40 years later

[ccpanel]

Contractor and the rain finally came to a mutual but contentious understanding and the theory is that the construction that was supposed to start in Jan is now starting tomorrow.

Shop will be 40x100x16 3:12 under roof.
40x60x16 enclosed.
inside that is a 12x54x9 enclsoed space that will be divided into wood shop and machine shop.
above that with cantilever will be a ~14x60xwhatever is left over apartment/guest space that will hopefully transition into the kids apartment in college.

trying to figure out lighting, how to apply/transport power, and so forth.

main hobby will be creating a pair of 1951/1953 Chevy trucks for/with my girls while also re-doing my 50 4x4 and starting/finishing the family 50 suburban and getting my 51 panel back on the road.

anybody need a (free) job? wow. i should quit my day job.

This is the shop my dad dreamed about but never got to build before he died.

The south slope will also be hosting 70 solar panels putting out ~22kw

ambitious much?

only pic right now is grass, red clay, and sawdust from the tree I removed.

 

[930dreamer]

Congrats on starting your shop build.

 

[Hugo L.]

only pic right now is grass, red clay, and sawdust from the tree I removed.

We want that pic.

 

[ccpanel]

Pic
I made these locked against fixed objects
Hoping to do a daily time lapse sorta
If stuff is done every day. Gonna have a 30 day break while slab cures

 

[ccpanel]

also created excel/sheets sharable file
So I couldnt make heads or tails of all the different LED options.
Head spinning.

so the nerd says.... make a table.

So I did.
Its in google sheets.
this is a sharable link-you can download and edit your own version-save as....
you cant change mine BUT.. you can input your own light options, own space sizes
I have links in there for various items... links will go bad eventually.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ghPfX0MWx4qWJwZvT-FPMXgBDzyzANYZ4qVRF7Nb4BM/edit?usp=sharing

 

[mdcave]

Congratulations on getting started! Good luck to you...this will be fun!

 

[ccpanel]

So topsoil gone, big hairy red dirt slab, and discussion with wife about what to do with the shop led me to call contractor this morning and change it from 40x100 to 42x100 under roof.

Somebody stop me!

 

[Rewind97]

Congrats on the new shop, exciting times watching it go up!

Why did you add the 2 extra feet?

 

[Lassen Forge]

Like was in a movie I remember... "Don't! Stop! Don't! Stop! Don't Stop! Don't stop!"

I'm also curious about the extra 2 feet... was it to be able to walk around the vehicles, more room for the workshiop side, or to accomodate the wheels on the boat trailer?

 

[ccpanel]

The extra 2 feet was really because we wanted the apartment on top of the machine shop to be a little wider and really with my end wall doors, i was pushing the envelope of how much support between each door.
And just because....

Its gonna cost me an extra $1400 in concrete for 2x100 and $800 for the extra building part(prob a little steep) BUT.. im STEALING this building.
Really.
So much so, that I cant talk about it or i would have to ....

And really, if I had my way, i would have a 4 acre shop and never have to leave or mow...

 

[Rewind97]

True........you can NEVER have too much shop!!!

 

[ccpanel]

Made changes today got clarified and feeling better
Excited

 

[ccpanel]

so... havnt updated.... pics coming later.
LONG STORY.
Joel Hinton Downs was hired and paid $25,000 in advance(dont ever pay in advance) for this shop.
Contract was signed november 2019
COVID was NEVER-EVER-NEVER an excuse.

He strung me along, weather delays, he wasnt 'available' his/wifes "health" you want a reason-think of it and yep-thats one of them.

I rolled over-never having really hired someone (or been in a financial position to ever hire someone especially for a project this big.
I have never built a shop before/had one built

so he hired a crew to come do the slab-they failed on all accounts, things were bad, nobody listened-least of all him... and then winter number 2...(2020/2021) water filled in the trenches they had dug.. slab prep had to start all over again.

spring 2021 came/went with no slab, then summer, then fall, then in october i finally got slab prepped and my rough plumber could get in and do his thing with forms in place so we knew where things were gonna be, i used concrete crew mini-x to get my power conduit laid and the first week of November i got a slab. (whole other post)

Concrete guy was supposed to be paid by him(by this time, the cost/foot for concrete was DOUBLE the cost in 11/2019)
Pumper truck and concrete plant was paid by check by little pieces of paper he handed me(first time personal visit in months? year?) the night before the slab was laid.

Then the iron he had previously claimed he had bought and stored somewhere never materialized.... then round about January some guy in a truck pulls up, explains hes the owner of the concrete plant and his check from Joel/Joe bounced.

figures... I got no more money, Joe is on the hook, concrete crew never got paid and now plant check bounced.
Hmmm....

Feb 2022(weve been in off/on text conversation and a few phone calls) he tells me theres a warrant for his arrest for something unrelated.
2/15/2022 he goes to jail.

I finally unbury my trusting head and realize I am SOL.. he goes to the first of 5 county jails on almost $300,000 of bail money-the amount he would have to pay to leave jail-
7 counts(none of them mine yet)

and there we are.

So now I have to find someone to finish my shop.
I get quotes, and quotes, and quotes... and am reeling from the stupendous amount of cost.
I finally settle on a real good guy who has a good price.
Then he wants me to rent a welder for him(red flag-who builds buildings without having a welder-oh weekend guy who is a crew on another builder crew) and wants money up front(NOPE)
Keep in mind-im hiring for labor only-i was planning on buying the steel and paying for it myself(long story short i had made spreadsheet, quotes for steel from 7 companies, excel told me which company was cheapest and i got a good deal for 4x pricing 3 years later)

I am NEVER paying money up front. EVER. Not once. ever again.

I explained to the guy we can work out anything you want -i can pa a agreed on price each day for work done(also never paying cash-tired of people not paying taxes when i have to)
nope.

then my buddy whos trouble(in a good way) say -dont hire it-we can do it...

so i order up **,*** worth of steel(4x 2019 prices) and away we go.

pictures coming-have to get off phone, organize, send to computer....


I can figure out time line but at the end of the story, we/I put up the frame our/myself and last night(after dark) hung the last rafter.

Now I have to roll the last set of purlins, full weld everything thats maybe not finished, add in a few girts, install eave strut whenever it finally gets delivered(after the 3rd try of making it wrong 2 times!) and then et my sheets measured and ordered/delivered.

So... if you want a shop-sell your house and buy one with a shop....

 

[Cdubu52]

Holy **** CC. What a terrible thing. I had that happen with some classic car work and its not fun. Mine was no where near your expense, but it was extremely frustrating. Looking forward to your updates.

 

[scooterbum46]

Sorry to hear of your trouble... I had it happen on a garage re-side. SWMBO's son was working for the A-hole, so i let myself be strung along for most of a year. He finally said he couldn't "finish" the job - he'd had some of the OSB sheathing put up, He supposedly had ordered the steel siding, windows, etc. I started checking suppliers, he'd never ordered anything. I never got more than a few hundred bucks back from him, still owes me at least $2000.

My SIL Scott, SWMBO's son Shaun and my long suffering next door neighbor Mike, came to the rescue. SIL actually could have done it in the first place, he's got all the tools, including a beautiful siding brake, but I hated to ask him, he's a GM worker and is overworked with his side jobs too. Come to find out I hurt his feelings not asking him first. He came to me as soon as he heard the issue and said "we can get 'er done"..

I did all the material ordering, we wrapped the exterior for the winter, started next spring, came out with a very nice job. I came out even on the steel (nothing left over but the drops). The whole steel siding ordering was a snafu, but that's another story.

 

[jcarapet]

Thats a long time to deal with that. I'm sorry to hear it but look forward to seeing a shop with walls and a roof soon.

learning myself that no/minimal money down for labor. I'm out quite a bit in a similar situation with a flatwork person.

 

[thammel]

*****....just *****. Gotta always check references. It's scary. I had a guy once who I had to take to small claims court, just to get back $800....20 years ago. Makes one just want to do everything yourself....if possible.

 

[driftpin]

Hurricane Ian is gonna germinate many tales of woe about dishonest contractors. Sorry about the OP's.