Wrenching in Muskoka

[tigeraid]

Alright, finally settled into the Ranch and cleaned up the new shop enough to not be embarassed posting pics. Moved from London, Ontario up to the Muskoka area. Not-so-sleepy cottage country.

4 acres of property, so lots of room to store projects! 2 bay, I think about 30x30? So far appears to be wired reasonably well, decent floor, lots of storage. Had to clean thoroughly (and still cleaning) because of all the damn sawdust and cobwebs everywhere. Only major piece still missing is a compressor, that'll probably come in the winter at some point. No heat in it yet either, but I have a small wall-mounted propane furnace I hope to get up and running. Then it's time to finally get to work on my ol' Monte.

Hoist is a 6000 lb Rotary scissor-lift. Only used it a few times so far but seems to work pretty good. I could probably fit a 2-post in here but it sure would limit a lot of work space. We'll see how I get on with this.

Only major improvement needed now is lighting. It's all flourescent tube and very old, half of them don't work and there's a lot of open boxes (as well as working receptacles) in the ceiling. Maybe I can find some good LED replacements on sale somewhere.

 

[tigeraid]

Related question: in the last pic there you can see a drain plate in the floor. Underneath is a sump pit, maybe a foot or so deep. There is big-O tubing running into it from six different directions, presumably from weeping tile. They have screens on them and they're plugged solid. So, obviously, step one is to clean it all out and free everything up.

But I'm confused as to how exactly it functions... I thought weeping tile only existed with buildings that had basements, and it ran along the bottom of the foundation. As far as I know this is just 6" of concrete, presumably on a gravel bed. Where the hell do those tubes go?

The eavestrough outlets are also buried, which is lame. I'll be digging those up and draining them to ground before winter.

 

[Squankum]

Maybe it's a spring thaw kind of thing? Coping with water getting under the slab that might freeze at night?

Is "eavestrough" what we call a gutter in the USA?


_

 

[tigeraid]

Yes, gutters.

That's a possibility, yeah, definitely an area known for lots of snow melt. Maybe just so I can stick a utility pump in there in the Spring....

 

[tigeraid]

Some further clean up. Ordered up a couple of VIM Tools "Wrench Gripper" holders. Unlike most, they do not "clip" the wrenches in, they just sit nicely in them for easy access, which is exactly what I wanted.

Now I just need a properly matched set of combination wrenches before my OCD SNAPS...

Also got a really nice magnetic plier holder on clearance at Crappy Tire for like $10. Worth every penny, now I need a second one to complete the drawer.

 

[The Cobbler]

My guess is your sump pit with 6 big o tubes is probably drainage for the building. think owner installed perhaps, drainage for winter melt etc, the grate is there to run water from melting snow, washing cars etc from inside
I Love Muskoka !

 

[tigeraid]

Oh, so you mean it's drainage OUT into a weeping bed outside the building, as opposed to weeping tile pouring into IT? That makes a whole lotta sense. I'm gonna have to clean it out and test it.

Only been here a few months, certainly beautiful, but how we live in the winter is gonna be the real test.

 

[Bighead38]

Why would you dig up gutter drains unless they don’t work in which case replace them. Buried leader drains are way better than a gutter draining on top of the ground as long as they are installed properly.

 

[RogueFab]

Washing cars inside?! Cool.

Nice place. 4 acres is a good bit of dirt. Congrats!

 

[shepherd]

Awesome move. I'm in Burlington, Ontario and just had the "get the hell out of the city" conversation with my wife last night...I imagine you did pretty well on the relative real estate values too. Good timing.

 

[tigeraid]

Why would you dig up gutter drains unless they don’t work in which case replace them. Buried leader drains are way better than a gutter draining on top of the ground as long as they are installed properly.

I get conflicting opinions on it. My home inspector (who is properly credentialed) said it's no longer to code, but I also spoke to another contractor who said it's fine as long as you know where it empties. With some more digging, it sounds like it's definitely NOT to code to empty into a sewer, but I don't have sewer out here anyway. My buried hoses exit at the bottom of a slope from the house about 20 feet away, so you're probably right, they drain just fine.

On the other hand, I have no idea where the buried hoses from the SHOP go...

 

[tigeraid]

Washing cars inside?! Cool.

Nice place. 4 acres is a good bit of dirt. Congrats!

Thanks. I have no clue what to do with it. Maybe I'll plant some trees. I dunno that I'll wash cars inside, but it's good to know I can wash the floor easily.

Awesome move. I'm in Burlington, Ontario and just had the "get the hell out of the city" conversation with my wife last night...I imagine you did pretty well on the relative real estate values too. Good timing.

Maaaaan it's tougher in Muskoka than you'd think. I sold in London and made a TON of money, which is good, because I then spent it all buying this place! The values here aren't ridiculous Toronto/Vancouver levels but they're still inflated a fair bit, mostly because of rich American buyers.

If you're thinking of a similar move, by all means Muskoka is great but to buy affordably means going just outside it, places like Kerney or up further north like Katrine. I only jumped on this and paid more because of the shop, and because it has fibre internet right at the driveway.

 

[tigeraid]

Well, here's the sump pit, all cleaned up.

Had to clean about 3" of water and muck out. The one big-o tube at the end is open, but three holes on either side of the sump are covered by plastic caps.

Seems odd it wouldn't have drained out by now, especially given the drought we had here until very recently. Bizarre setup, I dunno whether to uncover the other tubes or not.

 

[The Cobbler]

just an FYI, imgur doesn't play with GJ.
I'm thinking the pit is a pre cast pit that has multiple holes & you use whatever you need & cap the rest

 

[The Cobbler]

edit, you knock out the port you want to use & the rest stay sealed.

 

[tigeraid]

Oops. Edited, if you switch "https" to "http" it usually fixes it.

Makes sense I guess, still left wondering where that tube goes though... Unless it's just to a general weeping bed.

 

[nasty_nat77]

Nice place! Its beautiful up there. Was just at my buddies in kearney to go dirt biking last week

 

[Bighead38]

just an FYI, imgur doesn't play with GJ.
I'm thinking the pit is a pre cast pit that has multiple holes & you use whatever you need & cap the rest

edit, you knock out the port you want to use & the rest stay sealed.

That’s what it looks like.