tb said:Good for you, brother! I admit I was sad to move back to Philly and find out we are no longer close but it sounds like you are in a good place.
I just moved into a modest 2 car garage and began upgrades immediately so I can relate to how good it feels!
Getting out of the Northeast was one of the best things for my mental health ever. Even my dyed in the wool Jersey Girl wife has to admit she loves southern living. Its a different pace, but a good one.
In reply to JThw8 :
I would have preferred to move south, too, if it were totally up to me... but I am happy enough on the main line doing the suburban dad thing.
I lobbied hard for the Charlotte area but had to compromise and pick a place to put down roots. Im writing this from ocean city with the family and we do love having nice beaches so close.
You spent enough time doing the commute from hell with bad roads and worse drivers, enjoy that southern pace
tb said:In reply to JThw8 :
You spent enough time doing the commute from hell with bad roads and worse drivers, enjoy that southern pace
Funny part is I still have an hour commute (although these days I dont go into the office much). But its all backroads and no traffic. Its a great drive especially on days I can bring out the toys. 
In reply to JThw8 :
I continue to be jealous of your toys... unfortunately I doubt I could fit into even your "big" small car
Yeah, we lived in SC for awhile before moving to MD. Fortunately, we managed to find a little bit of South Carolina in the middle of Maryland. Working on my own garage renovation right now, and just plunked down a sizable chunk of coin to finish the last bit of it. Will be right around 1300 square feet of garage all said and done, though I also have a couple of smaller storage sheds.
NC is nice...one of our LeMons team members lives in the Raleigh area and loves it. 11 acres sounds kindof awesome, especially now with a barn and a proper garage. Your story about the job makes me laugh. Once you get invested in a company or industry, and build a good reputation, it just snowballs from there. Glad you were able to make the jump.
volvoclearinghouse said:Yeah, we lived in SC for awhile before moving to MD. Fortunately, we managed to find a little bit of South Carolina in the middle of Maryland. Working on my own garage renovation right now, and just plunked down a sizable chunk of coin to finish the last bit of it. Will be right around 1300 square feet of garage all said and done, though I also have a couple of smaller storage sheds.
NC is nice...one of our LeMons team members lives in the Raleigh area and loves it. 11 acres sounds kindof awesome, especially now with a barn and a proper garage. Your story about the job makes me laugh. Once you get invested in a company or industry, and build a good reputation, it just snowballs from there. Glad you were able to make the jump.
Once I get my garage stuff migrated to the garage then the barn will get turned into the fab shop, at least for wood working. Theres only a 30a service out there so can't do too much but Im trying to keep the really messy stuff out of the main shop.
There are some great parts of MD for sure. My job is just outside Raliegh but we chose to live further outside the city limits. We live in what is technically the 2nd largest town in Wayne county but that means nothing. If we didnt have a Walmart we probably wouldnt even be a blip. Just the way I like it.
11 Acres is nice for the pure "no neighbors in sight" part of it but I'll be damned if I know what to do with it. I keep threatening that the big field will be a go kart track or a pond. The track is cheaper but the pond sure would be nice.
In reply to JThw8 :
I've attended good rallycross courses in space the size of that ~4 acre front triangle you've got there. Even without paving it that would be a riot in off road karts.
RedGT said:In reply to JThw8 :
I've attended good rallycross courses in space the size of that ~4 acre front triangle you've got there. Even without paving it that would be a riot in off road karts.
Offroad karts is the plan. I actually have most of an old YerfDog spiderbox sitting in the barn waiting for the garage to finish so I can put it together.
Well it has been a long, hot 3 days of work but I can cross the floors off the to-do list now. Once they cure I can start with the fun stuff. Next up is plumbing, both the sink and air lines for the compressor.
What are your plans for insulation, climate control, and humidity control? Things I always kind of wondered about with metal buildings down here. Especially since I'm considering one for when I buy the land across the street from the house
Looks sweet!
You didn't fall into the trap of putting flakes on the floor which immediately camouflage anything small you drop.
Dusterbd13-michael said:What are your plans for insulation, climate control, and humidity control? Things I always kind of wondered about with metal buildings down here. Especially since I'm considering one for when I buy the land across the street from the house
The roof was insulated as part of the build, I knew I didnt want to try to approach that later. As funds are mostly depleted at this point that's it for now. Next year if fortune permits I will have the walls spray foamed. I toy with the idea of a mini split for air conditioning but honestly I've never had an air conditioned shop so its not high priority, Im used to sweating. Most likely a big shop fan will be on the near term acquisition list and that will do for some time.
Honsch said:Looks sweet!
You didn't fall into the trap of putting flakes on the floor which immediately camouflage anything small you drop.
Yeah I made that mistake the first time I epoxied a shop. It looks awesome but as you noted, you'll never find small parts again.
JThw8 said:Dusterbd13-michael said:What are your plans for insulation, climate control, and humidity control? Things I always kind of wondered about with metal buildings down here. Especially since I'm considering one for when I buy the land across the street from the house
The roof was insulated as part of the build, I knew I didnt want to try to approach that later. As funds are mostly depleted at this point that's it for now. Next year if fortune permits I will have the walls spray foamed. I toy with the idea of a mini split for air conditioning but honestly I've never had an air conditioned shop so its not high priority, Im used to sweating. Most likely a big shop fan will be on the near term acquisition list and that will do for some time.
Get a large window air conditioner. Mount it as high ( cold air settles) as you can in the center of one wall. ( nope you don't need a window) just cut an opening and frame around it. $250 should buy a nice efficient one in the fall.
With foam insulated walls and insulated ceiling 1/2 hour of running should cool it off enough even on a hot summer day to make working civilized. And an hour make things comfortable.
So now we start (slowly) turning the big box into a working shop. First up was moving the compressor in. Its been sitting out in the barn for 2 years. So after 30 minutes hunting for my dolly which I totally forgot was under the giant 20qt hobart mixer my wife bought a few weeks ago I was able to move it out into daylight and clean it up. I have this mantra of doing everything right from the start on this go round so first up was to fix the awful tank drain on the compressor. I let it be for over 10 years in the last shop because I couldnt be bothered to move it out of its spot and fix it. Everything gets fixed right before it goes in this time. Its under the tank with an access hole barely big enough to shove my hand in let alone turn the petcock. A trip to the local hardware store and a few $ later and problem solved.
Then we just pop it in place. It looks so small in here.
I bought a maxline kit to plumb in the air drops. I'll start work on that next weekend. I should have power in the shop by then so I can test for leaks.
Now would be a good time to make your shop life more pleasant.
If you can swing it, a bag of Roxul Safe 'n Sound, some cheap stud like objects and some drywall and make a sound insulated but open top surround for that thing. Metal walls sure bounce a lot of sound around.
Honsch said:Now would be a good time to make your shop life more pleasant.
If you can swing it, a bag of Roxul Safe 'n Sound, some cheap stud like objects and some drywall and make a sound insulated but open top surround for that thing. Metal walls sure bounce a lot of sound around.
at some point down the road when the budget recovers I'll have the whole thing sprayfoamed. Drywall is not in the plans. I will add some plywall panels for mounting certian things but that's about it. Im not too concerned about sound levels. I work alone which means I almost always work with noise canceling headphones and music or books on tape playing so I dont hear the ambient sounds.
One plan I have for my shop is to have a small outdoor shack for the air compressor. It frees up floor space and puts a very noisy piece of equipment outside of the work area.
volvoclearinghouse said:One plan I have for my shop is to have a small outdoor shack for the air compressor. It frees up floor space and puts a very noisy piece of equipment outside of the work area.
Everyone keeps telling me to do that but I've lived my life with my compressor in the shop, it never really bothered me but I almost always have noise cancelling headphones on anyway.
Let there be light. Power got hooked up today. These lights are 8ft LEDs, $160 for 10 which is the best deal I could find and they put out great lighting, very happy. Used 12 on the ceiling.
And since I had extras, 4 on the wall. I had this idea in mind for awhile, when I am doing paint correction or wetsanding I always struggle for good light so I wanted to give a light wall a try in this space.
Having not found any good deals on a used 2 post lift I resigned myself to buying a new one. Local dealer had a reasonably good price on a unit but they were out of stock so I've been waiting. Meanwhile an ad pops up for used 2 post lifts, 2 for $4500. Way more money than I wanted to spend and I dont need two lifts....do I? (bearing in mind I already have my Rotary mid-rise lift) So I went to check them out, seller made it pretty obvious he needed them gone (stored at his sister's house and she was getting antsy) Feeling kinda cheeky I said "I'll get em both out of your hair for $2500" And thats how I ended up with two lifts. Both 9k units, the Eagle is an 11footer and the Tuxedo is a 9 footer and only used for 6 months. Damn near killed us trying to load these on a trailer, lifts are freakin heavy. Still undecided if I'll go for 2 two posts and get rid of the long serving mid rise or if I'll let the Tuxedo go to a new home.
I'd be interested in the 9', if it decides to move on to a new home! I thought the building I built was gonna be the smaller wood working shop, so I stayed with 9' walls to saves buck... now things changed, and I'll never get the big / taller shop done, so...
I'm blessed to at least have a shop, so not complaining.
The shop lighting looks great!
That is an awesome score on the lifts. I like your lighting idea. Also a fan of the monster ceiling fans that run low speeds and high cfm's.
84FSP said:That is an awesome score on the lifts. I like your lighting idea. Also a fan of the monster ceiling fans that run low speeds and high cfm's.
Yeah, Im going to start with the 30" wall mounts I got but I like the idea of putting in some industrial ceiling fans at some point as well
03Panther said:I'd be interested in the 9', if it decides to move on to a new home! I thought the building I built was gonna be the smaller wood working shop, so I stayed with 9' walls to saves buck... now things changed, and I'll never get the big / taller shop done, so...
I'm blessed to at least have a shop, so not complaining.
The shop lighting looks great!
I will definitely keep you and all of GRM in mind once I have a plan. Either the 9 footer or my Rotary mid rise will end up going. I have one friend with first right of refusal on the 9' but I think he's holding out for an 11. I really like my mid but probably because its the only lift I've had. I know it has its limitations and Im wondering if dual 2 posts might not end up more functional in the long run. I have to get them both assembled and tested. They appear to be all there and in good shape but until I know for sure its hard to decide. I do know I need to buy a new hydraulic tank for the 9, it had plastic tank and it split.
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