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Above 1200 Sq/FT Barn Workshop build

Wokspaces above 1200 squarefeet.
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ururk

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739
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Southeast MI
Thursday, Sept 26: Patched the bird holes, installed some strapping on the front, piece of housewrap under the corner, as well as the corner itdelf. Plus with some help moved the siding to higher ground (flooding is a possibility where I had them leave it).

 
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ururk

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Saturday, Sept 28: Wet day outside, but I installed a starter strip of flashing at the bottom to hold the batten strip on, and prepped the first piece for installation.
 
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ururk

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All of my progress to is up to date! At this point here's where I am in the project:

* Road, front and house side need siding
* foam below foundation needs to be covered. Plan was to do what the house has, which is a sort of mastic that's been painted. I'm going to start this on the back as I no longer need to do anything back there.
* shed roof needs to be roofed. I have the metal, it's hemmed. I'm doing that last after my siding is done.
* inside windows need spray foam, casing made
* man door needs to be trimmed out on the outside, foamed
* "final" grading

Deadline: end of October.


Once I get it approved, I'll pull the electrical permit, and more fun can begin :(
 

bunks-tj

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Jan 16, 2013
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Manassas Va
i have loved watching this project. great progress recently! Im sure glad to be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel
 
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ururk

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Thanks for the last two comments, all I could think of was "The end is nigh" and "Go towards the light" :D
 
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ururk

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Southeast MI
Monday, Sept 30: Uh, I blame mosquitos. Got home and attempted to install the bottom batten strip... got two pieces on before I had to call it quits. Taking tomorrow off - hope to get panels installed up to the first window, maybe even start around it.

 
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ururk

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Tuesday, Oct 1: Got a decent amount done, pretty much what I had hoped. Horribly humid day. Finished installing the batten strip at the bottom, housewrap, j-channel at top, three boards, and flashed the window. Next couple of days are supposed to be heavy rain, but Friday/Sat are looking good. Will probably take next week off as the weather is supposed to be nice.



My hope is to make good progress on Friday/Saturday, possibly finish this side before Monday, and next week get the other side done.
 
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ururk

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Thursday, Oct 3: Nasty day out, got home from work and prepped the trim for the first window:



Taking tomorrow off, as well as all of next week!
 
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ururk

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Friday, Oct 4: Nice day, slightly chilly. Got past the first window. With two good days ahead of me this weekend, should finish this side before Monday.

 
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ururk

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Saturday, Oct 5: Another window down. Four more to go. Oh, and the two doors. I really dislike going around windows. The trim around them is easy, but cutting the panel and folding it takes so much time. And no matter how carefully I work, I end up nicking the metal and having to touch the paint up.



Tomorrow I have to add some blocking I forgot for an electric meter, and barring any issues, should finish this side!
 
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ururk

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Also, though the photos accentuate any "rippling" in the panels, you can't really tell when looking at it in person.
 
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ururk

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Southeast MI
Sunday, Oct 6: Got a late start, then had to run to Home Depot to pick up some plywood (last three sheets I'll ever need!!). Of course, of the three sheets I pick up, two were defective - one was missing an entire ply (marked 23/32, but was more like 19/32). The other was 23/32 on one side, and 19/32 on the other. They felt light, and I should have known better. I only needed one for the electric meter blocking, so used part of that sheet.

Made it up to and *almost* around the next window - the last panel isn't quite snapped in. I'm having trouble getting the "batten" to click around the lock. Might have to remove it and cut the fold a bit more. Otherwise, should finish this side tomorrow.



The week is looking good weather-wise, and I should be able to finish the other side by the weekend.
 
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ururk

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Monday, Oct 7: FINISHED the side! After a bit of help/persuasion from my friend Irwin (erm, it's a clamp) I was able to get the lock snapped in. I don't think that panel is ever coming off.

Then I moved onto some of the more "painful" tasks. Since the day got really nice out, I wanted to take care of things I don't want to be on a ladder for when it is freezing out.

Patched the last soffit corner, and covered a #%$$^#&%# bird hole. The last of the holes, hopefully forever.

Installed all of the straps I had made last month on the other side. Evicted some wasps.



Tomorrow should be a productive day. I don't have any set goals - though I'd like to get the corner on.

If things go well, I should have this side done by Sunday... leaving the front, the hardest of the sides, to do last.
 
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ururk

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Southeast MI
Tuesday, Oct 8: Today was not very productive in a sense, but it sets me up to have an easier time siding around the door.

Be forewarned - the setup looks really janky. I needed to put a 24" border of solid wood around the door for various reasons. I wanted to keep the same screw spacing with the new material, and didn't want to remove the old screws. Sadly my jigsaw broke while I was cutting the holes, and would not lock into place... so my holes are not quite square.



Got in late, worked inside the barn on furring strips till 9:00ish.

Oh, and a bird - PROBABLY the same bird - started making a new hole in the corner. I put up some temporary housewrap to before it could actually make a hole.
 
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ururk

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Southeast MI
Wednesday, Oct 9th: I'm running about two days behind schedule, and next week looks like it will be cooler. I've decided to get all of the finicky stuff done this week: all the furring strips, J-channel, windows trimmed out, housewrap (not necessarily in that order :p).

Furring strips are all on!



The list of things to do is getting smaller :D
 

Blackhawks63

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Sep 25, 2013
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Location
Northern Illinois
God I hope you finally get that exterior done. You have so many layers of insulation, wraps, tape and wood strips on that building. Excessive material and many hours of unnecessary time, but the past is the past. Just get the damned tin finished. You have to stop over thinking and over engineering things to death. Good luck!
 
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ururk

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God I hope you finally get that exterior done. You have so many layers of insulation, wraps, tape and wood strips on that building. Excessive material and many hours of unnecessary time, but the past is the past. Just get the damned tin finished. You have to stop over thinking and over engineering things to death. Good luck!
I made a decision, wise or unwise, to "wrap and strap" the exterior. The frame has OSB sheathing, an air/water barrier (ice+water), insulation as a WRB (taped for air infiltration and water), and furring strips to attach my siding to. For a single person with no crew (occasional assistance from family carrying things), no friends to help or even be paid to help, and a full time job (plus two on the side) I did not fully comprehend just how much work this was going to be.

Construction help is difficult to find in this area, and I don't have it in me to direct someone on what to do. Plus, quotes for labor have been a bit higher than I can afford. For example, one quote for the roof was $12K, material not included, with screw-through fasteners (so cheap barn steel roof).

As for the exterior housewrap, I wasn't going to install it since my foam had been taped as my WRB... but since it took me so long to get the siding up I was concerned the tape had lost some of it's strength to UV rays. In some areas I've done pull testing and it has held up.

Yes, I'd do this project differently if I started again, but I don't want to go there as I am almost done.
 

velocipede

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Oct 22, 2013
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Yorktown, Virginia
Yup, you're almost done...and any overthinking/engineering, if any, was just because you wanted to do the best and strongest job possible. That's a big + in my book. She's gonna be a beauty!!
 

fourbyford

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North Idaho... almost Canada!
I've been in pretty much the same situation as you... went back to school, working two jobs, taking care of two places, 9 horses and two large dogs, then decided to undertake a sizable building project... pretty much by myself. Pretty much complete now (literally a couple minor things to finish up) but, along the way I heard many comments from relatives, neighbors an coworkers about why I didn't just git r' done...
My reply was usually something like, "when you build YOUR shop, you can build it any way you want"... and that was pretty much the end of the discussion. I don't have much time for negativity.
You are building your shop with the method I wish I could have used... as far as the super-insulation is concerned. My building is fairly large and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have had the time or the money to build that way though... what I do have will work for me...
I've read your entire thread and think you and I have about the same level of OCD, but i prefer to call it attention to detail... lol. My theory is that I would rather take the time to do something correctly and be DONE with it instead of later having to redo something or wishing I had done a better job, etc. Too much time and money invested to not be satisfied with the results. This building is something you'll have for many years to come and I'm sure that, in the future, when you're working out there, warm and comfortable, you'll be happy you took the time to make things "just right".
Keep fighting the good fight... you're nearly there!!!
...D
 
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ururk

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Southeast MI
Thursday, Oct 10: Speaking of redoing things, I ended up spending a few hours re-doing the entranceway. I had placed some tape on the inside of the doorway... removed that, cleaned it out, and covered the front for my wood surround.



Also got the bottom batten strips on:



Those windows though... I'm torn on what to do (no leaks, thankfully). I'm putting housewrap over this side, and will be taping it to the existing flashing tape. I put metal flashing over the windows in case water got on my foam... but this flashing takes a long time to install and since the existing housewrap is tattered I don't see any benefit. So will likely leave them off.

It's going to rain tomorrow, unfortunately, so houswerap goes up Saturday, along with all J-channel and my first panel.
 
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ururk

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Southeast MI
Friday, Oct 11: Sigh, rain and things out of my control got in my way, but I got the last of the batten strips on:



Sat-Mon should be nice, or at least nice enough. If all goes well, housewrap and trim will be done Saturday. Panels start on Sunday.
 
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ururk

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Southeast MI
Saturday, Oct 12: Cool but NICE day. Got the housewrap up, but did not get to the j-channel. I did not do just housewrap - I installed the three flashing pieces over the windows, fixed a few things that needed attention. I would have gotten the channel on, but am moving slowly due to unspecified reasons (pain).

You may note I'm using Tyvek on these sides. A week ago a family member picked up a roll of housewrap for me, and the yard gave them the expensive stuff by accident. Quck call to let them know... and they said I could keep it! This is a nice surprise since this side gets the brunt of the weather.



Tomorrow I will get the channel on, will get at least one panel on, some last minute-caulking (trim at top in the front) and painting.
 

matt_i

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SE Michigan
Things are looking very nice there!

Its going to be a great space when you get it all sided-in. Looks like some good weather for a couple of days.

That Tyvek plus the Tyvek-tape is some tough stuff :)
 
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ururk

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Sunday, Oct 13: Got a bunch of stuff checked off my list: finished the housewrap edges (tape, etc...), flashed the windows, final caulking and painting (inclucing priming of the entry door frame), installed all the j-channel (execpt windows), and got a panel up. Not great, but making progress.

 
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ururk

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Things are looking very nice there!

Its going to be a great space when you get it all sided-in. Looks like some good weather for a couple of days.

That Tyvek plus the Tyvek-tape is some tough stuff :)
It currently fluctuates between a nice space and a busy space at the moment - I moved the 20' and 16' panels in to keep them from the weather.

I wasn't as impressed with the Tyvek compared to the cheap stuff, honestly. It was much easier to rip - though it feels like it will breath better than the cheap plastic stuff.

Yep, though wunderground keeps moving the rain around - sometimes it is Tuesday, sometimes it is Wednesday. That being said, I'll probably work with the floods on this week into the night.
 
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ururk

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Finally, I have some concerns about installing the panels on the front. I feel pretty confident about the first few panels on either side, but I'm seriously doubting my ability to install the panels in the middle, even with the pump jacks. I'll find out later this week, I suppose!
 
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ururk

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Monday, Oct 14: Took a half day off. Angsted about that first panel the previous night - it was off by 1/2" (top to bottom). That may not seem like a lot, but I can only do about 1/8" to 1/16" of a correction on each board. The problem was, my corner isn't on perfectly. So I took the panel off and remade it - remaking it took a few hours as I had to flatten the batten and flattening steel - well, yeah it isn't easy.

That being said, I'm really glad I got that one straight (that is to say, perfectly vertical on the lock side of the panel) as the next piece would have had an obvious tilt to it had I not.

Put up a temporary "header" over the door to start my z-flash, got the next panel and a few subsequent ones on.

 
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ururk

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Tuesday, Oct 15: Getting closer. Took another afternoon off, made decent progress - almost got around the first window. Provided it doesn't rain tomorrow, I'll take the afternoon off as well and nearly finish this side.

 
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ururk

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Thursday, Oct 17: It rained yesterday, so couldn't do anything outside. Plus, we had some wind (20-30MPH), but my housewrap held up. Oh, and I am coming down with a cold, so there's that too.

But, today another half day, more progress. I had a lot of difficulty on this window - ended up taking the siding off and redoing it (did not lose a panel, thankfully). I'm really glad I did.



I'm going to PUSH myslf to finish this side on Friday, even if I have to run spotlights into the night.

The weekend is going to be beautiful.
 
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