LudCab Shop

[Justin Ludwig]

1/26/2017 4:52pm Panorama of the shop location. Perk test holes are dug - waiting on permits.
356547

1/31/2017 Morning then Evening
356548 356550

2/1/2017 Evening
356551

Insert a month of work and weather set backs. I formed, graded, vapor barriered, and rebarred all by myself. Setting 184 pieces of rebar in one day for a 40yr old man was stupid. But I did it. I even tied 40% of it that day. Beer never tasted so good.

Today 03/20/2017 - I found I have the county's largest hopscotch pad. FWIW - the rebar passed strength tests of 35# girl jumping all over it.
356552

[John LoDico]

Beautiful location, nice-sized shop. I'm envious. Look forward to more photos as it progresses. Good luck!

[Justin Ludwig]

Thanks, John. I really tried to justify putting it on the other side of the house but it blocked our view of the Ouachita (pronounce Wash-eh-tah) Mountains from the kitchen. Plus it was 6' of fall and would have cost me another $3k in dirt and labor.

Finishers and pump truck will be here at 7:15am to set up and concrete arrives at 8. Shop should arrive next Monday.

[Mike Heidrick]

Nice. No pex for in floor heat?

[Justin Ludwig]

No way. Lowest temp we had last 2 years was 27. :D 3 years ago we had a week of cold and some snow. I'm zone 7B

[Justin Ludwig]

Pump truck and crew showed up at 7:15. Turns out the pump truck was owned by my best friend's (from high school) husband. I knew he owned 2 trucks, but didn't expect to see it 170miles south of my home town.

Mud started flowing right before 8am.
356669

Gracie had to inspect the work. 55F this morning. Topped out at 83F this afternoon with 43% humidity. Was a good day to pour a pad. Tomorrow is overcast and possible rain, so it will cure nicely.
356670 356671

Good reflection
356672

[Frederick Skelly]

Very nice. Look forward to more pics!

[Martin Wasner]

Need. More. Info.

[Rick Potter]

My three kids went to Owe Wah Cheeta U. Of course, they are all older than you. It was quite a culture shock for all parties.

[Justin Ludwig]

Need. More. Info.
Well, I'm 6'3", 220#, like long walks in the woods... oh on the shop?

40x80 slab, 40x70x10 with 3/12 scissor truss. Inside truss is 1/12, so that gives me 14' at the center peak. Bringing in 400amps of 120/208Y (I'll upgrade to 480V when needed or just buy a transformer for select machines) - power line is 75' from shop. 356695

Shop gets here Monday, Tuesday at the latest. Will take them 3 days to throw it up. Overhead door will arrive the following week. 1.5" of 2# closed cell on walls and 2" of 2# on roof. The material deposit for the shop was just shy of $14K and the insulation is gonna run me $11.5k. Whatever - it's worth it.

I'll hiring electrician to run the disconnect and set the panel - the rest I'm gonna wire myself. I'm leaving perimeter walls uncovered unless the look of the insulation drives me nuts. The rooms will all get some form of wall covering. I'm thinking of doing the office walls out of my old barn that sitting "on the back 10" and rotting - it's 70+ yrs old and was used as a saw mill. All the stick trusses are rough sawn 2x4 RO and WO. Beautiful wood. The paint room will get slick side 7/16" OSB and a few coats of white enamel. I'll be constructing my own booth'ish. I looked online at them and robbed them blindly of their design and CFM requirements. Paint room gets vapor-tight LED fixtures.

A lot of this I mentioned in Jefferey Scott's thread. My lights & fixtures are sitting in my quansi-hut. Hyperikon (https://www.amazon.com/Hyperikon-Dual-End-Powered-Installation-equivalent/dp/B00SSNPI80/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1490179562&sr=1-1-spons&keywords=hyperikon&psc=1)bought at Amazon. Putting in LED ready fixture bought from 1000bulbs.com (https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/192382/PLT-20026.html)

(https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/192382/PLT-20026.html)I'm still shopping DC's.

[Jim Andrew]

Can't see any bolts in the slab. Assume it will be wood frame with metal roof, because of the 3/12 pitch.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Why the rebar in the slab? I built metal buildings for years, and never once used rebar in slab, only a piece bent into a "V" around where anchor bolts for columns went. Everything else was 6X6 #10 rewire.

[Justin Ludwig]

Pole barn built on slab. They'll mount the poles to the concrete. I dug 2' deep holes with an 8" auger where every pole is going to be placed. If they wanted anchor bolts they didn't tell me. (*edit* Confirmed with builder, no bolts needed.)

Didn't think about using 6x6 remesh. I've always used rebar.

[Martin Wasner]

Justin, I hope everything goes well for you. I've come real close to murdering some people with my building. It has been one of the most stressful things I've had to do. Toss in my land lord being a dipstick as icing on the cake and a cabinet shop requiring 80hrs a week of attention, I've been a stress monkey.

I don't think Greg has had much fun either with his experience putting up his building.

[Justin Ludwig]

I hear ya. I have a few years of building homes under my belt so I know what to ask and look for. I've done most everything myself so far. Dirt work and slab finishing was subbed out. The building will be here on the 3rd and it's from my home town boys that have been building all their life. They built my dad's shop 16 years ago. I've hired a reputable electrician. I plumbed it. Hopefully the insulation company isn't full of water-heads. I've seen their open cell work and it was well done.

I got lucky that I'm in the drawing phase of jobs and only have one solid surface counter job going ATM. I had to baby sit all week because of spring break. If I had a job going on that had a deadline, I would have hired a temp sitter. Gracie and I had a blast - her mom isn't so happy that half her clothes are destroyed now!

[Jim Becker]

Time spent with your Gracie is time well spent no matter what! New clothing can always be acquired and the old ones kept for "shop time with dad". :D

[Jim Andrew]

Hope you post pics of the way they attach the poles to the slab. Little kids are fun, after my granddaughter turned 10, she has no time to hang out with papa.

[Justin Ludwig]

I will. I'm quite curious myself. April 3rd...

[Justin Ludwig]

Behind a week because of weather. A week, pfft.

They showed up yesterday at 8am and the semi with material showed at 8:45. The storms came at 11-11:30 but they managed to get all the posts set.

358139 358140

When I pulled up to the site at noon, they were sitting in their trucks. "BREAK'S OVER!" I yelled when they rolled down the window. Foreman lifted a beer and replied, "What?" Being the complete hard-ass that I am, I had them follow me back to my current shop locale so they could get wet but enjoy it.

358141

They kept all the perch in a separate bucket and I dumped them on a bucket full of crappie. By the time they checked into the local lodge/cabin and made it back to my place I had cleaned 15 perch and had started on the first of 35 crappie. The caught enough to fill up 3 1gal zip lock bags of fillets. I sent them home for the night with a bottle of propane, a burner, and oil. They stopped at the store for other vitals.

Weather didn't break till noon today. So, in total, they've put about 8-9 hours on the slab.

358142 358143

Scissor truss perlins are all laid out for tomorrow morning. I'm picking the tractor up from NAPA at 8am (because I knocked out the front window last weekend) and I'll help them lift and set the trusses. Watch for dead pines when clearing tree line and shrubbery. That's all I'll say.

[Jefferey Scott]

Looking good. Hope the weather cooperates for ya.

[Justin Ludwig]

Update:
I helped them set all the trusses. One fella had to leave cause of family concerns. I was happy to help.
359001

A lot gets done in one day. 3 boys showed up at 4:45pm and they all worked till 7:30. Carpenter ants... They went from only the poles set to partially skinned in one day.
359002 359003 359004

I found their method of straight lining for screws interesting. When they built my Dad's shop 17 years ago, they used string line and chalk. I asked him how long he built barns before he figured out this trick: "too long" was his answer. 1st pic is about 10 sheets pre-drilled at once. 2nd pic is of the gable sides, they're staggered after drilling to match the rake and then cut to length all at once.

359005 359006

[Justin Ludwig]

Front of the shop. Still have a lot of fill to bring in.

359060

Finish room and office/bathroom.

359061

Spray booth.

359062

Open floor space.

359064

[Jefferey Scott]

Hey Justin, the shop is coming along really nice! I like the front porch. You are one busy man. :)

[Martin Wasner]

Nice dude. I debated a long timer about construction methods on my building. Poles was up there in the available choices.

[Jim Andrew]

The cool thing about this project is the poles are not buried in the ground.

[Jim Becker]

The cool thing about this project is the poles are not buried in the ground.

I agree....and like that method for a "pole barn". There's no wood in the ground. No matter how it's treated, eventually something's going to want to eat it. :) This method is likely a bit more precise, too.

[Justin Ludwig]

I asked my builder how common is was for this method and he said it's becoming a lot more common. He also said a lot of cities' codes will not permit poles in the ground because of the eventual rot. They drilled and ran a bolt through all the brackets after the walls and building were squared up.

Insulation started Wednesday. They are doing a great job keeping everything clean and layering it properly. Walls are finished and have 1.5" closed cell. Roof is about 50% complete with the 2nd inch. I'll start mounting electrical boxes and conduit this weekend.

I've been shopping dust collectors. It makes my head hurt. Having it engineered is way outta my budget (as I found out by a huge quote). I'm on the same page as Martin when it comes to buying used over new equipment. Now that I'll have 3 phase, my options are wide open.

[Martin Wasner]

I've been shopping dust collectors. It makes my head hurt. Having it engineered is way outta my budget (as I found out by a huge quote). I'm on the same page as Martin when it comes to buying used over new equipment. Now that I'll have 3 phase, my options are wide open.

I got real lucky finding my baghouse. The size, price, and proximity couldn't have been more ideal. Hopefully it works. I still haven't put power to it...

[Jim Becker]

I'm glad to hear you're using the closed cell spray foam...it's not only efficient as an insulator, it adds considerable stiffness to the structure. That may help cut noise, too, because of vibration dampening.

[Justin Ludwig]

They finished spraying today.

The humidity today was about bordering 217%. We were attempting to spray sanding sealer in my other shop and just gave it up, even maxing out retarder.

I got a call from insulation folks that all work was complete so I shut down for the day to check it out. HOLY SCHNIKIES! The temp in the shop felt 20*F less than it was outside. The humidity was gauged at -17%. Our skin started drying out. What a difference. I was really taken aback when I walked through the door. Pics tomorrow.

All numbers in the post are totally real and substantiated by my pending meteorological degree.

[Jim Becker]

Yea, it's good stuff. Our whole 2200 sq ft home addition was insulated with closed cell spray foam and it's been amazing.

[Justin Ludwig]

The expansion of the closed cell has made a tiny leak on my south window. Today's torrential downpours were quick to find the leak. The only spot it's leaking is in the office space. I'm glad I found out now and not after flooring was installed. I'm going to attempt to replicate the leak with a hose, then I'll get in and fix it. I can't hold the builder or the insulation company responsible without a finger pointing war. It's a fix I can easily tackle.