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Thread: New Shop Location ?

  1. #1
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    New Shop Location ?

    Trying to decide which of two locations to use to add shop space at our new location. We just extended a deck out over a single car garage below the house ( in the 1st picture below). The existing garage is visible, in the 2nd picture. One option is to enclose the area below the porch, which has a roof over it. The single car garage is about 21x14’. The porch above is about 10x16’.

    F9115B14-BE03-46C9-B4A7-E5018EA87747.jpg

    127CDE70-B75F-4683-B7E3-09562A0EB7F3.jpg

    The second option is to extend a portion of the porch at the back of the house. The two screened in sections in the picture below are about 10’ each for a total of about 20’. The existing concrete slab extends out about nine feet. We are thinking about extending the deck above that floor 5-8’ and placing a roof over it. The resulting room below the porch would be 20x14- 20x17’. We would remove the steps in the picture as they serve no purpose. This is the second posible shop location. The wife is set in her plans for the porch. The only real question is which area to enclose.

    979F6B52-988F-40D3-9625-6DA797198971.jpg

    The room, below, is between the garage and the back porch. The wood panneling might be a little much for a shop, although the shop currently shares that location with exercise equipment. We plan to use it for recreation & exercise once we build out another shop location.

    F4A24FA0-000A-4D87-93BD-11E8F583CBA1.jpg
    Last edited by Mike Holbrook; 07-08-2018 at 4:36 PM.

  2. #2
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    Which of those two spaces would provide the most benefit once you have your future shop solution in place so any investment you make in time and money now is leveraged further?
    --

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

  3. #3
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    The approach I would give weight to is the one that would make the wife happier. In my limited experience (married just 48 years so I'm still learning) that is important.

    My own wife was happiest with the idea of a new, stand-alone building a few hundred feet away from the house. So I built it. She even visited once.

    JKJ

  4. #4
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    I can probably answer John and Jim with the same responce. The wife is sold on the idea of enlarging the deck on the back of the house. The porch above what may end up a shop is 40’ long but only about 10’ wide. The view from that area overlooks the river and the most attractive area in the woods too. She wants the porch wide enough for a large table and places to serve food from...

    This is the view, in winter. The area is covered in ferns and other plants in spring, summer & fall..
    E73B1206-0BDE-4A3F-86E0-BDA992050165.jpg

    I think if we bring the deck out 8’ the shop will have the area I am looking for, a little under 20 square feet. The top deck comes out 6” to 1 foot more than the floor on the lower porch.

    I am not happy with the support system under the deck we had built, above the entrance to the garage. I was thinking about just enlarging the garage shop into that area mostly to reinforce the porch above. I can do that work myself. I am less confident about building a covered area over the back porch. I will probably add walls under the porch over the garage and use that area for wood storage and machines. The machines can be rolled out under the covered porch when needed, leaving space for my car.
    Last edited by Mike Holbrook; 07-09-2018 at 12:37 AM.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Holbrook View Post
    The wife is sold on the idea of enlarging the deck on the back of the house.
    She wants the porch wide enough for a large table and places to serve food from...
    I'd do it in a heartbeat - I'm a fan of big decks - they add so much useful (if somewhat seasonal) living space. In our previous house I built a 1000 sq ft deck with multiple levels looking out over the woods and pool.

    This house had a big deck but it was poorly constructed about 35 years ago and deteriorating so we recently demolished it and built a new one. This one has an upper level about 20'x25' with an 8'x40' "walkway" to and around a screened-in porch on the other end of the house, with a smaller (250 sq ft) lower level, all looking out over the horse pasture.

    With construction mess (still working on spindles and railings) and view at an interesting time:
    deck_03.jpg farm_rainbow_P5113621e.jpg

    It's a terrible place to live but someone has to do it.

    We expanded one porch into a sun room leading out to the deck. A deck big enough to host a family or church group on occasion is a huge benefit.

    I'd say go for it and never look back. Get her involved with sketches, models, renderings. A happy wife is a happy life.

    JKJ

  6. #6
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    That would be a lovely view to enjoy while working on your bench, etc. And with spousal approval, it's kinda the "slam dunk" decision, don't you think?
    --

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

  7. #7
    If your wife want to enlarge the deck why couldn't you make it something like 16' X 40' and you both could be happy.

  8. #8
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    Do think about truck access to the shop. You want to be able to bring in big machines, and you want to be able to bring in lumber. A shop that is down a steep slope tucked behind the house is going to be a problem.

  9. #9
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    Here is the wife’s current plan for the bottom floor. The darker gray areas are existing areas. The medium gray is the projected area under the deck above. The light gray area would be gravel, outside, fenced dog areas. The medium gray area under the light gray area will be an inside area, for dogs to get out of the cold in winter. The dog area below the dog yard prevents expansion of the shop in that direction.

    Nice place John! The wife loves big wide decks too. It took all of 5 seconds to get the wife to buy into going out 8’ vs 5-6’, from the existing 10’ width. The insects are not bad there so we will probqbly leave the screen off to improve viewing.

    9A1A9545-A338-4169-B9E7-9A5005F7320C.jpg

    There is a drieway to the single car garage. There is a hill, but I have backed a trailer down it severl times. There is very little traffic on the road above the driveway as there are only about 3 houses past ours. The road ends in a small cul-de-sac.

    The deck, located in front of the single car garage will get additional support, maybe a wall. The area under the deck and the garage will serve as places to store machines/electric tools. Bandsaw, tablesaw, router table, lunchbox planer will fit on either side of my car. They are on wheels and can be easily moved. That leaves the “shop” for hand tools.

    B339B1D4-EAB2-421C-9B0B-FB7637202EBA.jpg

    The deck over garage/entrance to house is shown in this picture. This area is not part of the floor plan. The area projected for the new shop is visible as a brown deck on the back of the house. The shop actually would be just around the corner from the visible deck, which would remain, although a set of steps will be removed.
    Last edited by Mike Holbrook; 07-10-2018 at 4:54 PM.

  10. #10
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    You know...if you stopped exercising and parked the car outside...you'd have a really nice big shop! LOL
    --

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

  11. #11
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    Yes I would, Jim. That is my room on the ground floor too. I get the dogs and the shop. The wife gets the middle floor, although I get to visit that floor when food prep is needed. I do most of the cooking. Most of the exercise equipment is in my room now, if I just leave it there.......But you are correct that all the space is basically contiguous, which is important to understand.
    Last edited by Mike Holbrook; 07-10-2018 at 1:36 PM.

  12. #12
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    I am at the new location and thought I would take a few photos that might illustrate the projected new shop location. The steps, heading to left in picture would be removed. The floor of the upper deck would be brought out to about even with the deck the steps are attached to.


    image.jpg


    Here is the view we want from the deck.

    image.jpg

    As is obvious in the picture below, screen just makes a place for mold to grow. One more reason we want to enclose the lower area that is now screened. We plan to build a roof over the upper deck, but leave it without any screen. There will still be about 20x10’ of screened porch further down. There are minimal bug issues and the projected deck does have an existing fan.

    image.jpg
    Last edited by Mike Holbrook; 07-14-2018 at 3:21 PM.

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