Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 123 LastLast
Results 16 to 30 of 42

Thread: Workshop/garage design ideas

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Mar 2018
    Location
    Piercefield, NY
    Posts
    1,638
    I prefer Schlage door levers to the others I've tried, and am glad to know about the keypad lock option. We live right by the road, but we don't lock anything even when we are gone for the day, because nobody can tell whether we've all gone away or just one of us. If we go away overnight next year during the home renovation and shop build we'll have to find out which keys fit the current levers so we can lock the two main buildings, but I don't know about the outbuildings since they don't have doors that can be locked.

  2. #17
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    E TN, near Knoxville
    Posts
    12,298
    Quote Originally Posted by Zachary Hoyt View Post
    ... we'll have to find out which keys fit the current levers so we can lock the two main buildings, but I don't know about the outbuildings since they don't have doors that can be locked.
    Any locksmith or even the guy at Home Depot can rekey the locks, if you want them all the same.

  3. #18
    Join Date
    Mar 2018
    Location
    Piercefield, NY
    Posts
    1,638
    I don't mind them being different, I just will have to take the keys around and find which ones go where and mark them accordingly, and scrap the ones that don't fit anywhere. I buy Schlage entry door levers on eBay and get whichever style is cheapest at the moment. I bought two to take with me when I can go to the new house, and I'll be able to tell them apart because one is sort of pseudo-bronze and wavy and the other is shiny silver colored and straight, and the keys match the colors. I got both sets for $35 or a bit less combined, so it was much cheaper than in the store. All I want for now is to be able to go in and out when I want to, and to lock the doors when I'm gone.

  4. #19
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,638
    Something we did at our old property, which will likely be duplicated when I get a building up, is to keep the house and the shop separately, but have a master key that works with both. It makes for providing access to the house without doing the same for the shop for safety and other reasons. Stick with one brand of lockset...I also prefer Schlage as does our locksmith resource.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  5. #20
    Join Date
    Mar 2018
    Location
    Piercefield, NY
    Posts
    1,638
    I didn't know that it was possible to have a key that opens two different locks like that. It sounds handy. I must have been living under even more of a rock than I had supposed all these years.

  6. #21
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,638
    Master key systems sometimes get forgotten, but can be really useful in situations like this where the "owner" can have the convenience of one key, but have differentiated access to multiple structures. At our previous property, for example, we could give a key to a pet-sitter to take care of our birds while on vacation that would allow them into the house, but not allow them into my shop building. That, combined with a temporary alarm code, made for a lot of convenience. Our older daughter also had a "house only" key due to her emotional issues and couldn't access my shop where there were lots of sharp things. (we had a lock on the knife drawer in the kitchen, too) The house-only keys were also numbered so we could keep track of them. For someone that has a side (or primary) business on their residential site, the converse can be true...a worker/assistant/partner can have access to the shop without having access to the home, but the owner has one key access to both.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  7. #22
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    E TN, near Knoxville
    Posts
    12,298

    Master key (codes)

    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Becker View Post
    Master key systems sometimes get forgotten, but can be really useful in situations like this where the "owner" can have the convenience of one key, but have differentiated access to multiple structures. At our previous property, for example, we could give a key to a pet-sitter to take care of our birds while on vacation that would allow them into the house, but not allow them into my shop building. ...
    That's also an advantage to using digital keypad entry locks but with a bit more flexibility: you can assign different codes and change them when desired. For example, I use a "master" code for all my locks on two buildings. I encode a temporary code for the farm sitter to enter one section of the house to feed the cats.

    We have the same flexibility on the keypad that opens our security gate.

    I ask the person to supply a code he can remember. No physical keys to keep up with.

    JKJ

  8. #23
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,638
    Yes, that's the same general idea, John. At the time, "digital keypad" locks were not really an option like they are now. I thought about putting one here on the new house, but decided to just use a key for now. Maybe when I have a shop building built I'll reconsider and do the keypad thing.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  9. #24
    Join Date
    Mar 2018
    Location
    Piercefield, NY
    Posts
    1,638
    I just got a quote from a lumberyard's truss supplier, and it would be about $5k for conventional attic trusses for a 24x24 building, with a 2x8 bottom chord, and about $6k for gambrel attic trusses. I am back to either having a full foundation to frost, so I can have a center post and a beam and use 2x12x12 floor joists, or else I'll have to do a 14x28 portable building or so on skids. I haven't looked for foundation estimates yet, I want to get a definite idea of the location and measure any slope, though it looks like not much from the road.

  10. #25
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,638
    While I'm not the biggest fan of Gambrel style, they do offer the biggest upstairs space without building a true second floor plus a roof truss system. Those truss prices don't seem too far out of line to me, honestly.

    Personally, I'm likely going to look at post frame for my shop building when the time comes; either traditional wood or metal based on a "carport" type structure. I'd prefer the former for a lot of reasons, but could live with the latter. I don't plan for a second floor, however, although there may be a small loft over the DC/Compressor closet for material storage.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  11. #26
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Western Nebraska
    Posts
    4,680
    5K for the truss package is a little higher than here, but not very far off. Buildings are expensive.

  12. #27
    Join Date
    Mar 2018
    Location
    Piercefield, NY
    Posts
    1,638
    I didn't mean to say they were out of line, just more than I would be willing to pay for what I would get. For about $2500 at current prices I could get enough 2x12 to make a triple beam and do 16" floor joist spacing, 2x8x16 rafters on 16" centers, and 2x6 side walls 4 feet tall and framing for the gable ends. Of course by next spring these prices may be higher or lower, but I figured it would make sense to compare the current truss prices and current lumber prices. I don't know how much effect lumber prices have on truss pricing. Another thing about trusses is that I would have to rent a telehandler or other lift of some kind to place them, while I can build a stick frame by hand, on my own. The center post wouldn't be in my way, and I imagine whoever comes next would manage to put up with it.

  13. #28
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    E TN, near Knoxville
    Posts
    12,298
    You might also check into steel trusses. A neighbor just put up a building and said it was cheaper to go with steel trusses than wood. The steel trusses have built-in brackets to make fastening to beams and purlins simple and secure. Perhaps they are more useful for steel roofing, I don't know. I'm planning to add a 24x72' farm building this winter so I'll investigate soon.

    When I built my 24x62 shop I used conventional wood trusses but specified 2x6 chords instead of 2x4. A friend hired a guy with a mobile crane and the roof went up very quickly with one crane operator and three guys on the roof. I think I paid the crane guy about $150. 2x4 purlins, sheathing, synthetic underlayment, galvalume roofing and it was finished in a day. My job was easy - lifting all the materials with forks on my tractor.

    roofing_2012-11-21_15-28-29_709.jpg

    JKJ


    Quote Originally Posted by Zachary Hoyt View Post
    I didn't mean to say they were out of line, just more than I would be willing to pay for what I would get. For about $2500 at current prices I could get enough 2x12 to make a triple beam and do 16" floor joist spacing, 2x8x16 rafters on 16" centers, and 2x6 side walls 4 feet tall and framing for the gable ends. Of course by next spring these prices may be higher or lower, but I figured it would make sense to compare the current truss prices and current lumber prices. I don't know how much effect lumber prices have on truss pricing. Another thing about trusses is that I would have to rent a telehandler or other lift of some kind to place them, while I can build a stick frame by hand, on my own. The center post wouldn't be in my way, and I imagine whoever comes next would manage to put up with it.

  14. #29
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,638
    John's post eludes to an important thing to consider. While Trusses can cost what they do, there is great labor savings over stick building a deck and roof structure. That's one of the major reasons that builders opt for them as much as they do other than where unique situations dictate stick-built. That's less of a factor if you are building yourself, but even then, the time savings and reduced physical effort can be meaningful. It's not just about material cost, in other words.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  15. #30
    Join Date
    Mar 2018
    Location
    Piercefield, NY
    Posts
    1,638
    There is indeed a labor (or a time) savings to trusses when working with a crew, but for me working by myself I think it might be just as quick to build with lumber joists and rafters. It would be a lot of up-and-down on the ladders and on and off the machine to get the trusses placed accurately, and worse if the lift had a seat switch. When I built the 28x48 building here I not only had to build it myself but first I had to cut down the trees, skid them to the mill, and make them into boards, so working with bought lumber that's dry and already cut will be quite a labor-saving feeling, for me. I can build a laminated center beam in place, one piece at a time, once the 1st story walls are framed, and once that's up I can nail on joist hangers and then go along and place the floor joists from the ground. The hard part would be lifting the 3/4" plywood sheets up to the second floor level, but I'd have to do that with trusses too and it wouldn't be too bad, just tiring.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •