Finally getting back to my shop

[Daniel]

For those that have followed my adventures this last couple of years.
my shop building had pretty much come to a screeching halt. I also didn't have to many ideas where the $5,000 I expect it will cost would come from.
Yesterday I managed to buy a cement mixer from Harbor Freight that was just one small piece of the puzzle. when I got home and put it together, it was simply painted with red primer. I got some red and black Enamal spray paint and painted it. Standing there looking at my pretty new mixer. it was very much on my mind that I could not even afford the sand to put in it, and probably wouldn't for quite a while. just about that time my wife pokes her head out the back door and says our real estate lady was on here way over and she had good news. I knew we had to refinance our house by the end of this year, but it was real strange that she was calling us.
anyway as it turnes out. She has been keeping an eye out for us, having known our whole story, my wifes mother and us caring for her and all. Well she found us a deal that she didn't want us to loose out on.
In short we refinanced our house. will have $6,000 in our pocket and a lower house payment. In about 10 days I will once again be full speed ahead on my shop. By this time 3 months from now I hope to be talking to you all from the very first real shop I have every had.
sorry this is so long, but I'm as tickled as a child in a room full of puppies.
gotta go make my list now.

 

[tipusnr]

Congratulations. Most refinance deals do not come out so sweet! Have a good time building your shop and be sure to send pictures.

 

[wdcav1952]

Daniel, that is great! It is about time you and your wife got some good news after all you have been through! Can we expect some more progress pictures?

 

[Dario]

Great news Daniel.

Just make sure now that you make a realistic list for the $6,000 you have. Prioritize your projects and have a secondary list for stuff you can add later if there is still some "extra" money left [].

Remember...no more house to mortgage if you run out of money this time [].

Good luck and yes do post a few progress report please.

 

[JimGo]

Great news Daniel! Good luck with the build-out, and keep us posted!

 

[PenWorks]

Congrats Daniel, good luck with the build out. I have still been looking at my 40x40 pad for two years now [V] My new shop has turned into a parking lot[xx(]

 

[gerryr]

Good news and good luck with the project. Wish I had a real shop, but I'm stuck in the furnace room in the basement.[]

 

[leehljp]

Congratulations Daniel. I hope you enjoy your new shop and the building of it too! May it come in under expected budget! []

Sorry I haven't corresponded since meeting you at the UNR campus in February. Been traveling most of the time. I always look forward to your posts and picts.

 

[alamocdc]

That is good news, Daniel! Keep us posted.

 

[Daniel]

Thanks everyone, And yes there will be enough progres pics to get all of you sick and tired of them. I can actually post a progress pic from the latest one in my album. there is grass in my back yard and a huge patio out there now that I have not posted pictures of. we finished that last summer just before the 24 hour a day care started with my mother in law. I will get some pics and post them soon so there is a starting picture for this round.
I predict 90 days till I have a building to walk inside.
By the way this money is expected to get the outer shell up and a roof on it. no benches cabinets, shelves and all that. those things I get to spend the rest of my life working on.
20 years in the planning. this is going to be the shop of my dreams. I'm so excited I'm being stupid, and enjoying every second of it.
thanks for sharing in this with me.

 

[mick]

Great news Daniel....sometimes things work out for reasons we don't always understand. Looking forward to seeing the pics of the new shop!

 

[Daniel]

Here is the start photo for this year. you can visit my photo album for pics of last years work. sorry but I lost the pics that showed the yard at the very beginning. I'll just say you would hardly recognize it now.
this is the pad where the shop will be.

here is a couple of update photos from the work I was doing last summer.
to see more about that visit my photo album. the pics are a few pages back in my album but still there.

Excuse the clutter blocking the view. thsi is all stuff that is in winter storage under the awning. some of it belongs in my shop that doesn't exist yet. and the rest is just the result of our drop it where we are lifestyle. note my pretty red mixer. I thought it came out pretty sharp.

 

[rtjw]

Congrats Daniel. Glad to see things working out. Now if you put that boy to work helping you, you should get it finished in no time.

 

[pete00]

great news and good luck...

 

[TomServo]

Got a picture of the plans we can check out? what are the specs? congrats, by the way... I'm woodworking in my living room..

PS: don't forget to cure that concrete for 21 days! Read up on it... very important stuff

 

[Ligget]

Great to hear you are on the up! Can`t wait to see the pics of the finished shop![]

 

[Daniel]

Brian,
No picture of the plans, I do have drawings though. it will be 16'X 20', full 8' walls half way up will be Concrete blocks the other half will be timber framed. it will have 220 electrical. and a French door to enter through. it will be finished on the outside to match my house. It has heating and air conditioning.
It will be insulated and sheetrocked when I am done but that is not included in this phase.add a sink and a microwave I would be able to live in it. I eventually will add hardwood flooring the first floor will be concrete. and slowly work on making wood shelves, pigeon holes, cabinets and work benches. I want to actually work in it before I design those items.
As for the concrete block. when the building is finished you will not see the blocks from either the inside or the outside. they will be covered with earth or siding on the outside, and sheetrock on the inside.

 

[Daniel]

Starting the fourth day today and decided to post this before I go outside. the foundation will be halfway dug out today. I have a fairly large crew to battle withthe hard caly we have here. the Advil came out in force for everyone yesterday but we are on schedule. as for curing the concrete. I have to take a pause on the shop after the concrete is poured to put new siding on my house. and put in 5 new windows.sort of works out well that way.
by the way I've been working on a Buckeye Burl Amaricana pen for my customer in Italy during all this, and have e-mails from a new customer about a Gent pen. I seem to be going in 10 directions at once as usual. also have to get the clutch replaced in my truck before the construction get going full steam. need it for all the bits and pieces I forget to order the first time around.

 

[TomServo]

Heh, I know all about digging in clay - I dug a 10x20x4' pond in kansas "soil" - I found the best solution was to let it dry some, and it would come out much easier.

Another tip: sharpen your shovel... It sounds silly, but it makes all the difference when you're trying to dig in clay - I had mine razor sharp, and roots were a non-issue.. I reccomend a long handled spade-point shovel.

Don't forget that you have to wet the concrete every 7 (I think) days while it's curing.

 

[jdavis]

best of luck thanks for the good news

 

[Bev Polmanteer]

Daniel! That is wonderful news! You have waited sooo long that I can really appreciate your excitement. The Lord is smiling down on you and your wife. Use the $$ wisely and plan carefully and most of all give HIM the thanks!

 

[Daniel]

Thanks Bev, Nice to hear from you, and yes you have been along for the ride on most of this story, I can't believe it has been three summers ago that I was talking about my first shop plan in my parents back yard. It has been a fast and furious time.
nothing much to update on just yet, we are still digging out the foundation but are down to the last 4 feet or so of trench. I have to wait a bit longer to order the materials but hope to be pouring the concrete a week from this saturday. I then have a lot of concrete block wall to build, after that this thing will go up so fast it will make your head spin. I plan to frame the walls in one day. and the roof in two. we will see if I'm realistic or not.

 

[TomServo]

I'd highly reccomend a floor drain and a laundry sink, somewhere in your equation, at least it's something to think about..

 

[Daniel]

Tom,
A drain and sink would be nice. but water and sewer are about 30 feet and a $5000 patio away. not digging that up to put the lines in. I did get the conduit for the power under there before it was built though. Actually my original plan never had a sink. I may regret that but hey if it is that much of a problem I can always ad it later. the drain in the floor woudl be anouther matter. I may go ahead and put in the pipes just in case. the way it is situated I could let it drain to open air without messing with my patio.

 

[TomServo]

Daniel: if you don't plan on draining anything terribly disgusting, you could just put a rudimentary drain-to-grass arrangement in.. better than having a wet floor, if you spill a bucket of water or need to hose it down for some reason.. Like you said, you can always install it and not use it. I'd suggest some in-floor electrical if there's budget for it (PVC conduit is pretty cheap). It's nice to have a plugin towards the middle of a shop that doesn't hang from the ceiling, or present a trip hazard.

 

[Daniel]

Tom,
I do have the floor outlet already figured out. We got the foundation trench finished yesterday. and I started the trench for my electrical conduit. It has to pass under a pond (doesn't exist yet) so that trench is over four feet deep. I will then run one conduit to the center of the floor where it will be under my center work bench. it will also power my table saw and radial arm saw during construction of the shop itself. I actually have a drainage ditch just behind the shop. it is full of run off from the streets and gutters. I can't imagine having anything dirtier than that to wash out of my shop. anything hazardous I would clean up. looks like it will be about one more week before I can actually order materials. there is a hold up with getting our check. I still have prep work to get done but have to pace myself now. I could run out of things to do and then I very well might just self destruct from the waiting.
you all should feel lucky that you don't have to put up with my in person. I'm driving everyone around me nuts about this shop. they are starting to ask me just when I am going to take some time off at work,(jokingly). when you have spent over a year driving over 80 miles total to make a pen. the idea of walking ten steps out the back door to tootle around is better than a trip to disneyland.