Building my dream Shop

[Geeg]

This past summer was a little less stressful and the wife and I had some time to well, smell the roses and enjoy our vacation back home. We went to the Kioti dealership to enquire about a new 50hp tractor with a backhoe attachment. The owner was a really nice guy and spent quite a bit of time with us and even though he didn't have the backhoe attachment in stock, he said he had one back at his house and asked if we would like to come back with him to test it out. Off we went, 20 min later I got to play with his tractor and test out the backhoe. I know that he wants to make a sale but wow, to take the time out of his busy day so I could play a little shows great dedication in my eyes and a customer that will make the purchase. That was an awesome day!

Had a chance also to break out the chainsaw and do some trail clearing since it had been years since this was done. Next on the list was to get the siding up on the house, will post these pics soon.


Me testing out the bush hog.

Backhoe attached, better stand well clear.

I get to dig me some holes!, like a kid an a candy store.

Didn't know mushrooms grow like that but they sure were beautiful



One of my red pine stands, about 50+years

Putting my Stihl to good use.

Stacking a little firewood.

[Buck]

Thanks for sharing your great project!

[Jay C. White Cloud]

Hi Geeg,

The bracket mushroom you saw is called a "Pheasant's back,"  (Polyporus squamosus,)  If you like mushrooms, this is one of the safer ones to harvest.  In your Red Pines you should, during some seasons, find a plethora of "boletus mushroom," many are better than Portobello mushroom.  With my luck I just made you gag because you can't stomach mushrooms, sorry about that.  :-\

Will you do anything with the Red Pines?  A similar species in China, "the 18 year Pine," is planted when a child is born and when they wed, it is part of there dowry so the can build a timber frame.  Wonderful tradition and the frames are simple and beautiful.

Regards,

Jay

[Geeg]

Hi Buck, your more than welcome, its been a pleasure to share this journey with everyone here.

Hey Jay, I love mushrooms!, we also have big puff balls that you slice and fry up in butter, yum. Here is a pic of the ones I found on some red pines, is this a "boletus mushroom"?

Interesting story about tradition, my kids have all fled the nest and there is only one left to marry off, so guess I will have to plant one when this happens. This stand is getting thinned out this winter and the rest I will pick at and turn a few of them into some wood flooring for the new place. Was also thinking of using some for cants to use in the new TF garage and milling shed or if that doesn't work out will use some of the white pines that I have.

[Jay C. White Cloud]

Hi Geeg,

No, that is another bracket fungus, "Pheasant's back,"  (Polyporus squamosus,) and it looks delicious!  The larger ones I dried for stews and soups, the smaller young tender ones you can slice and saute' in butter, yum.  Many of the Boletus grow under pines on the ground, and one of there unique features, it does not have gills under the cap but pores.  This book is great:

"Mushrooms and Other Fungi of North America" by Roger Phillips

It is the one I recommend to students,  with a little caution, you can eat some delicacies like "black trumpets," that are as tasty, (and valuable) as truffles.

Good Hunting!

Jay

[samandothers]

Geeg
Now with the tractor and backhoe you should add a grapple and third valve.  This would allow you to use the loader to move your logs and brush really easy!  Backhoes are great toys and I use mine to dig out trees so I can push them over versus cutting and dealing with stumps.  Though on big trees I don't want to chance making my tractor a 'compact'.

[Geeg]

Hi Geeg,

No, that is another bracket fungus, "Pheasant's back,"  (Polyporus squamosus,) and it looks delicious!  The larger ones I dried for stews and soups, the smaller young tender ones you can slice and saute' in butter, yum.  Many of the Boletus grow under pines on the ground, and one of there unique features, it does not have gills under the cap but pores.  This book is great:

"Mushrooms and Other Fungi of North America" by Roger Phillips

It is the one I recommend to students,  with a little caution, you can eat some delicacies like "black trumpets," that are as tasty, (and valuable) as truffles.

Good Hunting!

Jay

Hi Jay, Thought I saw some like the "black trumpets", will need to get that book as there are many different types out back, it would be nice to identify them, wish I could find some of those magic ones 

Cheers
Geeg

Geeg
Now with the tractor and backhoe you should add a grapple and third valve.  This would allow you to use the loader to move your logs and brush really easy!  Backhoes are great toys and I use mine to dig out trees so I can push them over versus cutting and dealing with stumps.  Though on big trees I don't want to chance making my tractor a 'compact'.

Hi samandothers, I totally agree with you there, was thinking of this one like this? What kind do you have or is there one that you would suggest?

Cheers
Geeg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DwH39W1faE

[samandothers]

That is similar.  My grapple was produced by a company no longer in business.  They sold to another which still makes the grapple but I am not sure the price. The unit I have was about $1000 US about 3 years ago.  I then purchased the WR Long third function valve.  The rocker switch for grapple control mounts on the control stick for the loader.  The knob on the control stick is replaced with one that has the rocker switch integrated. 

WR Long produces grapple also.  My grapple is 60" wide. The bottom of the grapple is shaped like the one if the video, but I had the manufacturer add additional tines in the bottom so they were only 4 inches apart. Did not increase the teeth, just additional tines from the round bar in the front near the teeth to the back and did not extend up the back.  I wanted this so I could haul rock and not have as many drop through.  The one I have has only one top tine and one hydraulic cylinder.

I really like mine and when combined with the hydrostatic transmission and third function valve you can move some stuff quickly!

I would consider getting a 48" wide unit if I was doing it again.  It would put more force on items when trying to up root things since there is less steel you are trying to force in the ground the force is more concentrated.  I have not found the single tine on top to be an issue. 

There are many manufacturers.  Here in North Carolina is the Everything Attachments and near Denton NC are several grapple vendors.   There is a forum for Tractor folk 'Tractorbynet' that if you search for grapple you will be reading a loonng time.

I like the backhoe as ballast due to the weight, however it is a bit long. I don't have a box blade and other attachments can be a bit light and if I load up the grapple with brush or log the tractor can be light in the back even with loaded tires.  If you get one and your land has some inclines use your tractor in 4WD.  Tractor brakes on on the rears and if you start down a hill with a load and back end is light it could make for an exciting ride!

I am enjoying your tread and thanks for sharing your adventure.

[Jay C. White Cloud]

Hi Geeg,

You might think I'm a bit crazy, (or pretentious,) but here in Vermont, we have a fellow that makes his living working on tractors and that is his focus.  He does also sell new tractors, but for nil of what other dealers sell them.  He says, "I don't want to be a used car salesman, I want to be a tractor mechanic, so why not make the sales part really easy. That way I have lots of tractors to take care of."  Paul has been my mechanic, and friend for over 10 years.  A real old sole, dyed in the wool, "North East Kingdom," man of Vermont.

Now the funny part, he sells Lamborghini Tractors!  I had no idea, until my wife drug me to her home state of Vermont, that Lamborghini even made tractors.  Come to find out, back in Italy, that is how they started the company, building tractors.  Once Mr. Lamborghini had made enough money after WWII with tractors he started a little car company that his boy's took over, but his heart was a tractor man.  I don't know all the history, just some. Same Deutz Fahr Manufacturing and Lamborghini are one in the same company, you can get a strait up Lamborghini or you can get the Same models, they both are amazing machines. 

I have a Same 50.  There are three just on my road, from a 70 horse to a 40 horse, the 70 is from 1970 and still "kick'n butt!  The 50 I have works like most 70 horse tractors, and I looked at a lot of them, til I met Paul.  He did a wonderful job of showing me what is great about every make and model, (and year) out there.  They all have pros and cons.  My neighbor loves his John Deer, once he got rid of all the lemons, because he is now on his third of the same model. The other two just "broke all a sudden like?"  I will admit there is something appealing about that green paint to folks.  Paul states, Kubota are o.k tractors some are even down write good, but "you pay a hell of a lot of money for that orange paint!  He further stated that could be the only reason the cost so damned much for what you get, and "the parts ain't cheep."  I don't know about all of that, you see an awful lot of them, but I love my Same.

If I would recommend anything, it is if your looking at a 30 horse by a 40, if you looking at a 40 by a 50.  I love my 50 horse, but I should have bought a 70 and Paul told me as much and was willing to make it happen for me, but I thought it was to big, (I was wrong.) If you can get him, (or Russel,) out from under a tractor long enough, he would be glad to talk to you about tractors. (802-695-2500) He might be able to find you a dealer or ship you one and recommend a good mechanic. That is what is important in his mind, after care for the machine.  Not that mine has needed much, in the all most ten years of heavy use, it just had it's first major repair, and that was because an idiot neighbor drove it for 4 miles with his foot resting on the clutch half depressed, and then did God knows what else to it on a cold Vermont morning, learn'd my lesson on that one, I did!  :

Good luck finding the tractor you want (and need) Enjoy the mushroom hunting.

jay

[Geeg]

That is similar.  My grapple was produced by a company no longer in business.  They sold to another which still makes the grapple but I am not sure the price. The unit I have was about $1000 US about 3 years ago.  I then purchased the WR Long third function valve.  The rocker switch for grapple control mounts on the control stick for the loader.  The knob on the control stick is replaced with one that has the rocker switch integrated. 

WR Long produces grapple also.  My grapple is 60" wide. The bottom of the grapple is shaped like the one if the video, but I had the manufacturer add additional tines in the bottom so they were only 4 inches apart. Did not increase the teeth, just additional tines from the round bar in the front near the teeth to the back and did not extend up the back.  I wanted this so I could haul rock and not have as many drop through.  The one I have has only one top tine and one hydraulic cylinder.

I really like mine and when combined with the hydrostatic transmission and third function valve you can move some stuff quickly!

I would consider getting a 48" wide unit if I was doing it again.  It would put more force on items when trying to up root things since there is less steel you are trying to force in the ground the force is more concentrated.  I have not found the single tine on top to be an issue. 

There are many manufacturers.  Here in North Carolina is the Everything Attachments and near Denton NC are several grapple vendors.   There is a forum for Tractor folk 'Tractorbynet' that if you search for grapple you will be reading a loonng time.

I like the backhoe as ballast due to the weight, however it is a bit long. I don't have a box blade and other attachments can be a bit light and if I load up the grapple with brush or log the tractor can be light in the back even with loaded tires.  If you get one and your land has some inclines use your tractor in 4WD.  Tractor brakes on on the rears and if you start down a hill with a load and back end is light it could make for an exciting ride!

I am enjoying your tread and thanks for sharing your adventure.

Hi samandothers,

Thanks for the info!. You gave some good info regarding the grapple and I didn't think of the actual width being better if it was narrower giving extra force but it does make sense. I didn't like the idea of the top split on each side and independent, not sure what this would be good for?, I would like it solid across the top as one unit. I guess I will just have to keep searching  for that perfect Grapple.

Regards
Geeg

[Geeg]

Hi Geeg,

You might think I'm a bit crazy, (or pretentious,) but here in Vermont, we have a fellow that makes his living working on tractors and that is his focus.  He does also sell new tractors, but for nil of what other dealers sell them.  He says, "I don't want to be a used car salesman, I want to be a tractor mechanic, so why not make the sales part really easy. That way I have lots of tractors to take care of."  Paul has been my mechanic, and friend for over 10 years.  A real old sole, dyed in the wool, "North East Kingdom," man of Vermont.

Now the funny part, he sells Lamborghini Tractors!  I had no idea, until my wife drug me to her home state of Vermont, that Lamborghini even made tractors.  Come to find out, back in Italy, that is how they started the company, building tractors.  Once Mr. Lamborghini had made enough money after WWII with tractors he started a little car company that his boy's took over, but his heart was a tractor man.  I don't know all the history, just some. Same Deutz Fahr Manufacturing and Lamborghini are one in the same company, you can get a strait up Lamborghini or you can get the Same models, they both are amazing machines. 

I have a Same 50.  There are three just on my road, from a 70 horse to a 40 horse, the 70 is from 1970 and still "kick'n butt!  The 50 I have works like most 70 horse tractors, and I looked at a lot of them, til I met Paul.  He did a wonderful job of showing me what is great about every make and model, (and year) out there.  They all have pros and cons.  My neighbor loves his John Deer, once he got rid of all the lemons, because he is now on his third of the same model. The other two just "broke all a sudden like?"  I will admit there is something appealing about that green paint to folks.  Paul states, Kubota are o.k tractors some are even down write good, but "you pay a hell of a lot of money for that orange paint!  He further stated that could be the only reason the cost so damned much for what you get, and "the parts ain't cheep."  I don't know about all of that, you see an awful lot of them, but I love my Same.

If I would recommend anything, it is if your looking at a 30 horse by a 40, if you looking at a 40 by a 50.  I love my 50 horse, but I should have bought a 70 and Paul told me as much and was willing to make it happen for me, but I thought it was to big, (I was wrong.) If you can get him, (or Russel,) out from under a tractor long enough, he would be glad to talk to you about tractors. (802-695-2500) He might be able to find you a dealer or ship you one and recommend a good mechanic. That is what is important in his mind, after care for the machine.  Not that mine has needed much, in the all most ten years of heavy use, it just had it's first major repair, and that was because an idiot neighbor drove it for 4 miles with his foot resting on the clutch half depressed, and then did God knows what else to it on a cold Vermont morning, learn'd my lesson on that one, I did!  :

Good luck finding the tractor you want (and need) Enjoy the mushroom hunting.

jay

Hi Jay,  Sounds like your friend has a great business and a good business plan if your tractor breaks down but then there is the scheduled maintenance that must be preformed regularly which should amount to some good income if you have a lot of tractors out there.

Took a look at some pictures and specs of the Same tractor, real nice looking and looks well built. One of the reasons that I had planned on going with Kioti is that I have heard through some friends that they are good tractors to operate and the main reason is that the dealership is not to far from my place so getting service and parts should be painless. I do know what you mean about the size of tractor that you buy, I was initially going to go with a 40hp but I will be buying the 50hp as what I found out is that the attachments that I will be getting run much better with that little extra horse power.

Didn't know that Lamborghini made tractors, man they look like their cars very nice sleek lines.

I would only lend my stuff out to a person who I know would take responsibility if they broke it and would get it fixed, having said that not sure if I would lend my new tractor out ;)

Regards
Geeg

[Geeg]

Going back to the build, we were thinking of going with a board and bat siding and then thought about just vinyl siding but then ended up going with stucco siding. Although the cost was a lot more, we did some research and found that the new way of stucco is called EIFS which stands for exterior insulation and finishing system.  EIFS uses rigid insulation boards on the exterior of the wall sheathing with a plaster appearance exterior skin which in our case is acrylic which has a very long life and is very low maintenance. Here is a short video on the product that we used and here is a link to the website
http://www.dryvit.ca

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoKa-nwO3_g

The installation process took almost 3 weeks to complete and these guys did a fabulous job, very detailed work. We gained another R12 with the foam insulation on the exterior followed by the Dryvit system being applied. The exterior of the house was completely sealed but this added to the complete sealing of the structure.


The foam insulation has been attached and the base coat has started to be applied



Base coat was added and now the mesh is added and another coat.



Window trim was added, this is all this guy does is trim work. He's like an artist!

Applying the fibreglass mesh.

Martin mixing up some compound.

Final colour coat being added.

We decided instead of parging the foundation wall, we would just continue with the stucco
all the way down, turned out well.

The finished product!



Shot looking down the driveway

The old garage, the wife painted it the same colour as the house.

I suggested my wife make a nice flower garden, well actually I ended getting this job.
Turned out not bad.

Next on the list was the soffit and fascia to be installed. We had the stucco company also install the drywall since they did this as well. After looking at there work on the exterior, we knew we wanted them to drywall the interior. Pics to be added soon

[Jay C. White Cloud]

Hi Geeg,

Building looks grand, you must be pleased.  You got my gist, about the tractor horse power, 50 is bare minimum for some of the work you want to do and if you can afford to go 10 or 20 horse more, you will not regret it.

Regards,

jay

[jueston]

eifs has some serious problems which i have seen, it doesn't allow water to mitigate out of the building. i have removed it from several buildings and all of them had one thing in common, they did a really good job building it air tight, and then water infiltrates somehow, and the entire building rots away.  sometimes its a little bit of roof flashing, sometimes its a bathroom vent with a leak.  but whatever the cause, once the water gets between the inside vapor barrier and the very waterproof exterior, its only a matter of time.

that is probobly true of any time styrofoam/eps insulation, but i have dealt with these problems in eifs several times.

that being said i think they do some awesome stuff with it, they can make it look like almost anything.

[Jay C. White Cloud]

Hey Justin,

When I saw Geeg's entry from today I thought do I saw anything or just keep it light and causual?  Well you have, "let the cat strait out of the bag," didn't you?   :

Hi Geeg,

I was going to try to find a more diplomatic way to ask "some certain kinds of questions," but Justin's direct approach to the subject is most honest.  Did anyone share some of these challenges with EIFS?  I must admit, everything Justin has shared, I have also observed, and unfortunately a too common occurrence, particularly in the polystyrene based insulation application in colder climates.

The systems seam to work relatively well in dry/arid climates,(other that for pest infestation,) but when employed in colder climates they seem to fail rapidly unless "cold roof/wall assemblies are applied to increase air circulation around the exterior of the insulation.  I have also heard that if you have a Air to Air Heat Exchangers deployed, you can also mitigate some of this excess build up of moisture in the inner wall assemblies.  The other elements of this condition, should it start to take place, you will not notice any symptoms till the conditions have reached a critical state.  The wall system is that tight.  By then, it usually requires a major intervention.  Some of the HVAC companies that I  have heard of, can set up moisture and humidity probes in strategic location within walls to monitor for moisture build up. You can do this yourself with a simple digital hygrometer and  small drilled holes in key locations.  The readings really should not get above 50% to 60% as I understand it from HVAC folks.

Not to make things more worrisome for you, but, as a former state supervisor in pest control, you are going to have to keep an extra vigilant watch for rodent and carpenter ant infestation .  Both these pest, are highly attracted to EPS foam insulation as a nesting medium.  The chemical additives to the foam that some manufacture provide, do not perform as intended and not against Rodentia at all.  Make sure that there is no expose foam, (usually at the drip edge of the outer wall,) or access points.  If you hire a pest control company, do so only if they give guarantees and assume liability, (some spray/gas pest control products will melt/break down EPS and you can't see it happen because it is behind a covering surface.)

Sorry to be a downer, but "forewarned is forearmed."  I have read about some pretty bad situations with your system that, when the above actions steps are implemented, everything goes to normal and the system works like originally designed.

Regards,

Jay

[jueston]

it sure does look great though, i have lived in a stucco house for a long time and i love the look of it.

[Geeg]

Hi jueston and Jay,

Thanks for the input and the concern about this product. I had done quite a bit of research before going with this type of exterior siding. What I had learned was in order for this to be successful, you required a strategic plan of attack. You need to look at the type of EIFS system you wish to install, next you need to prepare the exterior wall to accept the EIFS as well as install the product by someone who knows how to install the product correctly.

I found that the reason or reasons that this type of exterior was failing was due to a number of factors, that being said, there is the "Face Sealed Barrier System" and the "Drainable EIFS System".  The Exterior Insulation and Finish Systems (EIFS) typically consists of five components; Adhesive, Insulation Board or EPS, (attached to the substrate with screws or adhesive), a Base Coat into which Fiberglass Mesh is embedded, and a Decorative Finish Coat of a desired color. This type of system is called a Face Sealed Barrier System, and resists water penetration at its outer surface. It is not intended to drain water that gets behind the system. The next system is the EIFS System known as a Drainable EIFS System, that incorporates channels between the substrate and the EIFS to allow moisture trapped in the system to drain out through weeping holes located at the bottom of the system. The majority of the existing EIFS Cladding Systems are the older faced sealed system.

The next issue that is common is that rot is formed when moisture is sitting directly on the substrate wall surface, in my case it would be the 5/8" OSB. We wrapped the entire outer surface of the house with Tyvek "moisture barrier" and sealed all windows and doors with Grace Vycor Plus flashing. I also need to point out that the installation of the product is critical and with that being said, I did my research there as well and found a installer that has been using this product his entire career and this is the only product that he uses for stucco siding. I managed to look at a few of his installs at over 10 years old, they looked brand new.

Having said this, in life there are go guarantees and the best thing that you can do is be prepared and look at all your scenarios and options. I am happy with the outcome and given my knowledge that I have obtained will keep a close eye on things.

Cheers
Geeg

[jueston]

it sounds like you did your research and went with a good contractor and a well thought out product, with every insulation system there is a balance, we want things to be tight to hold in the warm air, but too tight and then water can't escape.

[Jay C. White Cloud]

Hi Geeg,

I feel much better.  It is lack of research and knowledge by consumers, that so often lead to challenges with these new systems, you did your do diligence.  Being on top of all those possible flaws should give you good success from your system.  Thanks for sharing the details of your instillation.

Regards,

jay

[Jim1611]

I can see why your wife wanted this for a home! Beautiful work!!!

[WindyAcres]

Hi Fabian, thanks for the compliment. Your project sounds really interesting. I plan on constructing my shop the same way, just waiting for the drawings to be finished so I can get the building permit issued. I was thinking of digging the foundation out myself but since I don't want to mess it up, I have decided to have a guy dig it for me, will cost about $600 and he does this all the time. I have planned on going with in-floor heating and a SIP construction with no timbers (don't want the wife confiscating this one too). Keep us posted and make sure to post some pics for us.
Cheers,
Geeg

Hi Geeg! Looks great your home!
I will start building next week (I am very excited, just need to finish my firewood for next year).. I am about to create a new post for my project!
Happy new year!

[Biocmp]

Really nice work in this thread. It's fun watching from the sidelines.

[Geeg]

Well its been awhile but have a few more pics of the project, have been very busy lately. We finally managed to get the drywall done and started with some priming and painting and staining. The quotes for priming that we got was between 10,500 and 13,000 for one coat of primer. Now I don't know anyone's thoughts are about this but that sounded crazy insane to me. That would mean that it would have cost me over 30,000 just to paint my small little shack and that didn't include staining the beams. That being said, we decided to keep the money too ourselves and prime and paint and stain the beams, will take a little longer but look what we will save!


Shot looking out the front.

Looking out the double door to the sun room (not built yet) facing south

Feature wall, kind of aztec/southwestern to house the 80" TV if the wife approves  :D





Got the fireplace installed, was just working on finishing the hearth.



That TV will do for now

Kitchen, back hall and stairs to the basement



Spare bedroom primed, painted and stained.



The electrical was completely finished and setup the spot lights in the corner of the beams, whole house is LED

Master bedroom, broken window from the drywall guys, that was exspensive  :(

Stained all the beams upstairs, took 3 long days.

Finished painting and staining the upstairs bathroom.

Upstairs shower.

Shot outside the washroom.

Need two more sections of scaffolding to finish the lower floor.



Next on the list is getting my shop done, just finishing with the drawings, will post them soon.

[jueston]

it looks amazing.

for that price i would have painted it myself too.

[Brian_Weekley]

Looks fabulous!  I was just wondering if the painting quotes are so high because of all the beams you have to cut around?  It does look very time consuming and tedious since you wouldn't want to get paint on the wood.