I had original posted my foray into early retirement and progress of building a new shop here which had not gone as smooth as I had planned.
After working in a small 30x40 barn it was time for me to upgrade into a bigger space. Thanks to an understanding wife we pulled the trigger on a 40x60 steel building and found what we thought was a reputable builder. Long story short; the contractor cut corners which caused substantial additional costs to get the building to pass local building code. After a lengthy court case all is now settled. Outcome was not what I would have liked, but it has brought out the builder into the light so others are aware of his business practices, along with the county building department.
During this time, I have put out a few vehicles and determined that 40x60 was not going to cut it. Wife encouraged me to put up another building to do the body work and keep the other as the metal / upholstery shop as long as she would get a garage/bunk house in exchange. Sounds like a good deal to me. So, this summer we put up a 40x72 paint shop, a 30x40 garage and split it in half for a bunk room for the kids to have sleep overs/ guest suite. Also, why not blow out the west wall in the main house and put in one of those big sliding doors to really open up the Great Room.
With all the construction near completed I am back to “Moving In” to the two shops. Over the next few months ( I Hope) I will be building out the benches and other items to make shop life a little more organized. Already started on my Stevo Benches and have a number of Idea’s from others that have gone down the rabbit hole of organizing their shops. In following suit with others I will also start up a “What’s in the Shop” thread to document some of the stuff that is planned to keep me busy.
With all the bad vibes in the past we will have a positive approach going forward and will catch everyone up with pics of the progress thus far. (It isn’t real if there are no pics!!!)
After working in a small 30x40 barn it was time for me to upgrade into a bigger space. Thanks to an understanding wife we pulled the trigger on a 40x60 steel building and found what we thought was a reputable builder. Long story short; the contractor cut corners which caused substantial additional costs to get the building to pass local building code. After a lengthy court case all is now settled. Outcome was not what I would have liked, but it has brought out the builder into the light so others are aware of his business practices, along with the county building department.
During this time, I have put out a few vehicles and determined that 40x60 was not going to cut it. Wife encouraged me to put up another building to do the body work and keep the other as the metal / upholstery shop as long as she would get a garage/bunk house in exchange. Sounds like a good deal to me. So, this summer we put up a 40x72 paint shop, a 30x40 garage and split it in half for a bunk room for the kids to have sleep overs/ guest suite. Also, why not blow out the west wall in the main house and put in one of those big sliding doors to really open up the Great Room.
With all the construction near completed I am back to “Moving In” to the two shops. Over the next few months ( I Hope) I will be building out the benches and other items to make shop life a little more organized. Already started on my Stevo Benches and have a number of Idea’s from others that have gone down the rabbit hole of organizing their shops. In following suit with others I will also start up a “What’s in the Shop” thread to document some of the stuff that is planned to keep me busy.
With all the bad vibes in the past we will have a positive approach going forward and will catch everyone up with pics of the progress thus far. (It isn’t real if there are no pics!!!)