Hi guys, I've been popping in here for years looking for inspiration and answers to tough construction questions. A few years ago my wife and I moved from our decaying farmhouse/Gateway to hell to a nice "new" contemporary. We found ourselves with so much time, energy & money that we decided one evening to build a shop in the backyard. Four months later, boom, 500sqft shop. We still stare in disbelief every morning at the beautiful workshop in the backyard.
Beautiful workshop appears in CT man's back yard!!
- Thread starter Patrobot
- Start date
ezover
Well-known member
looks great, now the fun part filling it. 
tjdux
Well-known member
More pics please.. looks great
Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
I will have to ask my wife for some pics of the construction process and finished product as I'm not much of a shutter bug. In a nutshell, I'm formally trained as a designer but have been working as a field svc tech/Glaser & Mechanic for decades. So I'm no carpenter, in-fact I originally sought to vend out construction of this workshop to the pro's. After a slow start and very few quotes from the respective trades I strolled out back with a chainsaw and cleared the lot of ~13 trees and started digging the foundation.
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PugetDude
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Great start.
Subscribed for updates!
Subscribed for updates!
jabberwoki
Well-known member
Haha yeah when I got mine up I was running around in side like a confused squirrel.
Couldn`t believe it was true.
Good luck.
Couldn`t believe it was true.
Good luck.
drivesitfar
Well-known member
PT: i'm guessing your shed/shop/building is maybe 20x25? looks like it's nice and solid and i bet since you built it yourself you might have some tool funds left so WELL DONE SIR!!
so i heard you took a chain saw to cut the trees and did the digging, but you didn't say if you did the digging or pulling out the stumps by hand or with a machine and which one?
what are the plans to use the shop for? storage, wood shop or just a nice place to have?
ask questions if you have any and i'm sure we'll help if we can otherwise there are a ton of threads that have some good information to learn from if you have time to read them.
so i heard you took a chain saw to cut the trees and did the digging, but you didn't say if you did the digging or pulling out the stumps by hand or with a machine and which one?
what are the plans to use the shop for? storage, wood shop or just a nice place to have?
ask questions if you have any and i'm sure we'll help if we can otherwise there are a ton of threads that have some good information to learn from if you have time to read them.
Drivesitfar you have a good eye, yes it is 20x25 which is as large as the town would allow. The stumps were a mostly leveled by a stump grinding specialist we knew, the root systems were pulled up with a Kubota I rented or pick axe. The town approved a slab with 12"x36" haunches around the perimeter which had to be hand dug.
MikeF2316
Well-known member
All I can say is, if your wife stares at the shop with as much disbelief as you, you're a lucky man! 
Yeah, she has every right to be proud of her work. We built this thing entirely on our own with the exception of the roof decking & shingles. My wife helped with every part of the construction and was the only help I got pouring the slab, the last 8 yards of which got there an hour late and it was a HOT load. The guy just shows up and starts emptying his truck saying "You need to work fast". That was a mistake, I really should have insisted my friends or brother help out at least a little. The job was 23 yards of 4k psi concrete total.
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drivesitfar
Well-known member
Patro: great story and pictures and if you have more please post them up. i love hearing about couples doing cement work and builds together.
any questions about GJ or are you having a great time seeing all the pictures now that you are a member?
any questions about GJ or are you having a great time seeing all the pictures now that you are a member?
drivesitfar
Well-known member
Patro: my wife and i've been working on our place for 30 years and she's starting to point more than do, but i bet she finished more cement sidewalk and flat work than a lot of contractors have.
keep posting pictures as you have time and of course the stories is what makes the pictures even better.
good luck organizing the space so you can use it like you hoped to.
do you have any questions about the forum or are you enjoying your reading and being able to see the pictures now that you've joined?
keep posting pictures as you have time and of course the stories is what makes the pictures even better.
good luck organizing the space so you can use it like you hoped to.
do you have any questions about the forum or are you enjoying your reading and being able to see the pictures now that you've joined?
I have been using the Challenger lift for 3 months or so now and all I can say is it turns pain and suffering into happiness and joy. So far I've replaced some struts, brakes, control arms, timing belt, exhaust, o2 sensor etc. The slab is pretty thick,7" or more so there is plenty of meat for the 3/4"x5.5" anchors to grab onto. The lift is used, I got it from a guy locally who removes them on the side and sells all the decent ones on CL, this one ran me $1200 delivered.
I also have the heat pump installed, it is a 12K BTU, 120v unit I bought online. The toughest part of the installation was the very careful bending and routing of the line set. So far I would rate it as a very good unit just give it time to do it's job and enjoy the dry, cool/warm work environment.
I also have the heat pump installed, it is a 12K BTU, 120v unit I bought online. The toughest part of the installation was the very careful bending and routing of the line set. So far I would rate it as a very good unit just give it time to do it's job and enjoy the dry, cool/warm work environment.
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drivesitfar
Well-known member
Pat: great looking garage/shop!!
APEowner
Well-known member
The shop looks great and I really like the orange section on the floor.