Once the concrete slab and patio were poured, the framing went up super fast. The daily progress from this crew was simply amazing, as many of the folks who watched the Live cam can attest to. I took one picture of the wall studs laid out on the ground and didn’t get another shot until a couple days later when the walls were up!
There was a crane scheduled to help hoist the trusses in place. As you can see, he was late. So the crew had to lift them in place manually. Fun to watch, not so fun to do.
The OSB sheathing went up in about two days. You can see they left some spots open for support boards. Once the building was able to stand on it’s own, the boards were removed and the gaps were covered with OSB.
The patio came together rather nicely. I honestly wasn’t sure how they were going to connect the patios so that it would look seamless, while also making the connection to the house. Finally today, the patio framing is pretty much complete and the two patios are now one. That’s a lot of patio space, but it’s something we felt the shop needed for both additional protection from the sun, but also to conform to the existing look of the house (a big deal with our HOA).
The front of the shop certainly deserves some explanation. I have no doubt that if we ever sell this house in the future, a big drawback of the shop will be that it doesn’t have a big garage door. Frankly, there are more “car guys” than “woodworking guys” out there. So I thought it would be worth a few extra bucks to install a header for a potential future garage door. If someone really wanted to, it would be easy enough to demolish my double doors and expand the opening. As you can see in the second shot, my doors result in a much smaller opening and a lot more interior wall surface. The doors will be a set of glass patio doors to match what we have on our house and with both doors open, I should have about 5′ to work with.
These are two of my favorite shots. The interior skeleton and the yard view. So far, I’m very happy with the progress and I continue to be impressed with our builder. It won’t be long before I’m moving those tools out of storage and into their new home!
Looks great!
I’d like to make a request. Could you do a show on workarounds…like using a router table to joint board edges. Also, a few tool buying tips like how to choose a hand saw, teeth material, style etc.
Well you might be surprised at how many workaround lessons already exist in the archive. http://www.thewoodwhisperer.co.....rs-jumpin/
As for hand saws buying advice, I’d recommend folks like Shannon at http://www.renaissancewoodworker.com/blog/ and Bob at http://logancabinetshoppe.com/ Those guys live and die by their hand saws. I just buy Lie Nielsen and call it done. :)
Great looking shop, Marc. I may have missed this somewhere but how high is the ceiling?
10′
The shop is looking good and making great progress.
I would like to know if you are doing anything special for noise suppression in the walls or how your hanging the dry wall? There are some neat ideas out there and would like to hear if you have incorporated any into your build? I am sure you have thought of this for the late night shop working with the family very close by.
Good question! Actually Im not doing anything at all other than standard insulation. Sound really shouldnt be much of an issue with our setup. If the shop shared a wall with the house, I might be a little more concerned. Fortunately the connection is just at the patio so there’s plenty of room for noise dissipation.
What kind of lighting and how much are you putting in your shop? I know you mentioned previously that because you film in your shop you have different needs but would you use anything different if you didn’t film in your shop?
Having a great GC is priceless. The old saying holds true big time with the guy running the show. Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten. I’d rather pay a little more and know it’s done right and the way I want it then be dissatisfied.
Marc,
what are you using for finished walls? I was just contemplating about what I would do. I wouldn’t want drywall but local fire codes make it necessary, especially if the building is attached to the house. I also think hardwood floors would be nice and a little easier on the feet. Looks great so far, cant wait to see it finished!
Marc Murdock
I’m going with drywall. Anywhere I want a more “woody” look I will just put up some t&g material like I have in my previous shops. Everywhere else, I actually prefer the look of the drywall. I’m sure we also have some code issues here too. For flooring, I am most likely going to go with an engineered hardwood floor. Easy to install and floats.
Fantastic progress! How much direct supervision, if any, are you doing?
I’m looking out the window. Does that count? :) Actually, I know nothing about erecting buildings. So I have a general contractor that does the day to day stuff. He is incredibly good about keeping me in the loop and accommodating any changes that I request as we go along. When I was taking bids for the project, I had a couple that were actually cheaper than this guy. But just in my initial conversation with them I could tell they weren’t very good communicators or listeners for that matter. This guy, while a little more pricey, made me feel like I was being heard. There’s no room for miscommunication on a project like this. So thankfully, he hasn’t let me down yet in this regard.
On my project, not a shop, the contractor was a good listener at the start and middle of the road for price. He was accommodating but wanted a change request for additional dollars even though cost was the same or less. Like you say there is no room for miscommunication from the start. Congratulations on your choice of a great contractor!
It is looking really good Marc! I hope some day you do teach a few classes there! You would never have a shortage of people taking you up on that!!