[Bikerdan]

In the beginning, there was nothing...

I am building a shop!!! I'm so excited to have this experience. I know it might be hard, there will be issues, it will be time consuming, but the rewards are many! I hope to put this experience in a blog format here to document my experience and hopefully help those of you with questions and that might be thinking about taking on their own project like this.

In this entry, I just want to introduce myself and give a brief description of my project.

I am an amateur wood worker and tinkerer. I consider myself fairly handy and love building and fixing things. I've been doing most of that in a small corner of a full two car garage. I have recently been put in a position where I can do something about it. I have a small portion of my yard that I have decided will be perfect for a detached shop. Like I said before, I love building things and this falls within that category. It doesn't hurt that I can save thousands of dollars doing it myself.

I will be building a 16' x 22' foot stick built shop with a monolithic foundation that includes a small curb wall in order to raise the bottom of the wood framing the required 6" above grade allowing it to sit flush with an existing cement pad. It will have a window, a man door, and an 8' x 10' garage door. My plan is to do as much of it as I feel comfortable with. That includes the framing, roofing, electrical and some of the finish. I will sub out the cement and stucco required by the city to match my home. I also decided I would try to save some money on plans and make them all myself. If I fail, I can always go buy them somewhere.

Well good news! My plans were approved and I just got my building permit yesterday!!! Woo hoo! They aren't the best plans, but they were enough to do the trick. I'll include those plans here so everyone can see. (Don't make fun of me… )

I have been talking with the subs that I will hire out and have a meeting to discuss details going forward coming in the next couple of days.

I estimate this project to cost me about $12,000. That doesn't really include anything I build inside the shop such as shelves and storage.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope it helps you. I'm always open to suggestions so if you have something helpful, please feel free to chime in with them.

Here are my plans. (I know parts of it are a little unprofessional, but it was enough to get the building permit…)

 

[Hermit]

In the beginning, there was nothing...

I am building a shop!!! I'm so excited to have this experience. I know it might be hard, there will be issues, it will be time consuming, but the rewards are many! I hope to put this experience in a blog format here to document my experience and hopefully help those of you with questions and that might be thinking about taking on their own project like this.

In this entry, I just want to introduce myself and give a brief description of my project.

I am an amateur wood worker and tinkerer. I consider myself fairly handy and love building and fixing things. I've been doing most of that in a small corner of a full two car garage. I have recently been put in a position where I can do something about it. I have a small portion of my yard that I have decided will be perfect for a detached shop. Like I said before, I love building things and this falls within that category. It doesn't hurt that I can save thousands of dollars doing it myself.

I will be building a 16' x 22' foot stick built shop with a monolithic foundation that includes a small curb wall in order to raise the bottom of the wood framing the required 6" above grade allowing it to sit flush with an existing cement pad. It will have a window, a man door, and an 8' x 10' garage door. My plan is to do as much of it as I feel comfortable with. That includes the framing, roofing, electrical and some of the finish. I will sub out the cement and stucco required by the city to match my home. I also decided I would try to save some money on plans and make them all myself. If I fail, I can always go buy them somewhere.

Well good news! My plans were approved and I just got my building permit yesterday!!! Woo hoo! They aren't the best plans, but they were enough to do the trick. I'll include those plans here so everyone can see. (Don't make fun of me… )

I have been talking with the subs that I will hire out and have a meeting to discuss details going forward coming in the next couple of days.

I estimate this project to cost me about $12,000. That doesn't really include anything I build inside the shop such as shelves and storage.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope it helps you. I'm always open to suggestions so if you have something helpful, please feel free to chime in with them.

Here are my plans. (I know parts of it are a little unprofessional, but it was enough to get the building permit…)

Congrats on getting your plans approved! You're going to have a blast Building this shop.
Couple suggestions…put the garage door opener on the side of the door. It frees up the ceiling and looks nicer. Would still put a receptacle there but put a pull down hose reel in that spot. Our shops are almost identical. I would plan on 6-4' led light fixtures which will give you plenty of light even with the single 4 foot window. 5 might be pushing it. 6 for sure will light that place up. Enjoy the build.

 

[Fresch]

In the beginning, there was nothing...

I am building a shop!!! I'm so excited to have this experience. I know it might be hard, there will be issues, it will be time consuming, but the rewards are many! I hope to put this experience in a blog format here to document my experience and hopefully help those of you with questions and that might be thinking about taking on their own project like this.

In this entry, I just want to introduce myself and give a brief description of my project.

I am an amateur wood worker and tinkerer. I consider myself fairly handy and love building and fixing things. I've been doing most of that in a small corner of a full two car garage. I have recently been put in a position where I can do something about it. I have a small portion of my yard that I have decided will be perfect for a detached shop. Like I said before, I love building things and this falls within that category. It doesn't hurt that I can save thousands of dollars doing it myself.

I will be building a 16' x 22' foot stick built shop with a monolithic foundation that includes a small curb wall in order to raise the bottom of the wood framing the required 6" above grade allowing it to sit flush with an existing cement pad. It will have a window, a man door, and an 8' x 10' garage door. My plan is to do as much of it as I feel comfortable with. That includes the framing, roofing, electrical and some of the finish. I will sub out the cement and stucco required by the city to match my home. I also decided I would try to save some money on plans and make them all myself. If I fail, I can always go buy them somewhere.

Well good news! My plans were approved and I just got my building permit yesterday!!! Woo hoo! They aren't the best plans, but they were enough to do the trick. I'll include those plans here so everyone can see. (Don't make fun of me… )

I have been talking with the subs that I will hire out and have a meeting to discuss details going forward coming in the next couple of days.

I estimate this project to cost me about $12,000. That doesn't really include anything I build inside the shop such as shelves and storage.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope it helps you. I'm always open to suggestions so if you have something helpful, please feel free to chime in with them.

Here are my plans. (I know parts of it are a little unprofessional, but it was enough to get the building permit…)

More lights, mine is 12×16' with 8'4" ceiling, I have 6 glass industrial fixtures that had 300 watt lamps in them now have (3) 82w compact fluorescent and (3) 100w equivalent LED and (2) one lamp 4' LED strip lights over the windows that are sliding door glass turned sideways on south facing wall.

 

[Bikerdan]

In the beginning, there was nothing...

I am building a shop!!! I'm so excited to have this experience. I know it might be hard, there will be issues, it will be time consuming, but the rewards are many! I hope to put this experience in a blog format here to document my experience and hopefully help those of you with questions and that might be thinking about taking on their own project like this.

In this entry, I just want to introduce myself and give a brief description of my project.

I am an amateur wood worker and tinkerer. I consider myself fairly handy and love building and fixing things. I've been doing most of that in a small corner of a full two car garage. I have recently been put in a position where I can do something about it. I have a small portion of my yard that I have decided will be perfect for a detached shop. Like I said before, I love building things and this falls within that category. It doesn't hurt that I can save thousands of dollars doing it myself.

I will be building a 16' x 22' foot stick built shop with a monolithic foundation that includes a small curb wall in order to raise the bottom of the wood framing the required 6" above grade allowing it to sit flush with an existing cement pad. It will have a window, a man door, and an 8' x 10' garage door. My plan is to do as much of it as I feel comfortable with. That includes the framing, roofing, electrical and some of the finish. I will sub out the cement and stucco required by the city to match my home. I also decided I would try to save some money on plans and make them all myself. If I fail, I can always go buy them somewhere.

Well good news! My plans were approved and I just got my building permit yesterday!!! Woo hoo! They aren't the best plans, but they were enough to do the trick. I'll include those plans here so everyone can see. (Don't make fun of me… )

I have been talking with the subs that I will hire out and have a meeting to discuss details going forward coming in the next couple of days.

I estimate this project to cost me about $12,000. That doesn't really include anything I build inside the shop such as shelves and storage.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope it helps you. I'm always open to suggestions so if you have something helpful, please feel free to chime in with them.

Here are my plans. (I know parts of it are a little unprofessional, but it was enough to get the building permit…)

Thanks for the suggestions. Love the idea of a pull down hose reel there. Light is a big issue in my current work space. I will definitely make sure I have enough lighting.

Hermit - I'd love to know more about your shop and how you have it setup if it's close to the same size and layout.

 

[SemperSailor]

In the beginning, there was nothing...

I am building a shop!!! I'm so excited to have this experience. I know it might be hard, there will be issues, it will be time consuming, but the rewards are many! I hope to put this experience in a blog format here to document my experience and hopefully help those of you with questions and that might be thinking about taking on their own project like this.

In this entry, I just want to introduce myself and give a brief description of my project.

I am an amateur wood worker and tinkerer. I consider myself fairly handy and love building and fixing things. I've been doing most of that in a small corner of a full two car garage. I have recently been put in a position where I can do something about it. I have a small portion of my yard that I have decided will be perfect for a detached shop. Like I said before, I love building things and this falls within that category. It doesn't hurt that I can save thousands of dollars doing it myself.

I will be building a 16' x 22' foot stick built shop with a monolithic foundation that includes a small curb wall in order to raise the bottom of the wood framing the required 6" above grade allowing it to sit flush with an existing cement pad. It will have a window, a man door, and an 8' x 10' garage door. My plan is to do as much of it as I feel comfortable with. That includes the framing, roofing, electrical and some of the finish. I will sub out the cement and stucco required by the city to match my home. I also decided I would try to save some money on plans and make them all myself. If I fail, I can always go buy them somewhere.

Well good news! My plans were approved and I just got my building permit yesterday!!! Woo hoo! They aren't the best plans, but they were enough to do the trick. I'll include those plans here so everyone can see. (Don't make fun of me… )

I have been talking with the subs that I will hire out and have a meeting to discuss details going forward coming in the next couple of days.

I estimate this project to cost me about $12,000. That doesn't really include anything I build inside the shop such as shelves and storage.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope it helps you. I'm always open to suggestions so if you have something helpful, please feel free to chime in with them.

Here are my plans. (I know parts of it are a little unprofessional, but it was enough to get the building permit…)

Nice! I'm in a very similar situation. Need to move my projects out of the basement and have decided to do the same thing. I'm doing 15'x30' with a little loft space above. Your plans look great. I'll be watching your progress…and learning along with you! Please keep us posted, and good luck.

 

[Bikerdan]

In the beginning, there was nothing...

I am building a shop!!! I'm so excited to have this experience. I know it might be hard, there will be issues, it will be time consuming, but the rewards are many! I hope to put this experience in a blog format here to document my experience and hopefully help those of you with questions and that might be thinking about taking on their own project like this.

In this entry, I just want to introduce myself and give a brief description of my project.

I am an amateur wood worker and tinkerer. I consider myself fairly handy and love building and fixing things. I've been doing most of that in a small corner of a full two car garage. I have recently been put in a position where I can do something about it. I have a small portion of my yard that I have decided will be perfect for a detached shop. Like I said before, I love building things and this falls within that category. It doesn't hurt that I can save thousands of dollars doing it myself.

I will be building a 16' x 22' foot stick built shop with a monolithic foundation that includes a small curb wall in order to raise the bottom of the wood framing the required 6" above grade allowing it to sit flush with an existing cement pad. It will have a window, a man door, and an 8' x 10' garage door. My plan is to do as much of it as I feel comfortable with. That includes the framing, roofing, electrical and some of the finish. I will sub out the cement and stucco required by the city to match my home. I also decided I would try to save some money on plans and make them all myself. If I fail, I can always go buy them somewhere.

Well good news! My plans were approved and I just got my building permit yesterday!!! Woo hoo! They aren't the best plans, but they were enough to do the trick. I'll include those plans here so everyone can see. (Don't make fun of me… )

I have been talking with the subs that I will hire out and have a meeting to discuss details going forward coming in the next couple of days.

I estimate this project to cost me about $12,000. That doesn't really include anything I build inside the shop such as shelves and storage.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope it helps you. I'm always open to suggestions so if you have something helpful, please feel free to chime in with them.

Here are my plans. (I know parts of it are a little unprofessional, but it was enough to get the building permit…)

Thanks SemperSailor. Good luck with yours as well. Hope to see your progress too!

 

[489tad]

In the beginning, there was nothing...

I am building a shop!!! I'm so excited to have this experience. I know it might be hard, there will be issues, it will be time consuming, but the rewards are many! I hope to put this experience in a blog format here to document my experience and hopefully help those of you with questions and that might be thinking about taking on their own project like this.

In this entry, I just want to introduce myself and give a brief description of my project.

I am an amateur wood worker and tinkerer. I consider myself fairly handy and love building and fixing things. I've been doing most of that in a small corner of a full two car garage. I have recently been put in a position where I can do something about it. I have a small portion of my yard that I have decided will be perfect for a detached shop. Like I said before, I love building things and this falls within that category. It doesn't hurt that I can save thousands of dollars doing it myself.

I will be building a 16' x 22' foot stick built shop with a monolithic foundation that includes a small curb wall in order to raise the bottom of the wood framing the required 6" above grade allowing it to sit flush with an existing cement pad. It will have a window, a man door, and an 8' x 10' garage door. My plan is to do as much of it as I feel comfortable with. That includes the framing, roofing, electrical and some of the finish. I will sub out the cement and stucco required by the city to match my home. I also decided I would try to save some money on plans and make them all myself. If I fail, I can always go buy them somewhere.

Well good news! My plans were approved and I just got my building permit yesterday!!! Woo hoo! They aren't the best plans, but they were enough to do the trick. I'll include those plans here so everyone can see. (Don't make fun of me… )

I have been talking with the subs that I will hire out and have a meeting to discuss details going forward coming in the next couple of days.

I estimate this project to cost me about $12,000. That doesn't really include anything I build inside the shop such as shelves and storage.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope it helps you. I'm always open to suggestions so if you have something helpful, please feel free to chime in with them.

Here are my plans. (I know parts of it are a little unprofessional, but it was enough to get the building permit…)

Congratulations and enjoy the journey.

 

[SemperSailor]

In the beginning, there was nothing...

I am building a shop!!! I'm so excited to have this experience. I know it might be hard, there will be issues, it will be time consuming, but the rewards are many! I hope to put this experience in a blog format here to document my experience and hopefully help those of you with questions and that might be thinking about taking on their own project like this.

In this entry, I just want to introduce myself and give a brief description of my project.

I am an amateur wood worker and tinkerer. I consider myself fairly handy and love building and fixing things. I've been doing most of that in a small corner of a full two car garage. I have recently been put in a position where I can do something about it. I have a small portion of my yard that I have decided will be perfect for a detached shop. Like I said before, I love building things and this falls within that category. It doesn't hurt that I can save thousands of dollars doing it myself.

I will be building a 16' x 22' foot stick built shop with a monolithic foundation that includes a small curb wall in order to raise the bottom of the wood framing the required 6" above grade allowing it to sit flush with an existing cement pad. It will have a window, a man door, and an 8' x 10' garage door. My plan is to do as much of it as I feel comfortable with. That includes the framing, roofing, electrical and some of the finish. I will sub out the cement and stucco required by the city to match my home. I also decided I would try to save some money on plans and make them all myself. If I fail, I can always go buy them somewhere.

Well good news! My plans were approved and I just got my building permit yesterday!!! Woo hoo! They aren't the best plans, but they were enough to do the trick. I'll include those plans here so everyone can see. (Don't make fun of me… )

I have been talking with the subs that I will hire out and have a meeting to discuss details going forward coming in the next couple of days.

I estimate this project to cost me about $12,000. That doesn't really include anything I build inside the shop such as shelves and storage.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope it helps you. I'm always open to suggestions so if you have something helpful, please feel free to chime in with them.

Here are my plans. (I know parts of it are a little unprofessional, but it was enough to get the building permit…)

Just posted my plans on a separate blog, Bikerdan. Can't wait to get going. I've been advised a few times now to add more windows for natural light and add as much interior lighting as possible, so I'm re-thinking my window plan. I might even consider a long dormer with transom-style windows for more light. I've never even built a roof before, so dormers might be "too long of a putt" for me at this point. We'll see.

 

[Hermit]

In the beginning, there was nothing...

I am building a shop!!! I'm so excited to have this experience. I know it might be hard, there will be issues, it will be time consuming, but the rewards are many! I hope to put this experience in a blog format here to document my experience and hopefully help those of you with questions and that might be thinking about taking on their own project like this.

In this entry, I just want to introduce myself and give a brief description of my project.

I am an amateur wood worker and tinkerer. I consider myself fairly handy and love building and fixing things. I've been doing most of that in a small corner of a full two car garage. I have recently been put in a position where I can do something about it. I have a small portion of my yard that I have decided will be perfect for a detached shop. Like I said before, I love building things and this falls within that category. It doesn't hurt that I can save thousands of dollars doing it myself.

I will be building a 16' x 22' foot stick built shop with a monolithic foundation that includes a small curb wall in order to raise the bottom of the wood framing the required 6" above grade allowing it to sit flush with an existing cement pad. It will have a window, a man door, and an 8' x 10' garage door. My plan is to do as much of it as I feel comfortable with. That includes the framing, roofing, electrical and some of the finish. I will sub out the cement and stucco required by the city to match my home. I also decided I would try to save some money on plans and make them all myself. If I fail, I can always go buy them somewhere.

Well good news! My plans were approved and I just got my building permit yesterday!!! Woo hoo! They aren't the best plans, but they were enough to do the trick. I'll include those plans here so everyone can see. (Don't make fun of me… )

I have been talking with the subs that I will hire out and have a meeting to discuss details going forward coming in the next couple of days.

I estimate this project to cost me about $12,000. That doesn't really include anything I build inside the shop such as shelves and storage.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope it helps you. I'm always open to suggestions so if you have something helpful, please feel free to chime in with them.

Here are my plans. (I know parts of it are a little unprofessional, but it was enough to get the building permit…)

I could see more windows if you were building a bigger shop. In my 20×22' shop I wouldn't want to give up valuable wall space to get more natural light. Before deciding you're going to add more windows, carefully plan on where your dust collector and ducts will go. Will your duct design take up wall space? Will you have upper cabinets on your walls?
Any lumber storage planned on walls? That will require a good amount of wall space. Where will you hang your clamps? If on the wall that will require a lot of wall space. Heating and air? That takes up wall space. Shelving, tool storage etc….takes up wall space. I'm not sure what you're going to be working on that requires that much natural light but chances are, you'll have the lights on anyway. Just my opinions and i dont regret not putting in more windows. Keep us posted. Looking forward to following your build.
One other recommendation, several plugs on the exterior. Sometime this year, I will be adding to the back of my shop a dedicated spray/finish booth. Not huge, approximately 3' deep x 8' long with a shed type roof. I have power ran to the area.

 

[Bikerdan]

In the beginning, there was nothing...

I am building a shop!!! I'm so excited to have this experience. I know it might be hard, there will be issues, it will be time consuming, but the rewards are many! I hope to put this experience in a blog format here to document my experience and hopefully help those of you with questions and that might be thinking about taking on their own project like this.

In this entry, I just want to introduce myself and give a brief description of my project.

I am an amateur wood worker and tinkerer. I consider myself fairly handy and love building and fixing things. I've been doing most of that in a small corner of a full two car garage. I have recently been put in a position where I can do something about it. I have a small portion of my yard that I have decided will be perfect for a detached shop. Like I said before, I love building things and this falls within that category. It doesn't hurt that I can save thousands of dollars doing it myself.

I will be building a 16' x 22' foot stick built shop with a monolithic foundation that includes a small curb wall in order to raise the bottom of the wood framing the required 6" above grade allowing it to sit flush with an existing cement pad. It will have a window, a man door, and an 8' x 10' garage door. My plan is to do as much of it as I feel comfortable with. That includes the framing, roofing, electrical and some of the finish. I will sub out the cement and stucco required by the city to match my home. I also decided I would try to save some money on plans and make them all myself. If I fail, I can always go buy them somewhere.

Well good news! My plans were approved and I just got my building permit yesterday!!! Woo hoo! They aren't the best plans, but they were enough to do the trick. I'll include those plans here so everyone can see. (Don't make fun of me… )

I have been talking with the subs that I will hire out and have a meeting to discuss details going forward coming in the next couple of days.

I estimate this project to cost me about $12,000. That doesn't really include anything I build inside the shop such as shelves and storage.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope it helps you. I'm always open to suggestions so if you have something helpful, please feel free to chime in with them.

Here are my plans. (I know parts of it are a little unprofessional, but it was enough to get the building permit…)

All great points. I thought about the natural light as well. My choice of one window boils down to wall space. Wall space is just to valuable. I will need all the storage space I can get. I will just have to compensate with more overhead lighting. I love the idea of some external outlets. Those will really come in handy! Thanks for the feedback guys.

 

[Bikerdan]

So it begins

Hey everybody! It's been a bit since my last post. Things have been going a little slow due to weather and vacations. The last post was just to introduce the project. At that time, nothing had been done except for getting the building permit.

Since then, I've broken ground!!! The first step is to get the foundation and floor poured. This is one of the only couple of stages that I'm going to stand back and let an expert take care of for me. I need to make sure this part is done right!

For anyone else that might be considering doing this sort of build, here are a couple of special considerations that I've made for this part of the build. First, if you're doing a curb around the outside like I am you will need to make sure that you have the correct widths for the openings. In my case, I'm going 38.5 inches for the 3-0 man door and 10'2" for the garage door. This allows room for casing and weather stripping to be installed for the garage without having too much overlap of the garage door. I also am making sure that they use blocks to leave a cut out in the stem wall where the garage door track will come down to the floor. I'm making sure that we have conduit for both the elecric coming in and also for anything I want to run to the otherside of the garage. Finally, I'm having a garage door entry gutter installed to help with water since I'm trying to keep the garage floor as level as possible since it's going to be used as a shop. There will be a slight slope for the first couple of feet of the floor.

In the pics, you can see how the location was prepped as well as the first stages of forming. There is still a bit to be done before the pour. Conduit needs to be laid, the outer portions of the form need to be installed with some backfill done.

I hope this is helpful and if any of you have any thoughs and/or suggestions, please speak up! I love to hear your ideas.

 

[AandCstyle]

So it begins

Hey everybody! It's been a bit since my last post. Things have been going a little slow due to weather and vacations. The last post was just to introduce the project. At that time, nothing had been done except for getting the building permit.

Since then, I've broken ground!!! The first step is to get the foundation and floor poured. This is one of the only couple of stages that I'm going to stand back and let an expert take care of for me. I need to make sure this part is done right!

For anyone else that might be considering doing this sort of build, here are a couple of special considerations that I've made for this part of the build. First, if you're doing a curb around the outside like I am you will need to make sure that you have the correct widths for the openings. In my case, I'm going 38.5 inches for the 3-0 man door and 10'2" for the garage door. This allows room for casing and weather stripping to be installed for the garage without having too much overlap of the garage door. I also am making sure that they use blocks to leave a cut out in the stem wall where the garage door track will come down to the floor. I'm making sure that we have conduit for both the elecric coming in and also for anything I want to run to the otherside of the garage. Finally, I'm having a garage door entry gutter installed to help with water since I'm trying to keep the garage floor as level as possible since it's going to be used as a shop. There will be a slight slope for the first couple of feet of the floor.

In the pics, you can see how the location was prepped as well as the first stages of forming. There is still a bit to be done before the pour. Conduit needs to be laid, the outer portions of the form need to be installed with some backfill done.

I hope this is helpful and if any of you have any thoughs and/or suggestions, please speak up! I love to hear your ideas.

Dan, it looks like a good start to me. Keep up the good work and keep the pix coming.

 

[Bikerdan]

So it begins

Hey everybody! It's been a bit since my last post. Things have been going a little slow due to weather and vacations. The last post was just to introduce the project. At that time, nothing had been done except for getting the building permit.

Since then, I've broken ground!!! The first step is to get the foundation and floor poured. This is one of the only couple of stages that I'm going to stand back and let an expert take care of for me. I need to make sure this part is done right!

For anyone else that might be considering doing this sort of build, here are a couple of special considerations that I've made for this part of the build. First, if you're doing a curb around the outside like I am you will need to make sure that you have the correct widths for the openings. In my case, I'm going 38.5 inches for the 3-0 man door and 10'2" for the garage door. This allows room for casing and weather stripping to be installed for the garage without having too much overlap of the garage door. I also am making sure that they use blocks to leave a cut out in the stem wall where the garage door track will come down to the floor. I'm making sure that we have conduit for both the elecric coming in and also for anything I want to run to the otherside of the garage. Finally, I'm having a garage door entry gutter installed to help with water since I'm trying to keep the garage floor as level as possible since it's going to be used as a shop. There will be a slight slope for the first couple of feet of the floor.

In the pics, you can see how the location was prepped as well as the first stages of forming. There is still a bit to be done before the pour. Conduit needs to be laid, the outer portions of the form need to be installed with some backfill done.

I hope this is helpful and if any of you have any thoughs and/or suggestions, please speak up! I love to hear your ideas.

Thank you Art!

 

[Bikerdan]

So it begins

Hey everybody! It's been a bit since my last post. Things have been going a little slow due to weather and vacations. The last post was just to introduce the project. At that time, nothing had been done except for getting the building permit.

Since then, I've broken ground!!! The first step is to get the foundation and floor poured. This is one of the only couple of stages that I'm going to stand back and let an expert take care of for me. I need to make sure this part is done right!

For anyone else that might be considering doing this sort of build, here are a couple of special considerations that I've made for this part of the build. First, if you're doing a curb around the outside like I am you will need to make sure that you have the correct widths for the openings. In my case, I'm going 38.5 inches for the 3-0 man door and 10'2" for the garage door. This allows room for casing and weather stripping to be installed for the garage without having too much overlap of the garage door. I also am making sure that they use blocks to leave a cut out in the stem wall where the garage door track will come down to the floor. I'm making sure that we have conduit for both the elecric coming in and also for anything I want to run to the otherside of the garage. Finally, I'm having a garage door entry gutter installed to help with water since I'm trying to keep the garage floor as level as possible since it's going to be used as a shop. There will be a slight slope for the first couple of feet of the floor.

In the pics, you can see how the location was prepped as well as the first stages of forming. There is still a bit to be done before the pour. Conduit needs to be laid, the outer portions of the form need to be installed with some backfill done.

I hope this is helpful and if any of you have any thoughs and/or suggestions, please speak up! I love to hear your ideas.

Update: Just had footing inspection and passed! We should be pouring tomorrow if weather permits!

 

[rad457]

So it begins

Hey everybody! It's been a bit since my last post. Things have been going a little slow due to weather and vacations. The last post was just to introduce the project. At that time, nothing had been done except for getting the building permit.

Since then, I've broken ground!!! The first step is to get the foundation and floor poured. This is one of the only couple of stages that I'm going to stand back and let an expert take care of for me. I need to make sure this part is done right!

For anyone else that might be considering doing this sort of build, here are a couple of special considerations that I've made for this part of the build. First, if you're doing a curb around the outside like I am you will need to make sure that you have the correct widths for the openings. In my case, I'm going 38.5 inches for the 3-0 man door and 10'2" for the garage door. This allows room for casing and weather stripping to be installed for the garage without having too much overlap of the garage door. I also am making sure that they use blocks to leave a cut out in the stem wall where the garage door track will come down to the floor. I'm making sure that we have conduit for both the elecric coming in and also for anything I want to run to the otherside of the garage. Finally, I'm having a garage door entry gutter installed to help with water since I'm trying to keep the garage floor as level as possible since it's going to be used as a shop. There will be a slight slope for the first couple of feet of the floor.

In the pics, you can see how the location was prepped as well as the first stages of forming. There is still a bit to be done before the pour. Conduit needs to be laid, the outer portions of the form need to be installed with some backfill done.

I hope this is helpful and if any of you have any thoughs and/or suggestions, please speak up! I love to hear your ideas.

Not sure how things are done there, but usually we pour a grade beam under the door ways, especially the overhead door? My shop was built on a floating pad as the soil in these parts is very stable on a sand base.
In hindsight I should of put in a smaller door, maybe only a 8 or 10 ft. instead of the 16ft.

 

[Bikerdan]

So it begins

Hey everybody! It's been a bit since my last post. Things have been going a little slow due to weather and vacations. The last post was just to introduce the project. At that time, nothing had been done except for getting the building permit.

Since then, I've broken ground!!! The first step is to get the foundation and floor poured. This is one of the only couple of stages that I'm going to stand back and let an expert take care of for me. I need to make sure this part is done right!

For anyone else that might be considering doing this sort of build, here are a couple of special considerations that I've made for this part of the build. First, if you're doing a curb around the outside like I am you will need to make sure that you have the correct widths for the openings. In my case, I'm going 38.5 inches for the 3-0 man door and 10'2" for the garage door. This allows room for casing and weather stripping to be installed for the garage without having too much overlap of the garage door. I also am making sure that they use blocks to leave a cut out in the stem wall where the garage door track will come down to the floor. I'm making sure that we have conduit for both the elecric coming in and also for anything I want to run to the otherside of the garage. Finally, I'm having a garage door entry gutter installed to help with water since I'm trying to keep the garage floor as level as possible since it's going to be used as a shop. There will be a slight slope for the first couple of feet of the floor.

In the pics, you can see how the location was prepped as well as the first stages of forming. There is still a bit to be done before the pour. Conduit needs to be laid, the outer portions of the form need to be installed with some backfill done.

I hope this is helpful and if any of you have any thoughs and/or suggestions, please speak up! I love to hear your ideas.

Good question Andre. That's one reason I'm leaving this part to the experts. But from what I understand, for this shop and it's size, a spread footing is more than enough support. All load bearing walls will be around the perimeter where the monolithic foundation is thickest. Maybe a grade beam is not required because my garage door is only 10' wide. Not sure. Honestly, concrete work is a bit out of my realm of expertise. :/

 

[rad457]

So it begins

Hey everybody! It's been a bit since my last post. Things have been going a little slow due to weather and vacations. The last post was just to introduce the project. At that time, nothing had been done except for getting the building permit.

Since then, I've broken ground!!! The first step is to get the foundation and floor poured. This is one of the only couple of stages that I'm going to stand back and let an expert take care of for me. I need to make sure this part is done right!

For anyone else that might be considering doing this sort of build, here are a couple of special considerations that I've made for this part of the build. First, if you're doing a curb around the outside like I am you will need to make sure that you have the correct widths for the openings. In my case, I'm going 38.5 inches for the 3-0 man door and 10'2" for the garage door. This allows room for casing and weather stripping to be installed for the garage without having too much overlap of the garage door. I also am making sure that they use blocks to leave a cut out in the stem wall where the garage door track will come down to the floor. I'm making sure that we have conduit for both the elecric coming in and also for anything I want to run to the otherside of the garage. Finally, I'm having a garage door entry gutter installed to help with water since I'm trying to keep the garage floor as level as possible since it's going to be used as a shop. There will be a slight slope for the first couple of feet of the floor.

In the pics, you can see how the location was prepped as well as the first stages of forming. There is still a bit to be done before the pour. Conduit needs to be laid, the outer portions of the form need to be installed with some backfill done.

I hope this is helpful and if any of you have any thoughs and/or suggestions, please speak up! I love to hear your ideas.

Grade beams are important to prevent concrete settle or heaving under door, around here due to freezing. Also make sure they pin all the different sections together properly. Looks like 24' spacing on the re-bar. (I like 18" if using 3/8") For my overhead door went 6" spacing for re-bar and pins, my pad was 5" thick poured over
2" Styrofoam with 1/2" pex tubing embedded for in floor heating.

 

[Bikerdan]

A solid foundation

Finally! After days of planning, waiting, questions, weather issues, more planning, and more waiting, it's finally done! I have a foundation to build on! As you can probably tell, I'm really excited.

There were a couple of changes I was able to squeeze in to the plan before the pour. I added a Ufer ground and ran conduit to an electrical cement floor box so I'll have power ran to the middle of the room. I mostly plan on using that for my table saw and for running power to a set of outlets mounted on my out-feed table / assembly table.

Then, the weather finally got to a point where it was consistent enough for the pour to happen. We had to bring in a couple of trucks worth of cement and a pump truck to get the cement to the pad without tearing down fence or driving super heavy trucks on my driveway.

The first problem with the pour was that the trucks were both late so we didn't get started until about an hour after scheduled. The second truck was even later than the first one. That was a pain because the cement was setting up quickly and we still had to get j-bolts in and things smoothed out. That gets tougher when the cement is getting thicker and thicker.

After the cement was finally all dumped and smoothed, the j-bolts were put in, and much of the smoothing had taken place, the upper inside forms were able to be removed. This allowed us to smooth the inside and make it all nice and pretty. Many hours later and into the early night we were finally done and cleaning up.

And here it is almost cured enough to start building on!

Idn't she purdy! Woohoo!

One issue I have though is that the outer form for the back wall curb bowed a little. No one noticed until after the j-bolts were put in. Doh! That means I need to set the base plate for the wall back far enough that the corners hang over a little while the center of the cement wall protrudes a little. That sucks… :/ I think I can make it work though. My biggest worry there is that the bolts are following the outer edge (1 3/4 inches away mostly) which means they won't all be in the middle of the base plate. I may end up having to saw some of them off and epoxy some replacements into the wall in the correct spots. Oh well… Not much I can do about that now.

Here is a graphic to help describe the problem I just outlined. It's a bit exaggerated, but you get the idea:

So now I'm about to place my first order for materials. I am going through one of the big box hardware stores. They were quick with a quote for materials that they put together for me based on my plans. It's pretty good but they assumed a lot. They picked incorrect colors for windows, soffit, facia, and drip edge. They chose the wrong shingles. They forgot the wood for the garage door header also. There are a few more little things they didn't include.

Someone in a comment to a post on this forum mentioned a hardware retailer that has a tool online that was really helpful. It walked through a wizard like set of forms asking questions about size, openings, materials and so forth. In the end it pops out a plan with material list. That list was much more detailed than the first one I got. Using them both together I think I have a pretty good list of materials for my first order.

Here is the thread with the reference to the online tool:
click here

Thanks for keeping up on this blog! I hope you find the information helpful. If you have any suggestions for the project along the way, feel free to speak up. I love hearing your thoughts. Also, if you'd like to hear more detail about anything specific, let me know.

Happy building!

 

[Kelster58]

A solid foundation

Finally! After days of planning, waiting, questions, weather issues, more planning, and more waiting, it's finally done! I have a foundation to build on! As you can probably tell, I'm really excited.

There were a couple of changes I was able to squeeze in to the plan before the pour. I added a Ufer ground and ran conduit to an electrical cement floor box so I'll have power ran to the middle of the room. I mostly plan on using that for my table saw and for running power to a set of outlets mounted on my out-feed table / assembly table.

Then, the weather finally got to a point where it was consistent enough for the pour to happen. We had to bring in a couple of trucks worth of cement and a pump truck to get the cement to the pad without tearing down fence or driving super heavy trucks on my driveway.

The first problem with the pour was that the trucks were both late so we didn't get started until about an hour after scheduled. The second truck was even later than the first one. That was a pain because the cement was setting up quickly and we still had to get j-bolts in and things smoothed out. That gets tougher when the cement is getting thicker and thicker.

After the cement was finally all dumped and smoothed, the j-bolts were put in, and much of the smoothing had taken place, the upper inside forms were able to be removed. This allowed us to smooth the inside and make it all nice and pretty. Many hours later and into the early night we were finally done and cleaning up.

And here it is almost cured enough to start building on!

Idn't she purdy! Woohoo!

One issue I have though is that the outer form for the back wall curb bowed a little. No one noticed until after the j-bolts were put in. Doh! That means I need to set the base plate for the wall back far enough that the corners hang over a little while the center of the cement wall protrudes a little. That sucks… :/ I think I can make it work though. My biggest worry there is that the bolts are following the outer edge (1 3/4 inches away mostly) which means they won't all be in the middle of the base plate. I may end up having to saw some of them off and epoxy some replacements into the wall in the correct spots. Oh well… Not much I can do about that now.

Here is a graphic to help describe the problem I just outlined. It's a bit exaggerated, but you get the idea:

So now I'm about to place my first order for materials. I am going through one of the big box hardware stores. They were quick with a quote for materials that they put together for me based on my plans. It's pretty good but they assumed a lot. They picked incorrect colors for windows, soffit, facia, and drip edge. They chose the wrong shingles. They forgot the wood for the garage door header also. There are a few more little things they didn't include.

Someone in a comment to a post on this forum mentioned a hardware retailer that has a tool online that was really helpful. It walked through a wizard like set of forms asking questions about size, openings, materials and so forth. In the end it pops out a plan with material list. That list was much more detailed than the first one I got. Using them both together I think I have a pretty good list of materials for my first order.

Here is the thread with the reference to the online tool:
click here

Thanks for keeping up on this blog! I hope you find the information helpful. If you have any suggestions for the project along the way, feel free to speak up. I love hearing your thoughts. Also, if you'd like to hear more detail about anything specific, let me know.

Happy building!

That is very cool…..I would be so excited that I couldn't sleep. congratulations on getting this far…

Yes, she sure is "purdy"

 

[Bikerdan]

A solid foundation

Finally! After days of planning, waiting, questions, weather issues, more planning, and more waiting, it's finally done! I have a foundation to build on! As you can probably tell, I'm really excited.

There were a couple of changes I was able to squeeze in to the plan before the pour. I added a Ufer ground and ran conduit to an electrical cement floor box so I'll have power ran to the middle of the room. I mostly plan on using that for my table saw and for running power to a set of outlets mounted on my out-feed table / assembly table.

Then, the weather finally got to a point where it was consistent enough for the pour to happen. We had to bring in a couple of trucks worth of cement and a pump truck to get the cement to the pad without tearing down fence or driving super heavy trucks on my driveway.

The first problem with the pour was that the trucks were both late so we didn't get started until about an hour after scheduled. The second truck was even later than the first one. That was a pain because the cement was setting up quickly and we still had to get j-bolts in and things smoothed out. That gets tougher when the cement is getting thicker and thicker.

After the cement was finally all dumped and smoothed, the j-bolts were put in, and much of the smoothing had taken place, the upper inside forms were able to be removed. This allowed us to smooth the inside and make it all nice and pretty. Many hours later and into the early night we were finally done and cleaning up.

And here it is almost cured enough to start building on!

Idn't she purdy! Woohoo!

One issue I have though is that the outer form for the back wall curb bowed a little. No one noticed until after the j-bolts were put in. Doh! That means I need to set the base plate for the wall back far enough that the corners hang over a little while the center of the cement wall protrudes a little. That sucks… :/ I think I can make it work though. My biggest worry there is that the bolts are following the outer edge (1 3/4 inches away mostly) which means they won't all be in the middle of the base plate. I may end up having to saw some of them off and epoxy some replacements into the wall in the correct spots. Oh well… Not much I can do about that now.

Here is a graphic to help describe the problem I just outlined. It's a bit exaggerated, but you get the idea:

So now I'm about to place my first order for materials. I am going through one of the big box hardware stores. They were quick with a quote for materials that they put together for me based on my plans. It's pretty good but they assumed a lot. They picked incorrect colors for windows, soffit, facia, and drip edge. They chose the wrong shingles. They forgot the wood for the garage door header also. There are a few more little things they didn't include.

Someone in a comment to a post on this forum mentioned a hardware retailer that has a tool online that was really helpful. It walked through a wizard like set of forms asking questions about size, openings, materials and so forth. In the end it pops out a plan with material list. That list was much more detailed than the first one I got. Using them both together I think I have a pretty good list of materials for my first order.

Here is the thread with the reference to the online tool:
click here

Thanks for keeping up on this blog! I hope you find the information helpful. If you have any suggestions for the project along the way, feel free to speak up. I love hearing your thoughts. Also, if you'd like to hear more detail about anything specific, let me know.

Happy building!

Thank you! It seems like this is about the only thing on my mind these days. .