Truck's shop build

[truck]

Okay, I've been meaning to do this for awhile and just haven't gotten around to it.

I always wanted a shop to work on my vehicles and do the woodwork that I love to do. A 2 car garage doesn't cut it. I've always like the Quonset hut style buildings because of their ease and no required center supports (ie all open from side to side and top to roof). So I bought this building 25w x 30l x 13h (peak) for $2000. The folks had bought it a couple of years before and never put it up and decided to go a different direction. So it was still sitting on pallets. I figured it was a good deal as it was worth about $9-$10k as it came with end walls as well just didn't included garage doors. I figured if things didn't work out I could sell it for what I had in it easily. This was a 2 and half years ago.

I knew I wanted a bigger building then what I bought and also new I could just buy extra 'arches' to make it longer. The manufacturer is right up the road in Pittsburgh, PA so I could make the round trip and save on shipping. So I started to look into it and any property in my county under 3 acres (I have just under 2) can only have outbuildings a maximum of 30% of the square foot of the house. That meant I could only have about 1000 sf building. So, 4 more arches would give me just under 1000 sf making the building 25 x 39 ish. I knew I wanted to put a lift in and so 13' peak (6' side wall) wasn't going to cut it. I talked to the manufacturer's engineers and we decided side wall extensions would work, so new peak will be 18' with approx 10' side wall.

Having poured slabs several times before I estimated about $7k and I was thinking I could get away with having this whole building done for about $15k, that would hurt but we could make it work if we did it in stages. Welllllll, not so fast. I got my estimates for excavation and concrete all about $15k. Needless to say I was blown over and we didn't have anywhere close to this in our budget. I almost sold the building right then, but the wife talked me out of it - got to love that woman!

Below picture is of the entire building under the blue tarp. It all stacks up pretty small.

Truck

 

[truck]

So we decided to press on and actually got started with clearing in Apr 2008. We saved for a year, sold things, tax return etc. and decided to try again. The county needed engineered drawings ($300) for the permit ($200). We figured out the best place on the property to put it for access was to the right of the house off the drive. The only drawback was it was close to my neighbors house and in winter (no leaves on trees) it could be seen from the street ( remember this is a fairly industrial looking building - in a residential area). So I had a surveyor buddy throw me a bone and did my survey for free (saving me about $1500). Presented it all to the county an received zoning approval for location and building approval for permit.

I have a heavily treed lot and was going to have to take out about 25 trees to clear a spot for this shop. About 9 of those were 12" in diameter or larger and between 60 -100' tall. The rest were less then 8" in diameter and short enough to handle on my own. Called several tree guys for the big ones and was given $1000/tree to cut and take away or $500/tree just to fell them. Well, that was ridiculous and again out of our budget. So with encouragement from my dad to just do it myself and researched cutting down trees. I knew I had to bring them down in sections because they were to tall to bring down at once. Potentially hit my house or my neighbors. I also knew I needed to get them down before the leaves popped out for spring. So decided to rent a man lift ($500) buy some rope, come-a-long, several chainsaw chains, food for my buddies who helped. Over all we cleared the spot for about $700 last March. This was about 2 weeks before the leafs popped. We used rope to tie off tree as high as we could, then tree strap and come-a-long or 2" ratchet strap ended up working better. Notched the trees about 1/3 way down. Ratcheted them down to get them leaning the way we wanted them to fall and cut the back side of the notch. Worked great and got them all down in a weekend. Only once did we scare ourselves when cutting the tallest one's top section, the wind caught the top canopy right as we were cutting through and blew it a different direction then we wanted it to fall. The branches of the trees around caught it and are the only thing that kept it from falling in a bad spot and doing potential damage. Once the trees were down, I put an ad on Craigs List for free wood just cut and haul. 3 dudes and a week later all the big stuff was gone. So, on to pics.....

This is what we started with:

Last 2 pix: Learning to maneuver the man lift and cutting the 'forest'

 

[truck]

More cutting them down...then All the tops down, just the trunks left...finally all down...

Doesn't seem like we made a dent but there are a lot of trees missing.

 

[truck]

Since a couple of my neighbors are asshats, I decided to drop a stump in the front yard and do a little stump wheeling. Left it parked there for about a week.

Truck

 

[truck]

Come summer 2008 we have the funds and are ready for contractor. I tell the county I'm ready to proceed. Keep in mind I already have a signed permit. Contractor is scheduled to come start excavation the next week and I get a phone message on friday afternoon from state health department saying they have pulled my permit and can't build in the current location. I get on the phone to the county and with a WTFO and find out they had 'forgotten' to run my permit through the health department and my reserve septic field was partially located where I wanted to build. I had no idea what a reserve septic field was and said no it wasn't my septic field was further up the hill behind my neighbors house. Well the reserve field is a 'just in case' location to put a field if my current one fails. I was pissed off as I spent time and money clearing a lot based on approved permit that I never would have cleared. They health department was not budging and just said sorry you have to change the location of the building . I was to angry to deal with it so my wife who is much better with folks then I convinced the county & health department supervisors (due to their mistake) to come and see if the reserve field can be relocated. That took a week and of course $300 in fees later, they found a new location that was suitable - right off the back of the house . If I ever have to relocate, we will do this again and find a more suitable place. But for now it is fine.

Becky and I decided if we are going this far and spending this much we should add plumbing. So we decided to plumb for a toilet, utility sink, potential washer/dryer combo (free or cheap from CL - to "wash my nasty clothes" so they won't go into the wife's nice washer/dryer) and a potential shower if we decided to go that way.

So on with more pics.

Stumps pulled...Surface graded...

 

[truck]

Excavation into the hill started...Sewer tie in trench...pink flags are the new reserve septic location (all that would have to be cleared if we needed put a new field in)

Truck

 

[truck]

Forms going up...Gravel going in...Sewer line in

Truck

 

[truck]

Plumbing going in

Truck

 

[truck]

Rebar in...footers are so large because the load of the building rests entirely on the side footers. Black box is a floor drain, orange outlined squares in front of the box are where we dug out the gravel to give a couple extra inches of concrete under the lift.


Truck

 

[truck]

Concrete day....

 

[truck]

More 'crete' ... 3 trucks and 30 yards of concrete later

That blue pipe is for unfiltered water that I will connect a hose bib to.

Truck

 

[truck]

Had to take out another tree...then Final grading started...and regraded an area right by the house for better water flow

Truck

 

[truck]

More grading...Will have a small retaining wall with steps to a walk through door here. Had to keep the roots from being smothered so we didn't kill the tree on the front corner.

Truck

 

[truck]

Within a couple of days the leaves started falling...can't see the standing water very well in second pic but they slopped the concrete well for the floor drain. I guess I ought to take the tape off the grate...

Between the stakes/flags will be a 16' wide door probably 11' tall. There is about a truck length of flat area in front of the shop before it slopes down. I may have some fill dirt brought in to 'soften' the steepness of the grade up from the main drive. All the dirt we used so far was from the excavation and final grading.

Truck

 

[truck]

So I'm about $21k poorer and still don't have a shop up . But I'm well on my way and the most expensive stuff is out of the way. I just need to purchase the rest of the building and get it put up, get electricity to building, install lift, build bathroom and install bathroom stuff, build workbench, add lights & outlets, etc....

So just need to sell a CUCV Blazer, miltary Semi tractor, military trailer and I will have the money to move further along. I would even sell the if someone wanted it. Hint hint (see pictures)...

For those that can't wait. Here is the plan for the rest.

As stated it will have a small bathroom using an on demand electric water heater, all at the back center of the building. To the right of the bathroom will be a workbench. To the left of the bathroom will be an 8x9 garage door to the back yard. The lift will be toward the right in front of the workbench area (remember the orange outlines in the gravel) and bathroom giving the ability to pull all the way through the building on the left. About 8-9 feet out from the back wall over the garage door,bathroom and workbench I plan to build a loft for storage. So about 8' deep by 25' wide. The county authorized separate 400 amp service to the building. That will run about $1100 to get run from the street. Then I'll do lights and outlets myself. Plenty of power for 110 & 220 outlets. I am going to 'stick' build the front and put siding on it match the house in order to 'soften' the industrial look. I'm also considering painting the exterior an earth tone color to also help it blend in (galvanized steel really sticks out). Any suggestions on painting galvanized steel I'm all ears. I'm also going to plant a few Leland Cypress between the building and my neighbor to help their 'view'. I might strategically place a couple more toward the front of the yard to disguise the building from the street in the winter. In summer it will be completely hidden unless you are in my driveway. That is the plan, we will see how it goes. I will update as progress continues.

Truck

 

[truck]

I laid out the end wall pieces I had to see if I needed to order any. Remember this came with front & rear end wall but for 13' building and it had double 8' garage door openings in the front and a 12' opening in the back. So it didn't leave much material. My back wall is going to be solid except for 9x9 garage door on the left. So I wanted make sure I had enough.

Truck

 

[truck]

Saved some more money. Sold one of my Rotary lifts so it allowed me to purchase the rest of the building and struck a great cash deal for a crew to come put it up, plus they included picking up & delivering the extra arches, height extensions, & endwall pieces saving me a round trip to Pittsburgh, PA (all in all not much over what it would have cost me in supplies and equipment rental, plus it would have taken me a month of weekends to get it done with as much help as I could find-probably stretching friendships). So we made a little progress that day...Here are some step by step shots.

Truck

 

[truck]

Here are some more...

Truck

 

[truck]

And some more...

Truck

 

[truck]

And finally some more...

Truck

 

[truck]

Okay these guys pulled in at 0700 and pulled out at 1730 and this is what it looks like with the crew gone. Well worth the $2k I paid to have this done in 1 day. Thing is very visible in the winter with no leave on trees, I've got some creative landscaping to do...

I'm going to put some leyland cypress and some green giants as evergreens in some choice spots to help coverage for the winter months. Also want to disguise a little from my neighbor even though they are being asshats about the whole thing. They've done nothing but ***** at the county for approving and have been looking for violation excuses to call me on. Even called & complained about the # of vehicle I had even though they were on the other side of the house out of their view. Had to move the Semi to a friends for now. Finally the wife wants to disguise from our side because now she thinks it is 'ugly'...I don't understand...all I see is pure beauty

Truck

 

[truck]

Okay so the parents came out from Oklahoma to visit for Christmas. So in traditional family fashion, I put them to work. Even got Mom up on the ladder. We got the back wall done while they were here. Took several days since I was piecing this together as it didn't come precut for what I was doing (remember I bought second hand) Man was it cold...

Truck

 

[truck]

And some more of the garage door side....

Truck

 

[truck]

Okay finally got that done...

Truck

 

[truck]

Had a few friends come out and help build the front over several weekends...

Truck

 

[truck]

More stick building the front ...

Truck

 

[truck]

Again friends stepped up. Thanks go out to Mike Warner who drove up from Richmond to help out today. Got a lot done. Finished framing in the front and got the osb on. On with the pix.

Truck

 

[truck]

Some more, Mike wasn't afraid to do the high stuff like I was. It looks so much better and not so tall. I think with no ends the tunnel effect made it look taller.

Truck

 

[truck]

Had another good day, the rain held off and weather was pretty good. I got a lot of siding up. All that is left is to cut the hole for the gable vent and hang it. Then finish about four feet up of siding. Then I have to cap the edges. After that it is on to garage door installation to get it closed up.

Truck

 

[truck]

And some more siding going up...

Truck

 

[truck]

We finished siding the front to include a large gable vent that looks good. Then we got the steel corner pieces in place. Siding looks good and the shop looks better from the driveway. It also ties into the house with the siding.

Truck

 

[truck]

Then I started on back garage door. Had to figure out a way to extend for door brackets, so I sandwiched 1x6 on the "c" channel lip and put a 2x4 on that. Worked well. And got the rear garage door installed.

Truck

 

[truck]

Then I got tired of trekking through the mud, so I had gravel delivered. Spread it out and made for a much better hike to the shop.

Truck

 

[truck]

After much consternation, I ended up getting new garage door panels for the front and selling the 2 used doors I was trying to put together that didn't match properly. The door is up, however the original torquemaster spring was only for a 7' door not a 10' one and couldn't hold the door. So I still have to get with a Wayne Dalton company and get the right spring. And finally got the blue plastic peeled off the service door. Of course it came off in teeny tiny little pieces. It does look much better from the front now though.

My boys & I got the split rail fence back up which cuts across the shop now. I had to rework the rails a little with the chainsaw but but it looks good. Just have a little finish work to do. PS. My dogs are escape artists so I couldn't just leave the gaps.

Truck

 

[truck]

I needed to start on the electrical and had to mount the meter base (provided by the electric company. It required building out from the building because they will only come straight vertical into meter base and won't do a little "S" turn required since my building sits in on the foundation about 6". So, to do that I need the perforated angle and I had bought several pieces (not cheap) to hang the rear garage door rails (needed almost a 10' drop from the ceiling). I knew the rear hangers were temporary because of the loft that would eventually go in there. So I decided to go ahead and build the loft first in order to use the angle for the meter base. The wall in the middle of the building is a plumbing wall for the bathroom, thus the 6" width. Loft is about 10' tall to clear the 9' tall garage door. Of course once the loft rafters were up I rehung the garage door track. The loft area on the righthand side will be about 8' tall which will give more storage height on that side. Currently the loft is 12' x 12'.

Truck

 

[truck]

The first picture was taken from the back corner of the loft...All that light is coming from the skylight panels. They really let in a lot of light. The second picture shows how much light comes in. Realize I have no other light in the building then those skylights and the front garage and service doors are shut. The rear garage door is only open as much as you see.

I then build a mount for the meter base and attached to the building. Now I just have to figure out the requirements for service panels. I've been approved 400a service and the meter base is a 320/400 box. I know I can use 2 200A service panels vs. 1 400A panel. I just need to figure out how to do it. Once that is done, it is on to mounting lights and running power outlets.

Truck

 

[truck]

Now that I've spent several hours posting this up for ya'll I gotta go out and get some work done on it. But this is where we are today...still lots to do... but getting there.

Truck

 

[PurdueSD]

Looks great so far. I love the scenery! Even if you did kinda steal my build title! hah

 

[Hardware]

Looks good. The siding up front softens it up a bit..

 

[Omphaloskeptic]

Looking good! Since it is a Quonset type building and you want to hide it from the a$$hat neighbors; might I suggest some military surplus camo netting.LOL It would look right at home with the military tractor/trailer rig! And if the neighbor persists in being a jerk, you could always dummy-up a 105mm howitzer and point it in their general direction. Just kidding.
Would you consider Mountain Laural bushes against the building to soften the look?