New Shop

[John Bailey]

Well boys and girls,

I've enjoyed all the threads showing the shop building projects. They've been informative and interesting. So, since I started building mine, I guess I owe the forum pictures of mine. Most here seem to know what they are doing. I do not. The way I'm building might amuse some of you - horrify others. But, I'm enjoying myself immensely, and for a guy that made his living as a high school principal, this kind of individual work, working with my hands, has become a spiritual experience. So, whether the project turns out as a stunning example of well thought-out craftmanship, or, it falls over in the the first good wind, it doesn't matter. It's the process and the journey that is fullfilling.

I got home from Greece this August (my wife and I guide sea kayak trips in Greece) and started the wife's greenhouse. It took me a month and a half to build that, and thus, the shop didn't get enclosed before the snow began to fly. Building the wife's greenhouse first is making the shop project emminently more doable. The first two pictures are of the greenhouse.

The next picture is of me standing next to the excavation site. The shop is going to be 20x20. I excavated, by hand, 8" down over the entire site, then dug 30" trenches around the perimeter where the outer foundation will be and where the supporting interior foundation walls will be. The trenches were then filled with 1/4" crushed stone for drainage under the wood foundation.

Next are two pictures of the foundation going up. The foundation is 2' high on 16" centers.


I've got other pictures I'll post.
John

[Mike Holbrook]

Nice work John. I almost have enough refuse removed from my shop areas, so I can take pictures of mine going in too. Nice Green House, I have a foundation up for one of those too, but since the wife is not a big gardner I am sneaking my shop project in first.

Nice boats too, have done my share of white & flat water in North Georgia and North Carolina. Keep your planes sharp & your gunwales up!

[John Bailey]

The first picture is of the floor joists being laid. They are on 16" centers with spans of 5', 3', and 7'. The reason for the different spans get a bit complex to explain, unless someone really wants to know.

The next picture is at the beginning of November, I had the floorboards on, I knew the snow would start flying pretty soon, so I decided to tarp it up for the winter.




And last, sure enough, a couple days after I had put the shop to rest for the winter, we had a couple feet of snow. Up here, once the snow starts, it doesn't go away until the end of March, or sometimes April. In 2 or 3 weeks I'll start to work again and will start updates. Any questions or comments would be greatly appreciated.


John

[Bart Leetch]

Is this built to a plan approved by the building department in your area? Is that treated wood? Also considering where you live you should probably have a concrete footing & foundation that goes below the frost line. If you don't have this & the ground freezes & heaves your building will do all kinds of funny things that won't really be nice & you won't like it at all.

[John Bailey]

Bart,

We live in a very rural area filled with very independent folks. I have used the appropriate planning for the area. It is not treated wood. Remember the original post said I may do some things that amuse or horrify those who know what they are doing - this is probably one of them. My builder friends tell me my crushed stone base for the foundation is deep enough. They also tell me bugs will not be a problem in our area. That leaves moisture. I believe a combination of the crushed stone drainage, sloping backfill and plastic liner around the foundation will keep the foundation dry. I was able to download info with code concerning wood foundations. I don't like using treated lumber for environmental reasons, and so I am going to try this. Is it a risk, probably - but one I will take.

[mike lucas]

Sense you did not use treated lumber for the foundation, I hope you at least used yellow pine for that area, if not, you may notice rot within 8-10 years. Yes the gravel will help, but it will not fix it, just pospone the inevitable.:mad:

If it is not to late, you could crawl under there and paint the foundation with old used motor oil or something else that would help stop rot.

Other then this problem, it looks like you are doing a nice job.

[Steve Stube]

John, Friends don't let friends drive drunk but it's up to you not to hang with all alcoholics. My independent humble opinion.

[Frank Pellow]

Good start John! :) I thought that I was the only one here who digs out trenchs, etc. by hand. :rolleyes:

:( But, like some others have said already -SINCE YOUR WOOD IS UNTREATED, IT WILL ALMOST CERTAINLY DETERIORATE QUICKLY, even on stone. :( :(

I like the greenhouse appearence. :) Will the shop match?

[John Bailey]

Frank,

The shop will have the same stain, but the boards will be tongue and groove at a 45 degree angle instead of board and batten. That's what we have on the house and garage. Unlike the greenhouse, the wife would like to have the outside of the shop look like the rest of the buildings.

As far as the trenches, I'm not sure I want to do that again. Bending down to get to 3 ft. was a pain in the back and took forever.

John

[Bart Leetch]

John

When you start having rot bad enough to start causing the shop to settle you'll have a lot more than a pain in the back.

Please listen to the advice of the people that are trying to help you so you won't have problems.

I grew up around construction assisting my Dad & have assisted with the building of many buildings. No way would I put raw wood on gravel with no preservative of any kind. I just wish you would have ask the SMC group some questions before you started we could have collectively saved you some extra work & heart ache.

There is no replacement for doing the job right.

I know what I would do at this time. I would slide some temporary beams into position & jack this structure up just enough about 4"- 6" & slide some concrete pads under it & before I let the structure down onto the pads paint the bottom & edges of the material on the bottom with a preservative then let it down on the concrete pads.

I know as a Principal you taught the Kids it was better to do it right the first time.

[Frank Pellow]

John
...
I know what I would do at this time. I would slide some temporary beams into position & jack this structure up just enough about 4"- 6" & slide some concrete pads under it & before I let the structure down onto the pads paint the bottom & edges of the material on the bottom with a preservative then let it down on the concrete pads.
...

I was trying to figure out what I would do if I was in your situation, but Bart came up with a solution before I did. Please do what he suggests.