet of soil.

Grizz1963 said:
Mooi.

Ek kyk vir jou.

Dankie.

ZRX61 said:
Is the builder who lives on your land the same guy who built that retention wall??

Yeah, he has been traveling with me for years.

Guster said:
Good luck with the build. What do you have planned for the inside?

PS. Is jy seker? Dit lyk vir my meer na 'n paleis as a werkswinkel.

As for the plans inside, hopefully no vehicle storage, ie garage, bur I am planning on a full carpentry workshop, maybe some metalwork too for fancy legs and such, but mostly just carpentry as I want to get my carpentry business back up and running.

As for the paleis, it is massive for South Africa (and a homestead at that) but I got the frame for a steal so it only makes sense to go big.

katotter · Jul 4, 2019

My next planning will be for my solar system, as I do not have any utility on my stand, not even a pole for a transformer.

I have a huge battery bank (48 x 520ah lead acid) that I am using currently at my house that I will be splitting up and adding new panels, with a 5kw inverter and as large a controller I can find. It all will be single phase (220v).

ajohno · Jul 4, 2019

Going to look great katotter.

g ford · Jul 5, 2019

you live in the Bosveld

katotter · Jul 5, 2019

ajohno said:
Going to look great katotter.

That is my aim, thanks.

katotter · Jul 5, 2019

g ford said:
you live in the Bosveld

Not in the heart of the Bushveld, but as close as you can get yes.

I visit the Cape every so often I can afford to.

katotter · Oct 4, 2019

So the time has come for the footings. Had my guys dig the footings as level as they could and we cast a strong concrete mis in it. Dimensions was 600mm x 600mm x 600mm (2ft x 2ft x 2ft). There are 10 footings and they were cast in two days. Now for the wait for the concrete to cure then to install the frame and structure.

SRX · Oct 4, 2019

If you find any snakes, take a pic or two (preferably alive). I bet you have quite the fauna around your place.

katotter · Oct 7, 2019

SRX said:
If you find any snakes, take a pic or two (preferably alive). I bet you have quite the fauna around your place.

I will be sure to do that, we are not snake killers (my dogs might be) but I try to have them captured if they might bring us any harm, the harmless ones are free to roam their land. Common ones are:

Boomslang
Puff adder
Mamba
Cobra
Stick snake (branch snake, dunno)
Mole snake
Legless snake (legless salamander, dunno)
and a few others.

We have some hair raising scorpions too, those I bottle up and take them to the reptile park for inspection, then set them free in a similar environment.

katotter · Oct 7, 2019

So the footings have been cast and I am patiently awaiting their curing. After that I will be installing some M20 threaded bar into the footings at the correct spacing to affix the legs to, I actually wanted to make some fancy base plates with gussets and all that but decided that old school is best. After that I will dig the main foundation, cast that with some rebar and start taking up the foundation walls to final floor lever. Turns out my eye-level was out with 4 bricks, now I will have to either raise my retention wall or slope the ground-cover from the floor lever to the current retention wall height. After that I will probably take some time off from building on the workshop as I do not have the funding currently to pour the floor, premix concrete is hellishly expensive over here, and hand mixing is not advised.

Thanks,

katotter · Mar 29, 2020

katotter · Mar 29, 2020

Day three of the quarantine and I have this up already. Hopefully done end of this coming week. I had a challenge with the footings and foundations. Everyone makes mistakes and I made a great one. Drilled the holes for the threaded bar at the wrong angle and had to make an adapter plate to get them aligned. Onwards and upwards as they say.

katotter · May 21, 2020

So I forgot to post the rest, I am at a standstill due to certain materials I cant get during lock down. Roof sheeting is up, apart from the ridge cap.

Next will be to dig the foundations for the walls to floor level, get a machine to level the soil out and pour the floor.

wasfast · May 21, 2020

How do you get into the shop? The approach looks like the end where the retaining wall is but obviously you can't drive over the wall

katotter · May 23, 2020

wasfast said:
How do you get into the shop? The approach looks like the end where the retaining wall is but obviously you can't drive over the wall

That is not the approach, just my other carport. The entrance will be on the left of the last picture, to the left of the stacks of bricks.

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