54x48 Pole Construction w/ RV Bay

[hemicbx]

We just got started on a new shop here in VA. This shop is based off of one that I used to own and worked well for me.

There is the overall plan:


The 40' dimension across the front from the left is a true 4 walled, insulated shop with concrete floor. The additional 14' wide bay on the right will be a open-front gravel floor bay for trailers or whatever. It will have back wall and side wall as well. That horizontal member in the RV bay won't be there; it will be a peaked opening for plenty of height.

Work on the pad started was done about 2 months ago:








This past week we began work on the framing. The building will be pole type construction. The Trusses will span the 40' section and then rafters will grab the trusses and cover the RV bay:







More to come as we progress.

-Hemicbx

 

[navin]

Plans look awesome -- where in VA are you? Wish I could afford that type of land up here (northern va area).

 

[Dividing Creek]

Nice view. What county are you in ? Looks like you are @ a nice elevation.

 

[hemicbx]

I'm in Augusta County near Staunton. It's a pretty good spot. Unfortunately, the garage is gonna block some of my best view, but it's all just a matter of priorities.

 

[hemicbx]

Weather's been rough on the project this week but trusses got set in place and the roof purlins are ready. Plan is to roof it on Monday if the weather cooperates.

 

[Boosted1]

That's gonna be nice.
Do you plan to have heat in it?
If so, have you considered insulating the slab (before the pour)?
I didn't know about that when I did my slab, but from what I have seen here that could help alot with keeping the place warm.

 

[Bricen18]

That is going to be one hell of a garage! Its coming along very quickly. hope the weather works in your favor.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Nice build, it looks cold in your neck of the woods we are looking at 104 F this week.

 

[hemicbx]

I wish it were warmer here. This cold weather work is tough on the building crew; and the schedule. But 104° is tough in another way. A nice 75° would be perfect!

It will get heat eventually, but not this year. This year is all the necessities: building, electrical, lift, workbenches, floor treatment. In the future I intend to do some sort of propane fired heat source. I had read a bunch about in-floor heat but decided against it. I've had heat in my past garages and I generally just use it to "knock the chill off". I never leave it on in an extended fashion.

 

[hemicbx]

It's been a crazy week here in VA. Last Saturday I posted pics for you with recent snow cover, and yesterday I'm walking around without a jacket. But that's let it be a productive week. Lots of good progress:







I want to get out there today and make final determination on where services are coming to & from. It's about time to dig a trench!

 

[hemicbx]

Here are a couple of shots from the back of the yard just for reference:




It's pretty clear how the front's gonna shape up now:


And here is what the outer shell will look like. This is the outer wall of the RV bay:

 

[bcrewcaptain@]

I'm in Augusta County near Staunton. It's a pretty good spot. Unfortunately, the garage is gonna block some of my best view, but it's all just a matter of priorities.

was going to say that looked like the valley, I'm in C'ville, but the in-laws are in Fishersville

 

[Sims5]

Looks very nice.

 

[hemicbx]

Nice progress this week. Back wall and side walls are basically done:

 

[MPowerKC]

Looks like its progressing along very nicely! Keep the pics coming

 

[AZ Pete]

Very nice, are you going to install hook ups in the RV bay?

 

[CodeRedZ]

wow nice size

 

[Autorotica]

Pretty cool looking "pump jack" wagon or whatever that's called. I have never seen one of those.

Chris

 

[hemicbx]

I do plan to put electrical hookup in the RV bay, but not in/out water. That just leads to too much commotion with the outgoing side. I also intend to put a 4x4 pad in the back corner of the RV bay for my vertical tank compressor.

That wagon/scaffold thing they have is BAD! Nice wide base & big tires for working in construction site conditions. And crazy amount of adjustability. It's up & down, but can also have each side managed independently to better work on gable ends

 

[Blackhawks63]

Awesome. Look forward to seeing the progress. Beautiful piece of property as well.

 

[MagKarl]

More pics of the scaffold/jack wagon please! Did you build it? That looks like a great rig.

 

[hemicbx]

Couple of pics from today

 

[hemicbx]

I'll try to get some pics in the daylight of the scaffold wagon thing. It's a really cool piece. I didn't build it, it belongs to the builder's crew

 

[Outlander]

Nice build, nice view. I would be standing around all day staring outside at the mountains, never getting anything done!

 

[hemicbx]

Several of you have asked about that special scaffold/cart thing that the guys are using. Its a Rustgo Model 139. Really flexible piece.

Here are today's pics. What do you all think about the broad expanse of tan metal above the doors and into the peak. We had talked about putting a window up there to break it up a bit (3' wide, 5' high with arched top), but the window won't be centered on the doors, it might look a little bit "off"

 

[Sims5]

Coming together very nice. Looking good.

 

[hemicbx]

The 'arctic blast' that we've been seeing on the east coast in January really put a hurt on things. We're hung up on concrete. When it's warm enough to pour, the grounds muddy, when it's cold enough for the ground, it's sub-arctic temps. Need to get some gravel brought in soon.

In the meantime, we got a cupola, a rooster up on top, a ceiling, and garage doors. I'm itching to dig a trench and run the wires!

 

[hemicbx]

Big delays are past us and we've made big progress this week. Floor got poured. It's 4" floor except where the lift columns will go. In that area it's 10-11" deep in a 3' square (you can see the depressions in the pic above). No real need to be 10" deep, but that's just the way it worked out. 27yds of concrete went in. The concrete has 4" square wire in it as well as fiber in the mix.

Now that the floor is well into curing, I've started in on electrical work yesterday.

Here are some update pics:

 

[Boosted1]

That's looking very nice. Congrats on being able to build a place with that much space.

 

[luke7734]

Building is looking awesome!
This is almost identical to what I was thinking about doing before we opted on the living space. I was still going to do concrete in my RV bay.

As for your vast expanse of metal on the front over your doors.. it's not awkward by any means.. I'd say a perfect place for a nice sign of some sort. Some kind of decorative something... tell the old lady to get on that..

and i agree on under crete insulation. If your not going to keep it warm all the time it's a waste of money.. BUT... you can never go back and do it... which can be a major utility expense later if you do heat it for long periods.

Again sweet build! What are your plans for the inside (obviously a lift) any type of rooms or just open interior?

 

[G McKay]

Wow!! That looks great!! What a beautiful place.

 

[hemicbx]

OK guys, been quite a while since my last update. I’m not the best photo-documentarian out there.

Luke7734, I just went through your whole build thread. Unbelieveable. That’s a great building!

So the biggest news is that I’ve got my electrical in and got final inspection signed off on. The biggest part of that effort was the trench and running the wire all the way up to the house. The total run is 175 feet from breaker to breaker. About 104 feet are outside in the hole and the remainder is across & through the basement. It’s in 2” conduit in the ground and then I reduce to 1.5” throught the wall & through the house.







Also I ran ¾ black poly water pipe. I had put a 6” pass-through in my floor for the water. Because the shop is lower than the house, I wanted a way to drain the piping in the shop and the feed line to the shop. So I made a little barb-to-tee-to-Elbow arrangement and off the side if the tee I put a 3/8 ball valve. It all nearly fits within a 6” pipe. My thinking is that I can reach down with a tool and open the drain valve before winter.


Outside under ground I wanted to protect it from the fill and the alve handle just didn’t quite swing within the 6” so I cut some 8” and made a little shield at the bottom and foamed it all together.


The 3/8 copper off the valve runs out into a 5 foot section of 4” corrugated with holes and that is bedded in and filled with gravel. Total volume in the line to the shop is only 2 gallons should that should handle it all just fine.


So, now to the lift. I bought a Bendpak XPR-10A. It shipped quickly; about 8 days to Virginia with minimal scratches. My favorite part was when loading it at the freight depot the guy had the forks right under the BIG yellow sticker what had an arrow that said “DO NOT LIFT HERE”. The only trailer I had access to at the time was just a bit too short. The lift sat on the front A frame of the trailer and we used a pallet to support the rear which hung off. Luckily, it was a short drive home.
The lift was 1” taller than my ceiling. Yes, I knew this was going to happen. I cut out a section of ceiling and raised it up 5.5 inches to the top of the truss’s lower board.




Of course, I tested with the smallest car first. I’ll build my way up to the truck, but we’re off to a good start.

I did a fair amount of adjusting of the cables yesterday and have the safety catches clicking at just about the same instant. Overall the lift install went well. 3 of us lifted the posts and set the top piece. The rest is a one man job.

So now I’ve started building shelves and I need to get an epoxy floor kit on order before I stain spill oil on it!

 

[GRN96WS6]

Nice shop

 

[luke7734]

Where have we been!?? There's gotta be some missing updates in here!