New space from stimulus money.

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WestKentucky

WestKentucky

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Western Kentucky
I’m moving out, out of the garage at least.

The stars have aligned and I have started making plans for a small shop. I don’t have room for anything big, and nowhere flat enough for big anyways. With building codes being what they are and material sizes I have settled on a 12x15, so not big but big enough (and no permit needed). One wall will be reloading stuff. A 3ft by 10 ft bench with at least 6 outlets. The rest of that wall will be an internal dog house but I can store stuff on top. 240v AC on tap for a welder plug but most of the shop will be wired for 120vAC. Welder plug is primarily to give a good spot to feed power into the grid from my generator for times when the power is out for days (4 days total this past winter). Wood stove, window AC, cieling fan and plenty lights will make for a nice place. Of course the shop is small and the space will be shared between reloading, bullet casting, fly tying, and general workbench, each with their own dedicated spots, and a lawn mower right in the middle of all of it. I can’t wait to start building. I can’t wait to start loading, and last but not least I can’t wait to finally have a spot all to myself. I think that the first reloading adventure will be 38sw. Then 32acp, and I need to spend some quality time with 223ai, 6.8, 30-30 and .270. Thank goodness for tax returns and stimulus money.

So, if given a spot essentially 3x10 in floor space and 8 ft wall height how do you arrange your bench? Storage space will be ample thanks to 3 shelving units that can handle about 900 cubic ft of whatever crap I put there. Current bench is 2x6 so it will migrate and likely be the casting bench. It may stay in the garage as a small project spot.
 
Nice, I to out grew of my 6 foot by 7 foot walk in closet reloading room.
Our 10 foot by 14 foot shed use to be a room off of a 100 year old four car garage and was moved and set on untreated 4x4s which rotted out and the whole foor & floor joist were rotted. So I have been working on restoreing it for my reloading room. I will write up on it shortly.
 
Nice to have some elbow room. Take advantage of the vertical space.

I’m both blessed and cursed with having a ton of room in my house. Cant wait to downsize. Too much for just the wife and I. Less maintenance =more fun.
 
It’s going to be a 2 month project give or take. I essentially am limited to only working on it on saturdays, although the time critical bits I may do some evening work to get prepped so that saturdays go as seamlessly as possible. I’m not looking forward to the slab. Cant get a truck or a Georgia buggy to it without lighting off a rocket fueled by hundred dollar bills. It’s purely a proposition of dragging bags. My first purchase was a small concrete mixer and my next purchase is a baby trailer to go behind the mower. It’s going to take 8000 pounds of mix and I can get close to unload, but it’s still a 100 ft haul from unload to pour site so I figure 5 bags at a time in a trailer is easier than 100 rounds with 80 pound bags on foot. The lumber and sheet metal I think I can ease down the hill with the expedition, but I don’t trust the expedition with even 4000 pounds to hold the hillside. My neighbor has a baby John Deere 4x4 tractor so I may try to borrow it just to put the trailer where I want it with lumber.

100 80 pound bags hand tossed to the mixer and leveled will be a hard day. The internet reviews say it’s a 3 minute per mix minimum and assuming I rotate and dump very efficiently then it’s a 1 minute downtime between bags. 400 minutes of very hard labor. I haven’t worked that hard in years. It will do me good if it doesn’t kill me.
 
Thought I was the only one who had crazy hobbies, shooting, reloading, fly tying, old tool restoration, motorcycle riding, motorcycle motor rebuilding, collecting unique antiques....I should stop before I scare people off.
 
With lumber prices as high as they are it will cost atleast double if not tripple from a year ago.
I have been spending extra cas on our shed and it will be a while longer before it will be ready.
I put three 2foot x 2 foot windows in and bought a new window single room AC unit.
I need to cut a hole in the wall for it. It will be left in permanitly. Plus I have a 220 electric wall heater.


When you nail your wall studs in to any preasure treated lumber make sure you use galvinized nail.
The chemicals in preasure treated wood will disolve regular nails over the years.

Also put in a panel box out in the shed, i had a four panel box which worked for the shed, but being a reloading room now I will be running heavier gauge wire out there for a 100 amp service and putting in a larger panel box.

The service wire going out to the shed- now will be extended to my pigeon loft and I will use the small four panel box out there for lights.
 
Jonny2guns said:
Thought I was the only one who had crazy hobbies, shooting, reloading, fly tying, old tool restoration, motorcycle riding, motorcycle motor rebuilding, collecting unique antiques....I should stop before I scare people off.
Click to expand...
I haven’t had a bike in 4 years. It hurts my soul every time I see a late 70s or early 80s Kaw standard bike tooling around. It takes almost nothing to flip those bikes into a retro cool cafe racer or street tracker setup where you can rip up the roads and not be 20 grand into a bike. Besides, anybody can ride a zx6 or gsxr750 but it’s a whole new world to ride what you built, how you built it to be rode, and push it as hard as you can. Remember, it’s always fun to ride a slow toy fast, but it’s kinda dull when riding a fast toy slow.

When the kids are grown...
 
I read your opening post and you had me worried for just a moment.
I read loading bench and then I read 240 volt welding plug!:eek: Gun powder and arc welders! What could possibly go wrong?

Then I kept reading and you redeemed yourself. :)

Sounds like you have a great plan!
 
Highland Lofts said:
With lumber prices as high as they are it will cost atleast double if not tripple from a year ago.
I have been spending extra cas on our shed and it will be a while longer before it will be ready.
I put three 2foot x 2 foot windows in and bought a new window single room AC unit.
I need to cut a hole in the wall for it. It will be left in permanitly. Plus I have a 220 electric wall heater.


When you nail your wall studs in to any preasure treated lumber make sure you use galvinized nail.
The chemicals in preasure treated wood will disolve regular nails over the years.

Also put in a panel box out in the shed, i had a four panel box which worked for the shed, but being a reloading room now I will be running heavier gauge wire out there for a 100 amp service and putting in a larger panel box.

The service wire going out to the shed- now will be extended to my pigeon loft and I will use the small four panel box out there for lights.
Click to expand...

Lumber is crazy. It’s worse here than most places because we are in a near perfect storm situation. The population is booming. Contractors are slinging houses together left and right so the lumber market is high locally on top of a worldwide shortage of lumber due to covid. We had a tornado a year ago and people are still rebuilding. We had an ice storm this winter that did a bit of damage as well. I literally watched 2 guys arguing over $11 stud boards when I went to Lowe’s to get pricing on a couple things. After that I redrew plans and minimized lumber. I almost decided to buy a carport kit with metal poles and just enclose it but I couldn’t find one I liked. I’m still looking so if I find one that will be cheaper or easier to put up then I’m open to that.

The plan is to sink 4x4x10 posts 2 ft into the ground and set in concrete. There will be a total of 11 of those. They will be tied together at the top, near the bottom (3” off floor likely) and at 42” (table height) with 2x3 boards. 2x3 are 1/2 the price of 2x4 and they already aren’t too important structurally. The metal wall panels will hang from those runners. Trusses will be simple 2x4x8 notched for the top rail for the walls and ending at the edge of the wall this keeps my wall a true 8’ so that sheet metal works out right. Trusses each use 3 boards and there will only be 4 plus the exterior end walls, and a ridge board running lengthwise. I haven’t decided if I want to scab a ridge board together or if I want to pay for a 2x6x16.

I’m running direct bury cable from my main panel to a subpanel that will be just inside of the door to the shop. Most likely will be a 40 amp service ran out there. I don’t expect to have much of a draw. Worst would be if I buy a mig welder, but I don’t see that happening.

As for the connection to pressure treated, I generally use the heaviest and longest deck screws that I can. I will look those up and make sure that they are pressure treated safe but I think they are since they are painted with a powder paint.
 
WestKentucky said:
I’m moving out, out of the garage at least.

The stars have aligned and I have started making plans for a small shop. I don’t have room for anything big, and nowhere flat enough for big anyways. With building codes being what they are and material sizes I have settled on a 12x15, so not big but big enough (and no permit needed). One wall will be reloading stuff. A 3ft by 10 ft bench with at least 6 outlets. The rest of that wall will be an internal dog house but I can store stuff on top. 240v AC on tap for a welder plug but most of the shop will be wired for 120vAC. Welder plug is primarily to give a good spot to feed power into the grid from my generator for times when the power is out for days (4 days total this past winter). Wood stove, window AC, cieling fan and plenty lights will make for a nice place. Of course the shop is small and the space will be shared between reloading, bullet casting, fly tying, and general workbench, each with their own dedicated spots, and a lawn mower right in the middle of all of it. I can’t wait to start building. I can’t wait to start loading, and last but not least I can’t wait to finally have a spot all to myself. I think that the first reloading adventure will be 38sw. Then 32acp, and I need to spend some quality time with 223ai, 6.8, 30-30 and .270. Thank goodness for tax returns and stimulus money.

So, if given a spot essentially 3x10 in floor space and 8 ft wall height how do you arrange your bench? Storage space will be ample thanks to 3 shelving units that can handle about 900 cubic ft of whatever crap I put there. Current bench is 2x6 so it will migrate and likely be the casting bench. It may stay in the garage as a small project spot.
Click to expand...


Awesome take lots of pics!!!!
 
WestKentucky said:
I haven’t had a bike in 4 years. It hurts my soul every time I see a late 70s or early 80s Kaw standard bike tooling around. It takes almost nothing to flip those bikes into a retro cool cafe racer or street tracker setup where you can rip up the roads and not be 20 grand into a bike. Besides, anybody can ride a zx6 or gsxr750 but it’s a whole new world to ride what you built, how you built it to be rode, and push it as hard as you can. Remember, it’s always fun to ride a slow toy fast, but it’s kinda dull when riding a fast toy slow.

When the kids are grown...
Click to expand...

Not to highjack your post, I currently have a 2001 ZRX1200R, that I have been through a lot with. A '73 RT360 I can't start due to a collision with a deer and the ZRX....but enough about that. My current reloading set up is in the basement along with all my other hobbies. Imagine extremely cramped and so embarrassing I won't take pics.
Looks like you have a great spot and I can't wait to see your progress. Lots of pics... PLEASE.
 
Jonny2guns said:
Not to highjack your post, I currently have a 2001 ZRX1200R, that I have been through a lot with. A '73 RT360 I can't start due to a collision with a deer and the ZRX....but enough about that. My current reloading set up is in the basement along with all my other hobbies. Imagine extremely cramped and so embarrassing I won't take pics.
Looks like you have a great spot and I can't wait to see your progress. Lots of pics... PLEASE.
Click to expand...
I love those old rt360s. I never understood the front fender on those not being paint matched... I owned a 71 for about 2 weeks. Cleaned and adjusted carb and ripped off both front and rear fenders, made a halfway functional cowl to cover the rear of the seat and made about a grand off of it when I took it to the bar. I rode it a grand total of 11 miles from the apartment to the bar. A good chunk of that 11 miles was on 1 wheel. That was a fun one. I need some wind in my beard again. Those yamahas and old beemers really jumped in price around 2010 and haven’t gone back down.
 
WestKentucky said:
...Welder plug is primarily to give a good spot to feed power into the grid from my generator for times when the power is out for days...
Click to expand...
Get a switch gear and do it right, or just run extension cords to where you need power.

It's illegal and dangerous to backfeed power without a fail safe cutout in the circuit.

If you (or someone else) ever forgets to kill your main breaker you'll literally be feeding power back into the public grid where linemen are working to restore service.
 
Working on my shed I needed four sheets of 7/16" 0SB about two months ago $35 a sheet@ was $8 a sheet a year ago.
I bought one 2x6x16' a few wweks ago, $32 plus tax.


This is where I am right now on mine.

20210405_095807.jpg 20210405_095802.jpg

I was going to use Hardi-plank for siding but went with old cedar fence boards that I get for free.
I will probably stain it this summer.
I should start a thread on my project.
 
Highland Lofts said:
Working on my shed I needed four sheets of 7/16" 0SB about two months ago $35 a sheet@ was $8 a sheet a year ago.
I bought one 2x6x16' a few wweks ago, $32 plus tax.


This is where I am right now on mine.

View attachment 991510 View attachment 991509

I was going to use Hardi-plank for siding but went with old cedar fence boards that I get for free.
I will probably stain it this summer.
I should start a thread on my project.
Click to expand...

I absolutely love the look you have going on there. Jealous.
More pictures please. Inside and out
 
Is there any limit on how tall you can go?

So 12'x15' is 180sq/ft. I assume that is the limit on a non-permitted structure. What I would do is build it 12' high top plate height so I could get 4' of loft space above a 8' ceiling height (give or take), then to make the structure look in proportion down the road would add some single pitch shed roofs off each side to capture some more cover for equipment from rain/snow/sun/etc. The shed roofs of the side could house your lawn mower/firewood/log splitter/etc and other things that are ok being outside but under cover. You could even build some cabinets against the shed wall under the roof to be able to lock up some items and keep them out of view.
 
BreechFace said:
Is there any limit on how tall you can go?

So 12'x15' is 180sq/ft. I assume that is the limit on a non-permitted structure. What I would do is build it 12' high top plate height so I could get 4' of loft space above a 8' ceiling height (give or take), then to make the structure look in proportion down the road would add some single pitch shed roofs off each side to capture some more cover for equipment from rain/snow/sun/etc. The shed roofs of the side could house your lawn mower/firewood/log splitter/etc and other things that are ok being outside but under cover. You could even build some cabinets against the shed wall under the roof to be able to lock up some items and keep them out of view.
Click to expand...
No limit on height, but 200 square ft is the limit. I can’t get 3 ft widths to work out any better unless I go to 12x18 with a 3x3 covered porch. Being 12ft at the ridge gives me plenty vertical room for my immediate needs.
 
Any progress on your new building?

I picked up some more cedar fence sections and tore a couple a part this evening.
Look at these pictures of the nail that were sunk into preasure treated wool.


A galvenized nail and a regular side by side and I put another regular nail next to them for comparison.
The regular nails should both be the same diamiter
20210422_200337.jpg

20210422_194302.jpg

20210422_191950.jpg

The chemicals in preasure treated wood really eats the steel in nails up.
 

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No real progress yet. I have bought some stuff but there no work done yet. I’m hoping to do the dirtwork this weekend and go ahead and bury my wire so that it will come up through the slab when the slab is poured. I bought a tiny concrete mixer and it is assembled. The spot is staked out and I spoke to the county codes folks about minimum setback. Since my county has no law regarding structure setbacks from property line I can technically build right up to the property line if I choose to, but I’m not. I will give it at least a lawn mower width, but not much more.
 
Following this because I’m almost there myself.

I have a 18.5x12.5 dirt floor annex to my basement.

It was gonna be a dead space 30’years ago when we built this place. But I caught the contractor when they were only 3 courses deep on the block basement. $150!later they cut the block for a door and installed a metal door. For 30 years it has been a dirt floor storage area, but always a reloading room in my dreams.

Gonna make it happen next month.

I’ll post pictures of the progress but always looking for ideas.
 
Put plastic down before you pour the concrete floor to reduce moisture coming up through the floor.
Keep us posted on your progress as well.
 
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