Tony's Workshop Progress (?) pics'

[Tony Falotico]

Well, I'll call it progress, but it's awful slow going. The North Florida heat has been unrelenting, making afternoon work almost unbearable. The building was completed just before Christmas, I fiddled around with it during the winter, paused three months to build the deck, then got back to the workshop. As you can see, it is a total shambles right now. I started placing cabinets, peg boards and stuff figuring whatever wall wasn't covered I'd fill in with something. That got to be looking like a real mess, so midstream I decided to do what I should have done at first, Put something in the ceiling to control heat / cold, and insulate and sheetrock the walls.

The first pic is last weekend, just beginning the sheetrock process. The rest of the pics' were taken this morning. Since then I have completed the first layer of joint compound and tape.

BTW, the distinguished looking craftsman in the last pic' is me.

Thanks for looking.......

[Tony Falotico]

I'm placing 2" styrofoam insulation between the trusses, that will be the final treatment. The building is a very large storage shed, I don't want to put unnecessary weight on the trusses, I'm not sure how much weight they were designed to hold. The purpose of the styrofoam is mainly to divert the heat generated by the metal roof. It will not be sealed tight like a house, that's not what I'm after, but well enough to hopefully control temperature. Not sure if I will AC or not, I'd rather not because I prefer working with the roll up door open. If I do AC, I'll have to figure a way to seal it a little better.

[Jim Becker]

Lookin' great, Tony!

You may want to check about whether you can leave that styrofoam uncovered--it may be necessary to put up 1/2" drywall as a fire barrier which shouldn't present a load problem since the weight is distributed. It will also help spread out the light and be easier to keep clean.

[David Wilson]

Looks like a great project. Are you sheetrocking the celing?

[Ken Garlock]

Hi Tony. It looks like you will have a very nice shop when it is completed. It looks like your roof is made with 2x6 manufactured trusses, so the weight should not be an issue.

With your plan of 2" of styrofoam, you will have another 3.5" of space between the foam and the sheet metal roofing. That is great ventilation space if properly used. If it were me, I would put in ridge vents and a lot of vents in the soffit. The movement of air between the metal roof and the styrofoam will help a great deal. Adding 1/2" sheet rock on the ceiling would be a good move also, IMO.

Enjoy your new toy playroom

[John Miliunas]

Lookin' good, Tony! I've got a pretty decent shop, but would love to be in on the ground floor of design/construction. Been finding a LOT of "gotchya's" with the one we that was here when we bought the place.

I do have a couple points, neither of which are coming from any type of "pro", just observations. One, although the "open air" type of working environment has its advantages, being in Florida, might it not introduce a bit more humidity than is healthy for both, your tools and wood? Secondly, if you do decide to drywall the ceiling, it's always been recommended to me to go with 5/8" boards, as the 1/2" boards have a tendency to "sag". Can't prove it by me, as I've done as I've been told and used 5/8".

[David Klink]

Looks great Tony.

I would go with drywall over the insulation as well, as a fire barrier if nothing else. Better safe than sorry.

[Mike Evertsen]

Looks good. Why are the outlets are close to the floor?

[Frank Pellow]

Looks good. I guess that my shop will be at about your stage by next December.

I would like to reiterate what others have said and that is that you realy must cover the insulation and that you need to have both ridge and sofit vents.

[Rich Konopka]

Outstanding job Tony !! I'm with you on the slow going. It is taking me a long time on my shop. Take your time and enjoy the time in the shop. One question, why don't you get a window unit air conditioner? It should take the edge off the heat and take out much of the humidity. Just my 2 cents.


Best Reards

[Tony Falotico]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions, sorry the reply is delayed but I've been away on business the last few days and the laptop connections failed on me (another story that I'm to mad to tell now!).

Responding to some of the comments:

I think you all have convinced me to go ahead and close the ceiling in. The trusses are 2x4 but were engineered to basic Fl codes. Remember this is a storage shed, so loading requirements are reduced. Anyway, I agree that covering the styrofoam with sheetrock is, if nothing else, a tremendous safety factor.

Ken, in answer to your suggestion, the soffits are ventilated the entire length of the building and the roof peak has a continuous vent, so air flow is maximized.

John, the climate in north Florida is ideal for most of the year (except the unrelenting heat June - August), usually by Mid September it's cool enough to work outside and stays that way well into spring. You are correct about humidity, very high down here. By enclosing the ceiling and providing good ventilation, I hope to reduce those issues.

Rich, the Window A/C unit is not out of the question -- I've wire for a 220V outlet where the A/C unit will go IF I decide to get one. I'm not ready to go out and buy one this week, but my mind could change once I get it finished.

Mike, the outlets are 12" off the floor. The walls are 7 ft , maximum ceiling height in the center is 8 ft. Yes, I know that's not ideal (not even recommended) but that's what I have and it's too late to change it. Long story there that I don't need to get into. That's also why I've been hesitant to sheetrock the ceiling, gives me an extra foot in the center to swing an 8 ft board between the trusses. I put lots of outlets, and three of them along the long wall are wired 10 gauge for 220V. Don't know that I'll hook them all up right away, but they are there if I need them.

Again, thanks for the comments and suggestions, I really appreciate your responses. I'll keep pic's posted as I progress.