Change of Plans! For the Better?

[LM14]

Nobody around here will rent a bucket truck to you. We had a very well known, high profile local electrician killed when he flipped his personal bucket truck and it's a sore subject around these parts. He was even my neighbor's brother but he can't even get their truck anymore.

Final size of addition is 26' wide and 34' deep (that's what is formed up now). The garden shed off the SE corner will be 10' wide and 8' deep. The patio will be 16' wide and 8' deep.

Miracles do happen, a tree dude called me tonight and will (supposedly) be here tomorrow evening to give me a quote! Any bets on whether he shows or not this time? He was supposed to be here last weekend.

Today, the folks at Mr. Menards big building said they could deliver the building 2 days after it's ordered (and for some reason, paid for). If we get the tree situation taken care of we may have a building started next week! I am not a carpenter. Hate it! Built the last one in '92 and it's stood up so maybe this one will, too. Electrician is lined up (Iowa has some weird laws on what you can wire and what has to be done by a licensed electrician). Got help lined up (hopefully) for standing up walls and putting the rafters up.

This may happen yet!
SPark

[LM14]

Fun day for all.......well maybe not the guys doing the work but I had fun.

Ready mix trucks always remind me of an elephant with diarrhea.





After 34 years of watching, testing materials and inspecting contractors pour concrete bridges, boxes and roads, it's kind of nice to just sit back. These guys did a great job, pleasant to be around, no drama and they do great work.




Everything is done except the control cuts. He'll be back in a few hours to make the cuts with his soft-cut saw.

Now to see if the tree clown will actually show up tonight. Any bets?

SPark

[LM14]

Concrete is all poured! Trees are trimmed! Building is ordered!

Should see the main building parts delivered Tuesday afternoon. The rafters and vinyl siding will be delivered on the 11th so I have a week or so to get things ready for them. Have a lot of volunteers, want to bet how many actually show up? I know I can count on 3 of them for sure, anything else would just be in the way when I throw my hammer/saw/board/etc.

Let the fun begin! Did I mention I hate carpentry work?
SPark

[Gritsngumbo]

Nice to see a plan coming together. Keep us updated with pictures.

[dbrady]

Very cool addition - am very jealous!

[LM14]

Day 1 of carpentry work was Tuesday afternoon (I hate woodworking of any kind, never was any good at it, don't own all the "right" tools, never wanted to do it, did I mention I hate it?). Got everything unloaded mid afternoon and by evening had the west wall built. Dianne helped me stand up the first short piece against the existing garage. She tries but she doesn't weigh much more than a couple 2x4's herself. I think she's only helping to get all my crap out of the house and into the new building. She's helped check dirt grades while I ran the backhoe/loader to get the site ready for the concrete guys, pour the concrete for the garden shed portion off the corner of the new building, helped lay out walls, snapped chalk lines and carried in tools when it got dark. I think she's up to something, myself.

Day 2 (today) got all the sidewalls and half of the interior wall built by noon. Got them all stood up with the help of the guy that took over my job when I retired. Helps to have somebody that built custom homes for 20 years setting things up. He's big enough to pick up walls by himself while I clamp/brace/or do whatever he tells me to. These pics are from the 4:30 break at end of day 2.





Still have to lay out the end wall and the remaining part of the interior wall this evening. He's stopping over after work again tomorrow to set the rest of the walls, straighten the walls and add the top plate, then get the roof truss locations laid out. It's sure nice having friends that know what they are doing.

SPark

[bmcgc]

I didn't see any kiddie prints in that concrete.

[rickairmedic]

Spark do you have plumbing available in the shop just incase She is up to something you may wwant to use the john or taake a shower now and then .


Rick

[LM14]

No plumbing there. She did mention it would be good to put a bathroom there so the south end would be like a little studio apartment. Hmmmm.

I have a garden hose nearby and the house is only 50' away but you may be right.
SPark

[LM14]

I didn't see any kiddie prints in that concrete.

The only marks are Dianne writing the date in the corner of the storage shed on the SE corner of the building. After she was done, I pointed out that it would be covered by the walls. Oh, well.

I think there is a small skid mark where my grandson fell down while running across it Sunday afternoon. Don't worry, he didn't do any damage to the concrete.

The last concrete we poured together, a cat walked down 70' of sidewalk just after I finished it and went in the house. When we went to look at it later that night, it was already too far set to do anything about it. We like cats so it works.

SPark

[bmcgc]

I did carpentry work back in the 70s, so my memory is a bit foggy.

How tall are your walls? With a top and bottom 2x4 + the wall stud are you over 8 foot?

I don't remember trimming the studs so that a standard sheet of sheetrock wouldn't end up to short.

[LM14]

This is what is on an 8' sidewall.

Bottom 2x4 plate, common 92-5/8" stud (no cutting necessary), top 2x4 plate and second top 2x4 plate/stiffener = 97-1/8" floor to bottom of rafter. With the 1/2" sheet of plywood on the ceiling/bottom of the rafters, that leaves 96-5/8" to fit a 96" sheet of plywood/drywall in. Only 5/8" to play with but it leaves you enough room to keep things square, compensate for any floor dips or bumps and still not have to trim any sheets.

I'm using 1/2" 4 ply plywood for the interior walls and ceiling so it matches what we did 20 years ago. The south 12 foot, the area between exterior wall (not shown in pics but it is just now built and goes up tonight) and interior wall (east half shown in pics, remainder goes up tonight), will get a little nicer wall treatments and ceilings. That area will be more "office like" (Dianne is calling it the studio apartment).

SPark

[LM14]

Everything up and sheeted. All the electrical laid out (not stringing wires until the rafters are up). Rafters are scheduled to be here Thursday along with all of the siding.

Here is an overall view.





Here's the "hobby room". 12foot left to right and 26 foot long.




Here's the new shop area. 22 foot left to right and 26 foot deep.





Here's a view with my back on the existing south wall of the current garage and looking south thru the door between the shop area and the hobby area.



All we need to do is final straightening on the walls before placing the trusses this week.

And before I hear any smart remarks about Dianne being in these pictures working and me not being anywhere.....



The fat sweaty guy in a green shirt standing outside the wall is me, working (and sucking in any air I can find)! I carried all the wall sheets while they air nailed. It was only 98 degrees with around 10,000% humidity! We've had a great hot spell during all this work. It's been over 95 degrees every day since we started. Great weight loss program!

Later!
SPark

[Gritsngumbo]

My only remark was going to be about the dude in the bare feet on a construction site

[LM14]

That's my neighbor. He taught me how to do all this when he ram-rodded the building of the main garage 20 years ago. Since then, he's battled health problems. He can't breath, can barely walk and talk, his lung collapses and he's not supposed to lift anything. He just can't stay out of it! I had to keep stopping him from lifting things, holding boards, bending over to get stuff, etc. Love him, will never have a better neighbor......but I don't want him dying in my new addition!

He comes over every afternoon after work (school teacher) and checks our work. He also does a neat little dance every time he steps on an acorn! I pointed out that he would probably walk better in shoes and I wasn't responsible for him stepping on something. He said he has enough sick leave to miss the rest of the school year so he's comfortable with it.

SPark

[bmcgc]

Are you going to run air lines and cable in the walls? Gotta have internet and TV out there. Its super handy to be able to watch a youtube video guiding you through a task with the laptop sitting on the fender.

[LM14]

I have wireless internet and it goes that far. Just take the lap top out. If it becomes a problem, my son-in-law works for a company that provides cable/internet/phone and does fiber optic work so he can fix it.

My electricity runs thru the walls and up in the attic. It will have a pull-down stairway for attic access and it will let you go into both buildings thru the one access point.

Haven't decided on TV yet. I'm more worried about heat getting put in (I say that and it's exactly 100* right now) before winter comes.

Air will be surface mounted, using these kits.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/ ... apid%2Bair

SPark

[rickairmedic]

Steve what are you looking at for heat ? A couple of mini split heat pumps would take care of your heating needs aaaaaaaaaand as a bonus keep the joint cool in the summer .


Rick

[LM14]

Dianne asked about heat pumps. That's what we're looking into now. The shoeless guy in the pics has one in his house. You got a couple to demo? I'll put in a good sales pitch for you! Seriously, I'm open to professional input!

Later,
SPark

[rickairmedic]

Steve come on down to Louisville I can take you to a few of my installs of Mini Split Heat pumps . I have a set of them in a church rec hall I did . The job would have been around $15,000.00 if I had put in a ducted system . The job ended up at less than $7500.00 with the 2 mini splits and they are tickled pink with them . One other option I will toss out there is a portable heat pump unit . I have several of them I loan out to customers when I cant get them heat or air for a few days for whatever reason . I have one of these units and will be adding a few more as all my others are strictly AC only .


http://www.soleusair.com/lx140.html


Rick