My Shop/House Build

[HoosierMark]

If you are looking to create habitat for fish. Many knowledgeable people I know use Christmas trees or similar with a concrete block and chain attached. They sink them in the ponds so the baby fish have hiding places. My brother has about 10 ponds on his farm with probably half being less then 10 years old. I helped do this on many of them. You might want to run your electric line out for the fountain before the pond gets too full so you can have it in and anchored.
Also if you want to keep sand from sliding in the pond, a friend anchored tires to use as a dam to keep the sand from moving. Not sure how well it worked but seemed like a good idea.

 

[JimL]

Cool Place!

 

[WJW]

Looks real good.. pond seems like a good size... good luck

 

[rusty1]

...wow, you guys have a great imagination; going to be an awesome place. This is the kind of project I love to see. Thanks for posting this one.

 

[JMartens]

The plan is to put a curb built out of clay around the beach area to keep it in place. When you go from beach to pond, nothing to trip or get hung up on.

All of the concrete I pulled out of the barn will go in away from the swimming area to provide hiding spots for fish. Cedar or man made trees will also go in for fish habitat as well.

It probably would be a good idea to get electric to the pond as I plan to aerate or use a fountain.

Thanks for the compliments. We are excited. Hoping to pour the last bit of concrete in the main shop bay on Monday.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Here's some pics of the exterior. It's all wrapped with most of the windows and doors in.

Whoa, what a transformation already. Keep up the nice work.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Nice, real nice in fact, thanks for the up date.

Regards

 

[djones1a]

Wow this is nice! What part of mo. are you in?

 

[JMartens]

Phelps county

Need to post some new pics. New roof is done. Pond is done. South wall is real close to done and should be Monday. Will work on it tomorrow if my sons soccer rains out.

Insulation goes in this week and drywall next. Once drywall starts going up, I'll get some interior shots. Framing just doesn't show much.

 

[ADSR]

Huge!

 

[GDPossehl]

Looks great!

 

[HemiRamOn22s]

Nice build... but im more curious how you are going to sustain the water level in the pond with it being on a hill like that far above the water table. Is the pond clay lined? From my experience i wouldnt think the pond would hold and the way you built the embankment... i just dont think it will hold back the amout of water you want the pond to hold before it blows out the embankment with the type of soils you have.

 

[Danny Gooding]

Subscribed. Wow.

 

[JMartens]

Pond dam is all clay. Top soil was used on only on the back and top to grow grass and add a little mass to the back side.

I've got 5 acres feeding the pond. There is a swell on each side of the property that directs all run off to the pond. Probably take a while to get it filled but once full, yearly rainfall alone is supposed to be more than the average evaporation.

Best guess is it should work. Time will tell. Any water that has made it in there has stayed. No noticeable loss of water level so far.

 

[JMartens]

Here's a pic of the first movie night. We mocked up some risers to see how tall we needed/wanted to go and set up a projector to set screen size so we would know where to place the hook ups for the final.




Here's a pic of the south wall showing the shop exterior wall. Finally all of the exterior framing is done. The two outside garage doors went in this week and once insulation is done next week the middle three should go in. The middle doors are on vertical tracks so I won't have any overhead obstructions. The doors will block the windows when up but then I'll get light in through the doors. With the doors down, I get a lot of natural light from the windows.



Here's a couple of inside pics of the main bay. The little room in the middle houses the pressure tank and water heater on one side and a half bath on the other. The upper will get framed in for the furnaces and storage. The lifts will sit on either side of the build out, about in line with the wall so that they are out of bounds for the basketball court. The goal is in its final spot and will some day get replaced with glass. For now it is going to get a nice piece of birch plywood painted white. Final plans are for VCT with the court markings in it. Sealed concrete for the short time, if it won't affect the glue down of the tile.





This is a two car parking stall. Still have to cut out the windows fully but its pretty well done except for trim. Its just wide enough to park my TA and Charger in with a little storage in front of the cars.



Here's a pic of one of the bedrooms showing two walls with the blown in fiberglass. Every exterior wall got 9 inches of dense pack blow in. I'm real pleased with this insulation. They finished the living space today but ran out of material to finish the shop areas. Should finish next week when materials arrives. Drywall starts on Monday!!!

 

[drivesitfar]

JM: I've been watching your build for a while now and think you are doing a great job. i have to ask because I've always wanted a pond or to live on a lake and just wondered how you are going to keep the mosquitoes from reproducing and causing you and your family grief? i'd love to have a bunch of frogs croaking in the night near my house, but living in the city i get helicopters on the weekend patrolling the area and sirens if it's not just quiet.

keep up the great work and keep taking and posting the pictures because we all like watching even if we don't have time to give you a good word.

cheers

 

[JMartens]

I hope to have some updated pics. Hung the last sheet of drywall today and the finishers got a start on Friday. They might have it all finished by Friday. Almost 300 sheets and I'm tired.

The great news is the berms on the side of the property work great to fill the pond. With the rains Friday and today the pond came up over 2 foot. We went for a swim tonight and it was really up. The berms I put in place to hold the sand beach are now under water it came up so fast. I guess the sand will work its way down over time as it was scheduled to get delivered this week.

 

[JMartens]

Here's some updated pics.

Garage windows and doors installed. Garage doors are on vertical tracks and I loose know useable space inside. Will get pics of the inside soon.



Couple of pond pics. Pond is holding water well. Levels keep rising with everyone rain. The drainage swells funnel quite a bit of water into the pond. Its come up over a foot in the last week.





Got the sheathing on the gable end of the porch.



Drywall finishing has started. We went with rounded corners on all of the windows and its looking sharp.





A view looking back at the loft space.



Showers are cleaned out waiting for drain and concrete.

 

[JMartens]

So much progress has been made since I took these pics last week. Drywall is all done and the entire house is painted. The ceilings are up on the porch and the great room and we have started one of the bedrooms.

All of the HVAC is done. Got three loads of rock on the parking area smoothed out and can now actually pull into the garage. We've done concrete stain samples and have all of the stain ordered.

Will try to get some updated pics by the end of the week.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Now that the pond is getting filled, you start to realize the true size.


One thing I wanted to ask but forgot about earlier is the roof. It appears that there is two different colors of metal.

 

[JMartens]

Metal is the same color throughout but seems to change color with the lighting. It is actually a pretty dark color, burnished slate, but never seems that dark. I am hoping it looks darker when we get the red on the walls.

Pond is a good size and seems bigger since its so close to the house.

 

[drivesitfar]

J: it looks like you are building a school. i like it and are you keeping that BB hoop inside or was that just a temporary thing? also did i read correctly that you are swimming in the pond?

keep up the great pictures and we are watching and here to help if you have any questions if we see them and if you have any.

 

[JMartens]

We are keeping the hoop in the main bay. I actually have enough room for a college three plus room behind the arc. Short term the backboard will get a nice piece of plywood painted white. Down the road I want a glass backboard. We plan to keep the gym clear except as needed.

We swim in the pond several times a week. We are planning a sand beach if budget allows.

I need to update a lot of pics. We will actually be moving in over the coming weekend.

We finished the last coat of clear on the concrete floors today. All told we ended up with 9 different colors of stained concrete in the house. We are real pleased with the concrete floors.

The blown in insulation was well worth it. It has been mid 90's with high humidity and the AC runs about once every 90-120 minutes.

 

[drivesitfar]

JM: we'd all love to see more pictures as you have time to take and post them to see your progress that you are talking about.

i'm sort of curious about the bugs and other critters that might breed and make home in your pond. are you using chemicals or do tell how sitting water can and will stay nice enough to swim in?

awesome place and great plan.

 

[ILL BUCK]

Love this build....any updates?? Pics?

 

[No Noise Dude]

Subscribed!

 

[JMartens]

No chemicals in the pond, as of now. I did add blue dye which is supposed to limit sunlight to keep algae down and then we added a gallon of "good" bacteria. I've attached before and after pics to show the difference. Very, very little algae is left.







We've been living in the house for a month now and finally starting to feel a little settled. The porch is done except for the fireplace. It is also plumbed for an outdoor kitchen sometime down the road.



Here's a pic of the great room from our master door way.



Here's the kitchen.



The insulation was well worth it. The first month's utility bill was $130 including 3 weeks of heat indexes near or over 100.

 

[drivesitfar]

JM: i really like your design and if you have time to take more pictures and post them please do. the pond/lake/swimming hole looks amazing now and hard to believe a little rainwater can make on like that.

did you end up taking the BBall hoop down or is it in another part of the barn house?

thanks for sharing

 

[Kilo70]

Such a cool place.

Sent from my SM-T520 using Tapatalk

 

[JMartens]

The hope is in the center bay of the shop portion. Got enough room for an nba 3 pointer. Will get some pics of the shop spaces and the rest of the house in the following days. As I said, finally getting settled in and have some time.

All the interior lacks is base and crown trim and tiling of the custom showers followed by some touch up paint.

 

[drivesitfar]

JM: no hurry on the pics and whenever you have time. place looks great. do you have kids to play basketball with or the hoop so they can practice or now that you own it do your friends now play at your house instead of a gym?

 

[jiggler]

nice looking shop and gsp

 

[Mike.ASC]

Amazing what you have done .

 

[JMartens]

My son is 10 and we like to play as does my wife. I can use the gym space for shop space if need be, but we want to keep it clean to work out in and have a place to play.

We think its pretty cool what an old barn can become. Siding is scheduled for September once it cools down a bit.

Pond is nice to swim in. Just got done going for a dip followed by catching a couple of base. We stocked 60 mature bass and about 250 blue gill/perch from an overstocked neighbors pond.

 

[drivesitfar]

JM: other than the food factor are there advantages to have fish in your man made lake/pond that you also use to swim in?

love the old barn and more pictures when you have time. also like the idea of playing inside hoops with your 10 year old.

cheers

 

[bcvickers]

Great build, exactly what I'd like to do for a retirement palace!

I may have missed it somewhere in the thread but am I seeing double there in the kitchen with two ranges/microwaves? Are you planning on large gatherings or?

 

[KissMyWhtSS]

JM: other than the food factor are there advantages to have fish in your man made lake/pond that you also use to swim in?



cheers

It's called fishing lol

 

[JMartens]

Fish are there for entertainment more than food. It is nice to spend 30 mins trying to get the bass to bite.

We hosted larger groups before the move and anticipate doing the same now, but the two ranges were actually a cost saving measure. If you price a double oven and a cook top, the two ranges come out cheaper and we had the room. We get the double baking capacity and more cook top space. A double wall oven and cook top will run around $2500 and I have around $900 in both conventional ovens. If you add in $200 for the extra microwave, it still comes out in favor of the two separate units.

 

[C_F]

I just stumbled on this thread, and am completely amazed! What a transformation you have done here...I don't know if I will look at a plain old barn the same way again. Haha!
Thanks for sharing your build with us all. I will definitely be checking back on this thread for updates.

 

[JMartens]

We've been hitting the inside pretty hard. We took the 2 x 8 barn oak that we removed and made baseboards out of them. We tried hard to save as many live edges on the top as we could. Here's one pic of the base.



We finally got a rail up across the loft and flooring down. I still need to plane down some more barn oak for the top rail. It will be 1.25 inches thick and 6.5 inches wide. Perpendicular underneath will be a piece of oak 1.25 inches thick and 4 inches tall. Pine was cheap enough to work for now.









Exterior is coming. We have about 75 % of the exterior trimmed out and ready for siding. We would have it all done today but the cable rail system took longer than we had expected.

Sorry for the dark pics. I'm better at building than pics. Will try again if there is something specific someone wants to see.