Shop idea

[jackellis]

Also ditto on doing things to code at a minimum. Sure, it costs more money but for the most part, there's a reason building codes are written the way they are.

If your shop is going to be conditioned space (cooled in summer, heated in winter), then I highly recommend a) insulation, b) seal gaps in the framing to control air infiltration, c) if you have an isolated attic, mechanical ventilation to purge the attic of hot air in summer. These things will do wonders for comfort and keep your utility bills down.

Put in more outlets than you think you'll need. Whether you have 220V tools or not, you might also wire one or two extra 220V outlets.

[JSUPreston]

I know I'm bringing an old thread back from the dead, but I'm the OP, so I guess I get to.

Due to lots of things going on, I never really progressed beyond the the thoughts we all talked about a few years ago. However, the situation has changed...

The old block shop developed a leak in the roof almost directly over my table saw. Not bad, but I do have a little bit of surface rust to clean up. The worst is on the other side over my workbench. A piece of the roof decking (about the size of a shoe) fell into the shop a couple of weeks ago without warning, and now I have a huge leak in the roof on that side. Along with the rotten rafters and decking (that I said needed to be replaced when it was re-roofed ), the roof isn't long for this world. Since the roof is now considered "unsafe" by SWMBO, I'm not longer allowed up there to clean it off, except for putting a tarp in place to try and minimize the leak.

In addition, I had to replace the door on the first lean-to about a month ago so that I can store the ZTR securely. When doing that, I learned how rotten the wood is in that area as well. Looking at just material costs to repair the existing roof properly and repair the lean-to, I'm well over halfway to building the new shop. This still leaves the fact that the roof is too low to make use of an LVL to get rid of the center post and the water issue every time it rains.

In the next few weeks, after we sell our 8x12 storage building, we will begin building the new shop. Still planning on a total footprint of 24x32. On the back side, I'm looking at a 10x16 storage area for lawn equipment that will open into an 8x10 storage room that will replace the storage building. That leaves me a 24x24 shop area. We have to replace the storage building, since it will not be accessible.

I've decided to lay out the interior of the shop similar to the NYW pic here: http://www.normstools.com/nyw-shop.shtml. I figure if that layout worked for Nahm for 20 years, it should work for me.

We will build the new shop next to the old shop so that I can make use of the electrical and storage during construction. Once we finish and can move the tools/electrical service, the old shop will come down. I will recycle as much as possible during the transition (lots of concrete blocks for retaining walls in the future, a couple of windows and doors, etc.). Once the old shop is down, I'll probably bust up part of the old slab, but leave about 1/2 of it for the kids to play basketball on.

I'm still looking at costs, but I'm pretty sure at this point I do want to insulate so that I can have heat/air. I've also given up the idea of a slab and am going to go with traditional floor/crawlspace. I want the ability to be able to run ducts for the dust collector and power under the floor to the TS. I plan on it being around 16" above ground since this area is a low spot when it rains.

I think that about covers it. I'll definitely make use of a lot of the suggestions that have been given in this thread, and as work progresses, I'll try to post some pics.

[chopnhack]

Good luck with whichever way you decide to go. I didn't see this thread originally, but a thought about the removal of the central beam - you could like you mentioned, run a lam. beam or steel beam, but instead of relying on old masonry, depending on load one of two things could be done. You could cut the blocks and pour a column on the inside of the wall or do so on the outside of the wall if the column size would be too large to easily hide inside. Basically underpinning. That would only leave the slab issue to be addressed which you could always do a raised floor with strategic footings. That would leave you plenty of area for running some plumbing, electric, perhaps mechanical.

[JSUPreston]

Chop, I had given thoughts to doing that as well. However, the original block walls have developed significant cracks (some wide enough to see daylight through), and isn't structurally sound around the large opening. I had to raise the floor on one side of the shop 8" just to get it "level" with the other side. I would also have to raise the walls by 2 or 3 feet to raise the floor any higher. I do like the idea of keeping the old shop for sentimental reasons (my wife's grandfather built it by hand in the 50's), but even the wife says it's time to go.

She told me that she wanted me to rent a "Pod" for tool storage and to demo the existing shop first, then put the new shop where the existing shop is. Told her that there's no way I'm putting all my tools in a rental unit to have to drag them in/out constantly to work. The TS probably weighs 300# by itself, and I'm not pulling it in/out of anything any more than I have to. Plus, the cost of renting the pod(s) was going to be over $125/month. Also, the current shop is sandwiched between two old trees that are the culprits in my existing roof damage. It's an easier sell both sentimentally and financially to build a new building and recycle stuff from the old shop than to remove the trees and re-roof the old shop and rebuild the lean-to from scratch.

This is one of those really delicate family situations that everyone hates. We're in a "lease to own" type situation with the in-laws. They're also my next door neighbors. I've still got to work out some of the financial details, but I'm hoping to get started on building by mid July and finish in time for SEC football.

[chopnhack]

More than just construction issues! Come to think of it those trees might be causing some of the foundation issues as well with their roots. Post pics when you can.

[JSUPreston]

More than just construction issues! Come to think of it those trees might be causing some of the foundation issues as well with their roots. Post pics when you can.

I'm sure the roots are part of the problem, but to let you in on a family secret, my wife's grandfather was either drinking because he was building, or building because he was drinking.

[JSUPreston]

Well, looks like I won't be doing the new shop this summer after all. Got a letter last week from my previous employer (changed jobs back in May). Apparently they overpaid me for my vacation leave to the tune of almost $1,200. That, plus a couple other unexpected expenses means that I'll be patching the roof on the existing shop and trying to get a couple more years out of it.

If/when I ever get to do the new shop, I'll update y'all. Until then, looks like some flitch/fish plates and sistered joists are in my near future.

[pelligrini]

Sorry to hear that.

Make sure they have some really good proof of the overpayment first, and that you're OK with it. I'd still be inclined to keep it. What are they going to do, fire you?

[JSUPreston]

Part of it stems from how poorly the policy manual was written. They way they intend it to read and the way I read it meant that I was in excess of nearly 70 hours of leave. I had mentioned it to my supervisors, and when I got paid, it looked like they had worked out something. Apparently not.

I was in the process of cashing out the little bit of retirement I had put in while there (only 18 months) to use towards the shop when I got the letter. The amount I owe back is about 1/4th of what I expect to get back, so I'll be writing a check back pretty soon. Since I won't be able to do the shop now without having to take out a loan or charge it, I'm going to use the rest of the money to take care of some other unexpected expenses and pay down a couple of bills we already have.

BTW: I've already looked at the tax implications of cashing out the retirement. Retirement income like this isn't taxed by the state of Alabama, and the feds should get their share and penalties off the top before I get the money, so I should be good on that...I hope.

[billwmeyer]

I would say that if the wording is ambiguous, I would make them work a little bit to get that money back. If it is a hassle for them, they may make a deal.

Bill

[chopnhack]

Sorry to hear it man. Careful working on that roof!!