Birth of a shop

[Marty Walsh]

marty, what i did was have the local sheetmetal shop break 5` sections of 14ga galvanized metal into a "u" shape 6wx4h, then break a 6-1/8wx 3/4 "u"shaped lid. i welded the trough together in the attic&90`d down to the panel. leave the lid sections 5` for easy access. a standard stud-punch makes perfect holes for ridgid emt connectors. drill-n-tap for 1/4-20 lid bolts and you`re good to go.
no i didn`t use any romex in my shop at all, even the lights are wired with 10ga, all the lighting circuits are switched via contactors from one switch, compressors, same way only 4ga wire for their run. so when i come in in the morning i throw 2 switches and i`ve got lights-n-air, outside security lights another contactor and switch...some food for thought..02 tod

Tod,

Definetly food for thought. I think I'll be pestering you for more information when I get to the electrical for the shop.

- Marty -

[Marty Walsh]

LOL.... Didnt see this part of the post. When someone asked my brother and I about the best way to build a building these days... we both blurted out in unison...

SYTROFOAM.........CONCRETE......and OAK!

It was funny to hear this come out the way it did....

Dev,

I was expecting some input from you, which is why I named you and your taste for heavy iron personally in my initial post!

Given the specified load capacity which was designed for 3/4" sheathing, and the fact that I'm increasing that to 7/8" and will probably top it with another layer of 3/4" 'something', I think I'll be able to handle some pretty heavy iron. And since the shop is large enough, I'll have it spread out a bit. I think I'm going to be fine. Time will tell...

- Marty -

[Marty Walsh]

While that's a good start for a shop, you still need to make it bigger!

Murphy's Law #4 "The amount of junk you accumulate equals the square of the place you have to store it."

Wow, I didn't think I'd be getting the usual 'make it bigger' comments based on the size of the shop. But, there's always one in every crowd!

Seriously Chris, I'm hoping between the main part of the shop, and the tremendous storage space I've designed into the attic, I won't outgrow the shop for quite some time!!!

One of my challenges when I start populating it with my tools and new acquisitions is to use the space efficiently. I'll be sure to solicit input from the seasoned experts on here...

- Marty -

[tod evans]

Tod,

Definetly food for thought. I think I'll be pestering you for more information when I get to the electrical for the shop.

- Marty -

feel free but be forwarned i ain`t no `lectrition! and here in the sticks osha-n-inspectors are fed to the hounds...but what i`ve done has passed the approval of some friends who are card carrying union `lectritions as far as function and overkill....02 tod

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Marty..........I'm not an electrician but I work on large scale electronics. When it comes to electrical as Tod is saying ....you never have to apologize for being over sized!

[Pete Harbin]

Congrats on the pending shop Marty!

Pete

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Marty, That looks like a great shop in the making and I thing you're wise to wait on the final organization until later on. Great plan!

[Marty Walsh]

Well, time for an update while I wait for the delivery of my 60 bags of concrete and 28 forms/tubes...

I'm at the dirty and boring, yet critical, stage of levelling the site and laying out the foundation/piers.

Had a buddy with a backhoe come over last night and grade the front a bit so the porch will be properly elevated in relation to the shop:

Attachment 39462

Then I spent the morning and some of this afternoon setting my batter boards up, stringing the site, and marking the exact column locations:

Attachment 39463

Now that I've seen the shop layed out on the ground, I'm starting to scare myself a little. It's one thing to layout a big shop in Sketchup, it's another altogether to actually see the size of this thing on the ground! Even with my wide angle lens, it's tricky to get a shot of all the columns.

Attachment 39464

Once I had the columns marked, I dragged out the laser level again and reshot the grade. I then created an exact scale mock-up in Sketchup showing the precise grade of the site. This allowed me to determine exactly how deep each row of piers has to be dug. Because of the grade change, I've decided I'm going to raise the rear columns 2' with an additional section of tube. That's easier than having to regrade half the site. At least that's the way I see it:

Attachment 39466

The backhoe is due back here this evening so I can get the holes dug tomorrow. Assuming the concrete and tubes get delivered today, I should have them all in and ready to be poured early next week. But it's getting late and I don't see a truck yet...

I had originally thought about doing the hoe-n-wheelbarrow thing, but a thread in the off-topic forum got me thinking about those 60 bags on their way. I took a quick run to HF in Savannah and picked up the electric concrete mixer while it was still on sale. Should save my back and arms...some...

Thanks for looking...
- Marty -

[Marty Walsh]

Well, no concrete showed up yesterday or today.

But what did show up was the backhoe I was expecting, along with one of the best dang operators I've ever had the pleasure to watch in action. It sure helps to have friends with heavy equipment!

Attachment 39536

Using the grade diagram above that I created in Sketchup as a guide, I screwed together some scraps and made story boards for each of the four rows of holes. All I had to do was stand around while he dug the hole and when he thought it was about right, he'd have me stick the story pole in the ground to judge the depth. I'd give him the thumbs up and off he'd move to the next one.

Attachment 39538

What would have taken me days with a shovel, took less than two hours. And I hardly broke a sweat:

Attachment 39540

I now have 28 of these in the yard:

Attachment 39539

We still have some cleanup to do in the bottom of the holes to make them level and ready for concrete. That's tomorrows task. And since the concrete and tubes didn't make it here, I can take my time and spread it over into Monday if I need to.

Fingers crossed that I hear a truck coming down the path first thing Tuesday...

- Marty -

[Steve Clardy]

Thats a good start!!

[Corey Hallagan]

Wow, that is going to be some shop! Looking forward to see the progress!

Corey

[Frank Pellow]

Getting the holes dug properly is a big step.

I hope that the concrete shows up soon.

[Jesse Cloud]

Wow Marty, what a great post. You are going to have one great shop. I think your decision to put a porch on it was inspired. Keep those pics coming!

[Marty Walsh]

Time for an update...

We spent the long HOT weekend cleaning up the holes, and adding blocking in those that required it. (I owe LOML *BIG* time for ruining her holiday weekend since she was out there helping me!!)

My bags of concrete and Quik-tubes showed up first thing this morning as expected. All told, 84 bags (80lb) of concrete mix, two full pallets, and 35 tubes were sitting in the yard when that truck left. I'm glad they sent a couple of young kids to deliver it. I didn't have to touch a bag!

I then spent the better part of the morning/afternoon TRYING to assemble my new Harbor Freight cement mixer. I've updated the thread in the Off Topic forum here with the gruesome details. Suffice it to say, it was NOT one of the easiest things to assemble. I did suceed. Here's proof:

Attachment 39761

That picture also shows 76 bags of concrete still on the pallets. I say 76 since the HF mixer was able to get almost 8 bags mixed before it DIED

Here's how far we got:

Attachment 39762

Three miserable pads poured is all we got done! The motor of the mixer got so hot I could fry eggs on it. It decided to die in mid-mix on the third batch. So we had to finish mixing that batch by hand, as well as the next to finish off the third pad.

At least they're going to come out ok, at least from the looks of the first three:

Attachment 39763

So, tomorrow's game plan is to head to the local rental place to get their industrial strength mixer. I'll get as many pads done as I can before the heat of the day sets in. Once it's too hot to work anymore, (or once this old body tells me it's had enough), I'll load the &^%$ HF mixer in my truck and bring it back for a refund.

And Frank, after mixing those last two batches 'your' way with a hoe and wheelbarrow, all I can say is you're a better man than I!!! That's NO FUN at all!!! And doing that for 76 more bags would probably put an end to me... Oh, and the fact that it's been in the low to mid 90's here for the last week hasn't help matters!

Hopefully more to follow tomorrow. Thanks for following...
- Marty -

[Frank Pellow]

Sorry about the problems (but not surprised) with your HF mixer Marty.

What you have done so far looks good.

I think that 90 degrees F is about 32 degrees C and I spent the last two days working outside all day in temperatures that were warmer than that (35 degrees C) and with high humidity as well. Its draining isn’t it. But I was decking and gardening neither of which is as hard as mixing concrete. I doubt that I am a better man than you –the largest project I ever didwith hand mixing was about 30 wheelbarrows full –less than what you would need to do.