Eastern PA shop addition
- Thread starter tweidman
- Start date
I picked up the last of my black pipe parts and my new plug and outlet came in the mail yesterday.
So, last night installed the plug and outlet for the compressor.
After I got that done, I ran the black pipe up to my junction for the hose reels and got that all hooked up. I also decided to move the pipe over closer to the compressor so that my linking hose was less in the way. I also removed my shut off and installed an elbow to get the hose in a more direct path to the black pipe. The shut off chokes the flow down a fair amount and I was thinking, how often would I actually use it?
Now my air system is complete and working. I may still need to adjust my pressure switch a little, but that is no big deal.
So, last night installed the plug and outlet for the compressor.
After I got that done, I ran the black pipe up to my junction for the hose reels and got that all hooked up. I also decided to move the pipe over closer to the compressor so that my linking hose was less in the way. I also removed my shut off and installed an elbow to get the hose in a more direct path to the black pipe. The shut off chokes the flow down a fair amount and I was thinking, how often would I actually use it?
Now my air system is complete and working. I may still need to adjust my pressure switch a little, but that is no big deal.
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One casualty of the shop build was a pine tree. It was right next to the shop and a tall one. I was going to try and take it down, but my wife did want me to take the risk of it falling the wrong way. 
Anyway... the tree crew, that I have used in the past for trees close to structures, came by yesterday and dropped it for us.
I will miss this big tree, but I will not miss the mess it made. I was forever sweeping pine needles out of my shop.
Anyway... the tree crew, that I have used in the past for trees close to structures, came by yesterday and dropped it for us.
I will miss this big tree, but I will not miss the mess it made. I was forever sweeping pine needles out of my shop.
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Finallygotit
ALLIANCE MEMBER
I hear ya. It's usually bittersweet when we have to drop a tree.
Magneto
Well-known member
Dirty trees indeed. I'm surrounded by white pine. I removed 25 a few years back to build my workshop. Just last month I had a crane come in and remove about 50 more. Filled 3 logging trucks. Still not enough as you can see from the pics. Gosh I hate raking pine needles.
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I can't believe I have not updated this thread for 5 years. Many things have been completed since then. I will give some brief updates to my projects, most of this stuff is related to the house and property more than the shop itself. I will pick it up, where I was last in this thread.
I removed a bunch of shrubs in front of the house in order to complete the siding. Now my outside A/C unit was exposed, I also have a plan to add an additional unit for the heat pump for my shop. I did not really want to plant more shrubs and wait for them to grow, so we decided on a fence and my wife wanted some planter boxes for her herbs, since the herbs would be fairly close to the kitchen. Here is what we did...
I removed a bunch of shrubs in front of the house in order to complete the siding. Now my outside A/C unit was exposed, I also have a plan to add an additional unit for the heat pump for my shop. I did not really want to plant more shrubs and wait for them to grow, so we decided on a fence and my wife wanted some planter boxes for her herbs, since the herbs would be fairly close to the kitchen. Here is what we did...
Finallygotit
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Welcome back!
Next was our fencing of the dog yard. Our dogs figured out that they could jump the 36" picket fence that my grandfather built and it was in need of repair anyway. To top that off, we had a visitor that decided the fence was in his way, so he pushed it down breaking the 4 x 4 post off. The sound of post snapping at 3am will really jolt you awake. 
We decided to install some 48" white vinyl fencing along the house and then split rail in the areas along the adjoining fields and where the terrain is more challenging.
After discovering how expensive gates are for vinyl fencing, I decided to build my own. I fished some steel flat stock inside the horizontal sections of the fence, then drilled and tapped the steal to accept the hinges and latches. That's an 8 foot opening and it is fairly sturdy, especially when latched. We don't use that large opening very often, only when mowing or the rare occasion when I need to drive my big tractor back there. I did the same thing for the 3 foot main gate and it has been working fine, for years now.
We decided to install some 48" white vinyl fencing along the house and then split rail in the areas along the adjoining fields and where the terrain is more challenging.
After discovering how expensive gates are for vinyl fencing, I decided to build my own. I fished some steel flat stock inside the horizontal sections of the fence, then drilled and tapped the steal to accept the hinges and latches. That's an 8 foot opening and it is fairly sturdy, especially when latched. We don't use that large opening very often, only when mowing or the rare occasion when I need to drive my big tractor back there. I did the same thing for the 3 foot main gate and it has been working fine, for years now.
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My wife requested more raised planting areas after I built the herb gardens. I built a "U" shaped raised bed garden for some veggies.
Even though I have a bunch of property, I only have a small area with good sunlight that is within the fenced dog yard. Planting anything outside the dog yard would be a waste of time without some serious fencing. The deer and other critters will devastate your crops.
Even though I have a bunch of property, I only have a small area with good sunlight that is within the fenced dog yard. Planting anything outside the dog yard would be a waste of time without some serious fencing. The deer and other critters will devastate your crops.
Later that year we also decided to clean up the driveway edging. My grandfather used landscape timbers, which were degrading quickly, we decided to go with a concrete product and eliminate that issue in the future. This cleanup of the planting areas led us to one of my favorite projects, which I will post next.
One more project before we get to the fun one. We have 3 fireplaces in the house, and we also have about 6 acres of woods behind the house. However, with all that, we don't have any good way to heat the house with all of our free firewood. We decided that a fireplace insert in the great room would be the best way to heat the house and distribute that heat. That fireplace is massive, and we knew that finding an insert to fit in the opening might be a challenge. We found that Quadrafire's largest insert with surround would just barely cover the opening. We also found that a stove retailer a few hours away had a floor model on clearance. We jumped in the truck and grabbed it and then after realizing how heavy it was, we wondered how we were going to unload it. I did not have forks for my loader on the tractor. My three-point carry all was not able to go high enough to reach the tailgate. So, loading ramps it was... what a sketchy chore that was.
We slid it down the ramps and on to a moving dolly. Then getting it in the house, up a couple of steps, and through the house was equally challenging for my wife and me. In the end, we persevered, didn't kill each other, and no one was injured.
We slid it down the ramps and on to a moving dolly. Then getting it in the house, up a couple of steps, and through the house was equally challenging for my wife and me. In the end, we persevered, didn't kill each other, and no one was injured.
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We had removed all of the shrubbery in front of the house in order to complete the siding project, which left the house looking a little bland. We also had a front entry stoop that was tilting to one side due to settling. My wife really wanted a front porch/deck so that we could have somewhere to enjoy our view of the front field. So, we decided to price out the project materials and figure out whether we were going to use some of our vacation and work on the porch project. Fast forward to August, I'm not sure why we choose the hottest month to work on this project, and we went and bought materials.
I was figuring that we could get most of this project completed during our week off from work. I was just a little off on that prediction. We barely go the site ready for construction during the week we had off. I borrowed my BIL's tractor and backhoe, figuring I could excavate the concrete stoop and get it removed. I did not anticipate just how thick this thing was, or how hard that 1950's concrete could be. The backhoe did not even scratch this stuff. I ended up renting a jack hammer and I spend almost two full days chipping away at the slab. While my wife shoveled up the rubble, put it in our tractor bucket and hauled it off to dump it. It was exhausting work in the August heat.
Here is what the site looked like at the end of the day.
We then proceeded to level out the area and break apart some of the rock wall in order to make room for the porch.
Then we measured out for the placement of the piers. We used the tractor mounted auger to create the holes. The ground is hard enough here, that I have to start with a 6" auger, then switch to the 12" in order to get the hole size required. Luckily my neighbor saw all the bags of concrete on my trailer and came over with his concrete mixer which helped out a lot. Mixing all that concrete by hand would have been slow going.
Before we knew it, the week had expired. But we both needed a break from all the physical labor, so we were not that frustrated that we had to go back to our day jobs.
I was figuring that we could get most of this project completed during our week off from work. I was just a little off on that prediction. We barely go the site ready for construction during the week we had off. I borrowed my BIL's tractor and backhoe, figuring I could excavate the concrete stoop and get it removed. I did not anticipate just how thick this thing was, or how hard that 1950's concrete could be. The backhoe did not even scratch this stuff. I ended up renting a jack hammer and I spend almost two full days chipping away at the slab. While my wife shoveled up the rubble, put it in our tractor bucket and hauled it off to dump it. It was exhausting work in the August heat.
Here is what the site looked like at the end of the day.

We then proceeded to level out the area and break apart some of the rock wall in order to make room for the porch.
Then we measured out for the placement of the piers. We used the tractor mounted auger to create the holes. The ground is hard enough here, that I have to start with a 6" auger, then switch to the 12" in order to get the hole size required. Luckily my neighbor saw all the bags of concrete on my trailer and came over with his concrete mixer which helped out a lot. Mixing all that concrete by hand would have been slow going.
Before we knew it, the week had expired. But we both needed a break from all the physical labor, so we were not that frustrated that we had to go back to our day jobs.
Finallygotit
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Unfortunately, that happens a lot more than you think. Scope creep can be a PIA. Though it is coming along nicely.
Finallygotit
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Once the composite deck boards started to go on, it really started to look like a porch/deck.
The chief deck inspector was on site, as usual, to make sure everything met with his approval.
Now back to decking.... my wife was a big help, as using these hidden fasteners is really a two-man job. It is hard to keep the board tight against the previous row while simultaneously keeping the new fastener tight against the board. We had a system going and progress went quickly once the picture framing was completed.
This is where we ended up at the end of the weekend. Getting close to the finish line.
We got lucky that a store "in-stock" Trex color matched fairly well with our siding. If we would have had to order a color that was not stocked, it would have significantly increased the price.
The chief deck inspector was on site, as usual, to make sure everything met with his approval.
Now back to decking.... my wife was a big help, as using these hidden fasteners is really a two-man job. It is hard to keep the board tight against the previous row while simultaneously keeping the new fastener tight against the board. We had a system going and progress went quickly once the picture framing was completed.
This is where we ended up at the end of the weekend. Getting close to the finish line.
We got lucky that a store "in-stock" Trex color matched fairly well with our siding. If we would have had to order a color that was not stocked, it would have significantly increased the price.
One last weekend of work in order to get the railings finished up.
Here is what the house looks like from the front after the deck project. We later stained the PT lumber gray and installed some black vinyl lattice.
Only one more major item to check off the list. Lighting. We decided on some "app" controlled LED lighting to light up the foot traffic areas.
Finally, time to enjoy the deck and the view from it.
We finished just in time to prepare for the unPAved gravel race in the fall in central PA. This picture is from the day before the race doing a warm-up ride. We always do it the hard way, on the tandem.
Here is what the house looks like from the front after the deck project. We later stained the PT lumber gray and installed some black vinyl lattice.
Only one more major item to check off the list. Lighting. We decided on some "app" controlled LED lighting to light up the foot traffic areas.
Finally, time to enjoy the deck and the view from it.
We finished just in time to prepare for the unPAved gravel race in the fall in central PA. This picture is from the day before the race doing a warm-up ride. We always do it the hard way, on the tandem.
Finallygotit
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Great job on the deck!!
You guys really do great work! I and my wife are cyclists and age is catching up so we both now have Specialized ebikes.....they sure are nice! We've never done a tandem. You say that's the hard way....I guess I thought it would be easier!! Can you describe what riding a tandem is like compared to your one-person road bike?
The tandem is fine on the flats and is great on the descents. Where a tandem is really difficult, is on the climbs. Think about all the weight that you are trying to move up a mountain, compared to a single bike. Then you also have the cooperation and complete release of control that is required by the stoker (person in the back). All of these things make riding a tandem more challenging than a single bike. The event we were doing that weekend is in the mountains, on gravel roads. We were the only tandem out there with hundreds of other cyclist. I think that makes us the crazy ones.
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Back to our regularly scheduled deck building. After building the deck in 2019, we liked it so much we wanted more. Specifically, we wanted an area to put a table and go out there for a few meals and such. I also wanted one additional feature; we will get to in a few more post.
What started this whole thing off, was this old planter bed that was rotting away. We initially started to price out replacing it with some stacked stone to rebuild the planted. Then the expanded deck idea came to us. This is what we started with below. I thought it was funny that when we removed the wood sides and galvanized metal panels, the dirt did not move.
After we got all that cleaned up, it looked like this....
Then we dug some holes and poured some piers.
Next was gravel and the ledger board.
What started this whole thing off, was this old planter bed that was rotting away. We initially started to price out replacing it with some stacked stone to rebuild the planted. Then the expanded deck idea came to us. This is what we started with below. I thought it was funny that when we removed the wood sides and galvanized metal panels, the dirt did not move.
After we got all that cleaned up, it looked like this....
Then we dug some holes and poured some piers.
Next was gravel and the ledger board.
The framing went quickly after the practice we had the previous year.
You can see that the railing from the old deck is going to need to be removed. When we remove the old post, it is going to leave holes in the decking where the old post were placed. This will be a problem that I solve by swapping some deck boards around so that we don't waste any of that expensive Trex. Speaking of waste, we specifically choose the sizing of the deck so that we could use full length boards with little or no waste. The old deck is 32 feet long and the new is 16 feet. The old deck is 8 feet wide and the new is 12 feet. Also, if the deck were to stick out further from the house, the height of the deck would have been higher than 30 inches which would have required a building permit. I am fairly sure these decks would pass inspection, but I did not want to have the expense and wait for inspections, if I did not have to.
We did anticipate the issue of joining the decks, so we built the new deck one step higher than the old deck so that we could have a clean break between the two. This also helps to define the two areas.
The view from the front. You can see at this point we had the black vinyl lattice on the lower part of the new deck, but we had not stained the PT lumber gray until later.
You can see that the railing from the old deck is going to need to be removed. When we remove the old post, it is going to leave holes in the decking where the old post were placed. This will be a problem that I solve by swapping some deck boards around so that we don't waste any of that expensive Trex. Speaking of waste, we specifically choose the sizing of the deck so that we could use full length boards with little or no waste. The old deck is 32 feet long and the new is 16 feet. The old deck is 8 feet wide and the new is 12 feet. Also, if the deck were to stick out further from the house, the height of the deck would have been higher than 30 inches which would have required a building permit. I am fairly sure these decks would pass inspection, but I did not want to have the expense and wait for inspections, if I did not have to.We did anticipate the issue of joining the decks, so we built the new deck one step higher than the old deck so that we could have a clean break between the two. This also helps to define the two areas.
The view from the front. You can see at this point we had the black vinyl lattice on the lower part of the new deck, but we had not stained the PT lumber gray until later.
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I had to remove the railings on that end of the old deck, then remove some deck boards to swap them out with new.
Two steps backward, one step forward. All patched up.
Picture framing the new deck.
Then putting down the new boards and a couple of old ones. It's a good thing the hidden fastener system that Trex uses allows you to remove the boards without damaging them. Saved me from buying three 16 foot boards.
Getting close to a finished product
Two steps backward, one step forward. All patched up.
Picture framing the new deck.
Then putting down the new boards and a couple of old ones. It's a good thing the hidden fastener system that Trex uses allows you to remove the boards without damaging them. Saved me from buying three 16 foot boards.
Getting close to a finished product
Finallygotit
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Nice!
I did not get many pictures of the final steps with the deck. We struggled to get a table and chairs for the new section of deck during 2020. We ended up finding a set on Marketplace from some people that were moving that lived nearby.
First evening enjoying the new dining section of the deck with a beverage.
For those of you with a keen eye, you have noticed the post spacing and the weird slates in the center of the far side of the deck. This is for the final addition to the deck and my favorite part, a fireplace.
First evening enjoying the new dining section of the deck with a beverage.
For those of you with a keen eye, you have noticed the post spacing and the weird slates in the center of the far side of the deck. This is for the final addition to the deck and my favorite part, a fireplace.
Now for the Fireplace build. This required a lot of heavy lifting. These blocks were about 30 lbs each and we had to move each of them several times before we placed them in the fireplace. We ended up buying over 3 pallets of these blocks, each pallet weighed in at 1 ton. Each block had to be taken from the pallet and moved to my tractor, then from my tractor to a staging area, and then finally set in place in fireplace. Some of the blocks had to be loaded on my trailer by hand too, if we had incompetent ppl working at the store. Most of them were forklifted on the trailer.
This does not even include all of the 80 lbs bags of concrete we hauled to pour the footers and the base slab for the fireplace. My wife and I were very tired at the end of this project. This is how far we got after the we ran out of block, the first time. In 2020 it was very hard to find this block, so we would buy everything they had in stock, then after we ran out, do the same thing at the next store that stocked it. Repeat, as necessary.
I have a ton of scrap metal on the property from my grandfather. I dug up the heaviest piece of angle I could find, then I welded a piece of same gauge flat stock to it. This would give me a wide enough shelf to form the lintel. Then I chiseled out a recess in the block to place the lintel.
After a few more trips with my trailer to find block, we ended up with this. We lined the bottom with fire brick just to be safe.
It wasn't long before we had our first fire. We just had to take it for a test drive. I was a little worried that the short flue might not draft well, but with the large opening, it drafts great.
and with the lights...
This project turned out as good as I had envisioned, and we love the focal point on the deck. Our sore muscles were worth it.
We burned this fireplace late into the fall and even the dogs like it.
This does not even include all of the 80 lbs bags of concrete we hauled to pour the footers and the base slab for the fireplace. My wife and I were very tired at the end of this project. This is how far we got after the we ran out of block, the first time. In 2020 it was very hard to find this block, so we would buy everything they had in stock, then after we ran out, do the same thing at the next store that stocked it. Repeat, as necessary.
I have a ton of scrap metal on the property from my grandfather. I dug up the heaviest piece of angle I could find, then I welded a piece of same gauge flat stock to it. This would give me a wide enough shelf to form the lintel. Then I chiseled out a recess in the block to place the lintel.
After a few more trips with my trailer to find block, we ended up with this. We lined the bottom with fire brick just to be safe.
It wasn't long before we had our first fire. We just had to take it for a test drive. I was a little worried that the short flue might not draft well, but with the large opening, it drafts great.
and with the lights...
This project turned out as good as I had envisioned, and we love the focal point on the deck. Our sore muscles were worth it.
We burned this fireplace late into the fall and even the dogs like it.
In the spring I traded my old 1990 Massey Fergusion for this new machine. What an upgrade my new tractor is... I have needed this for years now. The lift capacity on this thing is nuts for its size.
I traded away my belly mower with the old MF, so I needed a new mower too. I found a BEFCO commercial finish mower on marketplace. It looked to have low hours and it is built like a tank. The main issue it had was that everything was cooked from sitting in a field for years. Every rubber part, tires and belts, were toast. the powder coating was starting to flake too. I put new tires and belts on it, then touched up the rust and she mowed great for the season.
When the grass stopped growing, I disassembled the entire deck and took it to the powder coaters. The parts were ridiculously heavy to move around and assemble, but before spring, I ended up with like new mower. Even with the cost of powder coating and the parts, it was about 1/10 of the cost of a new mower.
I traded away my belly mower with the old MF, so I needed a new mower too. I found a BEFCO commercial finish mower on marketplace. It looked to have low hours and it is built like a tank. The main issue it had was that everything was cooked from sitting in a field for years. Every rubber part, tires and belts, were toast. the powder coating was starting to flake too. I put new tires and belts on it, then touched up the rust and she mowed great for the season.
When the grass stopped growing, I disassembled the entire deck and took it to the powder coaters. The parts were ridiculously heavy to move around and assemble, but before spring, I ended up with like new mower. Even with the cost of powder coating and the parts, it was about 1/10 of the cost of a new mower.
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Hellpig
Well-known member
LOL, I JUST came in after fighting my old 72" KingKutter on a MF231, thanks for making me jealous!
Finallygotit
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Looks like your wife is quite taken with the new machine as well.
Congrats!
My wife was happy that the new tractor was very user friendly, it has hydrostatic drive and auto throttle. The old tractor was a manual with a 2-speed rear and a high/low ******, which meant that you need to operate three lever to change gears and she found it very confusing. Plus, we would no longer have to worry about lifting the rear wheels off the ground every time we went to lift something with the loader. The new machine has loaded tires and weighs over 6k lbs. The downside of that, is that I can no longer transport it on my trailer, as it's too heavy for the trailer axles.
Looks like your wife is quite taken with the new machine as well.
Congrats!
zmotorsports
ALLIANCE MEMBER
The deck(s) turned out great but the whole thing is just spectacular. You and your wife have created a beautiful property together that I hope you can enjoy for many, many years.
Well done....
Well done....
Mike, thanks for your kind words. We have definitely invested both our time and money into this property as we expect this to be our last home.The deck(s) turned out great but the whole thing is just spectacular. You and your wife have created a beautiful property together that I hope you can enjoy for many, many years.
Well done....