Barn to Shop project.

[xctreker]

I need a place to work on cars and hopefully aircraft eventually.
When we bought the house it had a large barn but was not suitable for mechanican'. Even thought I tried. See the picture of the green audi. It was 75% dirt floors and had a small shop that was extremely rocky, sloped, and very uncomfortable concrete.
My original plan was to make a garage door in the side and pave that middle section alone so that I could install a lift.
My concrete man suggest I use the horse stall area for the lift. I resisted because it would be a lot of work to pull all the stalls out. But after thinking it through, I realized he was right. He are some "before" pictures.


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[xctreker]

Here are some in progress pictures of the horse stall removal.

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[xctreker]

Now I want to make the middle and horse stall area level with each other which means removing a lot of fill rocks and dirt.
Still have a long way to go.

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[xctreker]

Here is the little wood shop area. We are going to level and pave this area too.

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[Batjac65]

I thought the title was “BORN to Shop Project” and you were starting a thread about my wife...glad to see I was wrong .

This should be a great shop transition.

 

[xctreker]

I thought the title was “BORN to Shop Project” and you were starting a thread about my wife...glad to see I was wrong .

This should be a great shop transition.

I hope so. Sometimes progress is so slow. Especially when you rely on a neighbor for help in excavating. Might have to rent a skidsteer

 

[Dividing Creek]

Cool setting pictures. What state are you in that you have so many potato sized rock ?
Looks like a worthy building to save.

 

[CafeTools]

You have some good space, not too small, very good investment it should pay off!

 

[xctreker]

Cool setting pictures. What state are you in that you have so many potato sized rock ?
Looks like a worthy building to save.

Thanks, we are in East Kansas about an hour south of KC. The back shop section is 28 x 43 and the smaller shop is 28' x 12'

 

[xctreker]

Little more progress. It's getting pretty muggy.

 

[matt_i]

Very cool, I love the character of old ag buildings like this. Reminds me of exploring my grandparents farm as a kid.

With less gravel I was going to recommend a rototiller to break up the solid stuff and loosen it up to make it easier to move and transport. A box blade might work with the right setup.

Getting smooth concrete and tightening up the exterior so you can heat and cool it will be really helpful. Best of luck and keep us posted on your progress!

 

[Homebody]

Always good to see another barn saved!

 

[horizontallyopposed]

Subscribed!

We just put in an offer on a 20 acre farm where too there is a "shop" but it's an old dirt floor barn, and I will have to find a way to make it a usable workspace for working on cars. So I will be coming back to absorb more as we get into the fall.

 

[xctreker]

Subscribed!

We just put in an offer on a 20 acre farm where too there is a "shop" but it's an old dirt floor barn, and I will have to find a way to make it a usable workspace for working on cars. So I will be coming back to absorb more as we get into the fall.

What kind of cars?

 

[horizontallyopposed]

What kind of cars?

I've got an old Mercedes and an old Porsche. As well as just keeping the daily drivers going

 

[ManOnTheCouch]

Thanks, we are in East Kansas about an hour south of KC. The back shop section is 28 x 43 and the smaller shop is 28' x 12'

What city are you closest to? I'm in Ottawa, KS area. I'll have to post my shop sometime. We bought 20 acres that already had a house and 30x60 shop on it. I've since added a 2 post lift and a bunch of lighting. I also like to work on German cars - mostly Bimmers though.

 

[Bob2112]

I'll be following along! My hay barn was at least a steel building, but it has still been a labor of love to do the insulation, wiring and other stuff to turn it into my dream shop. But the sense of accomplishment is real - way better than tearing down and building new.

 

[xctreker]

What city are you closest to? I'm in Ottawa, KS area. I'll have to post my shop sometime. We bought 20 acres that already had a house and 30x60 shop on it. I've since added a 2 post lift and a bunch of lighting. I also like to work on German cars - mostly Bimmers though.

I'm an audi guy near Paola. What lift did you get?


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[xctreker]

I'll be following along! My hay barn was at least a steel building, but it has still been a labor of love to do the insulation, wiring and other stuff to turn it into my dream shop. But the sense of accomplishment is real - way better than tearing down and building new.

Progress has been slow. I'm still working on dirt and rock removal. I think I'll be renting some dirt moving equipment this weekend.


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[ManOnTheCouch]

I'm an audi guy near Paola. What lift did you get?


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I got a Dannmar D10-CX. I chose it because it was one of the least expensive certified lifts. Dannmar bought the rights to use a Bend Pak design. So, it's a clone of a more expensive Bend Pak (XPR 10S). The only difference is two stage arms vs three stage arms with screw up pads. Otherwise, they're the same. It has good reviews too.

I've liked it so far. If you're considering one, message me if you want to take a look at it.

 

[xctreker]

Spent 305 bucks and rented a bobcat. I was able to remove a massive amount of dirt. There was a lot of gravel that I moved to driveway.

I'm planning on vaulting a portion of the roof structure so I can fit a lift.

 

[sgfarm]

looks great. Watching with interest as I get ready to do up my barn.

 

[Bob2112]

Looks very different from the beginning already. Do I see a feline project manager in that one picture?

 

[xctreker]

Yes, Lizzy, the mostly back cat, has been queen of the barn for 3 years now. My kids adopted 2 little kittens and she's not happy about sharing the space . Here are a few more pictures with my truck inside for scaling. Also some exterior pictures. It's looking terrible since the grass has grown and the barn puked out its contents. Need to work on that soon.

 

[xctreker]

Im excited for concrete tomorrow. Weather permitting.
Wood shop

Main shop.

Lift is 151" as ordered. Worried the lift I ordered won't fit. Calling Worth tomorrow to see about alterations.

Will need to vault a portion of the ceiling.

 

[pbon]

Barns are awesome. So much potential repurposed into shop space. I have had some small ones, a 28x30, a 19x29 and my current 23x28. All had second stories and two had third stories. On one, I filled in the basement and poured a slab for a 2 post lift. On another I had the original wood floor and no lift. On the current one, I have steel beams under the wood floor (previous owner spent the money on the foundation work and beams) so I just replace the top layers of floor and am using a 4 post lift. Of course I wish it was 3x the size but I live in a small city. We looked at some houses about 10 - 15 miles out of town that had 40x100 barns and acres of land but decided we prefer being closer to civilization. Here in New England, that means smaller town/city barns but at least you still find barns half a mile to downtown.

 

[xctreker]

Concrete in. Waited 8 days to cure. Tonight worked on my car on concrete for the first time in over 3 years.

 

[Bob2112]

It's a good feeling, am I right?

 

[Kevkx125]

Nice start looking forward to the progress.

 

[xctreker]

Your are indeed. More work to come.

It's a good feeling, am I right?

 

[xctreker]

Lift is in... progress is slow

 

[Unruh]

Wow, your place has come a long ways. That concrete looks great!

 

[sublime68charger]

Nice start keep posting up your progress pics!

 

[xctreker]

Got them upright. That's enough for today.
Next I need to side 3 rafters over then reinforce the roof.

 

[xctreker]

Moved the trusses and put up 16 stringers to reinforce the original 2x4s.

 

[xctreker]

First operation of the lift tonight. 4500 pound truck no problem.
This project has taken so much more work than I expected.
The barn has gone from a 4 stall horse barn to a auto shop.
I've move trusses and added two partial trusses to the top of the lift.
Next steps...
Insulate the wood shop area.
New electrical throughout. (Currently it's a two wire system with no ground.)
Install woodburning heater and stove pipe
I got 3 new windows that need to be installed.
Thinking about removing the red siding and wrapping the whole thing with tyvek.
Garage door.
And so much more.

 

[Diesel Dan]

Looking good!

Is that pic of the electric panel showing the power feed to the lift?
From what I recall both mine required 30A, 10 AWG circuit.

 

[1/2 Cup]

xctreker great progress

 

[xctreker]

Looking good!

Is that pic of the electric panel showing the power feed to the lift?
From what I recall both mine required 30A, 10 AWG circuit.

I'll need to upgrade that circuit. I tripped the 20 amp breakers tonight.

 

[xctreker]

Added the Craigslist temporary garage doors. I bought them long before I had decided to gut the whole place.

I had originally planned one just turning the middle section into a shop and leaving the horse stalls.

I need wider and taller door but the budget says I have to stick with what I got for now.

I used mostly scrap lumber from the gutting. I used screws instead of nails so it will be easier to disassemble. A lot of the screws were also from the disassembly.


Also we had a blizzard come through and I scrambled to block the snow from coming in over the top of the walls. The previous owner left some insulation so I cut it to size and stapled it in place.

That wind let me know that I have a lot of work left to stop the drafts. Spray foam?