Building my new workshop

[spuddevans]

So after moving house and being without a place to play workshop, a few weeks ago I made a start on my new workshop.

I have settled on a timber frame structure, 16ft x 10ft and the roof peaks about 9ft height. The plan was to make the front, back and 2 side panels, and the roof trusses, and then assemble them all at once, but having made the front and back walls, and realised the weight of them, I have changed the side walls to be in 2 parts.

The area where it will be is already concreted (rather roughly, so I will be putting in a shallow screed to level it up)

Construction is taking a while to get done as the weather gets in the way a bit at this time of the year, but starting about 3 weeks ago I have made the front and rear panels, and today I made the 1st of 4 side panels as pictured below. As you can see I am just stacking all the panels on the flat, they are sitting exactly where the new workshop will stand, the front of it will be flush with an existing garden shed.



Construction is a simple frame of 72x36mm studwork, 600mm centres, sheathed with 22mm OSB, then coated with a weatherproof sealant. The plan is to cover over the OSB with timber cladding later in the year.

Roof will be corrugated steel. Insulation will be some kingspan-type insulation for the roof, and most likely fiberglass-type in the walls.

For kitting out the workshop, my parents recently had a new kitchen installed, so guess who got the old one?? Yup, I'm even going to have a hob and dual oven and a sink!!! And it's all solid oak doors. I'm gonna have a real posh workshop (actually my wife is a bit jealous as there'll be a better oven and kitchen in my workshop than in the house )

So that's where I am at the moment, updates will come, but are quite dependant on the weather, so don't hold your breath.


Tim

[dsquire]

Tim

Looks like you have a good start made. Just keep at it a bit each day and it will all come together for you. The cupboards will be a nice added touch.

At least if SWMBO sends you to the dog house you can go in style. Just keep a couple cans of beans or stew in the cupboard just in case. 

Cheers 

Don

[Brass_Machine]

I know you have been waiting awhile to get this going!

What do you plan on using the oven for? I have a full sized range in the garage (waiting for a new shop as well) that I used for power coating.

Eric

[spuddevans]

What do you plan on using the oven for?

To be honest, I'm not sure it's a double oven as well. Maybe powder coating, for heating items for shrink fitting

I'm sure I'll find something, even if it only is for cooking chicken before bbq-ing it!!


Tim

[spuddevans]

So the weather has been kind to me this week, and having had some time to spare I have managed to make the rest of the side panels.

Here's an "in-progress" pic (I kept getting carried away building and forgetting to take pics)



These are pretty simple and quick to make, I just cut the top and bottom pieces to length, then the 5 "Top-to-Bottom" pieces (technical term there)

Then with my brothers trusty pneumatic framing nailer (POWER!!!!) it takes a few seconds to fix all the bits together.

I also staple on some damp proof membrane to the bottom edge.

Then I cut down the OSB sheet to length (2 sheets per side section), then align the 1st sheet at one corner, fix with a screw, align another corner of sheet to frame, fix with another screw, then when you align the middle edges/corners with the frame it pulls the frame into square.

From cutting, nailing, cutting OSB and screwing it down, and then nailing the sheet every 12", and finally painting on some weatherproofing stuff, it all takes about 1.5-2hrs.


Then having an hour left of usable daylight, I made up 3 roof trusses.

So now I have a stack of workshop bits, and just need to make up another 4 roof trusses before assembly can take place..




So that's as far as I am up to, stay tuned for irregular updates.

Tim

[spuddevans]

I got a little more done, finished all the trusses, and as the weather has been so good this week I started assembling all the bits together.

After a couple of hours sweating (and a little work too) I got the walls up. Then my dad came round and we got the trusses installed and then got almost one side of the roof attached.

I got it all squared and levelled up, just got to mix a little cement fill all the gaps between the shed and the (very uneven) concrete base.

Anyway, here's a couple of photos of where I'm up to.










Tim

[Brass_Machine]

Its looking good Tim! Don't worry about the uneven floor... The floor on my garage is about the same!

Eric

[DavidA]

Does that concrete floor have a damp proof membrane in it ?

Dave.

[spuddevans]

Does that concrete floor have a damp proof membrane in it ?

Dave.

No it doesn't, or at least not to my knowledge. But the plan is to put a damp proof membrane in as I have to install a cement screed to level up the floor inside (about 1" to 2", 3" in one corner) so I'll put a DPC inbetween.

I've also put some DPC on the under side of the side walls which wraps round to form a "U" channel.

That should keep the damp at bay. (Hopefully  )

Tim

[ChriX]

Wow good progress Tim, coming along nicely!

[Pete W.]

Hi there, Tim,

It's looking good and I'm quite envious if your enormous 16' x 10' floor-plan.

I've got a couple of questions, though:

Do you intend that the OSB will be the final external surface of the walls or are you going to apply something else?

The space between your shop and the adjacent garage looks a bit narrow - how will you get in there for maintenance?

[spuddevans]

Thanks guys 

Hi there, Tim,

It's looking good and I'm quite envious if your enormous 16' x 10' floor-plan.

I've got a couple of questions, though:

Do you intend that the OSB will be the final external surface of the walls or are you going to apply something else?

The space between your shop and the adjacent garage looks a bit narrow - how will you get in there for maintenance?

The OSB is just the initial surface, I will be cladding the outside with wood reclaimed from some fence panels ( I have enough at the moment to cover the areas where the weather hits the worst, the rest will be done in the summer.)


Yea that space is pretty tight, but I had to keep it that close in order to have enough space on the other side to cut the neighbours hedge (cos he wont bother )

There is just enough space to use a 9" roller to cover the OSB with preservative/paint. That should be enough as I will be covering over the top of that gap, thereby closing off that area from the weather.


Well at least that's the plan  we'll see how it plays out...


In the meantime I have got the other side of the roof covered with Tin, just the ridge pieces left to finish the roof, hopefully get that done tomorrow (got the morning off), then I have to fill in the gaps between the walls and the concrete, put some guttering and downspouts up, and that should get it weatherproof (apart from the big hole waiting to be filled by the door, currently sitting at the most inaccessible point in my dad's garage)


Tim

[Brass_Machine]

Are you going to do rafter type storage?

Eric

[Pete49]

Tim a good hedge trimmer is glysulphate (round up) saves you and the neighbour trimming the hedge ever again
Pete

[spuddevans]

Are you going to do rafter type storage?

Eric

Yes and No. The space above where the ceiling will be will be only about 12"-14" at the peak, so instead of having the rafters on show, I'll insulate them and then insulate across the stretcher-pieces before putting up the ceiling ( plasterboard most likely )

I will have a couple of lower stretcher-pieces-of-wood which will help tie the middle of the long walls together, plus will allow for some rafter-type-storage, and also allow me to put some power outlets there too for power-access in the middle of the workshop without trailing leads from the sides.

Tim a good hedge trimmer is glysulphate (round up) saves you and the neighbour trimming the hedge ever again
Pete

True, true, but apart from never trimming his hedge, he's a good enough neighbour, we never hear a peep out of him at any time. It's only the occasional muffled bark from his dog that tells us that there is someone living there. So I'm inclined to just hack down the bit of his hedge that overhangs my fence when I'm cutting my own hedge (on the other side of my garden), takes just a few mins extra.

If we have to replace any of our fence panels I will take the opportunity to cut his hedge back further ( I think it has gradually encroached onto our plot over the years), but until then I wont do anything drastic.

Tim

[spuddevans]

So I got some more done today. My dad came round and gave me a hand.

We were working on the ridge, but the local builders merchants do not stock the ridge pieces ( they stock the main roofing sheets but not the ridge, wierd ) so what is a Madmodder to do ???

Make your own ridge pieces, that's what!!

We got a 8x4 sheet of galvanised steel, had at it with an angle grinder and cut it into 18"x 4ft strips. Not having a 4foot bending metal brake we fashioned a suitable implement out of the brown stuff.



The sheet to be bent is 1st placed on the workbench (3 4" fence posts on 2 trestles) up against a stop. then a piece of OSB re-enforced with a piece of the brown stuff is clamped on top of the sheet.

Then we sandwiched 2 pieces of OSB on the steel sheet sticking out and clamped, then (Warning, highly technical terms about to be used next) we sat on the OSB sandwich, bending it as far as we could. Then we unclamped everything, reversed the steel sheet in the jig and repeated the process.

The result was that all the pieces bent up to the same angle and so then it was just a simple matter of climbing onto the roof and drilling and nailing the ridge-sheets down.




We ran a little short of nails, so we only nailed each end of the ridge sheets, my dad's since found another bag of the nails at his house, so we'll add some more nails.


Next will be some guttering, and filling in the gaps between the walls and floor.


Thanks for watching,

Tim

[spuddevans]

The next update:

So I have been chipping away at the workshop, got the guttering installed, the rest of the nails installed to hold the ridge securely, filled the various gaps between the (as-smooth-as-the-sea) concrete slab and the walls with some cement.

Today I have installed a large piece of wood-and-glass into the big hole in the front gable



And then my dad arrived with some plasterboard so we set to insulating and then sheeting one of the long walls




I was amazed that even with just one wall insulated and a door loosely fitted (gaps all round it as I have yet to fit any draught-excluding door jams/architrave, or even a latch/lock) the place warmed up and there was much less sound from outside.

I can't wait to get the rest of the walls insulated and sheeted, then the ceiling done, then it'll be just a few steps away from being inhabited by my tools and machines.


Thanks for watching,

Tim

[awemawson]

"I can't wait to get the rest of the walls insulated and sheeted, then the ceiling done, then it'll be just a few steps away from being inhabited by my tools and machines."

It's about then that you decide you want a bigger one .......

[spuddevans]

It's about then that you decide you want a bigger one .......

 

Aint that always the way...


Hopefully this will be big enough for me, it is about 3-4 times bigger than my last one.


Tim

[Brass_Machine]

Looking good Tim. I bet you are itching to get in there!

Eric

[spuddevans]

We've been working away on insulating and plasterboarding, got all the walls insulated and covered, and as pictured below we've got the ceiling insulated, now completely insulated with between 2" and 60mm of kingspan insulation. The reason for the 2 different thicknesses is because that is what I was able to get off my brother who had some left over from building his house.



Following that picture I finished off the insulation, then taped all the joints to seal any air leaks ( I believe that the efficiency of this type of insulation depends on an air-tight fit )

Then my dad and I cut and fixed 2 sheets of plasterboard to the ceiling, they were the hardest as they were as-good-as full sheets, the rest will be about half-sheets, so much easier to handle.

The drop in noise from the outside is great, much reduced!

The next session should see the rest of the ceiling boarded, then it'll be taping the joints and then covering with compound.


Tim

[Brass_Machine]

Are you going to heat/cool it?

Eric

[Stilldrillin]

Tim.
In a word....... Snug! 

David D

[shipto]

good going you are way ahead of me.

[spuddevans]

Are you going to heat/cool it?

Eric

There's not much call for cooling in Ireland,  but yea I will be heating it, probably just an oil-filled radiator on a thermostat to keep the temperature around 10-12C to keep the damp/rust away without costing too much, then when I'm working in the workshop I'll raise the temp a few degrees to make it comfortable.

Tim.
In a word....... Snug! 

David D

That's what I'm going for 

good going you are way ahead of me.

Just keep plugging away at it, you're getting there too 


Tim