Between 705 & 1200 SQ/FT Tabula Rasa
- Thread starter 67CarGuy
- Start date
Workspaces between 705 and 1200 squarefeet.
This week's progress:
- Rough plumbing continues (I had no idea plumbers could take this long, but I probably should have guessed...)
- The trim carpenters have been hard at work and have nearly all of the windows trimmed out, except for the window aprons that are either missing a piece that should have been provided by the modular factory or not enough material was sent.
- Took a few hours over the weekend and primed a couple of doors - if we had wanted primed doors, they would have been MDF. We wanted solid wood doors, which meant they came unprimed. Why no-one could take them into the paint booth at the factory and prime them, I have no idea. Anyways, we're up to 6 doors now primed, with another 14 to go. At this rate we should be finished by Memorial Day...
Here's yours truly and some of the framing we did over the New Year's weekend, as I was coming down with the flu...
Not shown is the other 80 feet or so that we framed up, although thankfully none of these are load-bearing so we could be a little lenient with ourselves. Most are still 16" OC for simplicity's sake, though. Rough framing inspection is supposedly tomorrow...
Not shown is the other 80 feet or so that we framed up, although thankfully none of these are load-bearing so we could be a little lenient with ourselves. Most are still 16" OC for simplicity's sake, though. Rough framing inspection is supposedly tomorrow...
Much like @Norwell Equipped lamented in his post earlier today (have you seen his new space? It's a Rat Finked 1950s time capsule with some real hot wheels to drool over - go check it out!), this spring has been full of misery and heartache and rain, rain, rain, etc. etc. But, but!, there's been a light at the end of the tunnel that we've been striving towards for quite some time now. We finally got our certificate of occupancy in early May (only 1 month past the contract deadline with our GC!) and while we're still in the process of moving in, unpacking, painting the walls, etc., here's some more recent photos for you groovy garage-aholics.
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Fiber cement shingles going on in early March... the strapping is part of the rainscreen design we chose for long-term durability. We also went with woven corners, which of course cost more but we really like the look. That's ol' eagle eye in the photo on the right, lining courses up just-so. A few days later and they were mostly finished:
One of the design issues that nobody caught until the inspector walked through was that the main breaker panel had ended up just below one of the bathrooms... for those of you not familiar with the interplay between plumbing and electrical, usually we try to keep the sparky stuff away from the wet stuff.
If this had been brought to our attention during the design phase, we could have easily moved the panel to almost any other place in the basement. Instead, we had to work with the electrician, plumber, and our GC to get the panel as close to the foundation wall as possible while still leaving room for the plumbing. The solution arrived at is...OK, but not what we had envisioned. It works though, and for now (read: the next several decades most likely) it's good enough to focus on bigger issues. Like...
Filling the garage with stuff! We spent some time in late March making some organizational improvements in the garage so folks could move around, find stuff, and also move more stuff in. There's even more stuff in there now, despite bringing a bunch down to the basement shop. Another helpful note to future shop builders: if you can keep the heavy stuff at grade level, do it! Going up or down stairs a bunch of times is great for your legs, but takes some of the fun out of moving.
More to come / catch up on, so stay tuned!
[Fiber cement shingles going on in early March... the strapping is part of the rainscreen design we chose for long-term durability. We also went with woven corners, which of course cost more but we really like the look. That's ol' eagle eye in the photo on the right, lining courses up just-so. A few days later and they were mostly finished:
One of the design issues that nobody caught until the inspector walked through was that the main breaker panel had ended up just below one of the bathrooms... for those of you not familiar with the interplay between plumbing and electrical, usually we try to keep the sparky stuff away from the wet stuff.
If this had been brought to our attention during the design phase, we could have easily moved the panel to almost any other place in the basement. Instead, we had to work with the electrician, plumber, and our GC to get the panel as close to the foundation wall as possible while still leaving room for the plumbing. The solution arrived at is...OK, but not what we had envisioned. It works though, and for now (read: the next several decades most likely) it's good enough to focus on bigger issues. Like...
Filling the garage with stuff! We spent some time in late March making some organizational improvements in the garage so folks could move around, find stuff, and also move more stuff in. There's even more stuff in there now, despite bringing a bunch down to the basement shop. Another helpful note to future shop builders: if you can keep the heavy stuff at grade level, do it! Going up or down stairs a bunch of times is great for your legs, but takes some of the fun out of moving.
More to come / catch up on, so stay tuned!
Last edited:
Norwell Equipped
Well-known member
Holy Moly!!!!!!!!!!!
What a Great BUILD!!!
(and thanks my man!)
What a Great BUILD!!!
(and thanks my man!)
And now a little time travel back to early May....
At some point during the move from Point B to Point C, my rolling toolbox tower suffered a semi-catastrophic caster failure and required surgery. I suspect it was the movers trying to get a fixed caster to swivel, and instead the sheet metal & screw decided to part ways, but nonetheless, tools were needed to fix the toolbox.
Of course, as many of you might guess, doing this in a, *ahem*, responsible manner involves emptying all of the drawers:
Thankfully(?) this operation occurred before I had reconstituted the full toolbox stack, so I was able to do the dissection and diagnostic work solo. I say thankfully because it meant doing this at my own pace, rather than having someone (anyone!) wondering what was taking so long, or why I didn't do something a different way, etc.
What I eventually determined was that the proper repair meant removing the bottom drawer so that I could get a wrench or socket down on a bolt or nut. Alas, alack, I could not remove the bottom drawer, despite watching multiple U-tube videos on just such a problem, covering several generations of red rolling toolboxes previously sold at Sears. I was able to cobble something together, and now that I've got all of my tools available I can give it a proper job, but this was not that day. Alas, alack indeed.
Keen-eyed readers may note that it is already the middle of June, and wonder if I have since solved this caster crisis. The answer, dear reader, is no. More details and photos to come... soon(ish).
At some point during the move from Point B to Point C, my rolling toolbox tower suffered a semi-catastrophic caster failure and required surgery. I suspect it was the movers trying to get a fixed caster to swivel, and instead the sheet metal & screw decided to part ways, but nonetheless, tools were needed to fix the toolbox.
Of course, as many of you might guess, doing this in a, *ahem*, responsible manner involves emptying all of the drawers:
Thankfully(?) this operation occurred before I had reconstituted the full toolbox stack, so I was able to do the dissection and diagnostic work solo. I say thankfully because it meant doing this at my own pace, rather than having someone (anyone!) wondering what was taking so long, or why I didn't do something a different way, etc.
What I eventually determined was that the proper repair meant removing the bottom drawer so that I could get a wrench or socket down on a bolt or nut. Alas, alack, I could not remove the bottom drawer, despite watching multiple U-tube videos on just such a problem, covering several generations of red rolling toolboxes previously sold at Sears. I was able to cobble something together, and now that I've got all of my tools available I can give it a proper job, but this was not that day. Alas, alack indeed.
Keen-eyed readers may note that it is already the middle of June, and wonder if I have since solved this caster crisis. The answer, dear reader, is no. More details and photos to come... soon(ish).
Still haven't solved the caster crisis. In fact, I'm up to crises now!
We had really been hoping to be moved in by my birthday, but we missed it by that much, as Maxwell used to say. And on my birthday, I had been hoping to assemble the engine lift I bought second-hand a year or two earlier. Well, much like move-in day, sadly assembly day did not coincide with my birthday. So when the opportunity presented itself (aka, nobody was around for a few days and I could putter at will), I assembled!
I discovered that A) this is the kind of project where having some helping hands comes in...handy, and B) it appears that I'm missing 2 of the casters that should have come with it. And of course, the 3-1/2" casters that Harbor Freight carries are not the same as the ones that should be installed on the outriggers of their own engine lift. So I made it this far before calling it quits:
The hydraulic ram is sitting in its box, waiting to be installed, and I've got the HF parts department telephone # lined up for a moment when I can call them and find out what my options are. The outrigger holes for the casters are threaded, so I'd rather not just chuck any old caster in there if I can help it. At least it doesn't tip over at the moment, and because I can fold it up it doesn't take up a bunch of garage space.
I know I still owe some more general garage/shop photos to the adoring crowds, but you'll have to wait just a moment or two...
We had really been hoping to be moved in by my birthday, but we missed it by that much, as Maxwell used to say. And on my birthday, I had been hoping to assemble the engine lift I bought second-hand a year or two earlier. Well, much like move-in day, sadly assembly day did not coincide with my birthday. So when the opportunity presented itself (aka, nobody was around for a few days and I could putter at will), I assembled!
I discovered that A) this is the kind of project where having some helping hands comes in...handy, and B) it appears that I'm missing 2 of the casters that should have come with it. And of course, the 3-1/2" casters that Harbor Freight carries are not the same as the ones that should be installed on the outriggers of their own engine lift. So I made it this far before calling it quits:
The hydraulic ram is sitting in its box, waiting to be installed, and I've got the HF parts department telephone # lined up for a moment when I can call them and find out what my options are. The outrigger holes for the casters are threaded, so I'd rather not just chuck any old caster in there if I can help it. At least it doesn't tip over at the moment, and because I can fold it up it doesn't take up a bunch of garage space.
I know I still owe some more general garage/shop photos to the adoring crowds, but you'll have to wait just a moment or two...
Shortly after assembling the engine crane, I finally managed to get all nearly all of the cardboard moving boxes out of the garage, so we can finally park a car in there. My wife noted this is the first time in 20+ years that she's been able to park our car in our own garage - all of the other places we've lived have either had no garage, too small of a garage to fit (see the cold dark cave in my sig), or were shared with neighbors.
And in tool news, I was able to get my tablesaw out of long-term storage at my folks's place and bring it down to its new home. Now to assemble it and start making sawdust again! (It's the orange and black pile off to the right rear.)
As you can see, there's still plenty to unbox, sort through, organize, assemble, and put away here... but it's slowly getting there. I rarely have time during the week to focus on this right now, so it gets little spits and spurts of attention here and there. All of that lumber on the sawhorses on the left will need to move out of there - some is destined to become workbenches, some will likely become kindling, and others will just go in long-term lumber storage. Which I need to build and install. Does anybody know a good cloning service?
And in tool news, I was able to get my tablesaw out of long-term storage at my folks's place and bring it down to its new home. Now to assemble it and start making sawdust again! (It's the orange and black pile off to the right rear.)
As you can see, there's still plenty to unbox, sort through, organize, assemble, and put away here... but it's slowly getting there. I rarely have time during the week to focus on this right now, so it gets little spits and spurts of attention here and there. All of that lumber on the sawhorses on the left will need to move out of there - some is destined to become workbenches, some will likely become kindling, and others will just go in long-term lumber storage. Which I need to build and install. Does anybody know a good cloning service?
Rainy Day Women Nos. 12 & 35 - Robert Zimmerman
In my travels this week, I stumbled across some pieces of the Earth just laying about:
Being the scrounger / collector / thrifty Yankee that I am, I knew the larger ones were too big for me and the trusty loaner minivan to take home, but that cute little number in the foreground was calling my name. So after a brief chat with one of the site supervisors, one phone call to his boss, and a 30 minute wait for some extra muscle to arrive...
It found its way home! Thank goodness for ramps and levers, and a wife who's quite possibly stronger than I am.
With some cursing, some straining, and lots of physics, we managed to get this chunk o' stone placed in its next destination - the back door of the garage!
Then it was time for some Ibuprofen and a good night's sleep... Hopefully we'll be able to make some additional progress in the garage and/or the shop this weekend, while we're hiding from the heat.
In my travels this week, I stumbled across some pieces of the Earth just laying about:
Being the scrounger / collector / thrifty Yankee that I am, I knew the larger ones were too big for me and the trusty loaner minivan to take home, but that cute little number in the foreground was calling my name. So after a brief chat with one of the site supervisors, one phone call to his boss, and a 30 minute wait for some extra muscle to arrive...It found its way home! Thank goodness for ramps and levers, and a wife who's quite possibly stronger than I am.
With some cursing, some straining, and lots of physics, we managed to get this chunk o' stone placed in its next destination - the back door of the garage!
Then it was time for some Ibuprofen and a good night's sleep... Hopefully we'll be able to make some additional progress in the garage and/or the shop this weekend, while we're hiding from the heat.
You know how when you're in the middle of 3 projects, and you spot that part or tool that you're going to need for project #4, so you grab it and set it aside so you'll have it when you get to project #4? And then a few days later when you finally shift your priorities enough to get to project #4 and you can't find that Very Special and Important (tm) part or tool? Yeah, that's been the last few weeks... most recently it was the staple gun. I couldn't find my trusty T25 for the life of me, so I grabbed what I thought would be sufficient: my red Swingline stapler.
Halfway through stapling up some bug screen to keep the birds out of the garage rafter bays, I dropped my stapler from the top of the ladder, down onto the concrete floor. It's now gone to the great stapler retirement home in the sky...
Red stapler broken, I managed to secure the rest of the screen in an OK manner, but knew that I had to get back out there and finish the job. But what had been project #1 quickly got moved down the list to project #87,402 once I could keep the birds out. Until a week or two later when I saw that some of the staples had gone AWOL. It's important to note here that Swingline staplers of nearly any color don't seem to want to drive staples into 1/2" plywood.
And then I found my Arrow (or maybe it's a Stanley - if I could find it again I'd know) staple gun! So I cleverly set it aside, waiting for the moment when I could get the ladder out and re-staple some screening. That was a few weeks ago now. Can't find the thing to save my life right now. Ugh.
Halfway through stapling up some bug screen to keep the birds out of the garage rafter bays, I dropped my stapler from the top of the ladder, down onto the concrete floor. It's now gone to the great stapler retirement home in the sky...
Red stapler broken, I managed to secure the rest of the screen in an OK manner, but knew that I had to get back out there and finish the job. But what had been project #1 quickly got moved down the list to project #87,402 once I could keep the birds out. Until a week or two later when I saw that some of the staples had gone AWOL. It's important to note here that Swingline staplers of nearly any color don't seem to want to drive staples into 1/2" plywood.
And then I found my Arrow (or maybe it's a Stanley - if I could find it again I'd know) staple gun! So I cleverly set it aside, waiting for the moment when I could get the ladder out and re-staple some screening. That was a few weeks ago now. Can't find the thing to save my life right now. Ugh.
When last we left our fearless hero, I was lamenting the loss of my stapler. I've since found my "light-duty" Arrow stapler, but still haven't rediscovered my heavy duty stapler. It's around here somewhere, I'm sure of it. In other news...
Two new (to me) mowers have been acquired!
The DR came with the finish deck as well as the brush deck, has a slow leak in one tire, and needs some new belts. The missing front casters / bogey wheels have since been found, saving me a few pennies..
The Toro is a nice change from my previous Ryobi electric mower that has decided it's going to shut off every ~30 seconds or so, if it runs at all. I'm all for efficient electric mowers, but if they're not going to work, I'll stick with gas, thankyouverymuch.
Both mowers were a welcome gift from my uncle who hasn't used them in years because he's got a lawn service now. Funnily enough, the DR was shipped new to California about 20 years ago, then shipped back to the East coast a few years back when he moved. Now he's getting ready to move to God's waiting room, so now they're being put to use at Tabula Rasa. It's been a little over a month since they were delivered and the Toro's already been used at least 3x. Probably time to start up the DR just to keep things moving while I wait for the front caster wheels and figure out what I'm doing about the slow leak in the rear tire...
More details to come, but it's late enough for me, so... that's all for now, folks!
Two new (to me) mowers have been acquired!
The DR came with the finish deck as well as the brush deck, has a slow leak in one tire, and needs some new belts. The missing front casters / bogey wheels have since been found, saving me a few pennies..
The Toro is a nice change from my previous Ryobi electric mower that has decided it's going to shut off every ~30 seconds or so, if it runs at all. I'm all for efficient electric mowers, but if they're not going to work, I'll stick with gas, thankyouverymuch.
Both mowers were a welcome gift from my uncle who hasn't used them in years because he's got a lawn service now. Funnily enough, the DR was shipped new to California about 20 years ago, then shipped back to the East coast a few years back when he moved. Now he's getting ready to move to God's waiting room, so now they're being put to use at Tabula Rasa. It's been a little over a month since they were delivered and the Toro's already been used at least 3x. Probably time to start up the DR just to keep things moving while I wait for the front caster wheels and figure out what I'm doing about the slow leak in the rear tire...
More details to come, but it's late enough for me, so... that's all for now, folks!
Slow progress, but progress nonetheless: a few sheets of plywood up so I can push things back against the wall (to make space for more tools, etc.), some wiring roughed in (very rough!), and a few more thoughts about how to arrange benches, tools, etc. Still haven't figured out the best orientation & location of my main workbench vs my table saw.
I'm trying to be aware of the possibility of kickback from the TS, and would rather it send chunks of wood away from the door and windows. So that eliminates one direction the saw can face. I'm toying with the idea of turning the saw perpendicular to the long axis of my shop, which would allow longer pieces for cross-cutting, but it limits my ripping length. The thought occurs to me that I could put the TS on the bias, as it were... hmm, this might be worth exploring.
Yes, yes, I too suffer from Flat Surface Disease!
I'm trying to be aware of the possibility of kickback from the TS, and would rather it send chunks of wood away from the door and windows. So that eliminates one direction the saw can face. I'm toying with the idea of turning the saw perpendicular to the long axis of my shop, which would allow longer pieces for cross-cutting, but it limits my ripping length. The thought occurs to me that I could put the TS on the bias, as it were... hmm, this might be worth exploring.
Yes, yes, I too suffer from Flat Surface Disease!
Despite appearances to the contrary, we have not stopped doing shop / garage-related things! Since August, we've found carpenter ants, busted their union like we were Pinkerton, had porches and decks framed out, hung plywood in the shop, painted said plywood, run wires for more outlets, installed solar, and all manner of other things that might explain my absence. Oh, and working, there's always the working!
Then there was the screen door debacle (which, if you missed it, you can read about here) which is nearly complete, and then
arrived and brought some new shiny (ok, some of them are matte, too) things! A 3D printer and a multi-material miter saw - printer is up and running but looking for a home (which won't be in the shop, too dusty) while the miter saw is still in it's box, waiting for assembly. Maybe this weekend...
Happy New Year to all!
Then there was the screen door debacle (which, if you missed it, you can read about here) which is nearly complete, and then
arrived and brought some new shiny (ok, some of them are matte, too) things! A 3D printer and a multi-material miter saw - printer is up and running but looking for a home (which won't be in the shop, too dusty) while the miter saw is still in it's box, waiting for assembly. Maybe this weekend...Happy New Year to all!
Well it's been a minute or two, so here's the latest from the shop:
Right now I'm getting ready for the big storm we're supposed to get Sunday/Monday (anywhere from 8-20+ inches, depending on which forecast you believe). Snowblower's gassed up. Might see about moving the van into the garage tomorrow so I don't have to clean it off on Monday.
Photos to come.... soonish
- The new miter saw got assembled a few weeks back, and is temporarily living where the bench DP will live.
- Ran some more wire and installed a few breakers, so I've got more than 1 outlet to work with now. Still need to run one more wire from outlet 4 to outlet 6, then I can reinstall insulation, hang some plywood, and roll some paint on.
- Cut a scrap PT 2x4 to fit in the cutout in the slab where the sump basin will/might go, if we ever install a sump. Still need a few more pieces of PT to finish the frame that will sit in the cutout and hold a piece of plywood that will be level with the floor. Might as well use the space while I figure out if a sump is actually needed.
Right now I'm getting ready for the big storm we're supposed to get Sunday/Monday (anywhere from 8-20+ inches, depending on which forecast you believe). Snowblower's gassed up. Might see about moving the van into the garage tomorrow so I don't have to clean it off on Monday.
Photos to come.... soonish
And now some photos to give your mind's eye a break!
First we have the completed (for now) electrical, just waiting for the budget to recover so I can buy some more plywood to put up on the walls...
Add one miter saw, still waiting for its permanent home.
Looking a little to the left of the above photo...
And here one can see the small lathe my uncle gifted me during the same visit I got the welder. It's a Craftsman 109, nothing that will set off fireworks but a good place for me to start. Pay no attention to the cardboard massing, enlightenment will come at a later time...
My understanding from reading about this lathe is that it was meant to be a hobbyist's lathe, nothing more. I've never worked with one before, so it'll be a good way to start - hopefully I can't get myself into too much of a mess with it!
And just look at that engine-turned cover! If I knew how to swoon I'd give it a serious thought...
First we have the completed (for now) electrical, just waiting for the budget to recover so I can buy some more plywood to put up on the walls...
Add one miter saw, still waiting for its permanent home.
Looking a little to the left of the above photo...
And here one can see the small lathe my uncle gifted me during the same visit I got the welder. It's a Craftsman 109, nothing that will set off fireworks but a good place for me to start. Pay no attention to the cardboard massing, enlightenment will come at a later time...
My understanding from reading about this lathe is that it was meant to be a hobbyist's lathe, nothing more. I've never worked with one before, so it'll be a good way to start - hopefully I can't get myself into too much of a mess with it!
And just look at that engine-turned cover! If I knew how to swoon I'd give it a serious thought...
What's this, a second post in one day? I better learn to pace myself, I'll start running out of content
My lovely bride suggested to me that with our impending bomb cyclone (8-24" inches of the cold wet white stuff over the next ~36 hours, allegedly), maybe we move some things around in the garage so we can fit our second car in - this should make it easier to clear the driveway, and save some time by not needing to clear snow off of the car. In order to get the car in, we: moved lumber, plywood, ladders, wheelbarrows, fiber cement shingles, left-behind screws/bolts/etc. from a previous GC, trashed various **** that had been piling up for several months, swept up all manner of sawdust, concrete dust, insect eggs, etc., etc., and generally got the place looking a bit better.
And, for the first time in the history of the world, we parked two vehicles in the garage! Will wonders never cease...
My lovely bride suggested to me that with our impending bomb cyclone (8-24" inches of the cold wet white stuff over the next ~36 hours, allegedly), maybe we move some things around in the garage so we can fit our second car in - this should make it easier to clear the driveway, and save some time by not needing to clear snow off of the car. In order to get the car in, we: moved lumber, plywood, ladders, wheelbarrows, fiber cement shingles, left-behind screws/bolts/etc. from a previous GC, trashed various **** that had been piling up for several months, swept up all manner of sawdust, concrete dust, insect eggs, etc., etc., and generally got the place looking a bit better.
And, for the first time in the history of the world, we parked two vehicles in the garage! Will wonders never cease...