First off I want to say these forums are awesome. I have been prowling around for a little while now and have really enjoyed reading about lots of different shops/garages. I can honestly say that I'm on the forum daily, but have not contributed much at all (1 post, this one makes 2). A couple of years ago my family and I found our dream home. It's not a huge home by any means but was quite a bit larger than the home we lived in for 10 years. My wife grew up not far away from our new home and we were looking to move. We just happened to drive by the house and noticed it was unoccupied. There was not a for sale sign to be found, but I saw a realtor's card through the window.
After searching, I located the listing and after several months, we bought it. My wife loves the wrap around porch and I love the seclusion. Our closest neighbor is almost 1 mile away.
Oh yeah, did I mention the house came with a shop? The shop is 62x50 with 16' walls. I thought I was getting a large shop, turns out my wife got a HUGE storage building. LOL There are four 12x14 doors (2 on the front and 2 on the back) and one 8' door on the front. The large doors are positioned so you can drive through the shop and for airflow. The shop also has a room framed in the corner across from the small garage door.
The bad...
The whole property had been severely neglected for approx 7 years and nature began to take its toll. One corner of the shop slab has dropped over 8". When the shop was built, gutters were never added to the building. There is virtually no overhang from the roof, so the water runs down the side of the building. My best guess is the water was making it's way under the slab and slowly washing away the foundation. Once I'm able to get the slab leveled, I'll address the gutter issue.
The shop was also over run with mice and rats. Over the past 2 years I have trapped, poisoned, and shot LOTS of the beasts. I know they have their place in nature, but the snakes look for the mice and my daughters don't know venomous snakes from non-venomous snakes. I'm not sure why the mice chose the shop unless it's just for shelter. There's no food source inside and they seem to bring their own (pecans and acorns). It seems when the slab was poured, the "tin ledge" wasn't calculated in for some reason. The sheet metal sits in the ledge on 2 sides of the shop, but not the other 2. The exterior walls are R panels and the rodents crawl through through the ridges in the sheet metal. I'm slowly working on making the area critter proof. I have began to line the interior walls with sheet metal. Previously the interior was completely unfinished, just exposed insulation, and the rodents have eaten through a lot of insulation. I'm adding purling/angle iron at 48" and then attaching sheet metal. So far I've gotten 2 walls completed and I wish I would have done it sooner. It's a huge transformation and makes the interior look cleaner even though I have stuff scattered everywhere. All of the material was left over from when the shop was built several years ago. It's only cost me time, screws, bolts, and 4 cutoff wheels.
I know everyone is going to want pictures, honestly I'm a little embarrassed due to the looks of the interior at this time. There's practically no storage except for open shelving I built and the shelves are packed full. My wife tells me I'm a hoarder, but I think I collect stuff I might need one day. It never fails, I throw an item away that I haven't used in 5 years, I'll need it next week. I'm also really picky(cheap if you ask my wife) and don't want to spend money on storage cabinets. I'm just waiting for someone we know to remodel their kitchen and I'll take their old cabinets for storage. As long as they are in decent shape, a little sanding and some paint, I think they'll work perfect.
My future plans are a 2 post lift, double the size of the room (wood working) and build a home theater room on top of it. The top of the room is currently used for storage (wife's stuff). I had a home theater in our old house and I kinda miss it.
Alright guys, that's enough about me. If I can get things organized a little better, I'll start another thread and add pics.
After searching, I located the listing and after several months, we bought it. My wife loves the wrap around porch and I love the seclusion. Our closest neighbor is almost 1 mile away.
Oh yeah, did I mention the house came with a shop? The shop is 62x50 with 16' walls. I thought I was getting a large shop, turns out my wife got a HUGE storage building. LOL There are four 12x14 doors (2 on the front and 2 on the back) and one 8' door on the front. The large doors are positioned so you can drive through the shop and for airflow. The shop also has a room framed in the corner across from the small garage door.
The bad...
The whole property had been severely neglected for approx 7 years and nature began to take its toll. One corner of the shop slab has dropped over 8". When the shop was built, gutters were never added to the building. There is virtually no overhang from the roof, so the water runs down the side of the building. My best guess is the water was making it's way under the slab and slowly washing away the foundation. Once I'm able to get the slab leveled, I'll address the gutter issue.
The shop was also over run with mice and rats. Over the past 2 years I have trapped, poisoned, and shot LOTS of the beasts. I know they have their place in nature, but the snakes look for the mice and my daughters don't know venomous snakes from non-venomous snakes. I'm not sure why the mice chose the shop unless it's just for shelter. There's no food source inside and they seem to bring their own (pecans and acorns). It seems when the slab was poured, the "tin ledge" wasn't calculated in for some reason. The sheet metal sits in the ledge on 2 sides of the shop, but not the other 2. The exterior walls are R panels and the rodents crawl through through the ridges in the sheet metal. I'm slowly working on making the area critter proof. I have began to line the interior walls with sheet metal. Previously the interior was completely unfinished, just exposed insulation, and the rodents have eaten through a lot of insulation. I'm adding purling/angle iron at 48" and then attaching sheet metal. So far I've gotten 2 walls completed and I wish I would have done it sooner. It's a huge transformation and makes the interior look cleaner even though I have stuff scattered everywhere. All of the material was left over from when the shop was built several years ago. It's only cost me time, screws, bolts, and 4 cutoff wheels.
I know everyone is going to want pictures, honestly I'm a little embarrassed due to the looks of the interior at this time. There's practically no storage except for open shelving I built and the shelves are packed full. My wife tells me I'm a hoarder, but I think I collect stuff I might need one day. It never fails, I throw an item away that I haven't used in 5 years, I'll need it next week. I'm also really picky(cheap if you ask my wife) and don't want to spend money on storage cabinets. I'm just waiting for someone we know to remodel their kitchen and I'll take their old cabinets for storage. As long as they are in decent shape, a little sanding and some paint, I think they'll work perfect.
My future plans are a 2 post lift, double the size of the room (wood working) and build a home theater room on top of it. The top of the room is currently used for storage (wife's stuff). I had a home theater in our old house and I kinda miss it.
Alright guys, that's enough about me. If I can get things organized a little better, I'll start another thread and add pics.