Dad's Retirement Shop

[arkyengineer]

Hello everyone,

I have been lurking here for a little while now and decided that since my shop is still in the engineering and financing stage (I haven't figured out where to site it and don't have the money) I figured I would share the shop my Dad and I built for him to retire with.

A little about me and my Dad. I am a professional civil engineer (primarily water and wastewater infrastructure) and my Dad is a professor of Chemistry at the local university. We mess around in a little bit of everything hobby wise including some metalworking, woodworking, auto repair (as needed not for fun), home remodeling, old tractor restoration, hit and miss engines, old machine tool restoration, etc. Pretty much anything either one of us finds interesting we do. Not generally very quickly but since it is not a job there is no rush.

The shop was constructed starting in Spring of 2007 and took about two years to finish. Dad and I did all of the construction except for footing concrete placement and the slab placement. With those we built the forms and had a crew come in to do the concrete work.

I will be posting the series of construction photos in sequence but since the building is finished if you what to see a more detailed picture it will depend on what has already been taken or if it is still accessible. Please feel free to ask any questions you might have and I will try and answer them.

Josh

The site prior to construction.

Digging the footing.

The formwork in for the footing concrete placement.

 

[dittle fart around]

Hello everyone,


The formwork in for the footing concrete placement.

Like the log house. Is it just siding or solid logs?

Looks like you've got a lot of space on the property to work with.

 

[arkyengineer]

The house is constructed of D section logs which are solid wood about 7 inches thick and shaped like a D if you look at them in profile. My folks tell me that it is surprisingly energy efficient but I can tell you it is a pain in the **** if you want to add any utilities in an exterior wall.

The site is about 2 acres.

Josh

 

[arkyengineer]

Here are some pictures of the formwork going in. Note the steps in the footing to accommodate the site grade.

The bottom cord of the footing is reinforced with 2 #4 bars. They are sitting on the ground in the pictures but before concrete was placed rebar chairs were used to provide a concrete cover of 3 inches.

Getting ready to place the concrete. We had a horizontal concrete pumper come in to make sure we could get concrete to all of the needed locations.

Concrete in the forms. This would later be screeded flat.

Josh

 

[arkyengineer]

Foundation Walls

Due to the topography of the site we used a filled block wall foundation instead of a simple slab on grade.

We drilled and epoxied a #4 bar in every other block cell and then filled the cells with concrete. Each filled cell actually has two pieces of bar in it. One is epoxied into the footing and is only long enough to obtain the required development length and then a second was used when all of the blocks were in place to provide enough steel to tie into the slab reinforcement. The made setting the blocks easier and still provided the required strength.

One the taller sections of wall we filled every cell with concrete due to a concern that the slab concrete would not fill the entire depth.

Once the concrete in the cells had set we were ready to backfill inside of the walls.

Josh

 

[KULIWOBBY]

Are you going to remove the sod and weeds and roots from inside the foundation before backfilling? Why? It settles and creates voids under the concrete floor.

 

[Kevin54]

Nice so far, and looking forward to some more pics. Please tell me that you scraped the topsoil off before filling with gravel.

BTW....Welcome to Garage Journal. You'll find so much stuff on here that it will make your head spin.

So let's get the rest of the pics up of dad's garage!!!!

 

[sean Buick 76]

Great project!!!

 

[arkyengineer]

There was very, very little of what is technically classified as topsoil on this site. In Arkansas during the spring green stuff will grow just about anywhere. The material inside of the footing that was covered in grass is a sandy clay with a little weathered shall mixed in depending on the elevation. It is a ok, compactable, low expansion (low PI) material that should be fine as a fill. Before we backfilled we removed most of the organics and spread the remaining material. Then we let it set for a couple of weeks in the rain.

Following that we backfilled with Class 7 base placed and compacted in 8" to 12" lifts.

As a surface to the Class 7 we placed and compacted 4" of screenings to act as a void filler and leveling surface.

Then we let the fill settle for 2 months.

On top of that we installed a plastic vapor barrier and a welded wire mesh.

Please note the bent wall bars integrated into the floor slab reinforcement. Also we used eye bolts looped over the bars and bolted through the perimeter form boards to eliminate the need for bracing. It also allowed us a location to bolt the deck onto the slab without needing wedge anchors.

Here you can see the subouts for the infloor lighting and the electrical service for the table saw.

After that we were ready to place the concrete. Here is Dad waiting on the concrete to show up.

The concrete work was one the only place we paid for help. We were concerned that we would get 18 CY on the ground and not be able to finish it and get it smooth. The few hundred dollars the crew charged was well worth the reduced risk.

The finished 25'x40' slab.

The slab has been in place for almost 6 years now with only a few hairline cracks so I think it turned out pretty well. We will see how it handles the Cincinnati Horizontal Mill Dad just acquired.

Josh

 

[1jjpop]

Looks like wire is on the ground ,I read once that 90% of wire doesn't get pulled up or set on chairs .Hard to do concrete work & not stand on it.

 

[930dreamer]

The shop is looking good, nice work.

 

[Vieux]

Very nice work!

 

[arkyengineer]

Looks like wire is on the ground ,I read once that 90% of wire doesn't get pulled up or set on chairs .Hard to do concrete work & not stand on it.

The did go around after they had the initial load on concrete on and with a hook pull the wire up. Even so I suspect a lot of it is still in the bottom 1/2" of concrete.

 

[arkyengineer]

Wood Framing

After the concrete set we started on the walls. The walls are framed with 2x6s.

Here you can see us raising the upper section of the endwall for the vaulted portion of the shop.

Here is the shop with most of the walls complete.

Starting to install rafters.

Decking going on.

Stairs to the attic storage space.

Looking toward the main door.

The personnel door.

Siding

More siding and the ridge beam for the vaulted room.

More rafters.

 

[Sunbimmer]

Awesome build keep the pics coming please I'm very interested!

 

[KULIWOBBY]

Looks like maybe a deck going on building for side walk in door?

 

[arkyengineer]

Shop Porch

There is a porch on that side of the building it was the next item constructed.

Footings for the porch/overhand posts.

Here you can see the framing for the porch and the start of framing for the overhand roof.

Josh

 

[arkyengineer]

Roofing

Since at this point it was in the middle of summer and very hot in Arkansas Dad decided we were ready to roof.

Here is the framing for the roof overhangs.

Here are the eves.

The back porch.

The other overhang.

Installing decking.

And metal roofing.

Snapping chaulk lines so the roof screws are in a straight line.

The back porch roof.

Josh

 

[arkyengineer]

Paint

Next up was paint.

Here you can also see the new doors for the front.

All done painting.

Josh

 

[arkyengineer]

Interior Work Starts

Now we are getting to the dusty part. The shell was now complete and we could start installing insulation and drywall.

Here we are getting ready to install the first piece of drywall. You can see the batt insulation is in place in the smaller rooms.

The electrical service for the shop. we installed a 400A meter base with 2 200A breakers. One breaker serves the house and one breaker serves the shop. The shop primarily runs on 120V 20A breakers but has a couple of bigger ones for a few tools (220V 100A for the welder, 220V 30A for the compressor).

Some more pictures of the inside prior to drywall.

The inside of the shop is divided into three "rooms" one for metal working machinery, one for the wood working machinery, and one as an assembly/welding/disassembly bay.

The first piece of drywall up.

One wall mostly done.

One room done.

Room number 2 half done.

Room 3 mostly done.

Mudding the ceiling.

Josh

 

[rieferman]

Great build and great documentation. Can't wait to keep reading! You and your dad are really doing a nice job and it shows. Plus, you two will always have good memories of this time together.

 

[arkyengineer]

Interior Finishing

We apparently slacked off a little taking pictures during the project closeout but here are some of the finished product. All we missed was electrical closeout, paint, and trim (all of which make boring photos) so I hope nobody is too upset.

Here is Dad working on a pegboard in the main shop bay. You can see into the wood shop area and the welder and hood in the main bay.

Looking into the metal shop.

Inside the metal shop.

Metal shop looking the other way.

Looking out from the wood area.

The other side of the main bay.

The wood area.

Up into the attic storage space.

More of the main bay/wood area.

The main door.

Our garbage find wood lathe.

The wood shop area again.

I will try and take some more pictures of the shop now that it has had a little time to evolve. These were taking within a couple months of finishing the project.

Let me know if there is anything anyone wants a better picture of or if anyone has any questions.

Josh

 

[Scottishross]

How many tubs do you have and what's in them all

 

[dittle fart around]

Great job, there's a ton of great project ahead. Wish my kids could be working along side me at your place. This would be my dream. Trade ya.

 

[Alexbn921]

Very Nice. What is your dad doing with the shop? Besides handing out in that awesome space.

 

[arkyengineer]

How many tubs do you have and what's in them all

The bins and tubs on the far wall are all nuts and bolts. As for a number I have no idea.

Great job, there's a ton of great project ahead. Wish my kids could be working along side me at your place. This would be my dream. Trade ya.

You will just have to build your own. Dad and I used to work out of half of a 2 car garage and when I graduated college my parents decided it was time to move and build a shop. So we did. It was a great project and a lot of labor but I really enjoyed it.

Very Nice. What is your dad doing with the shop? Besides handing out in that awesome space.

Right now we are working on a 1940 Farmall A, a 24" Cincinnati Drill Press (see the thread here), a house remodel for my Grandmother (complete gut), and preping to recieve a Cincinnati No. 2 Grinder, a Cincinnati Horizontal Mill, and a 13" Monarch lathe that all need restoration.

 

[bulletbob]

Nice shop, reminds me of what I am in the process of setting up.

 

[Scottishross]

How many tubs do you have and what's in them all

Any chance could u take closer pics of the tubs and contents

 

[HAP]

Boy that is one high quality build. Its obvious the pride you have in what you do. Nice work!

R,
HAP

 

[EricP]

mcleodross

Did you sheetrock around the stairs or did you take them down, sheetrock, and then put them back up?

 

[Scottishross]

No idea mate it's not my project I'm asking questions

 

[arkyengineer]

Any chance could u take closer pics of the tubs and contents

Sure.

mcleodross

Did you sheetrock around the stairs or did you take them down, sheetrock, and then put them back up?

We installed the sheetrock around the stairs. The fit is ok but the intention at the time was to cover the small gap with a trim board. Has not happended yet and I doubt it will.

Josh

 

[EricP]

That makes sense. I'm doing a similar set of stairs in my shop and was curious if there was an easier way to deal with the trimwork around them. Thanks.

 

[arkyengineer]

Nut and Bolt Storage

Here are some closer pictures of the nut and bolt storage.

 

[arkyengineer]

Here are some pictures of the current state of the interior. I was going to take a few more but the shop is kind of a mess getting ready for some new toys that should be arriving today. Sorry for the poor quality of some of the pictures they were taken with a cell phone.

Here is the welding table and cart.

Here is the wood area with the new Delta 20" bandsaw in the back.

Here is the miter saw. It is not visible in this picture but one of the stair riser fill boards is missing so you can feed stock through the stairs.

Here is one of our more creative ideas. Since the miter saw dictates the width of the bench we decided to make use of some of the extra depth by storing the pipe clamps there.

Here is one of the two racks for metal shorts.

Josh

 

[bigby]

Great looking shop!!!

 

[DEnd]

I was wondering why you were missing a riser. That's a pretty good Idea. I love your cabinet base for the miter saw as well.

 

[Diablo96]

Lucky Dad! I hope he enjoys it in good health.

 

[turbowoodworker]

Pretty cool! Is that a surplus chem lab fume hood or are you growing anthrax and plague in a level III biohazard hood for the armegeddon?
Maybe making your own explosives?

 

[arkyengineer]

I was wondering why you were missing a riser. That's a pretty good Idea. I love your cabinet base for the miter saw as well.

Thanks. The space under the stairs can kind of be a dead zone but we figured that putting the miter saw there would allow us to use the space and not loose another whole wall for that tool.

Lucky Dad! I hope he enjoys it in good health.

Yes he is and I hope so too.

Pretty cool! Is that a surplus chem lab fume hood or are you growing anthrax and plague in a level III biohazard hood for the armegeddon?
Maybe making your own explosives?

We purchased to hood as surplus from the university. It is a chem lab fume hood we planned on using as a place to strip and clean parts as well as paint. They were remodeling the building it was in and it was available as scrap. We have never actually gotten it hooked up since the fan system is building based and we haven't figured out a workable alternative that produces enough airflow. Right now it has been temporarily moved into storage to make way for a new piece of equipment.