Shop Build...should be a fun journey...

[Jim Becker]

Other than some minor touch-up around the bump out on the lower rear wall, all the compound application is completed and what was actually dry was sanded. Two very small areas needed a third coat to feature out short butt joints. Tomorrow, after I get back from picking up a pallet jack I am buying locally, I'll take care of the remaining sanding unless something doesn't appear to be fully dry. After sanding, I can get things cleaned up and prepare for paint. I will be using an airless sprayer for this task...it's a lot of wall. LOL

[Brian Tymchak]

Looking great Jim! You sure do quick work. All that taping/mudding/sanding would've taken me 3 weeks (or more).

[Jim Becker]

I only sand once, Brian, and a space this size can be fully sanded (by hand using a sanding sponge) in a couple hours at most. I can absolutely confirm that keeping the number of butt joints to a minimum really helped with this process, however.

[Jim Becker]

Very little time on the shop project today due to picking up a pallet jack in NJ as well as a Costco run with Professor Dr. SWMBO. What I did do, however, was get all the "excess" construction tools and materials out of the space so that when I get done sanding and cleanup up, I can go right to masking for paint.

[Jim Becker]

Completed the compound sanding and most cleanup today; the only place that isn't yet sanded is the little bump out on the back wall which needs a little more time.

Dealing with some concerns on the mini split which I will discuss at a later date.

[Wes Grass]

I spent a fair bit of time today going back thru this, looking at details, and watching the videos.

My hat is off to Jim. I think I'll just have to 'pay the man' or it will never get done. I'm already 3 years behind.

[Jim Becker]

Wes, it's been very surprising to me how quickly some of the tasks can be done, relative to those I choose to do myself. But my choice of building format was also STRONGLY influenced by "time to build"...for this project from a bare pad to fully built in 8-ish hours was a nice thing compared to stick built. The floor was also easier and faster as there was no need for more complex excavation to accommodate either footings or a monolithic slab. (A metal post frame "car port" type building would have required the monolithic slab, too)

Just to put things into perspective, the work I'm doing myself is not full days...I typically don't go out to work until late morning or after lunch. I'm not a "morning person"...

[Jim Becker]

Today was prep for paint day. Other than a brief sanding I want to do on the compressor platform to smooth it out a little more and making a cover for the person-door to use while spraying, I'm ready to go...I even picked up the PVA primer and paint today. If all goes well, I'll start on this process tomorrow. The majority of the room will get its paint from an airless sprayer with hand-applied up above the roll-up door 'cause masking off all that stuff would be a thankless task.

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[Jim Becker]

Today, I finished the prep for paint with caulking the baseboard and giving the platform a little sanding and then proceeded with spraying the PVA primer. It took a few minutes to put together the airless sprayer I bought (HFT Avanti...actually really nice for the $199 I paid for it on sale) but from there, it was a matter of getting used to the way the gun sprayed and moving through the room. The PVA primer is white and I'm SO glad I decided on a slight grey tint for my actual paint coat. White is way too stark for me in this big space!!!! (Still partially wet in the photo) If things go well, I'll get the color on tomorrow.

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[Bruce Page]

That is going to be a wonderful space!
Very envious!

[Lawrence Duckworth]

Glad to see you bought a spray rig Jim. As you know most everything in construction is modular and for the life of me I never fig'rd out why paint roller covers were 9'' long...cuttting them down to 8" gets tiresome

[Christopher Charles]

Looking great! You must be getting excited about getting to the finish line!

[glenn bradley]

Looking good. Maybe I missed it. No ceiling drywall? You're going to heat/cool all that airspace? Just curiosity. You know your environment. Being really warm here 9 months a year I tend to react to my own cooling requirements without thinking about other climes.

[Jim Becker]

Glenn, no ceiling. That's why I went closed cell spray foam. There is a trade-off in air volume that needs to be conditioned, but that's countered in a meaningful way by the lack of air infiltration/exfiltration. Warm (or cooled) air stays in place pretty well.

Lawrence, spraying was a no-brainer. It's amazing at how fast one can move through a big space like this once they get a rhythm going. The Avanti sprayer works very well...I cannot complain about it for $200, for sure. It's not a good choice for indicidental spraying as it's aimed at bigger jobs with its design and has "big" cleaning needs post-spraying...I'd want a hand-held airless for that kind of thing, but really don't have the need. I'll probably sell this off once my project is done as I do not anticipate any kind of large painting jobs into the future.

[Jim Becker]

I'm happy to say that other than a few minor touch-ups, the painting is now complete. (Oh, ok...other than those touchups and the future window/door boxes, etc. ) It's amazing how quickly one can move through an open room like this with an airless sprayer for sure and I'm happy with the end result. I actually didn't need to use a brush/roller up around the overhead door as the gun had pretty darn good control. My "practice" with the PVA primer yesterday also sped things up as well as increased the quality of the finish with the colored pain. This is a very light grey (called "Elemental" in the PPG chart) and keeps things bright without being glarding like "white" and also is much better for photography than "white" would be.

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I managed to get most of the cleanup taken care of before ending my day...and it's nice that the trash goes out tomorrow for Wednesday pickup. Next steps are to do the final terminations on the electrical and start work on the various sound mitigation things I have planned in my head.