Workshop Construction

Eric Patterson

Eric Patterson

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I figured I'd start a thread to photodocument the construction of my shop. Pictures will be added during the construction process and customization. First a little background information.

My current shop is an overcrowded 22' x 22' two car garage. I've simply outgrown it. Michelle and I decided not to build a detatched shop at our present house because she wants to move. Given these facts and I have two duckboats, tractor, trailer, bush hog, sprayer, cultipacker, etc. there was no way we could move into a covenent neighborhood and take all these things along. So we opted to buy a lot in the county nearby where I could build a dedicated shop that would house the boats and tractor and woodshop, yet allow us the freedom to move when and where we wanted.

This fall we purchased a 1/3 acre lot about 10 minutes from my house. It's nice and flat and sits in a quiet community next to a church and surrounded by good neighbors. This week site prep was completed. The lot was built up several years ago with 3' of topsoil. To provide for a good foundation the contractor dug out the topsoil and went back with red clay compactible soil and about 6" or gravel on top where the building and driveway will sit. I'll have pitctures of the lot soon.

The building itself will be 40x70x12 with one entry door and two 12x10 overhead doors and a 8/12 pitch roof. It's being divided into two parts. The 30x40 workshop will have attic trusses for overhead storage and the 40x40 garage area will have standard trusses. I want a lot of natural light in the shop so there will be seven windows.


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Right now I'm working with a builder and hope to sign the contract on Monday. A lot of work sits ahead of me but I am excited and wish this was something I'd done about 15 years ago.
 
Very cool. Having space for your stuff is a great thing. You will enjoy that space for sure. Keep the pics coming.
 
That's a fun project Eric. I really have enjoyed the pole barn we built 6 years ago. One suggestion, I'd put a window or two on the garage side so that it's not totally dark without the lights on. Makes it easier and quicker to run in and grab something during the day without having to flip a switch on the way in and out. Good luck!


Is that another overhead door I see between the two sides?
 
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Is that another overhead door I see between the two sides?
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Besides the two outside overhead doors for the garage there is one between the shop and the garage for moving big stuff in and out of the shop.
 
Is there any need to consider making a drive through area? Kind of like a circle drive, but with a shop building over part of it. Really handy for accessing the back side of things and for not having to back trailers into the shop.
 
Is there any need to consider making a drive through area? Kind of like a circle drive, but with a shop building over part of it. Really handy for accessing the back side of things and for not having to back trailers into the shop.
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That is a nice touch, I love mine! Good suggestion.
 
Consider putting the sink outside of the john and make it a deep large stainless double. Give yourself some counter space back there with a microwave, coffee pot, and mini-fridge.
 
I have a sketch of a similar sized building for our retirement property in Tennessee. Have you considered a small office? Maybe 8x10 or so. You could have a wall AC unit hooked up, desk, files, stuff. Maybe dedicated storage units, almost like they have at the rental places. This would be for specific storage of seasonal things like Christmas and summer stuff.
 
Eric~

Congratulations! I am sure everybody here is excited for you.

As a followup to the suggestion about the slop sink - and I have no idea whether this is feasible from a regulatory/financing perspective where you are - but I am wondering if you have thought of capturing your roof runoff for your water supply? My ~1000 sq. ft roof area fills my 135 gallon water tank on 5/8" rainfall. I get my water pressure by mounting the tank about 3' above grade. I do not have plumbing in my shop but do appreciate having a water source handy (if only for the warmer months up here). It's mostly there to save my Blueberries in the event of drought - but I have enjoyed having it.

Looking forward to the progress,

SJS
 
Construction is underway. Rain resulted in a two week delay but the builder showed up today with several bundles of wood and a bobcat with a auger. Talk about a sweet set-up. He had the holes dug in just a few hours. Tomorrow he drops the poles and fills with concrete. Poles will be cross anchored with rebar. I like the fact this builder sets his poles at 8' instead of 10' like the builder I almost went with.


View from road looking up the driveway.


View of neighbors (Holiness Church) on one side.



View of other neighbors.

 
Off to a great start. It is very cool the way the bobcat and auger gets the hole done quick.
 
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Tod, that's the plan. It will go up quick. Builder says two weeks. My part, the inside, not so quick.


I know that. :) I've been in the basement and shop the past 3-4 months trying to get things 100%. I put the shop in (2 car garage) 5 years ago and got it functional, but never wrapped up sheetrock wiring and lights, but I'm trying to get it done this time.
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Construction is underway. Rain resulted in a two week delay but the builder showed up today with several bundles of wood and a bobcat with a auger. Talk about a sweet set-up. He had the holes dug in just a few hours. Tomorrow he drops the poles and fills with concrete. Poles will be cross anchored with rebar. I like the fact this builder sets his poles at 8' instead of 10' like the builder I almost went with.

7-1-a.jpg

View from road looking up the driveway.

7-1-b.jpg

View of neighbors (Holiness Church) on one side.

7-1-c.jpg


View of other neighbors.
7-1-d.jpg
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Is your builder filling the holes with concrete without protecting the wood poles? Thats a thing of the past i learned last year. The poles are set on concrete pads or a bag of quickcrete is dumped in the hole and post sat on top and backfilled with dirt. From what I was told the reasoning is concrete will hold moisture and rot the poles much sooner than simply back filling with dirt.
 
Tony

The builder dug the holes 6' deep. If you recall the lot was built up 3' so he went that far down plus another 3' to hit firm ground. He poured footings about 2 1/2' deep yesterday. Today he'll put some gravel on top of that and then set the posts in concrete. He's using UC4B ("ground contact heavy duty") posts which are highly saturated with preservative. This is industry best practice.

Eric
 
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