Between 485 & 705 SQ/FT Tinkering Tony's Workshop

[B3D3G1]

I'm starting this tread on my workshop build to both document the progress and get some insight from other members as I go. It has already been coined "Tinkering Tony's" and I'm currently about to break ground. I'll start by catching everyone up to the current state.

A little bit of background:
It's been a long time dream to have a dedicated work space to work on cars and other projects . I mainly work on a Miata race car, but I enjoy lots of other household projects and I'm always "tinkering" with something. I also prefer to do things myself when I can so I need a place to start accumulating more tools and the space to use them. That being said, I'm finally in a place in my life where I can build a dedicated workshop in my backyard.

I was born and raised in Northern California and lived there until about 3 years ago. When it came time to try to buy a house, I could not find anything in a reasonable area that was even close to satisfying requirements for my wife and I. Trailer parking was the easy go/no-go gauge that pretty much eliminated most of the potential listings. My wife and I got the opportunity to move to Denver, and we made the leap. We signed a short term lease to start with and the intention to buy a house once we knew the area. It all worked out and we bought a house in a great spot in Lakewood, CO in 2019. It is on just under an acre of property. Our house and finances are in a stable spot now and we have been able to rebuild our savings and get started on the workshop I had envisioned when we were shopping for houses.

This is one of those ideas that probably could have stayed in the "sometime" or "soon" category but I think my Dad has enabled this idea to go from concept to reality. He is getting a little older and finally got an old car after dreaming and shopping for a long time. He picked up a '34 Oldsmobile that's been totally restored and updated and absolutely loves driving it around and telling us how many thumb-ups and waves he got today or who came up and talked to him in the parking lot. This has probably me to build the workshop now and not wait. I can always say I'll build it soon and that is what he did with the old car until recently. He doesn't plan to drive more than 10 more years and I'm guessing he wishes he would have bought a classic car sooner.

Here's a picture of my Dad's car for those that are interested:

 

[B3D3G1]

Initial Planning:
When we purchased our house, I already had an idea of where I wanted to build a workshop. We have a great unobstructed view of the mountains I didn't want to block and this old 20'x20' shed that had been expanded over many decades and only good for garden storage. This is where I want the workshop.


I contacted 5 contractors who specialize in garage and workshop builds in the area and got quotes from all of them starting in late July. As I talked to each one, I was able to refine what I wanted, what needed to be done, and what was possible with the space. The short list got narrowed down to a 24'x24' garage, 12' ceiling, fully insulated, 18' door, and lots of electrical work (including changing the house from from an aerial main line to underground line with major upgrade to existing panel). I was originally hoping I could get this all done around the $50k mark but some things seemed to push me above that limit pretty quickly, especially the electrical work. I really wanted a sink with at least cold water in the shop, but I was universal told this would require a much more expensive build with similar requirements to a house (front barrier?). The solution for now is to have provisions in the foundation to pass water and drain and I will probably do some post occupancy modifications.

Prior to contacting contractors, I had sketched up some concepts of what I wanted. I took their feedback to refine my designs a little further. I used google drawing initially for a floor layout. I also started messing around with SolidWorks to bring it into 3D and sort out lift location I'll go into later.

I narrowed down the contractors by communication style on questions, type of work they typically do, how accommodating to my ideas they were, and missing major cost multipliers in the quote phase before settling on one of them. We spent the next two weeks going back and forth on all the details as I really wanted this thing to be fully documented in the contract with as few additions as possible changes in the build phase. I didn't want any surprises in cost or limitations because something wasn't understood. The contractor got all the necessary quotes to refine the price and defined the scope of the work pretty well. We got to the point where everything was agreed upon and the contract was signed beginning of September. The only thing left to do was city building permits...

 

[B3D3G1]

Demolition:
One of the areas I identified to save money was doing the demolition of the old shed myself. All the HGTV shows make this look fun and I figured it would be hard to screw up so why not.

The size of the shed crossed the threshold for needing a demo permit in my city (above 8' tall, over 200 sqft) so I had to figure that out. Some of the contractors said I didn't need to but I didn't want to risk impacting the new build. The first step was getting the Colorado health and safety approval which was all about asbestos. Unfortunately, they found small amounts of asbestos but only in the old window glazing. It was fairly easy to pop those out and dispose of but but required more research and time. Once that was done, the inspector signed off and the state approved the demo. I then submitted all this paperwork Lakewood and, 3 weeks later, I had a demo permit.

I solicited the help of my brother-in-law and we went to town on the old structure with our sawzalls. I way underestimated the amount of debris we would have as the 20 yard dumpster was full after half a day. I really had no sense of the magnitude of debris we would have. It took about a days worth of work to take down the structure. We saw a 1973 date in the concrete I'm guessing it had been added on at least 4 separate occasions. This meant lots of interior walls with structure and probably 3 roofs stacked on each other. We just started stacking debris after we filled the dumpster so we could keep moving forward.



Only about half the footprint of the building had concrete so we didn't think it would be too bad. On the 2nd day of demo, we rented a jack hammer from Home Depot and started breaking it all apart. 3 of the 6'x6' pads had chicken wire as reinforcement which really slowed us down. Had to break it up and cut out each section with linemen pliers piece by piece. 3 other sections around the perimeter didn't put up too much fight but the original main structure threw us a curveball. It had 3' footings all the way around on a 10'x10' structure plus a chicken wire reinforced floor. We were running short on rental time so we broke up everything we could on the surface but didn't yet know about the deep footings.


After the weekend was over, I booked 2 more dumpsters. a 30 yard and 15 yard heavy for the concrete. I spent my spare time finishing up the chicken wire concrete demo during the week and nursing blisters. The next weekend I loaded those 2 dumpsters to the brim. I rented a jackhammer again to take care of the footers. I still had to lever the big pieces of the footers loose with a big pry bar. I was pretty wrecked after these 2 weekends and I was also in the middle of training for a 100 mile bike ride the following weekend. My wife even felt bad for me enough to come out and help move the last of the concrete.


Now it sits while the building permit gets sorted

 

[B3D3G1]

Permitting:
Permitting with the city has been the most frustrating part of this process. Today, I'm sitting here with high hopes a building permit will be issued this week but I've been in that situation a couple times already.

After sorting out the details with the contractor, he submitted the permit application the city for the 24'x24' accessory building. Lakewood changed to an online system a few days after submitting and it sounds like the contractor had a hard time setting up their account to be able to login to the system. About a week later, the city wanted some lot coverage calculation added to the plan. No big deal as I have almost an acre and plenty of open space. I thought we were close.

A week after that, they had a problem with the wall height. I'm determined to put in a full size 2-post lift without the floor crossover so I really needed the 12' ceiling. A 12' wall height was the max I could go for an accessory building without dealing with large property line setbacks. The contractor submitted the plan with 12'6" referenced from the bottom of the 6" grade needed around the building. The city reviewer said this needs to be 12' or under. I still don't know who is right in this context. Is the wall height typically referenced from the the bottom of the grade or the top of the foundation? We explored other ideas including a 10' high 2-post lift and scissor trusses. I think the scissor trusses would have required a crane to lift them in place and cost would have been an issue along with garage door clearance. I really didn't want the low rise 10' bendpak lift or a lift with a floor crossover to fit in a 10ft ceiling. The solution he and the engineer came up with was to have the ceiling joists above the top of the wall and attached directly to the rafters. I'll see a sloped section of the ceiling at the very edges but I'll have a full 13' ceiling for most of the structure. They had to add 16" on center rafters and ceiling joists but the contractor is taking care of the cost difference. Maybe lumber prices have dropped since the quote too.

Everything was resubmitted over the weekend and now it's a waiting game. I have family coming for Thanksgiving and I really thought I would have at least a skeleton structure or even a foundation to show but that is looking very unlikely at this point.

 

[B3D3G1]

Electrical Plan:
Since electrical work is turning into a huge percentage of the cost, I'm trying to get exactly what I will want. The main house has a 100 amp main panel with an aerial cable from the utility pole. I think we are getting pretty close to maxing out that 100 amp panel currently with a hot tub and AC but we have never experienced any issues to this point. I confirmed it is a 200 amp service from the utility provider, just an older electrical box.

The overall plan is to have the a new 200 amp panel on the workshop and make the house panel a sub-panel. The aerial cable runs right over the sight of the workshop and the utility pole is next to the workshop so I also thought it made sense to put this underground. I also think everything will look better and feel better without a power line swinging around in the wind. I'm a little nervous on on the order of operations with the existing aerial line most likely interfering with the new roof line of the workshop. I'm not sure how they keep power to the house while building the new structure but I'm sure there is a way.

I planned out what I think I want for the electrical layout. This is probably where input from others could be helpful. Major design considerations are: Lots of wall outlets, 220 for Mini-split, 220 for lift, 220 wall outlet for welding/equipment, and lots of lights.


I got the light layout from the ProLighting layout service and I'm planning on running nine TechBrite 48" 3 Lamp LED T8 Strip Fixtures.
I'll be doing the mini-split install myself but I wanted to electrical disconnect done at this stage. Got my eye on a PIONEER 18,000 BTU unit.
I planed for a ceiling junction box for the lift about where one of the posts will be. Planning on a Rotary 10k 2-post.
Wall outlets are spaced 8' apart and I'm a big fan of ceiling mounted reals so I added 1 near each corner for that purpose.
For exterior outlets, I'll have space to park a vehicle on one side and I'm planning to build a storage shed for the lawn tractor and tools on the back side so I figure an outlet would be good for each one of those. To the left will most likely be turned into a patio area at some point with a hangout spot and maybe a firepit or BBQ so I put one at the far end. There's also another building with power near by. I was debating putting something on the garage door side but I figure the outlet just inside or overhead reels should cover that need.
I know there will be at least 1 exterior light and power for the garage door so I'm expecting some adaptation when the structure goes up and I can see it physically.

I will undoubtedly wish I had done something different but the interior is kind of blank canvas at this point.

 

[wasfast]

Possible shortcut to have a 100A subpanel off the main 200A at the house. It's unlikely that you'll run all the big things simultaneously.. Additionally, you can finish your electrical permit with a single light and a single outlet. Running wire from the panel to all the outlets is not difficult nor placing the boxes that you can do yourself. That combo should save you some $'s.

 

[B3D3G1]

Possible shortcut to have a 100A subpanel off the main 200A at the house. It's unlikely that you'll run all the big things simultaneously.. Additionally, you can finish your electrical permit with a single light and a single outlet. Running wire from the panel to all the outlets is not difficult nor placing the boxes that you can do yourself. That combo should save you some $'s.

Thanks for the input. We looked at going this route initially but there were a couple of issues. 1) the house panel would have be upgraded to a 200 amp panel from the current 100 amp. I'm not sure what other can of worms this would open up on the house side. 2) the aerial power line to the house interferences with the workshop roof and would have to be dealt with, most likely by getting a taller mast on the house. I'm already not a fan of how the existing one looks. It will be underground between the house and the workshop regardless and this way I'm minimizing the run. I can update the house panel later if needed.

I'm also finishing the interior of the workshop with insulation and drywall so I want electrical all done prior to that. I would be willing to do more of the electrical work if I was coordinating all the subcontractors and schedule myself, but I just don't have the time or knowledge to do this all correctly. I have certainly learned a lot in the past few months about construction but I'm more of a car guy.

 

[kwyjibo]

It's a little late, but, welcome to the front range. I hope your permitting is moving along. Just remember that it could be worse... you could be dealing with Denver
How about some details on the Miata?

 

[B3D3G1]

It's a little late, but, welcome to the front range. I hope your permitting is moving along. Just remember that it could be worse... you could be dealing with Denver
How about some details on the Miata?

Thanks. I just got word last night that the zoning review has been completed and signed off on. Not sure what the progression is but that sounds like possibly the biggest hurdle. Hoping to have permit by Thanksgiving now.

As for the Miata, It's a full built race car. It has yet to move under it's own power since I moved to Colorado in 2018. I decided to completely rebuild it in 2020 and the project stalled when winter temperatures hit. I was just about to fire up the engine on all new electronics and wiring when it got too cold for me to handle. Got into bicycle riding and all the fair weather days were absorbed by that hobby and it was not fun working in an uninsulated garage the rest of the year. Hence the garage build to help that aspect as I'm itching to get back out there. I've been able to satisfy the itch with some endurance team driving and Dirt Fish rally school of the last few years but I need more!
I'm targeting NASA racing in the ST5 or ST6 class but bummed on the low participation in those classes. I might have to build it for time trial and get a 2nd race car.

 

[B3D3G1]

Permit issued on Friday! Work starts on Wednesday!

Plan from the contractor is get the digging and site prep done by the end of the week. I've got a small stump and a small piece of concrete to dig out so hopefully nothing slows them down too much. If it goes quick enough, he might be able to get an inspection done at the end of the week, but not expecting to pour until after Christmas due to scheduling around holidays.

I'm getting excited. It's becoming real.

 

[Conrad]

Permit issued on Friday! Work starts on Wednesday!

Congrats! Getting that permit issued is a great feeling. Seems I'm right up the hill from you, sorry to hear about your struggles with Lakewood, but seems like you should be built in a few weeks.

 

[B3D3G1]

Congrats! Getting that permit issued is a great feeling. Seems I'm right up the hill from you, sorry to hear about your struggles with Lakewood, but seems like you should be built in a few weeks.

Thanks! The contractor said he has several permits pending longer than mine in the area with the city of Denver being the worst. Lots of people building and not enough staff on the city side. The only city in the area he hasn't had troubles with is Englewood.
It sure sounds like everything will come together surprisingly quickly. This is my first exposure to construction work so I'm soaking it in and probably asking way too many questions.

 

[B3D3G1]

Concrete work started a day early!

The sub showed up with a tractor first thing in this morning. Started by removing a deceivingly deep stump before leveling out the excess dirt pile at the highest corner. They setup the main form and we got it located just right before they got to digging. We had to go with 3 foot deep footers because of the wall height above 10 feet and these guys are doing the entire thing by hand. One guy is using a jack hammer to break up the ground while a 2nd guy follows with a shovel and moves the dirt to the inside. I'm guessing once they get the correct depth, they will remove all the inside dirt to get the slab depth they need. It looks like some places could be 2+ feet deep already

The plan right now is to get it dug out with all the rebar laid out by Thursday, inspection on Friday, pour on Saturday. Even if that gets bumped back by a day or 2, it's still poured before Christmas. Weather is looking pretty solid for the next week here in Colorado too.

 

[Max Power]

Welcome to Lakewood.

 

[B3D3G1]

Day 2 started out with a little bit of rain and a crazy wind storm all day. Estimated speeds of 50+ mph at times. I'm glad I wasn't outside working but these guys sure are tough. They got all the digging for 3ft footings done and brought a 3rd guy to help out this time. 2 jack hammers and a shovel.


Day 3 was much better weather and everyone looked a lot happier. The workers moved out all the dirt with the tractor into a waiting truck and then cleaned up and leveled all the dirt. Rebar is in and ready for inspection from what I can tell. From what I understand, if the inspection is done early enough tomorrow, the concrete can be scheduled for the next morning. If the inspection is later in the day, we'll have to wait another which falls to Monday.
It looks like there is a chalk line around the 3 taller side boards which lines up with the short side. I'm guessing that is the pour height and that looks right about 6 inches thickness in the center. I'm not sure how they do the apron for the 18' garage door but maybe that is a 2nd pour? I know the small service door apron will be hand mixed concrete a day or so after the pour while they do the saw cuts in the slab.

 

[Conrad]

Lookin good, I was wondering how your crew did with all that wind yesterday, glad they got through it.

 

[B3D3G1]

Day 4 (Friday) - Footing Inspection Day
Luckily no surprises here and the inspector came by early so we had enough time to order the concrete trucks and pump for the next morning.

Day 5 (Saturday) - Pour Day
Things started early and it was a cold morning. People started showing up around 6 am to prep for pour. Concrete trucks were scheduled for 8 am arrival and there was some setup to do prior. It was around 11 deg F at 6 am and slowly warmed up to about 20 when the pour started.

We had to locate the pass throughs for the main electrical along with my own post construction modifications. I'm planning to run ethernet cable and tie into water and sewer for a small sink at some point in the future. In the spring I'll start figuring out how exactly I want to tap into water/sewer but I already have them running to the studio building right next to this site so I might be able to deal with it mostly myself. Not exactly up to code, but water and sewer would have inflated the price considerably just to have a hand washing station.

The concrete also had to be pumped at least 100 ft from the street and that crew had to get setup and connect all their pipes. The first concrete truck showed up around 8 and the 2nd about 15 minutes later. These 2 trucks filled up the footers and about 1/3 of the slab. I think they were waiting until the 2nd truck was done to estimate how much more was needed in the 3rd truck. In the end, they said it was 25 yards so the 3rd truck must have been half full. Everything went pretty smoothly and I'm still amazed they could pour when it was this cold. I think it got up to freezing around noon. I didn't watch every minute but I was also surprised how long the the finishing work took. They were here until 2 pm smoothing and doing whatever else they do. They came back around 5 or 6 pm to lay out the insulation blankets.



They still need to pour the apron on the garage door side and a small apron near the service door. Not sure why this wasn't done at the same time other than getting a nice uniform slab pour. It sat all day today (day 6) and I think the workers return tomorrow to remove the forms, do some saw cuts, and pour the aprons. Weather for the next week is looking good with highs in the low 50s and lows above freezing so I should be good to go. The general contractor said he thinks the framing will start going up after right after Christmas and mostly up by New Years.

 

[B3D3G1]

Day 7 (Monday) - Final concrete work

Workers got here pretty early again to do the final apron work. They ordered a concrete truck that was scheduled to arrive at 8am again and they still had to remove sections of the original form from the apron area and build out the service door apron form. Instead of pumping the concrete, they were able to run back and forth with their front end loader's bucket to move concrete from the street to the site. It's only a 4" pour on the garage door apron.

They spent the rest of the morning cleaning up their blankets, removing forms, and doing the saw cuts. They matched the saw cuts in the new concrete by hand with a hand tool. It was in the low 60s here so the apron concrete probably required less special treatment. They were able to remove the forms around the aprons and head out by 2pm. Here's the final concrete work.


I have also been sorting the final details on lighting so that is ready at the new year.
I'm ordering 9x TechBrite 48" LED Fixtures for interior lighting. I'm probably way too excited than I should be for good lighting. I tried telling my wife and she didn't get it but she will once I flip on the lights.
I'm also ordering a RAB 26 Watt dual head flood light for over the garage door and a Westinghouse "Glass bowl" fixture for the service door to match existing fixtures on our house. People seem to have good opinions about RAB and the Westinghouse seemed decent quality and readily available. I talked myself out of buying a RAB Brisk wall pack because of cost and style.
I'm also going with 3 Levitron Wifi switches for the lights as I've already got about 5 devices in that eco system that have been working great for me. Been using either the switches or inline outlet adapters for other outdoor lighting and seasonal Christmas lights along with an electric kettle and a Treadmill that seems to take an eternity to boot up.

Also saw what I think is a good deal on retractable extension cords at Northern Tool so I ordered four. 40 foot 12/3 retractable reels for $70. One near each corner hanging from the ceiling. I have a similar reel in my current garage and I like to keep things like a battery maintainer on it or pull it out to the driveway and not have to dig out an extension cord or trip over it.

 

[B3D3G1]

Lumber is scheduled to be delivered on Wednesday of next week and contractor said the framing is a 2.5 day job so they will probably be done by new years. I'm not exactly sure is siding and roofing is part of framing but I'll find out. It will be like a real building at that point.

Also put in a deposit for a lift. Rotary SPO10 in red. Local dealer said they don't have any in stock and with a lead time of 120 days. He said that could change in the new year but why wait.

 

[B3D3G1]

Got back from Christmas with the family in California. Drove a total of 3200 miles in 3 driving days to and from. Had to stay an extra day in CA and then take the long way home through Bakersfield due to 80/50 road closures near Tahoe. Also had to cancel our ski vacation stay in Park City because of travel changes but I got home a day early.

When I got home, the Lumber was sitting in my front yard. The framers showed up Thurs 12/30 but decided to cancel with hurricane force winds expected that day. This was also the day of the horrible fire in the Superior area that took out 1000+ homes fueled by the same winds. When we first moved to CO, we stayed at the Bell Flatirons complex which was in the evacuation area but we're safe here in Lakewood. There was also a big snow storm in the forecast for Friday 12/31 so the frames said they would start Monday 1/3.

As of Jan 1st, there is about 6 inches of snow in the yard and the snow has stopped. The sun is starting to break through and next few days look clear. I might shovel the slab to make sure it's clear for the framers in 2 days. Luckily, I'm not in a huge hurry and the weather looks good for most of next week for framing to be completed. From the material delivered, it looks like this phase will end with OSB exterior and no roofing.

 

[B3D3G1]

Day 21 (Monday) - Framing Walls
Snow was still covering most of the ground so the framers started by digging out walk ways and some extra room around the concrete pad. I had at least cleared off the pad and the lumber stacks after the snow stopped. We also had to locate the 2 windows and I didn't get exactly what I wanted on one of them but it's good enough. They were worried about putting a window directly over some of the concrete pass throughs in terms of code.

Once the layout was fixed, they got to work. Those walls went up quick and they even got some OSB up all around the lower portion. Not much to say about it other than it feels so much bigger standing inside of something with walls. It's fairly obtrusive from the street from one angle, but it's winter and none of the trees of have leaves. I think it is in a pretty good spot in our backyard from my own perspective.



It's windy again today and predicted snow tomorrow afternoon. The framers showed up this morning and decided it was too windy so this will probably drag out until the end of the week.

 

[grant00]

Hey from another local neighbor just south of you. Nice progress so far!

 

[jbrentd]

Looking good! It gets exciting when the walls start going up. Just out of curiosity, what's the purpose of the 2 short curb walls on either side of the overhead door opening?

 

[B3D3G1]

Looking good! It gets exciting when the walls start going up. Just out of curiosity, what's the purpose of the 2 short curb walls on either side of the overhead door opening?

Honestly, I'm not sure and I haven't had a chance to ask yet. I was guessing it had something to do with ensuring the wood bottom plate wasn't exposed since the apron starts at the same height as the workshop floor. I'm trusting the contractors are building to the appropriate standards and this one seems like more work for no additional profit.

I scrolled through your build thread a little bit and it doesn't look too different than mine. Yours is the more of the size I originally wanted but couldn't make work.

 

[jbrentd]

Honestly, I'm not sure and I haven't had a chance to ask yet. I was guessing it had something to do with ensuring the wood bottom plate wasn't exposed since the apron starts at the same height as the workshop floor. I'm trusting the contractors are building to the appropriate standards and this one seems like more work for no additional profit.

I scrolled through your build thread a little bit and it doesn't look too different than mine. Yours is the more of the size I originally wanted but couldn't make work.

I’m sure they serve a purpose. I was like, “why didn’t I get those”, lol.

 

[B3D3G1]

Day 23 (Wednesday) - Full Structure

Framers got to work today. It was a high of mid 30s with snow predicted to start around 3pm. I think I overheard they were having some troubles getting their compressors going this morning. They might have even put them in their van for a while to heat them up.

They made a lot of progress today. Got the main roof structure on and almost all the vertical OSB up. I knew it would be tall, but seeing the structure at full height makes it seem so much bigger. It looks like a 2nd house when looking from the street. When standing inside with full walls and height, I can start to visualize where everything will go. I asked them to get a new door since the one they had would open inward and to the left. That seems like it will just waste space doing that. I guess doors for 2x6 framing aren't totally common so we'll see if they can get that sorted soon.


They only got 2 ceiling joists up before the snow started. I thought we had settled on 13' ceiling height but it's just under 14' to the bottom of the joist. I know we were talking about putting it up as high as possible to minimize the wasted space at the peak of the roof so maybe this is what we settled on. The only down side I can think of I might need to rethink the layout of the lights on the ceiling.


Speaking of lights, I got all my light fixtures in yesterday. 9x 4' 3 Lamp LED fixtures for the ceiling, 1x RAB 26W LED double Bullet flood light for above the garage door, and a Westinghouse glass bowl fixture for the service door. I checked to make sure they were all there but haven't done anything with them.


It's already snowing pretty hard so the framers aren't planning to come back until Friday and maybe Saturday. The plan is to have the sheathing inspection done Monday so they can start putting up siding and roofing right after that. The electrician is also coming Friday to do a walk through and get all the details figured out. He probably has the hardest job for this build.

 

[captain14]

It always looks big until you get your tools and car inside.

I subscribed to follow along. Hope you can keep the lumber dry until the building is weathertight.

 

[zc15]

What is your roof pitch?

I'm interested on how high those rafter ties (ceiling joists) are. I thought IRC only allowed the joists to be in the lower 1/3 of the rafter height. Maybe its the pictures but they're looking a little high for that.

 

[B3D3G1]

What is your roof pitch?

I'm interested on how high those rafter ties (ceiling joists) are. I thought IRC only allowed the joists to be in the lower 1/3 of the rafter height. Maybe its the pictures but they're looking a little high for that.

The roof pitch was spec'd to be 4/12 originally. We did have to get an engineer involved and sign off on this design of raised ceiling joists. Their involvement resulted in 16" spacing and a change to 5/12 pitch. I'm not sure what to say about the lower 1/3 limitation other than this plan was approved by the powers that be.

from the engineer's design letter:

Joists: Install 2x10 @ 16” o.c. HF #2 ceiling joists that will attach directly to the roof rafters 2’-3” above the stud wall. The span of the ceiling joists will be 17’.

 

[zc15]

The roof pitch was spec'd to be 4/12 originally. We did have to get an engineer involved and sign off on this design of raised ceiling joists. Their involvement resulted in 16" spacing and a change to 5/12 pitch. I'm not sure what to say about the lower 1/3 limitation other than this plan was approved by the powers that be.

from the engineer's design letter:

If it's spec'd then I think you are A-OK and the extra headroom will be nice. Based on how high they were, I was wondering if the ceiling joists were only 16' long, which would have saved money but been insufficient on their own.

Very cool seeing this all come together. I'm looking forward to the next update!

 

[B3D3G1]

Day 25 (Friday) - Sheathing

Framers were back today and finished all the sheathing ceiling joints. I'm not sure why the fire blocks weren't done. Should be an inspection on Monday.


Also had the electrician by to walk through the plans and site. We decided on an aerial to the workshop on the back side and then trenching around and across the front apron over to the house's main box. The meter will be on the workshop and out of sight and we won't have to get Xcel energy involved. Not sure if he reuses the existing aerial cable, but he can do everything needed without the headache, delay and cost of getting Xcel to come out and trenching the 8 feed to the workshop wall.

I wish this would have been determined earlier because we put the foundation pass through for the electrical near the service door and that pushed the window location further back. Now no pass throughs are needed, just a longer trench. Everything else on my plan was no problem. Here is the latest version:

I plan to eventually build a lawn shed behind this building and I will probably want a light and outlet in there but I don't know enough details to plan accordingly and probably best not to do anything yet for permitting sake.

 

[grant00]

It looks like your interior 110 outlets are at 3' from the floor according to your legend? Have you considered making them higher? A lot put them just above 48". This allows sheet goods to lay against the wall if you want and not block them but I think it's better because it puts them about 12" above a 36" tall workbench height. That way your outlets are easier to get to and you can place tool boxes and benches anywhere under outlets.

 

[B3D3G1]

It looks like your interior 110 outlets are at 3' from the floor according to your legend? Have you considered making them higher? A lot put them just above 48". This allows sheet goods to lay against the wall if you want and not block them but I think it's better because it puts them about 12" above a 36" tall workbench height. That way your outlets are easier to get to and you can place tool boxes and benches anywhere under outlets.

The 3' note was purely a guess on my part. The electrician said he typically does 42" height but that's not a bad idea to go a little higher. Maybe I'll modify my plan.

 

[zc15]

The 3' note was purely a guess on my part. The electrician said he typically does 42" height but that's not a bad idea to go a little higher. Maybe I'll modify my plan.

I would go 48" to bottom of outlet plate.

Also, I would run 2 more 220 circuits, one on each side wall. Personally I never plan to buy an EV, but having the garage prewired for two chargers would be way easier with walls open. Think of it as future-proofing, or if you end up selling, the buyers could install chargers easily.

 

[B3D3G1]

I would go 48" to bottom of outlet plate.

Also, I would run 2 more 220 circuits, one on each side wall. Personally I never plan to buy an EV, but having the garage prewired for two chargers would be way easier with walls open. Think of it as future-proofing, or if you end up selling, the buyers could install chargers easily.

This shop is going to be in the back yard so not really a daily use but I think I should probably add a 2nd 220 outlet on the opposite wall. Running 220 to my existing garage would be a pain. It's the farthest run from the panel and no way to run without some major drywall work.

 

[B3D3G1]

Day 26 (Saturday) - Final Framing Work

I didn't realize the framers were coming back today but they were here at 8 am. They did a lot of little clean up work that really makes it look more polished.
Overhang over the front and rear of the building were finished. Fire block pieces all installed. Windows in.


There is one piece on either side of the ceiling that I don't think should be there permanently. It sure would complicate the drywall. I circled it below. Other than that, I think it looks great. I'm definitely going to need a bigger ladder and I want to think of some good uses for all this extra wall space up high.


Sheathing inspection should be Monday.

 

[jbrentd]

Looking good! Now would be a good time to put anything else in the walls, like Ethernet, garage door wiring, speaker wiring, etc.

 

[captain14]

A couple more thoughts. You mentioned a shed for the lawn equipment. Consider placing your air compressor inside the shed to keep the noise out of the shop and provision for the compressor electric.

Any plans for an overhang for the man door? It will keep the weather off the door and give you a spot to take a break with a beverage. I have a 6x6 Lean to over my door and it makes a big difference.

 

[B3D3G1]

Looking good! Now would be a good time to put anything else in the walls, like Ethernet, garage door wiring, speaker wiring, etc.

Ethernet will come in eventually through the foundation pass throughs and I'm ok running speaker wire in one of those cable guides that sticks to the wall. I don't know were things will be yet and I would definitely guess wrong.

A couple more thoughts. You mentioned a shed for the lawn equipment. Consider placing your air compressor inside the shed to keep the noise out of the shop and provision for the compressor electric.

Any plans for an overhang for the man door? It will keep the weather off the door and give you a spot to take a break with a beverage. I have a 6x6 Lean to over my door and it makes a big difference.

My air compressor is a pretty quiet best driven ingersoll rand 20 gallon that I don't use all that often. Honestly, I mainly got it so I can blow out my fairly long runs in my sprinkler system with 12 stations, and most of the use is inflating tires or cleaning off dust. It's surprisingly quite and I don't mind it in the shop. I mainly want electrical in the garden shed for a light and battery tender for the lawn tractor. Might even be able to get by with solar. I'm going to put an outdoor outlet near the shed location for now.

I'm planning on making the area outside the service door a more polished outdoor space in the future. I'm eyeing one of those sun shade bat wing looking things to have some cover from the sun without blocking the view of the mountains from the house. It's just a concept at this point but hoping to do something at the same time I figure out the driveway situation after spring. Might turn into a paver patio concept with a gas fire pit and seating.

 

[grant00]

Just a suggestion for the outlets Looking great!

That extra piece of wood on the back wall looks almost like a piece of wall bracing where it ties into the top plate there. I'm betting it goes all the way up to the peak of the rafters? It could be required by your structural engineer for the ceiling diaphragm for racking strength on the back wall. I would double check with them if it can be removed or not. Typically gable walls like your back wall can be braced with the trusses flat across the bottom with drywall and some 2x4 runs across the trusses. Because you have a vaulted ceiling there is nothing but the sheathing to stop the wall from buckling right where the truss meets the top plate. There should be some work-arounds to be able to remove that piece that could be discussed with your structural engineer.
See below:

Gable End Bracing | Structural Building Components Association

sbcindustry.com