Adding On To My Shop

[David Freed]

My son and I dug a hole yesterday. 18' x 48' addition.

WHERE DID ALL THIS DIRT COME FROM?  I think it was multiplying every time I went after another scoop. 
That's a 55 gal barrel and a 6x6 in the lower left for reference.

I knew I had a solid driveway by the building, but we scraped up over 30 tons of rock

I guess I don't have a very good concept of volume.

I have a couple days off next week. I hope to get the forms up and concrete poured by end of day 2. We'll see how good my concept of time is. I may still be working on forms.



  

  

  

 

[David Freed]

A little more progress. It took longer than I thought. Concrete tomorrow.

[Roxie]

It's so exciting to start a project like that, and very satisfying to finish it.   

[thecfarm]

more room is good!!

[OneWithWood]

It always takes longer.  Even if you factor it in. . .

[Czech_Made]

Always more time, more money and more  supplies, the law of construction.

[David Freed]

Too much concrete. I wanted to be sure I didn't come up short. Built some forms real quick and saved some of it.

I'm exhausted. I did more physical work this week than I've done in years, as well as long hours almost every day. I took this afternoon off. I never do that.

My building won't be nearly as nice as Jeff's, (not even close) but it will work for me.



 

[OneWithWood]

Better to have too much concrete than too little.

[David Freed]

Better to have too much concrete than too little.

A little more progress. I pulled the form boards and stakes, then carried some dirt back in where we dug a little deep.

I built a "bridge" so I wouldn't be driving on the new concrete. Two piles of dirt, two 2x6's on the dirt, and two 2x8's to drive on.

I don't care what anyone says, concrete is a 4 letter word.



  

 

[Czech_Made]

Looking quite good!

I hear you on concrete.  I am building a fancy fence - meaning I dig ditch and mix concrete several times a month since June.  It is not much, just 8 feet section at a time and 5-6 mixers to pour but it bloody never ends.

The fence has 15 sections total, I am done with 7 only 8 to go - and I will be dealing with the gate posts, haha.

Good luck with your project, my shop is so full I could use an addition too, but it will no happen anytime soon.

[David Freed]

Looking quite good!

I hear you on concrete.  I am building a fancy fence - meaning I dig ditch and mix concrete several times a month since June.  It is not much, just 8 feet section at a time and 5-6 mixers to pour but it bloody never ends.

The fence has 15 sections total, I am done with 7 only 8 to go - and I will be dealing with the gate posts, haha.

Good luck with your project, my shop is so full I could use an addition too, but it will no happen anytime soon.

That sounds like a lot more work than I had. Hope you get it done soon.



Made a little more progress today.

I put up a short block wall on the uphill end, put in a tile around the footer to keep water out, put a double plate on the new footer and screwed 2x6's to the side of the old footer.

The triangle of concrete is for a bigger door to drive in on the end.

Doesn't look like much for 12 hours of work.



  

 

[David Freed]

A couple more days work.



  

 

[David Freed]

Another 13 hour day. Going awful slow working by myself.



  

  

  

 

[Czech_Made]

But it will be dry for winter, right?

[Ox]

It's coming along!  It does suck working by yourself because it's slow but I prefer it because I find it exhausting to keep explaining things all the time.  Plus I'm always in pain and it gets worse when I'm trying to do anything.  Then I get "pithy" and start crabbing and being meaner and meaner.  Working alone unless absolutely necessary is, well, necessary.  :-\

[DeerMeadowFarm]

Looking good! You guys don't dig footings below the frost line where you live?

[Czech_Made]

It's coming along!  It does suck working by yourself because it's slow but I prefer it because I find it exhausting to keep explaining things all the time. 

Ha, same experience.   Or defending the way I do things - thats when my wife is helping me.

[David Freed]

But it will be dry for winter, right?

I hope so. Some days I wonder.

It's coming along!  It does suck working by yourself because it's slow but I prefer it because I find it exhausting to keep explaining things all the time.  Plus I'm always in pain and it gets worse when I'm trying to do anything.  Then I get "pithy" and start crabbing and being meaner and meaner.  Working alone unless absolutely necessary is, well, necessary.  :-\

I did get an Amish teenager for half a day last week. He knew what he was doing.

Looking good! You guys don't dig footings below the frost line where you live?

That is generally standard procedure. I put this footer as deep as the other part of the building. It has made it through some pretty cold winters okay.

[David Freed]

More progress. Wednesday,  I spent about 9 hours taking down tin, door track (4-16' sections), framework the door track was fastened to, bird nests (more like 10 story hotels), etc. and then protecting the insulation with lumber wrap paper.

I got almost a bale of hay out of 2 bird nests. 

  

  

 

Thursday I squeezed in 5 hours between rain storms doing various small chores and cutting 60 2x6's to length for roof stringers. I made a measure stick (on the board in first pic) so I didn't have to stretch out a tape measure every time.

The boards have been stored outside on sticks behind my shop for a couple years. Two inches of rain had everything soaked. I used my lawn mower and wagon to bring them to the front of the shop. My pickup is 4wd but it weighs almost 9,000 lbs.

I put the boards back on sticks to dry out. Then I had to make a run up to Indy.


  

 


Yesterday I found out how NOT to put rafters up. I thought I would put it together in sections and then just hoist the ends up with rope and pulleys. The putting together part went real well. The hoisting up part took 8 HOURS  (6 yesterday and 2 today).

I went on a search this morning in the Amish community to find a sky track with a long boom I could use to lift the sections into place. I stopped by one of the cabinet shops that I do a lot of installing and delivering for and the owner said he and 5 of his boys would come over next week and help me get the rafters and stringers up.  8)

[David Freed]

 Here's a few more pics of my progress.

In the 4th pic you can see chains holding the peak end up. After I got it within a foot of the right height, I hung my legs over the peak, then reach down & lift one side up with one hand, then move the chain hook up a few links. I went from one side to the other until on the last lift I DROPPED THE HOOK.   

I'm sitting there holding 60+ lbs with one hand thinking, I'm screwed. then my inner "never give up" kicked in and I slipped about 3 or 4 feet of chain through my hand, started swinging it back and forth, then flipped it up and over the top of the 2x10 so I could get hold of the hook again. I didn't drop the roof, but my arm is still sore from holding it so long.



  

  

  

 

[Ox]

Whew, I wasn't there but I can tell that was something fierce rough...glad you didn't get badly hurt...

[David Freed]

I really wasn't in danger. I just knew if I let go, that roof section and probably the wall would have been ripped apart.

[venice]

This project looks like a Birthday present to your self.

Happy Birthday David!

venice

[LeeB]

Shame you have to build your own birthday cake.  :D
Happy Birthday.

[Roxie]

Yes, Happy Birthday! 

I don't know if you have used Amish help before, but I'll be curious to hear if your experience will be similar to my observations.  When the Amish know how to do something, be it carpentry, gardening, or housekeeping, etc, they are amazingly fast.  Perhaps it's just a matter of having no electronic clutter in their heads.  Good call on your part to get some help.   

[David Freed]

Thanks for the HB's.

I've been around Amish my entire life. I could fill 2 or 3 pages in this thread with Amish stories. I've even helped a crew a few times. I felt like a turtle in a herd of rabbits.

When I delivered pole barn packages, it was usually Amish crews that put them up. They traveled up to 400 miles to put up the buildings. I could give the customers a real close estimate on how long it would take the crew to get it built, whether it was a 24'x24' or a 40'x60'. A simple 24x24 could go from bare ground to finished in a long day.

[thecfarm]

I can not get over the bird's nests. That's  ALOT of hay.
The word is work good together. That is the key word,together. Have been around Grange suppers,fairs,craftshows,events. Take note of when things are going good and bad. Get 10 together,be it men or women and only about 6 knows what the others want them to do and the other 4 need help every inch of the way,things can fall apart.
At one job I had,equipment was taken apart and moved. They brought in a Crane and Rigging crew. Those guys knew what they was doing. And they worked. Wasn't 4 guys doing the work and 2 standing there watching and 2 more pretending they was working.  ;D They could get the job done.

[David Freed]

I can not get over the bird's nests. That's  ALOT of hay.
The word is work good together. That is the key word,together.

I was dumbfounded when I saw the nests.

I have installed cabinets dozens of times with these guys. We make a real good team. 

[David Freed]

A little more progress. I got my "crew" to help on the roof joists today. Their 2 hours of work saved me 2 or 3 days.



 

[Roxie]

 8)

[David Freed]

Another days work. To get the bubble insulation over the roof, I tied a string to a small block of wood, wrapped the end of the insulation around a 5' long 1/2" x 1 1/2", and c-clamped that to the other end of the string. I would throw the block over the building and then go up on top and pull the string up.

I used my flatbed trailer to work from to be able to reach better.



  

 

[David Freed]

 I started today building a wall. I didn't want to be on the roof with frost on everything with the thermometer at 34*. I built it in 2 sections for easier handling.

First pic is how I start every day. Second is a brain fart I discovered when I laid out the pieces; The bottom plate needs to be 104 - 37.75 = 64.25. 

66.25 worked better in the third pic of the finished wall.

Got the roof finished and called it a day.



  

  

  

 

[Carson-saws]

WOW....lookin REAL nice......maybe not as much as you but...I can't wait to see the finished project.

[David Freed]

 Another day. One of the things I did was put some metal on the long wall. First pic shows 2x6's holding the studs straight while I put metal on.

Second & third pics show how I held one end up of a 16' sheet of metal up while I lifted the other end and put a screw in. That is a bungee hook I saved from a broken bungee. I have a tin can with several of them. I don't throw anything away.

Fourth pic is a string with a weight to keep screws lined up.



  

  

  

 

[thecfarm]

All good ideas. I know waht's it like to work alone.
Ever put trim boards up alone?  :

[GRANITEstateMP]

Looks good.  I love progress pictures!  So nice to have more room, means more "projects"...

[David Freed]

I look at these pictures and think "this is all I got done?" I do realize I was doing some small jobs that don't really show, but it just looks like I didn't do much.

Saturday I built a wall and stripped the old wall and doors; pic 1 &2.

Monday I built a door framework, installed the track, and hung the door; pic3.

I had three 17 hour days in a row at work. Today was an easy day. Tomorrow, back to work on my building.



  

  

 

[David Freed]

 I bought 2 damaged windows a couple years ago at a greatly reduced price. I had brought them home and put them in storage. Yesterday I got out the one that was going in the west wall and took it to the local glass shop to see about replacing the broken pane. That is also when I found out that they were side sliders instead of up and down; after I framed the the wall wrong. 

Luckily there was a 1 1/2" difference between width and height on this window so it was an easy fix. The other window will require a little more work, but still not too bad.

I installed the window, put more metal on the walls and did a few other minor jobs. I put a treated 2x10 at the bottom of the door frame and had to trim it with my hand planer on one end so it was flush with the upright.

It was so windy when I started that my step ladder kept blowing over. It calmed down to extremely annoying by noon.

I'm reusing all the metal I can and found a little note from the employee I had building the original shop dated almost 11 years ago. Same weather as today; windy and cold.



  

  

  

  

  

 

[David Freed]

 I have been reusing the metal I pulled off of the building. I have 1 end and 1 side on except for the sliding door. Just a small pile of metal left. The ugly looking spot by the window is a temporary patch over the hole I framed in the wall for A/C. I won't buy and install that til next summer.

I am going to pull the old metal off the end of the building facing the road, use part of it to finish the door, and put new metal across that entire end. The sliding door on that end will be 2/3 in the old part and 1/3 in the new. The header will be supporting the roof as well as the door.

I measured the wall sections this morning before I went to work, called the lengths in at 7 am when GPB opened, and brought home the new metal late this afternoon.

I'll have several pics for this wall. I have to jack up the header holding the roof peak, take out the corner post, and put the header in the end wall to hold up the roof header. I'd like to get that wall covered by Sat pm. We'll see if that happens. 



  

  

  

 

[David Freed]

 I made quite a bit of progress on the east wall. I worked from 3 am to 11 am Thursday and 4 am to 2 pm Friday before I had to make a short run.

The dark pic shows how I had the window opening framed wrong. It took about an hour to fix this one. I used my hammer drill and Tapcon bolts to anchor the wall to the concrete block wall under it. I moved the light switch to a temporary spot for now.

When I got back from work, I temporarily fastened some tin over the doorway (2 pcs, 4 screws) and stuck in the walk door with a couple screws. I was wore out and called it a day.



  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

 

[David Freed]

Yesterday I started working on the shop at 2:30 am. Went to work for a couple hours at 7 am, took an hour for lunch,and worked til 6 pm. There is still a full day of work to build and cover the left upper wall and finish up the several details on the outside, but I was able to lock up a full size shop instead of a half of one.   8)

Now I don't have to drag out and put away tools every time I work on it.  8)



  

 

[David Freed]

I am slowly making progress. 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

 

[samandothers]

Wow !  Lots accomplished looks nice! 

[Ox]

Kicking butt and taking names - nice job!

[David Freed]

Construction mess cleaned up and ready to paint as soon as I get home around noon.



 

[Farmerjw]

David, just read through your whole post.  WOW!!  Doubling the space!  Odon, is that a little North and West of West Lafayette?  I think I remember going through Odon a few times while I was at Purdue in the early '80's.  Wood shop?  The squirrel cage blower on the wall, exhaust fan? 

Picked a great day to paint, supposed to be in the high 50's today!  Thursday we are to be in the low 20's!! >:(

[David Freed]

Odon is halfway between Indy and Evansville. It was 65* here. I opened both sliding doors and had plenty of ventilation. The squirrel cage fan is going to be the exhaust for my spray booth.

Watching someone else use a power painter makes it look easy. Just imagine tying 20 lb weights to your wrists and then holding them out in front of you for a few hours. I'm exhausted.

It is a crappy paint job, but it's brighter now.