Above 1200 Sq/FT The Pool Barn

[KevoDesign]

My wife and I moved out of the city about 11 years ago with the intention of me building a larger shop for my woodworking and car hobbies. We bought a fixer upper house on a couple acres, I spent the first couple of years working on updating the house.

3 kids, two jobs, and a masters degree later I am finally 3 weeks away from building a shop. As like most of you I could not be more excited. I have been planning for over a decade, and working from a very limited space in our two car garage on everything.

Now I will finally have my own dedicated space. The excavator is supposed to be here in the next 2-3 weeks, and the barn contractor will be here in 6 weeks. Time to get busy. I'll post a few images of the shop layout relative to the house as well as the future inside layout as well in the following posts.

 

[KevoDesign]

This first image shows the front of the existing house along with the shop that will shortly be built next door. I am a little worried that the layout is going to make it look like it goes on for days, but there is a method to the madness.

I have to draw this out for one more post.

 

[KevoDesign]

Exterior Front 1 by Kevin Martz, on Flickr

 

[KevoDesign]

So why the Pool Barn, its not because I can't spell. We already had a pool behind the house which I installed a few years ago.

However the patio and seating area around it was less than desirable, so after a few drinks one night my wife's friend was complaining about how far away their current barn is from the house and suggested that I keep it close to the house with a paved walkway.

As this idea boiled in my head I began to work on the models in sketchup and this is the result.

Exterior Rear by Kevin Martz, on Flickr

 

[KevoDesign]

The shop area its self will be 30 deep by 45 wide, on the end closest to the house is a 20' "carport" which serves as a pool deck and general hangout. There will be a large garage door that opens to the patio also so that both the garage and patio can be used as hangouts during large parties.

There are plans for an outdoor sitting area with TV, outdoor kitchen and some dining seating. Total patio area will be 27'x30' plus the deck connecting to the pool.

Rear Patio Layout by Kevin Martz, on Flickr

 

[KevoDesign]

The interior will be split up into three main areas:

The garage and metal working area - This will house my SXS and likely a
future project car. Welding and sheet metal forming equipment and hopefully
a CNC at some point in the future. 26' x 30' deep two 8'x10' tall doors

The woodshop - a modest 15' x 19' wood working shop with full dust
collection, building furniture is a hobby of mine that I thoroughly enjoy and
this section of the shop will be devoted to that.

The tools of ignorance section - This is the storage area that will hopefully
help me keep the rest of the shop clean. Storage for shovels, blowers,
mowers and extra materials. This will be the back 15'x19' shown in the
image below along with a loft over the wood shop

Interior Layout by Kevin Martz, on Flickr

INterior Layout 2 by Kevin Martz, on Flickr

 

[KevoDesign]

Other key points on the build, 10' side walls, with a 6/12 pitch exterior and 3/12 interior vault. Fully insulated and HVAC in both garage and wood shop. Planning on running water out there as well. I will be doing the interior finishing, wiring, deck, retaining walls etc. myself so I fully expect this to be a couple year project. but I will post what I can along the way.

If anyone has anything that I possibly missed or suggestions on something different please feel free to comment as I love to hear others ideas.

 

[2manyfumes]

Nice layout.
I like it.

 

[Schwinn68]

Shop looks great! I really like the outdoor area. It will probably be the most used feature of the build.

 

[borgdog]

Looking good! Only thing I don't see is a man door.. anywhere. I would probably put one to the covered patio area.

 

[X673g9]

It looks like there is a garage door that opens to the patio. Do you intend to drive out onto the patio?

 

[MrScott99]

I will second the man door in the covered patio area as well.

 

[krm2b2]

Looking good! Only thing I don't see is a man door.. anywhere. I would probably put one to the covered patio area.

The builder brought that up also so we will be putting a man door to the side of the garage door onto the patio. It will be to the rear of the garage door but just on the other side of that pole. I struggled with location on that door as I didn’t want to take up wall space at the back of the garage that would be used for benches.

 

[krm2b2]

It looks like there is a garage door that opens to the patio. Do you intend to drive out onto the patio?

No the garage door will just be to open up the shop during large parties. We can back the vehicles out and use the space as additional entertainment space.

Another note is that we are putting a barn door track above the overhead door. We wanted the insulating properties and rodent seal of an overhead door, however we were not in love with the idea of sitting on the patio staring at a garage door when it is closed. So the solution is going to be to have a sliding wood barn door that will cover the garage door under normal conditions and will slide over the man door and to the back of the building when everything is opened up.


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[KevoDesign]

For some reason my old handle was still signed in on Tapatalk. I’ve been reading on this forum for probably 8-9 years but decided to put a new user name in for this build.


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[thammel]

Couple of comments. First it will be really great! I have 10'wide x 8' high doors. I would not want to go smaller that 10' width. If you are talking 8' wide doors, I think they will annoy you by being too narrow. I have 8' wide doors on my house garage and worry every time I pull in or out. Second comment: Water out there will be great! I have water in mine but did not put in a shower and regret that. Do a shower if you can. When getting messy in the yard or garage, it would be really great if you could get all cleaned up out there. What's between the storage section and garage? Can't tell but look like a two foot area or so. I also think you would be happier with the garage area wider than 26'. 30' at a minimum would be great. I also did all the interior finishing - hvac, insulation, electrical, epoxy floor, trim work, paining. This all took a long time. I did pay someone to do the drywall. Try really hard to delay filling up the space until you get all this done. You will regret it if you fill first. The fun is about the start!!

 

[Pntyrmvr]

I’d add attic trusses and go with a higher wall if you need more ceiling height.

Even if the attic is 6’-6” high the extra storage space is the cheapest space you’ll ever build.


“Talk is cheap. Whiskey costs money.”

 

[KevoDesign]

Thammel your correct in that all 4 doors are 10’ wide by 8 tall. The shower would be nice but I would have to tear out some existing patio to get to the septic tank. So I talked with the builder on this and the plan is to run the plumbing and hide it before the building inspection “shhh” then just run a pipe out into the yard for drainage on a sink. Guess I could do the same on the shower but not sure I would use it enough to give up the floor space.

I have considered an outdoor one on the deck which could be awesome in the summer.


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[KevoDesign]

The attic will have one scissor truss in the way. It will be 58 under the scissor truss at the peak. The trusses are on 9’ centers so I should have two 9’ areas that are a little over 100” tall at the peak tapering down to about 1’ at the outside walls.

I have considered replacing that one truss with 2x12s and a post in the middle wall. That might be a later change if it really bothers me in the end


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[KevoDesign]

I did make a score today for the shop though. I was at work and they were getting ready to through and old all steel workbench in the steel recycling dumpster. I told them I would take it home to which there was no objection. It is a nice solid old bench. When I got home I notice some writing on the bottom that said Hallowell.






A quick google search revealed it is circa 1940’s or 50’s. Super sturdy. It been painted once already so I won’t feel bad about refinishing it and giving it new life in the shop. For now it will live under the basement tv as a table to keep the kids from tearing the tv off the wall






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[Bopbop]

Kevodesign,
Nice work bench. I have one just like it in my shop. A little back story on mine. My daddy and granddaddy worked for the same company. The bench was in the shop they worked at. When the shop relocated my daddy got the bench and an old vise which I now have. I use them all the time.

 

[shopnut]

If anyone has anything that I possibly missed or suggestions on something different please feel free to comment as I love to hear others ideas.

It looks like a very functional building and I like the covered area between the shop and house, especially the garage door there. That will be great for indoor/outdoor parties.

I definitely agree with the previous mandoor suggestions.

The pass-through from the main garage to the lawn equipment room might benefit from having a roll-up door on it (if you didn't plan for it already). Closing that area off might come in handy on several occasions, possibly during said parties and such. Of course, if that is done, then I would add a mandoor into the lawn equip room as well. The mandoor could lead to either the woodshop or to the main garage, depending on where your tools are stored to work on the lawn equip.

We love spending other people's money!

Good luck!

 

[shopnut]

Oh, one other thing I would suggest is to extend a smaller awning/roof of some kind to the house. No one likes to get wet in the rain.

 

[Kevkx125]

I like the plan kevo, Well thought out, can't wait to see it come alive, good luck hope it goes according to plans

 

[Riley]

I agree. Looks great! Like the side roll up doors, very practical. Following along.

 

[Ak Jim]

Didn’t see one in the drawings but what about a floor drain? Might be nice for one of the stalls be flat and have the other stall have a drain in the center of it.

 

[KevoDesign]

The pass-through from the main garage to the lawn equipment room might benefit from having a roll-up door on it (if you didn't plan for it already). Closing that area off might come in handy on several occasions, possibly during said parties and such. Of course, if that is done, then I would add a mandoor into the lawn equip room as well. The mandoor could lead to either the woodshop or to the main garage, depending on where your tools are stored to work on the lawn equip.

We love spending other people's money!

Good luck!

Thanks Shopnut, I have ben struggling with the connection between the storage area and the garage. I definitely want to be able to shut it off as I don't place to heat and cool the storage and loft. However I would like to have a big enough door to drive through but something that looks better than a traditional garage door. I'm thinking of building a pair of carriage house doors there. Possibly with a smaller man door inside one of them? Haven't decided for sure yet though.

I like the idea of the awning also but I'm not quite sure how to make it connect. Might have to be something we do after the build is done.

 

[KevoDesign]

Didn’t see one in the drawings but what about a floor drain? Might be nice for one of the stalls be flat and have the other stall have a drain in the center of it.

I agree a floor drain would be great, however the count has a ton of restrictions about floor drains, locations, septic tanks for them etc. Its a complication that I did not think was worth the hassle. I am putting a storm water drain across the front door apron outside. The entire floor will slope towards it slightly from the inside.

 

[KevoDesign]

In other news, this guy spent about an hour walking around the property last Thursday.

Untitled by Kevin Martz, on Flickr

Apparently permits are being pulled and I'll know in the next week or two what they don't like about my plans. luckily I had already staked off the building and patio before the inspector arrived, I guess it really doesn't matter but could help them see where it is going.

Untitled by Kevin Martz, on Flickr

Untitled by Kevin Martz, on Flickr

Now we just wait for the excavator, supposed to be out this week or next.

 

[wiens80]

Looks great. If I’m ever in the position to build a shop, it’s getting a urinal.


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[53PontiacSD]

Great plans. I'll definitely be watching this build. One thing I didn't do that was suggested, was to finish the inside before putting anything in it at all. Now, chances of ever getting it finished is probably slim to none.

 

[KevoDesign]

Great plans. I'll definitely be watching this build. One thing I didn't do that was suggested, was to finish the inside before putting anything in it at all. Now, chances of ever getting it finished is probably slim to none.

I’m going to try and stick to the plan of keeping it empty until finished other than my truck and sxs. The area where the lawn are storage will be is going to be unfinished so worst case I can pile some stuff back there over the summer and slowly move things out.

Talked to the excavator and builder this week. Excavation begins next week weather permitting. Trusses are on order and permits are pulled. There will be one build between the one he is doing now and when he starts on mine. It’s getting close and I couldn’t be more excited.

I did talk to the builder about a change order this week of putting a post in the middle of the wall dividing the wood shop and storage area and using 2x12s instead of a truss there so that the loft would be open. He said that he would have to go back to engineering to do that and resubmit plans to the county. Said it would be expensive and add time until he could start.

He suggested building it with the truss and after final approval come back and sister a 6x6 to the truss at the peak as a vertical beam them sister two 2x12s to the truss and support them in the center with a 6x6 Then cut out the truss webbing in the loft side. That plan seemed a little sketchy to me but structurally seemed like it should work. Does anyone here have and opinion on that?


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[KevoDesign]

It official, the ground has been broken. Got some digging done last Tuesday by the contractor. Unfortunately it started to snow and has been raining since so we are waiting for things to dry out to get the rest of the grading done and get the gravel down.

Ran into an unexpected piece of Romex for the well along the way also. No conduit! Going to have to work around that as we finish up and then figure out how to reroute it.



But the contractor got quite a bit knocked out before calling it a day. He is supposed to be back to Monday to finish if it is dry enough by then.






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[KevoDesign]

Grading is complete! Material delivery should be the end of next week. It’s strange after waiting over a decade for this it is very surreal to see it actually coming to fruition.



I parked the ranger in it’s new home to give this a since of scale. Had to take out a few more trees than anticipated so I have some chainsaw work to do once the weather dries up a bit. Need to order a new carbide tipped blade for the Stihl. Luckily I have a few neighbors that have wood furnaces so it shouldn’t be an issue to trade a little wood and a few beers for a little help.




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[KevoDesign]

Well it was quite the week for this project, but we continue to move forward. Grading was finished last Tuesday. Wednesday night brought 4 inches of rain that I was not prepared for.

I left the house rather early to make a sales meeting about 90 minutes from the house, about 10 minutes away from the meeting my wife calls and says there is water in the basement, which we just finished 6 months ago. I'm thinking small puddle so I saw well get a towel and wipe it up. She says you don't understand you need to come home after your meeting then proceeds to send me the following photos.

Untitled by Kevin Martz, on Flickr

Untitled by Kevin Martz, on Flickr

Untitled by Kevin Martz, on Flickr

I race through the meeting and got back to the house around 11. My wife and one of her girl friends had used shop vacs to **** up most of the water and mud, but under the floor was completely soaked. We began the process of setting up fans, my wife suggested I call the neighbor up the road as he does bed bug extermination with heat and she knew he had a bunch of fans.

I spoke with him and he said that he was on a job until 3 but would be back to the house around 5 and would bring his trailer with fans and heaters to help dry it out. While I waited on that we put shop vacs under the floor at the edges and blew them in reverse which lifted the vinyl flooring and allowed air circulation underneath.

My excavator had shown up in the middle of all of this and determined that the reason for the flood was a clogged drain tile which he kindly uncovered at no charge.

Untitled by Kevin Martz, on Flickr

While I waited on Charlie, my neighbor, to get back, I went and got some black piping and rerouted the drain tile out into the yard and buried the pipe cutting it off at an angle so it would no longer become buried. Then I rerouted the downspout plumbing down and away from the pad temporarily with another piece of black landscape pipe.

We place retaining wall blocks and large straw bales in front of the retaining wall location to prevent the waterfall from coming over the wall again as it did.

Then Charlie showed up with his trailer and 200K BTU of propane powered heat.

Untitled by Kevin Martz, on Flickr

He was not joking when he said he could get it dried out quickly. We used about a dozen of his portable fans placed around the basement to circulate the hot air, then he pulled a mylar tube into the basement and fired up the heater. About an hour in it was 105 F in the basement. 30 minutes later we plateaued at 115F A dehumidifier ran in the middle of the room pumping the moisture out of the basement.

We used an infrared camera that he had to see where there were cool spots under the floor indicating the presence of water still

Untitled by Kevin Martz, on Flickr

By 10pm we shut it all down and the entire thing was back to dry. Amazingly the heat was able to dry everything so fast that the pressboard cabinet bases on my wet bar and the MDF trim didn't even swell. It is always amazing to me what can be done with the right equipment.

We are expecting another couple inches tomorrow, I am hopeful that my modifications and fixed drain will do the trick to keep things dry. This is only a temporary issue as once the patio is poured against the house very little water will be against the foundation.

 

[KevoDesign]

Saturday I was supposed to be Crappie fishing with a buddy, but I figured with all the excitement over the weekend it was best if I stayed home and got some work done. I worked on the final coat of mud on my basement bathroom, then decide to go out and tackle cleaning up the mess of trees that the excavator had taken down.

Untitled by Kevin Martz, on Flickr

As I worked through the trees with my chainsaw trimming the tops and then bucking what was left. I was pleasantly surprised to find out one of them was walnut. I cut that trunk which is fairly straight into 3 8 foot sections. Took a little thought to figure out how to drag them up the hill with the Ranger, but I now have 3 nice logs ready to go to the mill. Thinking the will make some nice end table and coffee table for my newly finished basement in about a year when they dry out.

Untitled by Kevin Martz, on Flickr

I did have to stop a couple of times and sharpen the saw along the way as the walnut and red oak was pretty tough cutting. I have to say the the file kit from Stihl is one of the best accessories for my chainsaw that I have ever bought. even though I keep a few chains around it is nice to just touch it up and finish a job when you are almost done.

Untitled by Kevin Martz, on Flickr

 

[hardtop5000]

Good recovery on the basement pool conversion, Kevo. That could have been nasty without Charlie's gear.



Justin

 

[KevoDesign]

Been a while since I have updated as the project got delayed by the county for a solid 8 weeks. After my last post the contractor called a few days before he was supposed to start and informed me that the county was going to require full engineered prints for the build due to the vaulted ceilings.

We hired an engineering firm and got drawings underway. With all of the houses being constructed in our area we waited 4 weeks for the drawings to be completed. Then another 4 weeks for the county to review. The good thing that came out of this was that I was able to delete one of the trusses and replace with 4 LVL beams with a 6x6 column under the peak. This gives me full clearance to walk around freely in the loft.

 

[KevoDesign]

We left for Kentucky lake the weekend before they were supposed to start and came home to, well less than before, but still water in the basement. I decided this problem needed to be fixed once and for all and spent Sunday afternoon digging down to the footing along the exterior foundation wall facing the house.

Untitled by Kevin Martz, on Flickr

I found three sections of drain tile completely collapsed, it was replaced with hard perforated schedule 30 PVC. While this will eventually be covered by concrete, I want to make sure this is never an issue again.

Untitled by Kevin Martz, on Flickr

This will get filled with 1" clean when the final grade is put in for the patio. I also got to witness for the first time how the pad floods during a hard rain. This will be fixed in the end by a large retaining wall, but at this point it was not installed yet so I literally had a 4' wide waterfall pouring down on to the pad. At least I know it is flat.

Untitled by Kevin Martz, on Flickr

 

[KevoDesign]

The contractors guys spent the next week and a half digging all of the post holes by hand, I could not believe that they did not have a tractor or skid steer with an auger, but hey he is paying them by the hour so that is his business. The holes got completed right before we left for our family vacation in Florida. I came home to most of the walls up.

Untitled by Kevin Martz, on Flickr

Untitled by Kevin Martz, on Flickr

Untitled by Kevin Martz, on Flickr