The Sanford Barn

[wnstwolf]

The Sanford Barn
With the many beautiful projects found on this site I was both encouraged and scared to post, what to me, is my dream garage. I have been a lurker for a long time and have had the chance to build a few previous spaces that seem to always grow. My family calls me a shade tree amateur DIY’er but a professional tool collector, at times the word hoarder comes up but not too often while I am present.

I have not progressed to the point I would like to be at now that I am almost 2 years in to this adventure. Although I am putting in a lot of hours at work and trying to complete building a new home by no means do I believe one should pay for something they can do themselves or make. This said we all know that time and money are tight so things take a long time and in the end will cost you something. My “Sanford” title comes from my wife who calls me Fred Sanford. I will stop at yard sales, pull items off the side of the road, go to close out sales and eventually put those great finds into action. Here is my Journey of putting 30 years of collecting into action:
It begins with a plan

 

[wnstwolf]

We purchased the land with the intension of building our new home. As we had all of our worldly positions in cold storage paying a hefty monthly fee the intent was to build the barn first, move our stuff into it and also work out if it while building the house. Here were the initial days on site. A little test digging to see where we would place house and barn and make sure we were not going to be on top of some undesirable material.

 

[wnstwolf]

Here is what happens when Amateurs use heavy equipment.. Property to the East has a large pond with run off that heads my way. Wanted to build a mote to divert and surface water to what would eventually be our pond. Well the reason the machine was available was the fact that it had rained for 3 days and the ground was mush. As I was digging the Mote I landsharked the Excavator as the ditch collapsed on itself and the track slid in. Before I knew it I had the thing on its side, the side with the door, and no way to turn the turret. Had a cell phone and called the owner. He was not happy but seemed to laugh all the way to the site. He rolled the dozer over so I could grab onto something solid and tug my way back upright and with tail between my legs the machine went back to its parking spot. No damage and after about 2 hours of power washing all was good!

 

[wnstwolf]

Here is what happens when Amateurs use heavy equipment.. Property to the East has a large pond with run off that heads my way. Wanted to build a mote to divert and surface water to what would eventually be our pond. Well the reason the machine was available was the fact that it had rained for 3 days and the ground was mush. As I was digging the Mote I landsharked the Excavator as the ditch collapsed on itself and the track slid in. Before I knew it I had the thing on its side, the side with the door, and no way to turn the turret. Had a cell phone and called the owner. He was not happy but seemed to laugh all the way to the site. He rolled the dozer over so I could grab onto something solid and tug my way back upright and with tail between my legs the machine went back to its parking spot. No damage and after about 2 hours of power washing all was good!

 

[Chuckleins]

Looks like fun! Where are you in Upstate NY. Originally from Beaver Falls area and went to college in Potsdam

 

[classic boost]

lol. glad you got it out.

 

[wnstwolf]

Overall Design is 60 feet wide by 40 feet deep. The slab was poured in three sections basically cutting the barn into three sections. We doweled /pinned east together and with all the wire screen and rebar in this thing my cracking after 2 years of install has been nil. Unfortunately the overall flatness of the slab was a little questionable. Believe the installation could have been a little better but price was great and the team that did the work in the end did a good job. Once Slab was in traditional framing was used. I basically built each side wall on the slab and then used the excavator to lift into place and propped until all walls were up..

 

[wnstwolf]

Hi Guys we are out by Cortland

 

[wnstwolf]

Wanted to have overhead storage and make the design resemble some sort of “Barn. In the end had a roof system that was made up of three main sections. Left and right typical sloped roof and then center Gambrel type attic truss. Believe the end results came out nice and really gave a lot of storage upstairs (850 sq/ft)

 

[wnstwolf]

What to put on the sides of the Barn was a long thought out process. I have had Vinyl, T-111, and both had their up’s and downs. Our house is Hardiplank fiber cement siding but the cost did not allow it for the barn. In the end we went with metal roof and siding. Color match to the house is very close and installation was 3 days, over 6,200 screws, three tubes of sunscreen (should have had 4) and one great Makita 10.4 volt driver. Thing was amazing light weight and never an issue!!!

 

[wnstwolf]

Installed the 3 garage doors and the place was buttoned up in November of 2010 and after all our stuff was in there attentions turned to the house and Barn took a back seat… Winter came and went and while working on the barn is not like working in the barn most of 2011 was doing stuff in the barn to build house so not a lot got accomplished

 

[wnstwolf]

… Place stayed pretty much untouched for a year and was used as storage and a place to do a little assembly as well as dump stuff until the house was built and the home goods could be moved out of barn and into house! Fast forward a year to Spring of 2012 and all the house stuff was out and the “Sanford” stuff could begin its transformation….

From the plans this is the space in the upper right hand corner that will be used as the work shop for engine and general repairs. Aside from all the DIY stuff the main intent is to restore more project cars. E-type is buried in this place somewhere.. I think
Here is the rough in of Cabinets. Made from MDF and reused office furniture. Uppers were salvaged from a science lab out of a high school. After bleach and power washing they took paint nicely..

 

[wnstwolf]

The flooring came from a tip on this forum. About three months ago there was a swap meet in Philly for Chebbie parts. Not a big fan but was close so I went to see what they had to offer. Cars and parts were not in my league but met a guy that had a pallet of epoxy flooring mix that was 6-7 years old. 15 5-gallon pails of base and primer with part B to go with it. He clearly stated he was not sure if it was any good but wanted to get rid of it and sending it to the landfill was not an option. I bought it for $50. Well it works and is very nice stuff. Finnerian and Haley was on the cans which is now a defunct paint company. Each 5-gallon pail actually has 3 gallons of part A and then you pour in 1 gallon of part B. I will be able to cover close to 2k sq/ft. WHOHA!

 

[wnstwolf]

Here is the area at the 90% mark after a little Rustoleum Safety Red.

 

[wnstwolf]

One of my better Sanford Pick’s was this stainless Steel kitchen unit from a remodeling job in town back in 1994. Thing weighs a ton and had been through three moves and 4 states! I turned the sink section, off to the left, into my parts washer.. All in I have $60 bucks into it including the new pail of solution from TSC this past weekend

 

[wnstwolf]

While room one is getting close to being completed there are many other projects on the list. Here is the behind the camera shots that are not quite so polished at this time!!! Need to work on getting the wood shop equipment in the wood shop if for no other reason but to corral the dust. A lot of ripping of wood which reeks havoc all over the place. Nut-Bolt storage, Tool corner, future wood shop pics, and the welding corner.

 

[wnstwolf]

Just so you don't get the wrong impression work on the garage does stop every now and then and I get to work in it He is the maiden trial of the Lift Whoha it works! And future projects lurking under the covers

 

[nine4gmc]

love the space and how you laid it out, looking good!!

 

[wnstwolf]

One of the few times I actually got to work in the Barn and not on it was to build a nice bench that can go from room to room easily but be sturdy once in place. This is a 30”x60” butcher block top that has 4”x4” legs. I looked at many ways to add casters or purchase expensive locking feet and in the end took the easy way out and used free items sitting around the shop. 2 pieces of 2” square tubing, 4 -3/4x8” bolts, 8 nuts and some casters. First drilled 4 holes in the 2” stock to allow the bolts to pass through. Second welded nuts over the holes that allow the bolts to now be threaded through those drilled holes. Threaded a nut all the way onto the bolt and then threaded this assembly all the way through the welded on bolt and through the stock. Lastly welded on the swivel casters. Attached the 2” tubing to fit on the lower cross braces. As my impact gun is never too far away I just hit the ¾ bolt and lower the casters move to new location and reverse to allow table to rest on the 4”x4” legs. Seconds to raise or lower and very simple for limited patience on these types of things..

 

[ODIS]

Beautiful! Looks like a great location and also sounds like you and your family are having a ton of fun. Looking forward to more of your posts and the outcome of the various projects you have lined up. BTW, neat bench!

Ody.

 

[fergus]

Nice setup. That is the best looking Sanford-resourced workshop I think I have ever seen! A little paint goes a long way eh? The rest of the barn ain't too bad neither...

 

[Xception]

Looking good. What a deal on that flooring huh. Everything looks great !

 

[wnstwolf]

Flooring thankfully worked out. Epoxy that does not cure would have been a PITA big time and then the unused product is now a disposal issue. I was at the big Orange Box store last night and picked up some fine sand to add to the top coat this weekend when I do the center section of the barn. While not slippery I would like a little more grip in the area that may see grease and moisture from the repairs. For the section of the Barn that will see the finished cars I also picked up a few bags of decorative chip flakes. That is a bit over the top for the main area but will be just right for the display section...

 

[wnstwolf]

Re: Updated Sanford Barn

Finally got to the Clean Car section of the barn. Used up the left over T&G planking from the house build as the divider wall between this area and the wood shop that sits behind the wall. To try and keep dust out I added a layer of plastic from ceiling to slab. Also used up the salvaged track lighting I have had forever and refurbished the final storage cabinets for the space. A few coats of Safety yellow and they look great. No internet yet but computer area set up as well as display of awards from the many aspects of the past years.

One thing that did not go well was the epoxy flooring for this section. First batch was the primer coat and all was good. Second batch was the top coat and to add a finishing touch I picked up some flakes to sprinkle on top as I applied the coating. I have learned I have 30 minutes after mixing part a & b. Mixed up the batch and off I went with a brush around all edges. Started to pour out the mix on the floor and then spread with the 18" roller. As I went I through out the flakes across the wet epoxy and all looked super. As I started to get to the end of the process with about a gallon left in the pail and 60 sq/ft or so to go I realized things were starting to set up and geting a little more challanging to roll out. Dumped the last of the mix out and wow a science project gone bad. The glop of product that came out of the pail went into spontaneous cumbustion mode and smoked then turned black as it solidified in the middle of my nice finished garage. As if all the gods were against me a breeze came by and blew the black ash into the room and onto the nice sticky epoxy coating. I grabed the first thing available, snow shovel, and scraped up as much as I could. In the end fixable but not a way to end the day.

Begining stage:

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

 

[wnstwolf]

Finshed product has the storage wall complete, track lighting up, epoxy on the floor, almost done, and door to lift area installed. Left to do is the insulation on exterior wall and the final wall product which is looking to be rough cut barn board form the mill down the road. Not economical for the entire building but will be a great look for this "show" space. FInal pic's

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

 

[wnstwolf]

Not sure if this one will ever get to the point where I need to start thinking about expanding the clean parking area but the next project is on the lift!

[/IMG]