GentleBoomingSounds
Member
Hi there, newbie here.
My zoning is Agricultural, pleasantly few restrictions on anything.
Smallish house, no garage. 8 X 12 building in the back yard with electricity, dried in with sheetrock...was the former owner's children's playhouse. I have an electronics repair bench, most of my spare parts inventory, and a tiny spot for practicing keyboards. It's not enough.
About 300 feet from the house is a pole barn. About 40X50 feet. Dirt floor. Uprights are 6x6. There are a few uprights in the middle, but not many. A 2x4 wall splits it into a 30X40 and 20x40 section. The wall could be removed. Former owners used the larger side for goats and chickens, the smaller size to store lawn implements and do maintenance. There's an elevated 15X15 foot platform - about 18 inches off the dirt - where they stored stuff, but the decking is rotted out, so I don't think it's usable. Educated guess says the structure is 16 feet high at the eaves and 22 feet high at the peak. All aluminum siding and roof. Roof leaks a bit, probably some of those rubber-gasketed screw gaskets have rotted? Currently it has two large sliding doors and a single person-sized door.
I want to convert this to a shop. I've never done anything like this. I am willing to do some of the work, but not sure which parts to take on. I can do wiring of any sort, am relatively handy with framing and plumbing, tolerable at sheetrocking, useless for cabinetry and doors.
What are the big questions I have to answer?
* Pour a concrete floor or replace and expand the wooden deck-style floor? Pros and cons of each?
* What to do for walls? I fear sheetrock would hide leaks until they're too late, is there a way around this? Do I sheetrock inside the existing aluminum siding? Between the dirty interior of the siding and dirt floor, it's incredibly difficult to create enough light inside to do any work...so I'm thinking white-painted sheetrock.
* How much need I know now about expected functions?
--I DIY vehicle maintenance, but only easy stuff - oil changes, door/panel lube, buff/wax. I will never need a lift, but I do want a compressor. I currently have no place to work on cars except on the gravel driveway
--I do not plan to store garden tools here. It's where they are now, but I don't want the smell of gasoline and grass clippings in the shop, so I figure on building a separate storage structure for the riding mower, et al.
--Electronics is still a main activity...a 3x8 bench and about the equiv for parts storage. However, I'm moving from strictly electronics to electronics/acoustics, and will need a big enough space to fabricate prototpyes of large loudspeaker cabinets.
--I need to add basic metal working with brake, press, roll, drill press and similar. Unlikely that I will ever need a lathe or mill.
--Basic woodworking with table saw, router table, maybe jointer but unlikely...primarily for the loudspeakers, but also for DIY home upgrades, etc.
--For working on vehicles, I'm contemplating somehow sealing a corner from the rest of it to avoid vapors throughout the building, but this may be overkill
--Ability to erect temporary paint booth..not for cars, but for the occasional surplus office cabinet, etc, that needs to be re-done.
--Place for a band to practice...may be shared with another function.
It'd be nice to have some form of plumbing in the building, but the septic/leech field is 300 feet away...if I add a bathroom or anything with a drain, I probably need to permit another septic/leech field.
I don't have a budget at this time. If it was $20k, I'd start tomorrow, if it was $100k, I'd ask what can I cut out to reduce the costs.
Thanks!
My zoning is Agricultural, pleasantly few restrictions on anything.
Smallish house, no garage. 8 X 12 building in the back yard with electricity, dried in with sheetrock...was the former owner's children's playhouse. I have an electronics repair bench, most of my spare parts inventory, and a tiny spot for practicing keyboards. It's not enough.
About 300 feet from the house is a pole barn. About 40X50 feet. Dirt floor. Uprights are 6x6. There are a few uprights in the middle, but not many. A 2x4 wall splits it into a 30X40 and 20x40 section. The wall could be removed. Former owners used the larger side for goats and chickens, the smaller size to store lawn implements and do maintenance. There's an elevated 15X15 foot platform - about 18 inches off the dirt - where they stored stuff, but the decking is rotted out, so I don't think it's usable. Educated guess says the structure is 16 feet high at the eaves and 22 feet high at the peak. All aluminum siding and roof. Roof leaks a bit, probably some of those rubber-gasketed screw gaskets have rotted? Currently it has two large sliding doors and a single person-sized door.
I want to convert this to a shop. I've never done anything like this. I am willing to do some of the work, but not sure which parts to take on. I can do wiring of any sort, am relatively handy with framing and plumbing, tolerable at sheetrocking, useless for cabinetry and doors.
What are the big questions I have to answer?
* Pour a concrete floor or replace and expand the wooden deck-style floor? Pros and cons of each?
* What to do for walls? I fear sheetrock would hide leaks until they're too late, is there a way around this? Do I sheetrock inside the existing aluminum siding? Between the dirty interior of the siding and dirt floor, it's incredibly difficult to create enough light inside to do any work...so I'm thinking white-painted sheetrock.
* How much need I know now about expected functions?
--I DIY vehicle maintenance, but only easy stuff - oil changes, door/panel lube, buff/wax. I will never need a lift, but I do want a compressor. I currently have no place to work on cars except on the gravel driveway
--I do not plan to store garden tools here. It's where they are now, but I don't want the smell of gasoline and grass clippings in the shop, so I figure on building a separate storage structure for the riding mower, et al.
--Electronics is still a main activity...a 3x8 bench and about the equiv for parts storage. However, I'm moving from strictly electronics to electronics/acoustics, and will need a big enough space to fabricate prototpyes of large loudspeaker cabinets.
--I need to add basic metal working with brake, press, roll, drill press and similar. Unlikely that I will ever need a lathe or mill.
--Basic woodworking with table saw, router table, maybe jointer but unlikely...primarily for the loudspeakers, but also for DIY home upgrades, etc.
--For working on vehicles, I'm contemplating somehow sealing a corner from the rest of it to avoid vapors throughout the building, but this may be overkill
--Ability to erect temporary paint booth..not for cars, but for the occasional surplus office cabinet, etc, that needs to be re-done.
--Place for a band to practice...may be shared with another function.
It'd be nice to have some form of plumbing in the building, but the septic/leech field is 300 feet away...if I add a bathroom or anything with a drain, I probably need to permit another septic/leech field.
I don't have a budget at this time. If it was $20k, I'd start tomorrow, if it was $100k, I'd ask what can I cut out to reduce the costs.
Thanks!