Above 1200 Sq/FT Plugger Workshop

[Prospecter]

A Golden Confluence of a little time, workshop reorganization, and a garage addition seems like a good time to begin a thread. We live on 35 acres of field and woods in an old farmhouse in Mid-Coast Maine. We've been here since 1985, and are now retired.

We are currently adding a "Boathouse" to the "Workshop." "Workshop" we built as a practice 2 car garage to see if we could do it, before we did the house addition. "Boathouse" since that is where we will store the boat. And also tractors and one car. Over the years, we have hired out most of the excavation and concrete work, and DIY'd most carpentry, plumbing, electrical, roofing, drywall, painting, siding, and yard work. Now retired, we are able, and glad, to hire out the heavy lifting.

"Boathouse" is the three garage bays on the left. The 20 year old "Workshop" (or "Shop") is the gable end on the right.

Workshop 24x30
Boathouse addition 26x36
House Garage (attached) 20x20
Garden Shed 10x30

 

[Prospecter]

As seen recently in, "What did you do in your garage today?" Pictures from pouring the "footings" know locally as a "haunch" on a mono-slab. After the pour set up, rebar was set up in a 2' oc grid. I spread the leftover soil in a wet area that as been difficult to mow.

 

[Prospecter]

They poured the floor yesterday. It's a "rough trowel" (aka: bull floated) finish. Rougher than we've specified before. Harder to sweep, but maybe less slippery when icy.

 

[Prospecter]

Got kind of crowded in the driveway for a while.

 

[Prospecter]

Ramblings. . .
The shop itself is not particularly large. 24x30, which after subtracting for thick walls of insulation, works out to a little over 22x28. The ceiling is barely 8', and lower under the dust collection ductwork and lights. The garage door is only 9x7. I like the size though. Big enough for my needs without a lot of extra steps to get about.

The real problem with this size shop is avoiding storing a lot of "Other" in it. Hence the reason for a large garden shed, and a boathouse addition. That's where the "Other" goes so I can get around my shop, and always have an available bay.

For most of the past 39 years, I have not needed to deal with inspections. Even now, it's just the plumbing inspector, who also does septic systems, and the requirement for an electrician's license attached to a new service panel before the electric company will connect. So we've done most of our own stuff, and paid cash as we went. It's only the past two years that i have begun to pass along some of the heavy work, like roofing and framing. We will still likely do our own siding, garage doors, insulation, electrical, and interior finish.

The original farmhouse is probably 1840's ish, with a late 19th century Cape Cod addition. The granite foundation likely came from the seconds from a nearby quarry. Timbers were recycled hand hewn and locally sawn wood of uncertain provenance. The studs were split from larger boards, and walls were horse hair rough plaster over lath. Subsequent updates were of mixed quality. Stairs are narrow and steep. Ceilings and doors are low. Nothing level or plumb.

 

[roger440]

Nice. But we need pics of this house too!

 

[Prospecter]

I am not at home at the moment, but will provide when I get home.

 

[Prospecter]

They stripped the forms on Friday. Next step should be delivery of framing materials and trusses. Meanwhile, it looks like Spring is finally here. Snowdrops have been replaced by daffodils and forsythia.

 

[Prospecter]

Some more house pics. We planted a Linden, 3 River Birch, and 4 apple trees. We have planted trees since 1985, so superstition suggests it would be unwise to skip a year. Almost all the trees and shrubs you see in the pictures we have planted at one time or another. The ground has dried enough to get the tractor over most spots, so I've been moving equipment to be out of the way of mowing, and also construction. Most will be under cover by next fall. Did a first mow today, which is mostly about finding and marking all the heaved stumps, rocks, etc. so as not to find them the hard way later. I don't change out the mower blades until after the first mow!

 

[Prospecter]

The slab has been backfilled, and the approach is graded. For now, we will stay with a gravel approach. Now we're waiting for materials and truss delivery.

A couple pictures of the front of the house, as requested.

In other excitement, the poles going in for the solar farm across the street. Solar will make a quiet, tax paying neighbor, though we will miss the field. And I only got stuck once during first mow.

 

[sawduststeve]

Prospector,
This all sounds a little familiar

“The original farmhouse is probably 1840's ish, with a late 19th century Cape Cod addition. The granite foundation likely came from the seconds from a nearby quarry. Timbers were recycled hand hewn and locally sawn wood of uncertain provenance. The studs were split from larger boards, and walls were horse hair rough plaster over lath. Subsequent updates were of mixed quality. Stairs are narrow and steep. Ceilings and doors are low. Nothing level or plumb.”

We’re similar with age and the missing level and plumb and dodgy staircase, but not the granite foundations, we’re on three courses of bricks on clay.

It’s a lovely looking place you have, good luck with the build.

Steve

 

[Prospecter]

Prospector,
This all sounds a little familiar

“The original farmhouse is probably 1840's ish, with a late 19th century Cape Cod addition. The granite foundation likely came from the seconds from a nearby quarry. Timbers were recycled hand hewn and locally sawn wood of uncertain provenance. The studs were split from larger boards, and walls were horse hair rough plaster over lath. Subsequent updates were of mixed quality. Stairs are narrow and steep. Ceilings and doors are low. Nothing level or plumb.”

We’re similar with age and the missing level and plumb and dodgy staircase, but not the granite foundations, we’re on three courses of bricks on clay.

It’s a lovely looking place you have, good luck with the build.

Steve

Thanks Steve. Our property was originally part of a larger parcel that began at the river at continued back to the top of a mountain. The parcel was originally granted by the King of England. (Not sure which one.) It was at a time when England was trying to get Maine settled to keep the French from taking possession. However, your history goes back much further than ours.

 

[Prospecter]

Had some help from the Grand Dog putting in fence yesterday. Got most of it up. I am hoping to finish up today, in between rain. The fence has "Only" been on the list since 2014.

 

[Prospecter]

A dreary, rainy day yesterday, so I repaired some screens. Hopefully garage framing materials will arrive today.

 

[Blue Chips]

A Golden Confluence of a little time, workshop reorganization, and a garage addition seems like a good time to begin a thread. We live on 35 acres of field and woods in an old farmhouse in Mid-Coast Maine. We've been here since 1985, and are now retired.

Everything you're doing is VERY familiar to us!

We recently sold our 46-acre property in Alna, Maine, after doing extensive restoration work on its 210-plus-year-old house. We're both retired and have downsized to our 2.4-acre property in Brunswick, on the lower Androscoggin River. We have a lot of improvements planned for the house, and we're currently in the planning stage for a second two-car garage. It will be a standalone structure, which should make it somewhat easier as far as logistics and code requirements. As soon as that's built, I plan to expand my workshop into the other half of our existing two-car garage, which is insulated and heated.

We have ledge very close to the surface, so the frost walls for the new garage will probably be built directly on ledge, which will involve more prep work, but ultimately should result in a very solid structure and a large thermal mass to help moderate temperature changes in an unheated garage. It won't be a huge garage (24 x 26 footprint, with walk-up attic storage), but it will be a welcome addition, as we've (I've) definitely outgrown our current garage resources.

I'm hoping to have the building permit in hand soon, since the excavation contractor should be available in a couple of weeks.

I did a great deal of the work on our Alna restoration project myself, but I'm now inclined to let others do the 'heavy lifting,' so that I can concentrate on other projects.

Good luck with your project!

 

[Prospecter]

Thank you, Blue Chips. Glad you stopped by. I had to look to see where Alna is. Almost exactly the same population as Prospect. 24x26 is a good sized garage. Attic storage will be a big help. Shop with insulation and heat is wonderful. I am thinking about going with a heat pump. Our summers are getting to the point where AC is nice. Definitely good to have help with the heavy lifting. I love how it quickly gets stuff "Off the List."

 

[wyndscreen]

Such beautiful country up there!

Love the description of the house....sounds fun! Ha.

 

[Blue Chips]

@Prospecter, it's interesting how similar your land in Prospect looks to the place we had in Alna. The fields, woods, and even the stream remind me of it. Both are very beautiful areas. Even your house is somewhat similar. Ours was a Federal-style cape, probably built sometime between 1797 and 1810.

We had been maintaining homes in both Brunswick and Alna for quite a few years. Our decision to downsize to a single residence in Brunswick was kind of a tradeoff; we have a lot less land here in Brunswick, but we're in a very convenient location and we have frontage on the portion of the Androscoggin that's navigable to the ocean. That said, I do miss having a big place to ramble around in.

 

[Prospecter]

A single residence simplifies life considerably. Brunswick is a nice area, and definitely more convenient to amenities. Jefferson / Whitefield area at least is a little flatter and less broken up than around here. Oddly, I have clay and granite, while across the road is all gravel / glacial till.

 

[Prospecter]

Finished the fence. (Only took 10 years!) Giffords ice cream stop. A little more than anticipated. Swallows are back in Prospect. Deliveries and framing begin next Monday.

 

[Blue Chips]

It sounds like you're making good progress. It's always nice to see the framing start going up.

Your home is certainly in a very pretty setting.

The Alna area is not very hilly, although our house was located in a saddle on top of a ridge, so we had a fairly long view from the house, and toward the back of the property there was a long steep slope down to a tidal stream.

We had deep sandy glacial till at the part of the Alna property where the house was located, but here in Brunswick, our home's foundation walls were poured against solid schist ledge. Unfortunately, whoever poured the walls didn't completely wash off the ledge before pouring the concrete, so there is some water seepage between the foundation walls and the ledge. We are gradually dealing with that, and we hope to have a dry basement eventually.

I'm currently trying to work out a few minor discrepancies in the new garage plans with the builder. I hope to submit the building permit application on Monday.

 

[Bob Heine]

Giffords ice cream stop.

@Prospecter, I somehow thought ice cream would be most popular in the hottest places in the US but it seems it's the opposite. On a per-capita basis I believe Alaskans consume the most ice cream. I don't know where Maine falls but I do know you have some outstanding ice cream shops. We visited my wife's brother in Somesville, Maine and had to stop at the Blueberry Hill ice cream bar every time we drove by.

 

[Prospecter]

Bob: As far as I know, Blueberry Hill is still there. We've been there. It was good. We have several shops from Bar Harbor to Belfast that make their own ice cream on premises. And Giffords rebuilt after their fire, and is producing their own ice cream again. I do miss Deering Ice Cream.

I can't explain why folks up north like ice cream so much. I do love it year round..

 

[Prospecter]

Not a lot going on here. It's raining, so I don't expect the framing crew until tomorrow. Might get a materials delivery today. Meanwhile, I'll put away some projects. The shop is crowded due to sorting for the addition. Cleaned up the last of the winter debris in anticipation of mowing later in the week. Piled the scrap wood from reorganization on the wood pile in the basement. The wood stove is handy for avoiding dumping fees and turning scraps into free heat.

The feathers scattered on the strawberry bed excite the swallows and bluebirds that are building nests. Hummers have arrived.

I know dandelions are a scourge to many, but I enjoy them in the lawn. They're pretty, and reliably green all summer.

I appear in some of these photos because my wife is a busy photographer.

 

[Ford52PU]

Enjoying your progress pictures. Thanks for sharing

 

[Prospecter]

Enjoying your progress pictures. Thanks for sharing

Ford: Thanks for stopping by, and thank you for the comment.

 

[jon72vega]

Nice pictures, you live in a beautiful area.

 

[Prospecter]

Jon, Thanks for stopping. I like you part of Michigan, too.

 

[Prospecter]

Shop is quite crowded at the moment due to construction. Wood frogs have been cavorting. The shop heater finally had to come out for construction. SawStop is installed save one needed dust collection splice on order. Supplies and work trailer on site.

 

[Prospecter]

Busy day. The trusses arrived. The crew started on the rear 36' wall. Assembled in one piece, sheathed, and lifted into place. In a heart breaking moment, the wind caught it, and over she went. The wall broke in two. Half is back up. Mrs. Prospecter made them cookies.
Any day that no one gets hurt and everyone goes home is a good day, and this was a good day. Still difficult to need a do-over. The wall will be fine in the end.

In other news, I took off a tiller blade to measure, and ordered new ones.

 

[jon72vega]

It's good to see progress.
Too bad about the wall.

 

[Prospecter]

Jon: I agree, but stuff happens.

Trusses go up tomorrow.

 

[Jayman17]

Finished the fence. (Only took 10 years!) Giffords ice cream stop. A little more than anticipated. Swallows are back in Prospect. Deliveries and framing begin next Monday.

Dish or cone, make up your mind! They sure give you a healthy amount! I took a trip to Maine a few years ago, it's beautiful there. Good luck on your project

 

[Prospecter]

They give you a dish and spoon with the cone because lots of people would lose their IC. I don’t have that problem!

 

[Prospecter]

Walls all framed. Trusses in place. Fascia and roof sheathing started. We're getting there.

 

[Spareparts]

That is sure a Beautifull Place, I wouldn't get much dont for just looking at that.

 

[Prospecter]

Thank you, Spaceports. We don't travel, vacation, or have expensive tastes, but retirement gives us time to putter about the place.

 

[Prospecter]

The Main Event: The guys only worked half a day yesterday, which maybe was due to a long day on Thursday to get the trusses settled in place. Most of the roof is sheathed, except for the connection to the old workshop, which they are working on. Glad I don't need to throw those pieces of OSB on to the roof.

Meanwhile, the magnolias and tulips arrived. The flower gardens are Mrs. P's thing, but I have a support role. She saves seeds, and starts them in the soil bags, so I lay out 14 of them yesterday. Nice and dry, so pretty easy to carry. I also place the refuse trailers, and dump them as needed. Much rosa flora and tall hedge removed yesterday. Stumps treated to kill the roots.

 

[jon72vega]

Good progress, and more beautiful pictures!

 

[Prospecter]

Good progress, and more beautiful pictures!

Thanks Jon. They will finish the fascia and the roofing shingles. The schedule says another 7 work days for that. Then I take over. Garage doors are the next step so I can get it all closed in.