WIP: Shop Project #1: The Journey Begins

I’ve always wanted my own shop, but never had the room. The first house had no garage. Working on a project really sucks when you have to break everything down and put it away by dark. The second house had a two car garage, but it was full, and I do mean full, of stuff. Enter the third house and a two car carport. But, I do have 2.5 acres. And now I’m retired. So, I’m building a shop.

The first plan was to build a post and beam (think timber frame with metal plates instead of mortise and tenon and other joinery). It was to have raised wood floors and a full loft. While I really liked the plan, it just wasn’t going to fit the budget. On to plan B. We’ve started on a 20×40 metal building with a 14×32 awning for storing the travel trailer.

Step one: foundation. Normally, a slab foundation isn’t very involved. Unfortunately, this one wasn’t going to be simple. The ground drops 15” across the building footprint. That actually is a Good Thing™ since I need 12’ under the awning. 14’ walls on the shop, a 12” drop from the shop floor and 1:12 pitch on the awning gets me clearance for the trailer. The slab is done. The conduit in the corner leads to an in-floor box for table saw power.

The company providing the building put lead time at 8-10 weeks, maybe sooner, from completion of the slab. The bare minimum is 4 weeks to allow the concrete to cure. The building inspector said, from talking to others putting up metal buildings, that was about normal. The waiting game has begun.

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