A Building Appears

[Frank Pratt]

I don't see the edges chamfered ;-)

What Glenn really needs to do is remove that blocking, take over to the router table & use a round over bit to ease & beautify those hole edges. Couple of coats of Arm-R-Seal, put it back in, and be proud of it.

[glenn bradley]

I guess I asked for it, right?

[Jim Becker]

You should have anticipated the cheesy comments...of the Swiss variety in this case.

[glenn bradley]

All the holes for internal wiring are complete.

[Jim Becker]

Glad you got through that drill....

[Bill Carey]

Glad you got through that drill....

As Brad pointed out, that bit of work took a whole lot of labor. It augers well for your building.

Seriously Glenn, its going to be a great space - extraordinarily jealous watching you build it.

[glenn bradley]

Thanks Guys. Many years in the making. I have all the interior wall and ceiling boxes in. Got a couple of the outdoor switch boxes in. I like exterior boxes a bit shy of flush with the siding. A plywood scrap makes an easily attached gauge for this.

New Shop (107).jpg

These will house a switch for a "porch" light and a convenience outlet for whatever one may want to temporarily plug in for outdoor activities.

New Shop (110).jpg . New Shop (109).jpg

They are lockable although a carabiner should be adequate to control the grand-kids who aren't old enough yet to learn to control their curiosity. There will also be a couple of outdoor outlet locations on the wall facing the house for semi-permanent use as this is targeted to become a patio-covered gathering place in the master plan.

[glenn bradley]

Finished the external electrical boxes today but, this was the highlight.

New Shop (112).jpg . New Shop (114).jpg

[Frank Pratt]

I have that same type of attic ladder, but the ladder part is wood. I love it. So easy to operate & very sturdy. I built a box on the underside of the door that holds 4" of XPS insulation.

But for more hilarity, you should have gotten the type from Christmas Vacation.

[glenn bradley]

I have that same type of attic ladder, but the ladder part is wood. I love it. So easy to operate & very sturdy. I built a box on the underside of the door that holds 4" of XPS insulation.

But for more hilarity, you should have gotten the type from Christmas Vacation.

Thanks for the info on adding a framed space for some insulation Frank. Although there is a bit of foam board built into the unit it is pathetic when faced with the full-force of our SoCal summers. I had been percolating on some Rube Goldberg sort of R-30 'flap' that would come down over the ladder hole when not in use. A lightweight box of insulating material on the underside is perfect.

[Jim Becker]

The aluminum version was a good idea for a number of reasons, especially for a 10' ceiling. The wood one here in our current house is somewhat heavy compared to the aluminum one in the garage of our new place we're closing on tomorrow morning.

Do you expect that you'll actually be going up there? I forget if you specified attic trusses and didn't scroll back to check.

[glenn bradley]

I went back and forth on that for quite some time. In the end there were a few contributing factors.

- Where I live attic temps can reach 160 degrees for extended periods.
- I have other outbuildings for storage.
- I'm not getting any younger.
- I had to make some tough decisions as to how to spend the budget.

If I wanted that additional storage, and believe me I had a plan including it . . . decking, storage layout, access, etc. I could have gone with a full or partial different truss format, insulated differently or done some other very doable design changes to make the space usable for such.

In the end, the environment, intended use, existing outbuildings and cost led me to my current design. There will be platforms at about 12" above the joists to clear the insulation. There will be adequate space to store resilient, light weight or delicate items like seasonal decorations. There will be about 40 square feet of stackable space that can be easily reached from the ladder.

New Shop (117).jpg

This brings up a possibly interesting factor that the design took into account. I'm getting older. Things like boatloads of storage in an overhead, while attractive, in reality are not key benefits to my next score of years on this rock. I spent the money on HVAC instead which I would not have dreamed of 10 years ago.

A lot of the focus on this shop is on the fact that it will be my last shop. Many items are present not for today but for 10 years from today. Although I can't see it this morning I imagine there will come a day when I will be glad to have heat or A/C in the shop to make things more comfortable for my poor, weary, body

[Rick Potter]

Since you are thinking of the future, and I am living in it, allow me to suggest that if there are optional handrails available for that ladder, add them.

[Alan Lightstone]

Solar attic fans? They saved a boatload on electric bills and made a huge difference in attic temperature on my last house in Florida.