You guys asked for it:Before

[John Miliunas]

Thanks an awful lot for all the wonderful comments and encouragement. Yeah, I still pinch myself 'bout every time I walk in there! Going from roughly 300 sq/ft to this just amazes me. It's far from perfect; The floors kinda remind me of a kiddie roller coaster. Jack (previous owner) did the unthinkable after hanging the drywall: He sand-texture sprayed the ceiling AND walls! Heck, he didn't even have it wired for the TV/Stereo! Then, we met with our insurance dude yesterday evening. Looks like the wood stove has to go! I can handle the higher premium, due to the excellent heat source, but for whatever reason, they *have* to include that as a reference point for the coverage on the entire property, even though the shop is detached from the house. Turns out, my personal property coverage gets cut WAY back, because of it. Looks like I'll probably go the "Hot Dawg" route for heating and stick an AC unit or two in the walls for Summer use. Still, even with the "negatives", it's a heckuva' lot more than a lot of folks have and for that, I'm extremely grateful. I'll try to get some WIP (Work In Progress) pics up here, as well. It's already come a long ways since the pics you see here. Thanks again!

[Don Abele]

John, did your insurance person tell you why the increase in price/decrease in coverage for your stove? I had one in my house in Maine and inquired about putting one in my house in Washington and neither would have done anything to my insurance if installed according to current code standards. Just curious (and still envious of that shop).

Be well,

Doc

[John Miliunas]

Dale, it appears that, not only this insurance carrier, but *many* in our area have similar coverage clauses in regards to wood stoves. I was curious as to why our old home, which was a LOT bigger, only cost a few bucks a year more. The coverage was also bigger. Here's the kicker: Our old place had TWO wood fireplaces! His explanation was pretty simple and actually makes sense. Fireplaces, which typically vent straight up through the hood, do a better job of "cleaning" themselves. Stoves, on the other hand, have a much greater tendency to collect creosote on the flu walls and a create a larger chance of that creosote being used as a pretty volatile fuel. If if catches on fire, you stand a real good chance of it getting blown back in or, at the least, a LOT of smoke damage. I regularly use the powdered creosote cleaner on a "hot" fire to assist in that cleaning, but the insurance carriers only see the greater potential for a fire (more like the potential that they'll have to actually pay out on a claim!)

Truth be told, I was planning on some type of LP heat out there, just to keep the place at a low level of heat when I'm not in there. Unfortunately, that $200.00 option just turned into about a $500.00+ option! On the bright side, I pull the stove out of there and I'll pick up close to 50 more usable sq/ft.!

[Jim Becker]

Wow! Nice space...not like mine with the stupid stairway in the middle!

[Steve Rybicki]

John, I really enjoy seeing your photos. I'm on a similar journey in that I have a 25' x 25' space that needs to be turned into my workshop. Unfortunately, it has nothing done. No electricity, no cabinets, not even all the wall board is up.

I'll be watching your progress and hopefully I can learn a bit from your experience. Good luck.