Between 705 & 1200 SQ/FT Sunset Ridge Shop Build

[rzims]

So, as I think I've said, I live about a half mile down a gravel road. Well, it used to be gravel but after several years of little to no maintenance and back to back heavy snow winters, its mostly ruts and rock. Yesterday one neighbor and I decided to fix it.

40 tons of road base tail dumped and a good part of the day on our tractors and its back to being a gravel road.
We have another transfer coming today to finish one section we didn't get to and then we're in pretty good shape. Additionally, this week it's been drizzling/raining so everything is packing down really nicely.

The entire road is about 1.5 miles long, but we only did to our shared driveway. None of the other neighbors has expressed an interest in helping pay for or maintain the road so I don't feel too bad.

 

[slik560]

That old desk and chair bring back some memories for me. Great progress so far!!!

 

[Adaylate]

Rzims,
I have enjoyed following along.
I have a cousin in Grass Valley that we have visited. They live in an area very similar to yours with past mining operation and fast flowing creek.
Good luck with your build. It's looking great!
Adaylate

 

[2Rocky]

Well it's getting exciting now.....forms are in, inspection was done this morning and now we're pouring concrete. Metal building company will begin fabrication tomorrow and should take 2-3 weeks which will allow the concrete to cure.
On different note, I got to spend some time last weekend with my kids and grandson.

I was surprised the Concrete contractor pumped when it appears the truck could back right up to the forms.

I have fond memories of shooting the archery course at Nevada County Sportsmen's club. The Hydraulic mining coulees make for some dramatic shot angles.

 

[rzims]

Rzims,
I have enjoyed following along.
I have a cousin in Grass Valley that we have visited. They live in an area very similar to yours with past mining operation and fast flowing creek.
Good luck with your build. It's looking great!
Adaylate

Thank you! yeah, this whole area is old mining area. The bottom acre or so of our property is an old hydraulic mine. Of course its under water this year and actually froze for a portion of the winter....

 

[rzims]

Well, according to the calendar its Spring here in the foothills. According to mother nature though, she says its still winter. 42 degrees and rain all day Friday and Saturday. We'll get a break tomorrow and then more rain on Monday....I'm declaring the drought officially over!

Actually a pretty good weekend though. Our driveway is a fairly narrow and steep 100 yards or so and it's bordered by giant, old manzanita which, while providing some privacy, is a huge concern during fire season. Actually, the lower 4 acres of our property was so overgrown with this stuff when we bought it that we hired a company that came out with a mini-excavator and a masticator and spent a couple days clearing it. It was pretty expensive, but being able to actually see down the hill and having that stuff gone was worth it.

Over the last couple weeks, we've been working on removing the manzanita on the house side of the driveway. It's been a huge PITA since the stuff is tall, tangled into itself and some of the trunks are 6-8" in diameter.

This project has been a process of digging, pulling, cutting and then burning. Thankfully the rain has made the dirt softer which has helped...and finally yesterday, we finished. I can't tell you what a relief it is to have this project done.....I HATE manzanita.

 

[rzims]

Made some progress this week. We had leftover flagstone from the patio project so decided to make a porch for the man door into the barn. On the other side we did a planter bed.
Also got the trench done for the electrical to the barn. Will pick up conduit today and get that in. The goal is to get another transfer load of baserock for the pad and the lower driveway to the barn but wanted to make sure the trench was done and pipe was in before we buried and compacted the area

 

[rzims]

Spent Mother's Day doing the wife's favorite things....went for a nice bike ride, then puttered in the yard and planted stuff. Now Grilling up some steaks and opening a bottle of wine...

 

[rzims]

Got the conduit in the ground and backfilled the trench. Not a very exciting picture of a filled in trench
Now to order another load of baserock and get the final grading done. Will be nice to get the pad and the lower driveway rocked and finished.

 

[GreenIron]

Just read through your building thread. Nice work.

 

[rzims]

So, I'm trying to get back on track and finish some of the major projects on the shop. Last week, I had 23 tons of baserock delivered. Spent about 6 hours on the little Kubota spreading and leveling....of course I came out about 6 yards short of what I needed, but I'll get that after the first of the year.

 

[rzims]

Today, a year and a half after the shop was erected, I finally got the last of the plywood up on the walls. This wall will be my miter saw station so next up will be building some cabinets.
Have the conduit for the electrical run, just need to pull the wire and get my buddy to make the connection at both ends. All the interior wiring is done and run to where the subpanel will go.

 

[rzims]

Another project that is going on is the tongue and groove pine for the ceiling in the basement. You can see the pile in picture.
I'm staining about 8 boards per day so the going is slow. A buddy is coming up in mid-Jan to help me get it all hung on the ceiling which is just painted sheetrock now.

 

[rzims]

Now that I've moved all the T&G into the basement to acclimate before installing next week, I actually have some floor space to get stuff done.
Put up some shelving in the back corner, cleaned up and moved my FILs old Craftsman drill press into place and general organizing and disposing of stuff. Luckily we have both a Goodwill and Habitat Restore in town so I'm able to donate a lot of my old stuff...
I've ordered some wall mount lumber racks and a kayak hoist so almost all the floorspace should be clear after they're delivered next week.

 

[hdv32]

What size Is the Honda in the background? 50,65, or 90. Had a 65 back in the day. traded a bicycle for it. Cleaned the fuel tank, carb, and replaced the plug and it fired right up.

 

[rzims]

What size Is the Honda in the background? 50,65, or 90. Had a 65 back in the day. traded a bicycle for it. Cleaned the fuel tank, carb, and replaced the plug and it fired right up.

It's a 1962 Honda 50 that my brother's dad bought new. My brother rode it for years then about 10 years ago, his son broke the crank as he was trying to kickstart it. My brother was going to get rid of it so I took it and am trying to find someone to fix the crank and I'll restore it and give it back to him.
I'm not real mechanical so I'm hoping I can find someone that can split the cases and fix the crank.

 

[ericm]

It's a 1962 Honda 50 that my brother's dad bought new. My brother rode it for years then about 10 years ago, his son broke the crank as he was trying to kickstart it. My brother was going to get rid of it so I took it and am trying to find someone to fix the crank and I'll restore it and give it back to him.
I'm not real mechanical so I'm hoping I can find someone that can split the cases and fix the crank.

Any decent motorcycle shop could do it. You might not like the cost though.

There are a lot of chinese clones of that basic engine. You could buy a built 50cc crankcase and put your top end on it, or a replacement engine. Lifan has been making them for a long time. There's tons of parts out there though since they made the same basic engine forever, there's a lot of variations.

The engine is pretty easy to work on, like a lot of small motorcycle engines.

 

[rzims]

The shop setup, organization and cleaning continues....ordered some lumber racks for wood leftover from projects as well as some trex left over from last summer's deck project.
Also ordered another kayak pulley thingamajig for the new kayak which will keep it up and out of the way.
This weekend we'll be doing the tongue and groove ceiling in the basement so once that's done, I'll know how much of the pine I'll have and can move the leftovers up on to the rack

 

[Xti04]

I love the kayak pulleys for my bikes. I have one on each hook. Keeps them out of the way when Im not riding.

 

[rzims]

I love the kayak pulleys for my bikes. I have one on each hook. Keeps them out of the way when Im not riding.

That's a great idea! For our bikes, we've gone with the hooks that grab the tire and hangs them on the wall which makes it easier to just pull one down...

 

[Xti04]

I have a similar setup to that for the kids bikes so they can get to them easier. I use the kayak setup for mine just because wall space is such a premium I hate to give up more than I have to. Shop is lookin good!