New shop is getting close to done

[lilbill]

I started this project right about 13 mos ago and it's progressed in fits and spurts the whole way. Last year my dirt work and slab got rained out for 2 mos and then my block contractor went down with heart problems. When work finally took off at a good pace I went over budget and ran out of money. Raised some more cash and blew through that in a month. Now I'm bartering Harley and VW work with the remaining subs and lurching towards the finish line. Last month I was able to get the power in and the sewer/water/gas hookups done. The plummer is about done with the rough ins and final negotiations are in play with the electrician.
I still need to finish the interior, put up the external trim and paint and do something with the driveway and parking lot. Cost so for is under $60 K for 3600 sqft. (40x60 downstairs 30x40 upstairs) with office and 3 piece bath. These pics are about a month old so they don't show the utility rough ins.

 

[Duker]

Looks great and your running cost so far is fantastic for the size. Would love to see some more pics. I am getting ready to start my own new shop so I am curious how high are your walls to the eaves? If that is a standard door it would appear to be 14'?

 

[lilbill]

Looks great and your running cost so far is fantastic for the size. Would love to see some more pics. I am getting ready to start my own new shop so I am curious how high are your walls to the eaves? If that is a standard door it would appear to be 14'?

Thanks. The left side is 14' and the right side is 16'. The right side is the two story with 8' cielings downstairs and 7' ceilings upstairs. I put 12" floor joists upstairs so i wouldn't have to worry about storing heavy parts or tools up there. I built this shop without any plans other than rough sketches and kind of made it up as i went along. The right side downstairs is a small office with a full bath and a large L shaped work area. This side will be heated and cooled and serve as the main motorcycle and engine building room. The left side will be the car side and main fabrication area. Upstairs is storage and extra workspace. I plan on adding an elevator in the near future. I also have a two post Mohawk lift going in the garage side. The garage doors are 16x8 and 9x8.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Great build and should be very workable.

Looking forward to following your progress.

Regards

 

[Bib Overalls]

Ambitious project. If you have any earlier building pictures we would certainly like to see them. We like pictures.

 

[wallster]

Looks awesome!

 

[lilbill]

here's some from last week of the water/sewer/gas going in. I hooked them all to the house services but the electric is a separate service.

 

[lilbill]

Here's some of the dirt and foundation work. I built on a slope so I had to build a retaining wall about 6' high at the back and dig the lot down in the front to build a large bench. I did some horse trading and finageling and got the dirt work, footer, retaining wall and 40x60 slab for right at 10K. About the time we started backfilling the foundation in preperation to pouring the slab it decided to rain every day for almost two months, When it finally let up it was Febuary and I had to pour on wet ground. I ended up with quite a bit of settling later which put several cracks in the slab. Fortunately the footers were good and solid and there has been no settling of the foundations themselves.

 

[lilbill]

Here's some of the block work. It came in at 15K in labor and materials.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v371/lilbill2180/Shop%202/100_3137_zpseuizw7we.jpg

 

[lilbill]

Here's one of the interior framing. I lost those pics so this is the only one i have. Materials ran about $1200 and I traded out the labor for work on a Sportster. I lost all the pics of the roof going on too but it was right at 15K materials and labor including raising the one side by 24" to make the second story. The price also included soffits,gables, trim, vents and gutters.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Man this place is awesome. You should have started a build thread earlier as you were putting it up. Keep taking pics and updating this thread.

 

[MagKarl]

Man that's a ton of block work, hardly any of that done in my neck of the woods. Looks great from here.

 

[jcinga]

Man, what a great looking building! Congrats to you and please keep the photos flowing!

 

[lilbill]

Thanks, I went with this design instead of a steel building in part because I'm in a residential area on the lake and figured this would be better for my property values in case I need to sell out some day. Hopefully I can keep tinkering until I kick off but you never know. Besides, the missus might want a last fling in Vegas ;-).

 

[lilbill]

It's been awhile since I updated this but I'm still trying to build this shop with basicly no money. I have made a little progress as well as solving 1 major thorn namely a 9' sliding door between the 2 halves of the building. The first door plan was to build a wooden barn style door and hang it with off the shelf hardware. After buying the hardware ($160) and drawing different styles of doors while figuring materials and time i thought there has to be an easier/cheaper answer. And I found one

I got this slider design off a youtube video a guy posted about his homemade sliding patio door. After seeing his roller design I started thinking about an old solid garage door I saved after taking it off my house when I closed up one side of the double garage. The door was light weight and just big enough to cover the opening in the new shop.

So I went to the scrapyard and bought a 20' stick of 2"x1/4" steel strap for the track and roller hangers. ($25). Then to Lowes for 15 3" lag bolts and a 4' piece of 1 1/8" wooden dowel. I already had a couple of 4" swivel casters for the wheels.

First I made the rollers by taking the wheels out of the swivel casters and chucking them into my drill press. Then I cut a 1/4"x1/2" groove in them with a dado blade affixed to a block of wood clamped to the drill press table.
Then I bent a piece of the steel strap to the right shape and bolted in the wheel.

Next I popped a chalk line where I wanted the track rail to go and bolted it to the wall studs. I cut the dowel into 1 1/2" long spacers to center the track to the rollers.

Then I bolted the rollers to the door. For strength I made a backing plate with the attaching nuts spot welded to it and put it behind the door stringer. The roller bracket mounting holes are slotted to give some up/down adjustment.

here's the door hung on the track.

I made it to have 3 positions. All the way to the left gives a 9'x7' opening, centered closes the opening and full right gives a 36" wide "man door".

Still need to make a stop for left side and put some bumpers on top of the door to keep it from coming off the track if it gets lifted. I believe I'm also going to put a couple guides in the floor to keep the door closer to the wall along the bottom.
Another Idea I have is to sheet the door with something thin (peg board?) and hang hoses, shelving baskets etc. on it. The door glides on the track with one finger

 

[1/2 Cup]

Great work on the doors and track.

Regards

 

[lilbill]

Something else coming along is the bathroom. First plans called for a simple sink and toilet tucked in a corner but a buddy convinced me to go ahead and spring for a full 3 piece bath. The reasoning was that a building this size and construction might have multiple uses in the future and even be converted into a house or apartment someday by a future owner. It will never be easier/cheaper than now to build a full bath so now's the time to do it. The fixtures came off Craigslist ($100) and I traded labor with the plumber (he needs work done on his BSA and a dune buggy). Still need to wire it, sheetrock,tile etc. but it's getting there and on budget

 

[lilbill]

Another thing that's coming together is the wash area. The stainless top came from a buddy ($25) and the mop sink from another friend (free). The steel legs are actually 2 commercial tables that I took the formica tops off of and fitted the frames under the steel table top. I also cut out a section of the top to sit the sink down in it. BTW, the tables came from another friend (free). I put one of my parts cleaning tanks next to it and the sink is plumbed for hot and cold water. This area should make parts cleaning less of a chore as well as providing a clean area for assembly.

 

[1/2 Cup]

I am really impressed what you have done and it just demonstrates you don't need to spend a fortune to get a great result.


Regards

 

[lilbill]

I am really impressed what you have done and it just demonstrates you don't need to spend a fortune to get a great result.


Regards

Thanks. My motto is " Poverty is the mother of invention "

 

[1/2 Cup]

Thanks. My motto is " Poverty is the mother of invention "

I like your thinking.

Regards