My back yard fab shop

NASTYZEN · Jul 27, 2010

Too bad I've only recently come across this great site recently.I'm sure it would of changed some of the things in my build.Up until then I thought I was the only twisted masochist nut to try and build his own garage,but I'm comforted to see we are numerous here :beer:

So here goes.My garage is 20x30 three stories 23 ft at the tip.The ongoing build started in 2006 and has taken forever because I am self employed and doing most of the work myself. :lol_hitti

I mashed most of my fingers,a knee some toes,managed to nail myself not only with a 3 1/4``pneumatic nail gun but also with the 1 1/4``finishing gun as well.But in the end it was all worth it!
Here it is.

NASTYZEN · Jul 27, 2010

Unfortunately we hit bed rock and could not set the foundation as deep as it needed to be level with the other shop.It turns out to be 2.5 ft higher.No cash for the dynamite guys so I'll to get used to it one day.

NASTYZEN · Jul 27, 2010

Because of the depth problem I had to compromise a little.We made the foundation with a bridge at the front part so as to make the base as low as possible and I found some old railway rails that are very short to support the first floor.I love to recycle so using old 1920s rail tracks gave me a little kick.
Had to make a longer reaching boom for the lift.Thank you so much Clark :thumbup:

It took two of us 5 days to fill the blocks.Broke the cement mixer.

NASTYZEN · Jul 27, 2010

The pump again,high strength cement floors and added hardener to the surface.
All polished smooth and level.My other shop floor is terrible to build anything on because it's so uneven so I took great care in making sure this one was perfect.

JC23 · Jul 27, 2010

NASTYZEN,

Three floors? Whatcha gonna do with those?

BTW, Nice work! Especially cool when done DIY.

NASTYZEN · Jul 27, 2010

One row of brick took about one day to complete.At one point my wife took pity upon me and took up the job of finishing the joints as I lay down brick(Before I lay down).Doesn't she look impressed?I love her so! :bowdown:

NASTYZEN · Jul 27, 2010

JC23 said:
NASTYZEN,

Three floors? Whatcha gonna do with those?

BTW, Nice work! Especially cool when done DIY.

I have way to much stuff! :shocking:

Call me the Breeze · Jul 27, 2010

Looking forward to seeing more pictures... and a good wife is a great thing to have!

larry_g · Jul 27, 2010

Is that railroad rail that you are using to support the second floor? I would never have thought that it would have had the strength to span 20". Did you get calcs on the floor rating? That is sure looking like a nice build.

lg
no neat sig line

Bib Overalls · Jul 27, 2010

Interesting project. You are lucky to have a wife that is willing to get dirty.

NASTYZEN · Jul 28, 2010

larry_g said:
Is that railroad rail that you are using to support the second floor? I would never have thought that it would have had the strength to span 20". Did you get calcs on the floor rating? That is sure looking like a nice build.

lg
no neat sig line

Actually discussed it with an engineer at the time.That`s why it spans only 9 feet.Made a support beam spanning the length of the building with a post in the middle and also spaced them close together.The rivet on my baseball cap just barely scrapes the bottom of the beam when I walk under it.
So far I've had a 19000lbs forklift with a 8000lbs machine on the forks drive on it no problem. :beer:

NASTYZEN · Jul 28, 2010

Back fill and lay down railway ties so as not sink with the fork lift.I welded an attachment that fit the lift to get the trusses in place.My wife took one look at the process and smacked me behind the head.
Worked not bad,good thing I'm not bothered by heights.

tdkkart · Jul 28, 2010

larry_g said:
Is that railroad rail that you are using to support the second floor? I would never have thought that it would have had the strength to span 20". Did you get calcs on the floor rating? That is sure looking like a nice build.

I knew as soon as I saw the pictures that the question was gonna come up........

larry_g · Jul 28, 2010

tdkkart said:
I knew as soon as I saw the pictures that the question was gonna come up........

Me too, so I thought I would save others the embarrasment. I would have never thought to use rail as a structural element. The SP mainline boarders our property and when they are putting out rail some of it looks like a wet noodle, 'course some of them are 1/4 mile long I hear.

lg
no neat sig line

Boiler · Jul 28, 2010

My concern was that the rail was never designed to be loaded in bending, so I didn't know how well it was made.

NASTYZEN · Jul 28, 2010

Boiler said:
My concern was that the rail was never designed to be loaded in bending, so I didn't know how well it was made.

I grew up next to a rail line and when the train goes by the track rail actually moves down over an inch each time a wheel goes over it if you take a look.
What amazes me is the number of cycles they can go threw in a lifetime.
They are made of high quality spring steel.They are designed too be supported every24 in. or so.But carry extreme loads.
In this application the weight is much less.The slab is 7in. with 3/4 in. armature going the 20 ft. every 18 in. and set at 2in. from the bottom so as to be in tension.That alone being supported in the center is enough to do the job.So the rails are more for holding the whole thing together during pouring and overkill for the use I am needing out of the building.I am a metal fabricator and the machines I use are heavy.
Another thing I did was to flame cut holes in the rail extremities and pass 3/4 armature thew the length of the building and welding them to the armature coming horizontally from the side wall bricks.The rails were put directly on top of the bricks and the corrugated sheets on top of those leaving the sheets short so there was an even gap all around between the sheet and the outer mold.I screwed plywood sheet between all the rails making an inner mold so that when poured the floor would have like a footing locking everything together.
We had a mag 5.0 earthquake the other day and I was in the building at the time.Things just rumbled for a while no damage but I still ran out!We never usually feel em here,this one was a little scary for us in the northeast.

NASTYZEN · Jul 28, 2010

Yes that's frost all over.I finished the metal roof on November 24 2006.Because of the terrain I could not use scaffolding and had to use my ladder.Took six days to do and I wept from the pain and the joy of being done(the roof that is)
Mother nature cooperated, it was cold but it snowed unusually late that year. :bowdown:

NASTYZEN · Jul 28, 2010

Got it closed just in the nick of time.I was happy with the foam color at first but it didn't last.

930dreamer · Jul 28, 2010

WOW, 80 something degrees here.

JC23 · Jul 28, 2010

Snow in July??? Are like at the North Pole?

Seriously, how far north are you and is this nornal for there? I never imagined that could happen. I'm gonna have to mapquest you.

NASTYZEN · Jul 28, 2010

JC23 said:
Snow in July??? Are like at the North Pole?

Seriously, how far north are you and is this nornal for there? I never imagined that could happen. I'm gonna have to mapquest you.

Not July

It was december of 2006!
Gotta read all the treads friend.

e-tek · Jul 29, 2010

930dreamer said:
WOW, 80 something degrees here.

JC23 said:
Snow in July??? Are like at the North Pole?

Seriously, how far north are you and is this nornal for there? I never imagined that could happen. I'm gonna have to mapquest you.

Ah, ya, time to mapquest Can-a-DUH, eh!!! :lol_hitti

trbomax · Jul 29, 2010

NASTYZEN said:
Yes that's frost all over.I finished the metal roof on November 24 2006.Because of the terrain I could not use scaffolding and had to use my ladder.Took six days to do and I wept from the pain and the joy of being done(the roof that is)
Mother nature cooperated, it was cold but it snowed unusually late that year.

Notice he said "late that year",I think the pics are from the build,not today.

Craftman · Jul 29, 2010

nice to see a other canadian on the board and welcome im from Montreal!

NASTYZEN · Aug 4, 2010

Early 2007 a storm blew in from the north and partly uprooted a big maple tree behind the shop,leaving it leaning dangerously towards my pride and joy!
After being unsuccessful trying to find a pro to bring it down safely because they were in high demand after the storm.I took it upon myself to do the job. :lol_hitti

I won't do it again.

NASTYZEN · Aug 4, 2010

I had no time for the suffit or drywall upstairs before that past winter(which is from Nov.to
April up at this latitude).So I found a few unwanted guests in the spring. :wtf:

NUTTSGT · Aug 5, 2010

As tall as that thing is, I would never have guessed it was 20x30. Great project and an awesome wife to get in there and help.

drmarkr · Aug 5, 2010

NASTYZEN said:
I have way to much stuff!

Impossible.

NASTYZEN · Aug 5, 2010

Maybe I should open up a zoo!

After running the lights and heat off of an extension cord for months it was time for a proper hydro hookup.But for that I needed to dig a trench 2 feet deep and 75 feet long.Perfect job for the wife!She saved my but again! :beer:

By this time winter was just around the corner again.And if you look closely at the chimney you will notice that it was knocked off by falling snow the previous winter.
As it turned out, that small baby flying squirrel we found in the spring and named Gilbert was actually Gilbertine made a nest in the elbow of the chimney right up against the machine.Never saw it even with a flashlight when I put the bit that fell off back on.Took the regional distributor guy and there best technician to figure it out weeks later.

NASTYZEN · Aug 5, 2010

drmarkr said:
Impossible.

Hoarder

NASTYZEN · Aug 9, 2010

Some of the reasons why the build took so long.
I know no helmet,but it wasn't my head.

NASTYZEN · Sep 13, 2010

Busy summer!Many projects,gotta pay for my shop.
Ok so where was I?
Late 2008 of this build.Ran out of the wooden planks that I used for the siding.I was only able to complete three sides.I had cut down a bunch of spruce trees 3 years before and had a guy cut out planks witch I stacked for drying for all this time.I was sure that I had enough to do the job but they shrank so much and were all of irregular sizes that I ran out!
So the building back wall remained open to the elements for yet another winter. :scared:

The original intent was to stain the planks a light color,but the wood being sawed rough caused them to turn out the color they did,witch actually tuned out better in my opinion.
I used sanded pine for all the window and door trim and stained them all with the same Sikens stain and they turned out light! :headscrat

My wife painted all the trim white the next spring that gave it a much better look.
Any way,that same year new contracts caused me to spend a whole lotta cash on new toys for the fabshop and the rest of the time was spent on learning how to operate the new equipment.
I only have single phase power on the street here so I had to get a rotary 3 phase converter and a stepup transformer to get it all running. :eyecrazy:

NASTYZEN · Sep 22, 2010

Here's a few more.
Now nobody freak out!These are from winter 08-09.
All the bits are for Porsche 944 tie rod links and replacement bushings for control arms.
No more room for complete cars anymore,just bits

babzog · Sep 22, 2010

Love the shop... nice colour contrast on the walls/trim. Looks like you got a good dumping of snow!

NASTYZEN · Sep 27, 2010

babzog said:
Love the shop... nice colour contrast on the walls/trim. Looks like you got a good dumping of snow!

Thank you,It's my dream come true.No more traffic,only 47 steps from the front door of the house to the front shop door.Yes we got dumped on pretty good that year the snow blowers kept breaking down.

I hope you still like the contrast now.The wife didn't,so spring of 09 she painted all the trim white to get more contrast.And frankly I like it better this way. :thumbup:

As I had run out of my home made planks and didn't want to cut more trees and wait 2 years for them to dry.I scored some dry pine planks for 00.35 cents the linear foot.They were all the same width and took way less time to fit than what the rest of the building had taken.The only hick is that they are all sanded smooth and came out light colored! :lol_hitti

.
Oh well they were cheap and no one goes to the back of the shop but me.Besides I have no neighbor in back,only forest and I built a shed on that wall this summer with the mezzanine that you see in the shots that hides most of it now.I'm trying to post all these pictures chronologically so I will get to the shed project later on.The mezzanine is one of three I had built for the last shop I was in.Reuse,reduce recycle.
I had my poor wife stain the entire wood planks and dig so much that I rented her a Kubota this time to play with in the yard.She was so happy!
Not many girls can carry rocks and dig the way she does!I do love her so.

NASTYZEN · Nov 23, 2010

Hi all here's a little more details from the basement,Center post,45 hp rotary phase converter and transformer,a close up of my controversial railway track use.I'll get to that buggy one day.It needs paint and is a little cramped but it's an extra 600sq. ft. of space.It was filled beyond capacity with (everything!!)Up until this summer when I built myself a storage shed to put (everything!!) in .
Now at least it's usable space.I have future plans for it.Right now I,m fixing up the top floor for a more or less studio for the wife as well as more storage.I have way to much stuff.

RbrtAWhyt · Nov 23, 2010

I'm curious about the buggies. They look fun as hell. What kind of powerplants do they have?

NASTYZEN · Nov 24, 2010

RbrtAWhyt said:
I'm curious about the buggies. They look fun as hell. What kind of powerplants do they have?

I built 20 of those buggies for a go kart rental place in Orford.They are powered by Honda 12hp power plants with Comet centrifugal clutches.
The unpainted one in the basement is a 2 seater with a Kawasaki 600cc engine.It should move along.
Still have to work out a reverse gear and front suspension. :headscrat

JohnJL · Nov 24, 2010

NASTYZEN said:
I built 20 of those buggies for a go kart rental place in Orford.They are powered by Honda 12hp power plants with Comet centrifugal clutches.
The unpainted one in the basement is a 2 seater with a Kawasaki 600cc engine.It should move along.
Still have to work out a reverse gear and front suspension.

I was planning on building one of those over the winter, do you have plans?

NASTYZEN · Nov 24, 2010

Sorry,sold all the tooling and plans to some guy.Took up way too much space for the revenue and headaches it generated.I'd rather build one or two race car projects at a time.Pays much better.

My back yard fab shop

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