My 40x50x14 I started back in 2018

[fastnred8]

Here’s some pics of the shop I’ve been building. I wanted a place that was nice and comfortable where my me and my family can build, fix or do whatever we need to do. I was hesitant to post them because I don’t want to seem like I’m bragging but then I realized it my be helpful to others that are planning on doing something similar or are already building and are stuck trying to figure out what’s next. When I started this job, I had no experience with building anything before. I could do some carpentry, electrical etc. but pretty much had to learn as I went. It was painfully slow at times, but it’s coming together better than I expected. I still have some big things left like a workbench, building in the back for my compressor, slab in front and some outdoor lights. I had the someone do the foundation, slab and building then myself with some help of friends here and there did the rest. We did the electrical, insulation, drywall, ceiling etc. It’s definitely not a normal pole building setup but it’s what worked for me. It’s a standard pole building that’s anchored to the foundation which is 10” wide blocks back filled with concrete or mortar wherever a post is anchored. The county made me use 10” block instead of 8”. The up side to that is I got to use 2x6 insulation in the walls so it’s insulated extremely well for where I live. The guy that helped me with the footing, foundation and slab thinks I should’ve stick built the building because I framed the inside for drywall. He thought cost wise it would’ve been about the same. He may be right if I knew how to do it myself, which I didn’t. I also hadn’t planned to frame the inside like I did in the beginning, it just happened to work out that way. Anyways, I’ll add pictures of the build with some comments. Hopefully it will help someone make some decisions which is usually harder then the work most times.




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[fastnred8]

You can see how the post’s are anchored and the blocks are back filled in these pics. Wherever the blocks are back filled, there’s also rebar sticking up out of the footing for added support.



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[fastnred8]

I bent some aluminum to cover the top of the block and just let the rest overhang. I put a sealant behind it to hold it down and keep the bent piece from sticking out off of the block.

This is where I decided what I was going to do on the inside. I didn’t want the wall set in from the edge of the blocks. Then stuff would fall off shelves and I figured it would look funny. I basically nailed a 2x6 to the main post so I would have a little more to nail the framed sections to.

You can see how I put the 2x6 in here and I also put in a break at 4’ high and 8’ high because I didn’t know any better. From the top of my block to the ceiling is 12’ but I had no idea they made 12’ Sheetrock at that time. I thought I needed to run them horizontal. I also braced the heck out of it because I thought I should. Definitely over did it there but it made me comfortable so I did it anyways.


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[sublime68charger]

Looks nice!

 

[fastnred8]

I thought I should post some pictures of my help.


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[sublime68charger]

That is the best type of help to have!

 

[fastnred8]

I braced the top of the gable end walls(I think it’s called the gable end) with blocks screwed to the band that runs around the outside.

On the long back wall I ran the framed sections to the bottom of the laminated beam that supports the trusses.

The front wall actually goes down to the floor level. We did this so you wouldn’t see any block work on the front of the building. The metal goes to the ground and looks better. In the first pics I posted of the foundation, there were blocks between where the big doors were going. They weren’t supposed to be there so we took them out.

I braced the bottom of the wall like the top then shot nails into the bottom board with a hilti gun.


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[fastnred8]

I ran 12/2 wire for everything and I put receptacles every 4’. When I was deciding how I wanted to do everything, I would go to my good friends shop up the street from me and look around and ask questions. One thing I asked was if he could do something different what would it be. He said a lot more receptacles! He had them every 8’ so I went every 4’. Seems like a lot but I can tell you already that it was one of the best ideas.

If I didn’t fill up a switch box, I ran a spare wire to the ceiling and put it in a j-box so I have plenty of spares.

Had a good friend and licensed electrician wire up the panel. He pretty much made sure everything I did was to code so I wouldn’t have any issues. He helped me a lot on everything actually.

Added a box with a quick connect and pulled a wire to the panel so I could hook up a portable generator in case we lose power. It’s the farthest point from the house to keep noise down.

 

[fastnred8]

I didn’t know where I was going to put my panel when we started the build so I had to bore holes in the footing to run my conduit through. I didn’t want anything showing on the outside of the building. After I ran everything I formed up the outside ditch and back filled under the footing with concrete. I put in a 1.5” conduit for the main cable, a 1.5” and a 3/4” for spares and a 3/4” for a low voltage spare in case I ever needed it. I also ran a 2” pvc pipe with the idea that if I ever want some water out there, I can pull some 3/4” or 1/2” water pipe through it.

It was going to be a while before I could get my rough in inspection and I didn’t want to leave this ditch open that long so I made a inspection hole and took a lot of pictures with the depth measurements. It worked out.



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[Zmann]

Thanks for sharing!!
you braggart



lol Kidding I know what you mean about not trying to look like your bragging but still wanting to share
I finally have the garage I always wanted and i keep it a secret from most people lol

 

[fastnred8]

Scaffolding on wheels was the best thing ever! I could use the trusses to pull myself along.

Wires for the building or small connex I’m going to put the compressor in and some storage shelves.

I put a receptacle up high on the wall in the center of each bay for wall mounted fans. Then in this picture you can see the one I put in for the tv and cable.


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[fastnred8]

I added receptacles for garage door openers near the top of the wall. I also put plywood at the bottom of the wall because I figured drywall would get messed up too easy right there.

We put this little box in beside the panel so we could pull spares in from the house later on if needed. It’s what the spare 1.5” and 3/4” conduit connect to. There’s also conduit that runs to the attic from that box and the top of the panel for spares if needed. My 3/4” spare I ran for low voltage runs from the house to the garage attic.

There’s a walkway down the center of the building then to the corner where the panel is located. The conduit comes up to that walkway for easy access and there’s already line in them to pull spares in. This is the access hole to the walkway.

I put one of these between the bays in the ceiling. I plan on putting a cord reel on one and air reel on the other. The lift will be in the bay between them.


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[fastnred8]

Just stained some 1x’s for the window and door trim. This shows how thick the walls are.

He’s expensive help but good help!



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[fastnred8]

I watched some videos of Rual Renovators on YouTube that were real helpful with installing the metal ceiling. I have a vapor barrier under the roof panels, a vented ridge and 12” overhangs on all sides of the building so I didn’t feel the need to install a vapor barrier between the ceiling and attic trusses like they did.

It was hard figuring out how to put some sort of foam like you would normally use in your house between the trusses to keep blown in insulation from filling in the vented soffit. This is what I came up with. I used 4’ long fiberglass batts just on the edges like this. Then I sprayed fiberglass insulation up to the end of these.

This shows one of the spots where my cord or hose reel is going to go. You can remove a section of plywood in the walkway above these boxes to access the electrical box and bolt the cord reels to the plywood. You can see my walkway in the ceiling directly above that. The reason I ran the 2x4’s flat like that was for 2 reasons. One, that’s how the builders ran those boards up there to connect all the trusses and 2, I ran a lot of my wires in the ceiling down the sides of these 2x4’s to keep them clean and out of the way. This gave me extra boards to run wires on.



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[fastnred8]

Attic access cover.

You can see the cord/hose reel mounts in this picture.

It’s hard to see but this is where the walkway turns toward the panel and the spare conduits come up.




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[fastnred8]

That’s really the bulk of it. A few other things I did was painted tar on the foundation that’s under ground level to keep moisture from seeping through the blocks. I put a drain all the way around the foundation, had gutters installed and connected them to corrugated pipe that is buried and runs to a drainage ditch.


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[fastnred8]

One other thing I did that’s useful is the exterior light mounts. I found where someone went through step by step how to do this and it turned out really nice so far. I just have to mount the elec box and wrap them in metal. Here’s the link if you want to check it out.

https://www.greentractortalk.com/threads/mounting-lights-or-corrugated-metal-siding.142666/


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[karoc]

Awesome looking shop, the white ceiling sure helps to light up place and nice finishing touch.

 

[fastnred8]

Awesome looking shop, the white ceiling sure helps to light up place and nice finishing touch.

Thanks!


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[fastnred8]

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[Jayman17]

Very nice place, congrats. It seems to be very well thought out and well equipped for future changes/upgrades. I hope you and your little helper get many years of good times in your shop.

Jay

 

[west_perf]

Good looking project, I appreciate the level of detail and thought put into it.

 

[fastnred8]

Very nice place, congrats. It seems to be very well thought out and well equipped for future changes/upgrades. I hope you and your little helper get many years of good times in your shop.



Jay

Thank you! I’m sure we will!


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[fastnred8]

Good looking project, I appreciate the level of detail and thought put into it.

Thanks!


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[WarrenJ]

Nice shop. Great job of building it.

 

[fastnred8]

Nice shop. Great job of building it.

Thanks!


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