New Shop (1st personal SMC MAJOR GLOAT) for me

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Folks,

This is my first major gloat. I met with a recommended contractor today. We hit it off. His bid was the one in the middle. My neighbor is a painting contractor. My neighbor knows the guy.....recommended him and stated " Oh by the way, he's president of the local homebuilder's association". So.......he comes back with a contract to sign on Thursday. My wife transferred the funds today into our checking account.

My new 30'x24' woodworking shop should begin taking place as soon as the rather large english walnut tree is removed from our back yard. It will have 200 amp 220 service......natural gas radiant floor heat.....walls insulated to R-21....ceilings insulated to R-40.....10' ceilings 1 - 10' insulated garage door.....3 3'x4' windows........1 36" walk-in door...1 10'x10' finishing room. I'll install the heating, electrical and finish the interior. I know what my summers going to be like!!!!!
I hope you don't mind my gloat........No more woodworking in a parka on the carport!!!!!! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

[Frank Pellow]

Congratulations Ken. According to your specs, our respective new shops will have a lot in common. Yours will be about 1/3 bigger than mine and it sounds like it will be better insulated. But, I expect that your new shop will be ready before my new shop.

Please post plans and progress photos.

[Dick Parr]

Congratulations Ken, it sounds like you have it pretty well thought through. I know when I was building mine I couldn’t wait to get home from work so that I could start working on it. Yours is 6 feet bigger then mine and the floor heat I couldn’t find anyone in the area that could install it so I went with direct vent gas heat. Everything else is the same except I didn’t put as many windows in because of security reasons. I ended up with one 36” window that I put an air conditioner into and its 7 feet off the ground. It cuts down on the natural lighting but I feel better knowing that no one can walk around and look inside to see what’s there. Make sure you have lots of lights and then put in a couple extra plugs so you can add more at a later date. I added 6 extra outlets into the ceiling to hang electrical cords and extra lighting from. The one thing I do wish I had done was add more 220 outlets around the shop for future tools and to put them on all of the walls. Because after 7 years the shop has changed a number of times to fit everything into it and I have to run a 220 extension cord to my planner when I use it because I didn’t think I would ever need a 220 on the front wall. :(

Have fun and enjoy you new shop.

[Terry Quiram]

Ken

Congradulations. I had a lot of fun when I built my shop and I am still having a lot of fun in the shop. You didn't mention AC. I put everything in the attic space. All of the vents are in the ceiling.

Terry

[Ted Shrader]

Ken -

Congratulations. Have you fired up the chain saws on the walnut tree yet? Will you be able to use it for supplies your new shop. When is the ground breaking?

Pictures as it goes up.......

Ted

[Jim Becker]

Congratulations, Ken! That's great news about the shop and I'm sure you'll be keeping us all in the loop with progress...including pictures. (wink, wink...nod, nod... :p )

And don't forget your woodworking friends if you don't plan on using that English walnut tree yourself! :D

[Jim Barrett]

Ken,

Congrats! Sounds like a great shop, well insulated, plenty of natural light, plenty of power. Make sure you post some pictures during the build!
Best of Luck!
Jim
;)

[Kent Cori]

Lucky duck, lucky duck, lucky duck! :) You now have a moral obligation to post progress pics as the buidling and fitting out develop.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Folks,

Plenty of 120 oulets. As the run progresses down a wall, 2 circuits will feed them, with everyother outlet on a different circuit. Every 3rd outlet will be a 220 outlet (for current and future toys....tools that is).

AC...no plans yet. Terry, though our temps are generally similar to those in Roanoke, we do get about 3-4 weeks of 100+ degree weather in late July and early August. The difference is that our average humidity is only 30-40 %. I am placing the 3 windows with the bottoms at a 5' level. They'll provide light and cross ventilation.

On Friday of last week, LOML contacted a contractor to remove the English Walnut tree from our backyard. He said it'd be about 3 weeks. Now the general contractor whose building the shop says Friday he's starting a finishing job that'll last about a week and a half. I wonder if the guy who's removing the tree has ever heard a grown man, father, grandfather CRY? I'd remove it myself but there's limbs hanging over into 3 neighbors properties and it's tall enough that if I dropped all at once, it could span my property and just clip my neighbors shop. Me thinks my liability is limited by letting a pro do it.

Will have plenty of 4 plug boxes in ceiling for lighting. Boxes are cheap and easy to wire before the walls and ceilings are enclosed.

Anyone wanting some English Walnut in the Lewiston, Idaho area? It's about 18" diameter at the base and has several major limbs 8-10 inches that are extremely straight. As it has been watered regularly by my sprinkler system for the last 18 years, the grain should be very even.

Jeez........get the shop built finished and then there's that Jet 18" b/s.....hope my wife doesnt' see this! :o Honest dear, it's an addiction....better than drugs.......cheaper too from what I hear......please dear....don't hit me! :eek:

[Don Abele]

Ken, sounds like an excellent plan. Everyone talking about new shops make me very envious. Can't wait to stop moving and finally get to build my own. In the mean time I'll collect all the great ideas for a shop and use them when it's my time.

BTW, I hear the American Medical Association is looking into classifying woodworking as a disease of addiction :p At least in my clinic it is!!! :D (at least that's what I tell LOML).

[Tyler Howell]

Hoo Yah! Sounds like a Plan Congrats Ken.

[Ron McNeil]

Ken, sounds like a nice shop. You seem to have a nice plan and to be on top of it. Congrats :p

[Chris Padilla]

Ken,

You shall soon split at the ears from that grin you've been donning for a while now! :D Congratulations and be sure to allow us live vicariously through your copious amounts of photos you will publish here for our droo...uh, perusal! :D

[Chris Padilla]

And don't forget your woodworking friends if you don't plan on using that English walnut tree yourself! :D

Hmmm, at leat he's on the correct side of the Mississippi!! :D :D

[Scott Coffelt]

I'm definitely jealous. I still have hopes for asimilar type gloat, but can't seem to get the lot thing yet.

Anyways, sounds like you have the right ideas going on with it. If I were you, I would really think about having the tree person cut in sizes that you can have milled up. I would sure hate to see that much tree just mulched. Besides, one way to celebrate the trees long life is to mill it and turn it into something beautiful. Even if you do not like walnut, you can spend the dollars up front and then sell for much more then it cost to prepare it. Mike even make enough to cover the costs of a new BS :D .

If I lived close, I would be there to pick it up myself. Too far away.

[Mark Bachler]

Congrats!! Now don't get too excited and take it easy. Building my shop darn near killed me, really. Just keep adding money & it will grow.

[Robert Ducharme]

it sounds like this walnut tree will really add to your stress level. How about after the contractor gets it out and cut into 16' lengths (or just gets it out), I come up and help remove it from your property. :D It would let me test my bandsaw, jointer and planer. ;) Colorado isn't that far :)

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Robert, it's English Walnut......the trunk is about 16-18 inches in diameter....it trifurcates. Several of the major "limbs" are 8-10 inches in diameter and 6 or more feet long. It's been watered by my lawn sprinkler system for 18 years and the grain should be fairly even. I'll take a photo and post it here later this week. Colorado is quite a distance from here. Driving from here to Denver last year took about 24 hours of driving time. I've got now use for it now. No b/s........don't do spinny things yet.........

[Fred Voorhees]

Congratulations Ken. I know how you must feel as I went through the same thing when I was having my new shop built. Well actually, I had the frame of the building put up and sheathed, and I practically did everything else. It just doesn't seem like work when the end result is a nice new woodworking shop! Keep us posted with pics, pics and more pics. I'm sure that Tyler will keep on you with that one.

[Thomas Canfield]

The new shop plans sound like a dream come true. My wife convinced me to take the plunge about a year ago and the shop has been a dream come true and a place to occupy my "retirement" until something comes up.

I would encourage you to take a lot of pictures during the constuction phases to help you remember. I had a contractor do my shop also and was out of town during much of the construction. The pictures have come in handy trying to remember the type of framing in areas, electrical wiring runs, etc. The contractor suggested and I went with "hardy board" which is about 3/8" pressed wood with a paper coating that came primed. The heavier board for the walls worked well in being able to use screws for hanging most anywhere except for heavier loads. The only problem was using a screen mold over the joints, but that has not been a major problem. The shop interior was finished with oil enamel and the texture walls do not retain a lot of dust. I had to go a little extra on the interior finish since my wife said the shop had to be good enough if I croaked she could use it for something, or if we sold the house it would have multiple appeal for future buyers and not just a wood workshop.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[John Miliunas]

Ken, you're embarking on what promises to be a very enjoyable trip! Good for you! I've got an OK shop, but still often dream of being in your position, being able to design and build from the ground up. And, as already mentioned, progress pics are *mandatory*! :cool:

[Kelly C. Hanna]

Very nice....I bet you'll have a blast watching it go up....take pics for us poor folks working in garages and carports...:D

[Boyd Gathwright]

Hi Ken,<O:p</O:p

Just some thoughts, I have found from my past shop experiences that 120 AC outlets every four (4) feet along the walls and about two (2) feet off the floor make it very convenient. Also, you might want to consider overhead 120 AC drops strategically placed, like down the middle of your shop, they always come in handy at the right time. One other thing you may want to consider, though not as many needed, is placement of 220 volt 50 amp receptacles in such a manner that nowhere in your shop are you more than a reasonable distance from any one of them.

Good luck with the project.


Boyd :)

[Bob Marino]

Ken,

Gloats don't too much better than yours! Congrats! As others have said, I hope you post some pics of the shop as you are getting it constructed.

Bob

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Folks,

Thanks for all the ideas. I'm sitting here tonight using a cad program to make the drawings to take to the city building inspection dept. to get the permits.

Tomorrow the building contractor will be here with a contract to sign. This evening I talked with the guy whose removing the English Walnut tree. I'll move my fifth wheel trailer this weekend and take down a 14 foort section of chainlink fence. He's agreed to come early next week to remove the tree so the construction site will be ready the following week when the building contractors ready. That gives me a week to get approval by the building code enforcement dept. My counterpart at work leaves tomorrow for 10 days which means my workload is fixing to increase immensely. We have enough work for 3 and get by with two. Last week I worked 70 hours between 0700 monday and 0300 Friday. The pace between work and getting building permits will pick up dramatically......but I'll survive.......might not be pretty.....but I'll survive!

Attached is a photo of the english walnut tree being removed. The new shop will be built 5 feet in from the chain link fence. As you look at the photo....the 24 feet dimension will be left to right .......the 30 feet dimension will be away from you.....

[Frank Pellow]

Beautiful tree! It's a shame It has to go. Lets hope it gets re-cycled into objects that as impressive.

I only had to sacrifice a lilac tree for my shop. A much easier decision but, even then, our tree will be missed.

[Stewart Crick]

Ken,

That sounds awesome!!! Congratulations! If you don't mind me asking what is something that size going to run you? Been thinking about making the plunge myself.

Stu

[Robert Ducharme]

I somewhat agree with Boyd on the receptacles. The only difference is I would set up a box with 4 receptacles every 12 feet (what I did). This reduces the number of boxes and still gives plenty of power. Also, instead of making it 2' off the floor, consider where you are going to have workbenches and their probable height. Place the receptacles about 6 inches above the workbench surface. Needs a little pre-planning but it is a lot easier than trying to take the power from behind some workbench and making it available later on. In addition, the higher outlets make it easy to plug things in without leaning over. Most tools (large) will be at that height and this probably makes it more convenient to plug them in also.

Concerning 220V, wire for 30 amps unless you know for certain you will have a higher amp tool. Unfortunately, almost every tool seems to have a different plug than the type of receptacle you will have. One choice is to run the wire and set the box but cap off the wires in the box until you know specifically the tool (and have it onsite). At that time, put in the receptacle that matches the tools. I made the mistake of setting in a certain type of receptacle in mine and have already replaced about 6 of them over the last 6 months. Oh well, it is only money :(

[Stan Smith]

Have you considered ceiling outlets for 110/220? I've added 3 220 and 1 110 outlets to the ceiling after the shop was done. FWIW don't skimp on the outlets now. Also, try to find flourescent lights that don't hum so loud. Consider allowing for your compressor and DC to be outside in attached sheds. Wish I had.

Stan

[Doug Littlejohn]

Congrats!!! Post pics of your progress, inquiring minds want to know.

I share in your excitement, I am finally beggining to actually do the work of covnerting my 26x26 pole barn into a workshop. I'm having to build a covered are next to it to store all of the %#$@&rap that is in it!! Then I can begin to build it out.

Yours is way more fancy than mine though.

Have fun!!

[Jim Becker]

Unfortunately, almost every tool seems to have a different plug than the type of receptacle you will have.
I have not had a 240v tool that came with a plug installed yet! And that's just fine as I think that "you" should choose the plug format you prefer to use and standardize. Everything that runs on 240v in my shop, excepting the Oneida cyclone uses a twist-lock. The only reason that the DC doesn't is that the X-10 controller I use for remote switches isn't available in that format--and that's not a problem as the outlet is 6 feet off the floor and not where it could get knocked, anyway.

I'm not saying that everyone should use twist locks as there is a bit of a cost upgrade to do so, but standardizing on something makes for more convenient "rearrangement" when you need to do that temporarily or permanently.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Folks,
Thanks for all the advice. I will be placing 120 x 4 outlets probably every 8 feet in the ceiling. I am also going to add some near the wall in the ceil in case I might want to move lighting near the walls. I will place a couple of 220 outlets in the ceiling and a couple in the floor for t/s, thickness planer and other future equipments I won't mention in case the LOML reads this! :p I will find some kind of 220 plug and standardize the 220 oulets....less headaches to worry about later when using the shop. Now's the time to take care of that type of stuff.......

This morning I met with the contractor.....a minor problem about the pouring the concrete for the radiant floor heat. He checked the price of using a pumper.....I checked with the company supplying the materials for the radiant floor heat (I'm doing it myself). Pumper is affordable but will blow my immediate budget and the company says you can wheel it providing I leave it pressurized with air to 25 psi during the pour and they use plywood to roll the wheel barrows on.........Tomorrow morning I am going to the city building code department and get permits. If no permit problems.....Saturday the contractor and I will meet.....sign contract and it's on....Don't expect any code problems....it's a shop for goodness sakes! Got to finish the plans on my cad program tonight. Did I mention that I worked from 0800 until 2200 tonight. Counterparts is out of town.....it could get ugly! I'll survive! :D

By the way.....my shop isn't and will never be fancy. My hopes are that it will be comfortable, useable and efficient. This will probably be the last big expenditure I make before I retire. I am building this at my wife's insistance. She wants me to have it and she (whose older than I and could retire now) suggested I build it and volunteered to work a couple of extra years to pay for it. In the end we should both be able to retire at the same time. I am truly a "lucky duck"!

Gotta go work on those plans. You know how building code departments can be sometimes. Keep me in your thoughts tomorrow!

[Frank Pellow]

Good luck with the building department. I am finding my local building department to be very helpful.

[Mike Johnson - Chicago]

Ken,

I know we are all wood butchers here...but that is a really nice tree!

Did you give any thought to an unconventional shaped shop that would allow you to keep it? I could imagine a 'U' shape that would make a courtyard with the tree in it! The fringe benefit would be that it would shade your shop in the summer!

Takes a long time for a tree to grow into something that has 'presence'.

Of course this comes from someone that cut down a 60' willow to build his shop :) The roots were super aggressive and the 'canes' it showered everywhere 'cancered' the surrounding buildings....rotted the shingles right off my (and 2 of my neighbors') garages! If my lot was any wider, I would have definately kept it though...

Just a thought!

Regards,
M.J.

P.S. Oh yea, congrats on the new shop, but be prepared to practice mediation, as it usually takes longer than planned! It's worse than waiting for X-mas as a 6yr old!