Lurker posting project in progress (idea stage)

[paulrey27]

Barn Fit out for woodshop.

Hello.
Quick background.
Went to architecture school, after 4 years realized I love making things. Next two years culminated in a built final project rather than a printed poster. Graduated. Got real job and gave up student life plus access to awesome wood shop. A good buddy (fellow M.Arch) of mine and I decided it would be great to have a space to be able to build/fabricate things. We learned a few things in school and both enjoy making things.
That brings us here (don't know if he's lurking or even on here). My mom owns a piece of land and with it a barn (seen below). We pitched the idea of creating a shop (I know, I know, not a garage) space in my mom's barn and got approval immediately. She was, and still is, excited about the idea of someone doing something with part of the barn space she has... currently it's a garage for: a car and a van, but it's also a chicken coop. The rest remains empty.
Our plan is to take the middle bay of the barn (approx 23' x 23') and turn it into a workshop.
We are hoping to kick off the fit out in about a month or so. I hope to post some pictures of the progress here as well as our simple plan for the space.
Stay tuned.



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[AV tinker er]

Looking forward to see your progress.

 

[fringeofinsanity]

Sounds like a great opportunity. I look forward to seeing your progress.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Good luck on your build but before you start, you need something on paper.


Possesion between you and your mother. If something happens to her, what happens to the bldg ? Do you have siblings or another parent that will take control of the property ?

Once you get that straight, who's money is going get used to fix it up ? Both you and the buddy ? What happens when you decide to part ways ? Do you have to repay himm or buy his half out ?

 

[Kaasdief]

I think you just killed it....

 

[stingry]

Old barns make great shops! Here's mine that started out looking a lot like yours. The center section was a 25x40 shop with a 15x40 heated and cooled section (North side with door) and the south side was a 15x40 woodshop. The old hay loft was used as storage.

View media item 6069
UNFORTUNATELY, it burned to the ground February 2012.


Cheers
Steve

 

[paulrey27]

Good luck on your build but before you start, you need something on paper.


Possesion between you and your mother. If something happens to her, what happens to the bldg ? Do you have siblings or another parent that will take control of the property ?

Once you get that straight, who's money is going get used to fix it up ? Both you and the buddy ? What happens when you decide to part ways ? Do you have to repay himm or buy his half out ?

All good points. I will have to chat with her about this. I guess I've assumed that as teenage girls they won't care and my sister lives close with her own family and doubt she has interest in it. I could be wrong so it wouldn't hurt to check on these things.
If my buddy and I decide to part ways, the tools go with their owner (we aren't buying things together). Maybe we should chat about this, to.
ALL good points, thanks for bringing these to the table.

I think you just killed it....

Slow to respond. Had a pretty busy weekend and been out of town. He brings up good points.

Old barns make great shops! Here's mine that started out looking a lot like yours. The center section was a 25x40 shop with a 15x40 heated and cooled section (North side with door) and the south side was a 15x40 woodshop. The old hay loft was used as storage.

UNFORTUNATELY, it burned to the ground February 2012.

Cheers
Steve

Looks awesome. Might I ask what caused the fire?

 

[paulrey27]

Video of our first day in the space. Just cleaning up a bit and making sure the chickens cannot get into the space. I imagine this thread will be buried again before I post another update because I'm going on vacation out of the country for a couple weeks and following that I have too much going on. I hope to get back into the space and get it ready for framing before May comes D:
Thanks for all those who are checking this out.

 

[stingry]

Looks awesome. Might I ask what caused the fire?

Wooden cabinet with paint, thinners, etc. stored inside. Some type of spontaneous combustion was all the fire marshall could come up with.

Steve

 

[paulrey27]

It doesn't appear those who viewed the thread went and checked the video. Maybe there wasn't much interest in the who thing. Understand. Things are starting/moving slow over on this end of forum. But here's another shameless plug of our video. << Whole sentence is the link. We will have more videos of each day of progress made. As stated previously, I'll be leaving the country (today!) and we will get another chance to tighten up the remaining space and hopefully start framing walls before May. I would expect to see a couple cool videos between now and June.
Because my partner in this whole thing lives 2.5 hrs away from the project and I live about 40 minutes from it, we get together as often as possible...which obviously isn't every weekend. Thanks again for sticking with us.

 

[Nelkcots]

Nice time lapse video!!! Looks like a fun project.

 

[Grumpys Hot Rods]

Old Barns Make Great Workshops, I Wish I Had A Old Barn !!!
Good Luck On the Project. The Video Was Great.

 

[paulrey27]

Nice time lapse video!!! Looks like a fun project.

Old Barns Make Great Workshops, I Wish I Had A Old Barn !!!
Good Luck On the Project. The Video Was Great.

Thanks guys, most likely I will be posting only time lapse videos of the project unless a detail is needed or specific photo is request. The next work day is schedule to be two weeks from this Saturday... April 27th. We should have another nice update, but similar to this one.

 

[paulrey27]

Alright time for the latest update. Second day in the space. (yes it's that slow) https://vimeo.com/64975215 <<< check out the video of Day 2
We are almost framed out for the walls.

 

[paulrey27]

Here is a picture of the end of the day...

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[little d]

I like what your doing but, gotta ask why ya framed new walls?

 

[paulrey27]

I like what your doing but, gotta ask why ya framed new walls?

Thanks for commenting. We want to have climate controlled space and because the structure that is existing isn't exactly plumb/square/etc we figured it'd be easiest to insulate and finish (and hopefully look nice) if we were to frame on the inside of what exists. That theoretically should make it easier to run electrical/lighting and install insulation and drywall.

 

[LutzTD]

looks like it will be a nie space. Whats in the rest of the barn, any room for expansion later?

 

[CNGsaves]

Great potential but think you short-changed what is possible by framing in such a small space . . . only 23' x 23'. That will barely hold a full-size pickup with a bench in front of it.

Also, why go to work of framing in and leave old drafty un-sealed slider door?

I think what Stingry did with barn was much better with the big roll-up garage door.

With active chicken coop nearby, you'll still have lots of critters like mice, rats, possums, skunks, etc. that will be trying to get free meals and easily could get behind that slider door.

I had nice car stored in barn and rats chewed through all electrical wires after they build nest on top of engine. Same barn had skunks that were getting into another corner.

Buys lots of rat/mice poison in those black plastic crawl-in houses as you're going to need it!!

 

[little d]

Aaaawww, ok. What kind of fab work are you 2 thinking about?

 

[paulrey27]

looks like it will be a nie space. Whats in the rest of the barn, any room for expansion later?

The entire first floor is concrete... 5000 square feet of space. So I suppose an answer is yes, there is 4500 square feet left to expand. The barn houses: a chicken cook, my mom's daily driver parking spot, this space, an open bay, another open bay, and then a bay where she parks the van (this is used for transporting anything and everything, for her). behind all of that stuff is tons of open space. There is room to expand. Thanks for commenting.

Great potential but think you short-changed what is possible by framing in such a small space . . . only 23' x 23'. That will barely hold a full-size pickup with a bench in front of it.
Also, why go to work of framing in and leave old drafty un-sealed slider door?
I think what Stingry did with barn was much better with the big roll-up garage door.
With active chicken coop nearby, you'll still have lots of critters like mice, rats, possums, skunks, etc. that will be trying to get free meals and easily could get behind that slider door.
I had nice car stored in barn and rats chewed through all electrical wires after they build nest on top of engine. Same barn had skunks that were getting into another corner.
Buys lots of rat/mice poison in those black plastic crawl-in houses as you're going to need it!!

I don't a pickup and there shall be no vehicle parked in the space. If we do put a vehicle in the space, it might be his miata, but don't plan on it. The door isn't sealed yet. This project is going to be moving along slowly because we both want to do the work together, as a learning experience, and he lives 2 hours away. He'll be back in two weeks.
I agree with you about the critters, we are working on a plan of action for the critters. Before winter we will have our new door installed. Thanks for the feedback.

Aaaawww, ok. What kind of fab work are you 2 thinking about?

Immediately? Woodworking. I would love to be able to do some welding at some point but I'd have to figure something out...because you know, wood and metal... seems like a perfect recipe to get rid of the space. So for now, I think we'd both like to have wood working equipment and make some furniture. Thanks for commenting.

 

[zcar751]

Nice job so far. I agree with you line of thought on putting up the walls for wiring and insulation. You will find that once you start getting tools and tables and cabinets in the space that it will be kinda tight. So really think through your lay out. I would recommend when you do the lay out think mobile; put every thing on wheels. That way you can move things around.
Stingry's unfortunate disaster is a great learning point. Mineral spirits and varnish on rags will spontaneously combust, and rodents will eat exposed electrical wiring so while you have the oporturnity I would suggest rigid conduit or flexible armor conduit for your electrical and never store dirty rags in your shop.

 

[paulrey27]

Nice job so far. I agree with you line of thought on putting up the walls for wiring and insulation. You will find that once you start getting tools and tables and cabinets in the space that it will be kinda tight. So really think through your lay out. I would recommend when you do the lay out think mobile; put every thing on wheels. That way you can move things around.
Stingry's unfortunate disaster is a great learning point. Mineral spirits and varnish on rags will spontaneously combust, and rodents will eat exposed electrical wiring so while you have the oporturnity I would suggest rigid conduit or flexible armor conduit for your electrical and never store dirty rags in your shop.

Thanks for posting. The plan is a square shape with a column in the center. Here is what we have planned thus far for layout: left side, long table along wall to house miter saw and bench drill press - tool storage underneath in floor drawers (basically a drawer that is on wheels on sits on the floor). Back left corner - work surface for small pieces as well as storage for small hardware, tool storage under table. Next to column but going to need to figure something out...is hopefully table saw. On the right side of the space will be two tables for hand work. Of course it's flexible and will need more thought. That's just what we have for now.
Thanks!

Edit: Yes. The combustibles issues... we will have to be extremely careful about what we do. All rags must be tossed OUT of the barn. What is recommended for these things? Is there a storage procedure for the cans/containers? I feel like I've seen metal cabinets used for this.
As for the wire and protecting it from rodents... my mom has a few cats that chill out around the barn (a few = 10 or so... :|). As for bigger rodents, there is a successful, ongoing trapping happening. There is a finished room at the back side of the barn (opposite of this room) and it's been wired and heated/cooled there for... 10 years or so. So far no issues with the wiring. I hope that keeping it off of the floor level and covering it on both sides with sheathing/drywall should be enough...but I could be wrong. I'll investigate the other room. There is also other wiring though out the barn that is still intact. All valid points you bring up though. I appreciate the perspectives that everyone brings. Keep it coming!

 

[zcar751]

Sounds like you are thinking it though, good. Rags can be washed and reused but if you use you moms wash machine she is likely to end up out living one of her children. Flammable liquids can be stored relatively safe if you are diligent about keeping lids on and tight. A flammable liquids cabinet will set you back several hundred dollars or you can build one with a little research.

As for rodents, insulation and saw dust are an invitation for them. Its almost like a rodent resort. Cats will help but I wouldn't rely on them.

 

[paulrey27]

Sounds like you are thinking it though, good. Rags can be washed and reused but if you use you moms wash machine she is likely to end up out living one of her children. Flammable liquids can be stored relatively safe if you are diligent about keeping lids on and tight. A flammable liquids cabinet will set you back several hundred dollars or you can build one with a little research.

As for rodents, insulation and saw dust are an invitation for them. Its almost like a rodent resort. Cats will help but I wouldn't rely on them.

Good to know. That is something we will have to discuss prior to buying any of those flammable goods.

As for the rodents, we'll have to look into methods of dealing with them...poison isn't an option due to cats, chickens, and if there are small children poking around in the area.

 

[little d]

"Immediately? Woodworking. I would love to be able to do some welding at some point but I'd have to figure something out...because you know, wood and metal... seems like a perfect recipe to get rid of the space. So for now, I think we'd both like to have wood working equipment and make some furniture."

That was why I was wondering about the walls. Galvanized, corrugated metal works well on walls where your going to be grinding and welding. You could even use it as Wainscoting, say like 4 or 5 feet up.

 

[paulrey27]

"Immediately? Woodworking. I would love to be able to do some welding at some point but I'd have to figure something out...because you know, wood and metal... seems like a perfect recipe to get rid of the space. So for now, I think we'd both like to have wood working equipment and make some furniture."

That was why I was wondering about the walls. Galvanized, corrugated metal works well on walls where your going to be grinding and welding. You could even use it as Wainscoting, say like 4 or 5 feet up.

Perfect. I like the idea! Corrugated metal has a soft spot in my heart and I don't know why...but definitely interested in that idea.

 

[paulrey27]

Another post of some work.
We got our ceiling framing completed. Linky to vid
Moved a bit slower than planned so we returned Sunday morning to finish the other side. Things went well. Day 4 (when ever that is) will be beginning electrical work.

 

[CNGsaves]

Good to know. That is something we will have to discuss prior to buying any of those flammable goods.

As for the rodents, we'll have to look into methods of dealing with them...poison isn't an option due to cats, chickens, and if there are small children poking around in the area.

I think you're kidding yourself thinking you don't/won't have rodent problems - - - - with that big of barn and easy food supply with the chickens, you WILL and DO HAVE rodents, right now.

At bare minimum, I'd recommend block poison that's a "house" that mice and rats crawl into and chew . . . to their heart's content & DEATH !! These should be located OUTSIDE of barn where varmits may be walking along exterior looking for an entrance. These are safe for pets, children, etc. I would put one of these on each exterior wall of barn. See example pic below.

Also need poison or traps INSIDE barn as well . . . see the GJ threads on mice as there is bucket-of-water method where you put spinning device above water with peanut butter and varmits fall into water and drown.

Keep putting poison and traps out all year long (especially winter) and you'll find out exactly how many varmits you really have . . . you'll know you're making progress when the poison doesn't disappear. Until then, keep putting out poison and setting the traps.

 

[paulrey27]

I think you're kidding yourself thinking you don't/won't have rodent problems - - - - with that big of barn and easy food supply with the chickens, you WILL and DO HAVE rodents, right now.

At bare minimum, I'd recommend block poison that's a "house" that mice and rats crawl into and chew . . . to their heart's content & DEATH !! These should be located OUTSIDE of barn where varmits may be walking along exterior looking for an entrance. These are safe for pets, children, etc. I would put one of these on each exterior wall of barn. See example pic below.

Also need poison or traps INSIDE barn as well . . . see the GJ threads on mice as there is bucket-of-water method where you put spinning device above water with peanut butter and varmits fall into water and drown.

Keep putting poison and traps out all year long (especially winter) and you'll find out exactly how many varmits you really have . . . you'll know you're making progress when the poison doesn't disappear. Until then, keep putting out poison and setting the traps.

Thanks for the tips CNG. I will have to check this out.

 

[cyamaha2007]

Please post pics also for us people in bum fock nowhere. My internet ***** for videos.
If you dicide to use galvanized metal dont forget about a barrier to keep the insulation from touching the steel and wicking up condensation. Also on the cold side of the wall think about using tyvek house wrap. It will make a big difference in how comfortable it is.

 

[where2]

Old Barns Make Great Workshops, I Wish I Had An Old Barn !!! Good Luck On the Project.

An old barn, and an old farm are both on my bucket list to own before I die... The acreage of a farm keeps the neighbors from being all up in my business, and the barn... we all know what to do with space for tools.

 

[kazlx]

What I would give for something that size. I have a tiny two car. Excited to see what you do. There's a part of me that wouldn't mind blowing off my day job and buying some place like that.

 

[paulrey27]

Please post pics also for us people in bum fock nowhere. My internet ***** for videos.
If you dicide to use galvanized metal dont forget about a barrier to keep the insulation from touching the steel and wicking up condensation. Also on the cold side of the wall think about using tyvek house wrap. It will make a big difference in how comfortable it is.

Sorry about that. I will get some pics.
As for the metal, I would guess that I would install it over top of the drywall. We are going drywall the entire space and add "guards" or shielding where needed. Thanks for commenting. Stay tuned for pics.

An old barn, and an old farm are both on my bucket list to own before I die... The acreage of a farm keeps the neighbors from being all up in my business, and the barn... we all know what to do with space for tools.

I'm very fortunate to have one available for use. They're great to have but with chickens running around, they're inevitably dirty (feathers, straw, poop, etc). Thanks for commenting.

What I would give for something that size. I have a tiny two car. Excited to see what you do. There's a part of me that wouldn't mind blowing off my day job and buying some place like that.

Not sure where you are located but here in Indiana, I would say it's not uncommon to be able to get a barn... lots of field Thanks for stopping, checking out what we're up to, and commenting.

 

[paulrey27]

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That's a chicken on the left, me in the middle, and my buddy on the right.

 

[paulrey27]

Getting started
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[paulrey27]

Building wrap/thick plastic. My mom had these already and since we aren't on an unlimited budget, we decided that they'd work for now, but the building wrap was a must on the exterior wall at least.
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[paulrey27]

Wall going up.
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[paulrey27]

Shot from the inside looking out.
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[paulrey27]

Doin' work.
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