# My New Shop



## CabinetMaker (Dec 2, 2009)

Construction started 11/30/09!  It will be 24' by 50'.  Two horses and all their tack and feed will live in the first 30' of the barn which leaves me the last 20' for my shop!  

At the end of the first day it looked something like this:


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## CabinetMaker (Dec 2, 2009)

*Start of the second day*





Sometimes living in Colorado means you have to learn a litle patience.  I woke up this morning to this:


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## Daniel (Dec 2, 2009)

Wow! lots of head room and you can just keep your blanks stored on the tree with that shop. great ventilation but will be a bugger to heat. At the very least I recommend a couple of those foot warming pads.
You seriously cannot let a little snow get in your way. it digs just like dirt does. really honest go give it a try.


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## CabinetMaker (Dec 2, 2009)

Daniel said:


> Wow! lots of head room and you can just keep your blanks stored on the tree with that shop. great ventilation but will be a bugger to heat. At the very least I recommend a couple of those foot warming pads.
> You seriously cannot let a little snow get in your way. it digs just like dirt does. really honest go give it a try.


Trouble is, the snow covered the marks for the casons so the driller can't see where to drill.  I wouldn't mind but I had to get a variance to build the barn (on an agriculture zoned property - don't get me started!) so if they miss and put me to close to the side property line I'll be in BIG trouble as in tear it down and start over.


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## artme (Dec 2, 2009)

Should be a great set-up!! That will give you plenty of room!


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## jimofsanston (Dec 2, 2009)

They don't want you to take to much from the horses you know.


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## CabinetMaker (Dec 7, 2009)

Well, the weather has not yet changed.  Snow still covers the construction site and its far to cold to place concrete right now.  Our high today should get all the way up to 18°F if we're lucky.  Its an unusual cold snap for Colorado but it does happen and Perphy says it will happen when it can most disrupt schedules.

In the mean time, here are a couple of pictures of things that will be in the barn and things that will be in the shop.

1) Beamer.  12 year old Polish Arabian gelding that my daughter bought with here own money.
2) Squiggy 6 year old Morgan mayor we bought this weekend.
3) Squigy
4)Kumi (horse owner) practicing turning
5)Kira practicing turning.


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## dustmaker (Dec 7, 2009)

That should be a great shop.  I plan to do something similar before I retire...but have to pay off the daughter's college loans first.  Mine won't be that large, but I don't have horses either!  Those are some fine looking horses and it is refreshing to see the young folk at the lathe.


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## artme (Dec 8, 2009)

All looks good but I would TIE KIRA"S hair back when near the lathe. Long sleeves are not a good idea either.

Not nit picking but concerned about safety.


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## Crashmph (Dec 8, 2009)

artme said:


> All looks good but I would TIE KIRA"S hair back when near the lathe. Long sleeves are not a good idea either.
> 
> Not nit picking but concerned about safety.



2nd that safety bit... had a buddy get his beard wrapped up once.  That was an interesting bit.


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## glycerine (Dec 8, 2009)

Crashmph said:


> 2nd that safety bit... had a buddy get his beard wrapped up once. That was an interesting bit.


 
And thus was born the first ever pen made from human facial hair...


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## CabinetMaker (Dec 15, 2009)

artme said:


> All looks good but I would TIE KIRA"S hair back when near the lathe. Long sleeves are not a good idea either.
> 
> Not nit picking but concerned about safety.





Crashmph said:


> 2nd that safety bit... had a buddy get his beard wrapped up once.  That was an interesting bit.


  Excellent point.  It was in a pony tail but I think tucked inside her shirt would be a better idea.  It only takes a moment of distraction to totally ruin a day!


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## CabinetMaker (Dec 15, 2009)

Well, its been two weeks.  The trusses, steel siding and some parts and pieces for doors and horse stalls are on site.  More importantly, the snow is gone and we will be drilling holes tomorrow (12/16/09).


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## rjwolfe3 (Dec 15, 2009)

More pics?


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## schafergroup2006 (Dec 17, 2009)

ahhh beautiful Colorado  the wife and I looked in Thornton for a home.  We have friends who live there and we visit as much as we can.  Have a beautiful winter


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## CabinetMaker (Jan 8, 2010)

*Progress*

Okay, its been a while since the weather has been cold but I finally got some concrete in the ground so construction could commence.  The frame is up in this picture from 12/26/09.  The second picture is 2 days later and we are waiting for the inspector to stop by.


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## CabinetMaker (Jan 8, 2010)

SO the inspector came and liked what he saw.  Then the guys got at it and in a couple of days I had this.  These are two pics of the outside of the barn, one of the horse stalls and the tack room.


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## CabinetMaker (Jan 8, 2010)

Forgot to click "upload"


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## CabinetMaker (Jan 8, 2010)

Here is the shop area, 24x20 (After and Before picture)
The last picture is where the wall between the shop and the barn will go.  There is a two foot step between the two levels and no direct access.


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## theHullTurn (Jan 8, 2010)

Looks like it will be awesome!! I must say though i am jealous of your view of the mountains from your back yard!


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## CabinetMaker (Jan 8, 2010)

theHullTurn said:


> Looks like it will be awesome!! I must say though i am jealous of your view of the mountains from your back yard!


Part of the reason we bought the place is that it sits on a hill located north-west of downtown.  There is open space behind us that will never be built on.  (That was part of the conditions the lady owned made when she donated it to the city of Arvada.)  We can see all of Denver from the mountains in the picture all the way around to DIA.  On a clear day we can even see Pikes Peak.  July 4th is knda fun 'cause we cann we all the fireworks displays at once!


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## rjwolfe3 (Jan 8, 2010)

Looking good. I am still jealous!


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## Scoots (Jan 8, 2010)

rjwolfe3 said:


> Looking good. I am still jealous!



+1 to that.  I wish I had land like that to build a nice big shop, rather thanbeing jammed into one of the stalls of our garage.


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## CabinetMaker (Mar 4, 2010)

Well, its been a while but progress has been made!  Here are a couple of pictures of the outside and the area that will become the shop.  I have to build a wall where the hay is and then start wiring everything up.  More pics as things progress.  (These things always take longer when you have to do most of the work yourself.  But I LOVE the bragging rights!)


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## jbostian (Mar 4, 2010)

That is looking nice.  Keep us updated.

Jamie


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## JimB (Mar 4, 2010)

Lookin' good! You are going to have a lot of room.


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## CabinetMaker (Oct 4, 2014)

Long over due update. I actually made a lot of progress with the shop before fate intervened and forced my hand. Instead of posting pictures of a nice spacious shop, I am posting these.  There is just enough room in front of the lathe to turn some pens. 

What, you may reasonably ask, could result in such an over stuffed shop.  Stay tuned.

I'll upload pictures later.


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## CabinetMaker (Oct 6, 2014)

Here are the pictures of the state of my shop.


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## CabinetMaker (Oct 6, 2014)

So, what turned my shop into storage?  A failed garage foundation.  The first picture shows the foundation walls and the major cracking in them.  The wall facing the camera and the back wall were both pushed out at the top.  The top of the wall facing the camera was 8" out over the toe of the wall.  The top of the back wall was about 10" out.  Those are cinder blocks so if count the rows and do the math, the walls were only 80" tall.  10" in 80"!  Kinda scary.  So it had to come down.

The second picture shows you how to guarantee the structural failure of a foundation wall.  First, build it out of cinder block.  Second, grout only the corners but leave the rest of the spaces open.  Third, back fill with any garbage "dirt" you can find.  It is my understanding that the foundation failed while it was being back-filled.  They just kept filling and presto, unusable garage.  We knew this when we bought the house.  What we didn't know was how much it would cost to replace it.

Basically, my 24x24 garage will cost about 2.5 times what my 24x50 barn/shop building cost.  Okay, that is a little misleading as there are some significant differences between the two structures.  The barn/shop is a basic pole barn construction with a concrete floor in the shop.

The garage will feature a walk-out basement.  The slop of our property requires that a full foundation be put it in.  Given what it costs to move dirt these days, the cost of a structural floor is only marginally more expensive that hauling in the required back fill to fill in the foundation.  Plus, I don't have to build the foundation to retain the fill.  And, as you can tell from the last set of pictures, I need the storage space.  (A wife and two daughters can really generate a need for storage!)


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## CabinetMaker (Oct 6, 2014)

The forms are coming along nicely.


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## wyone (Oct 6, 2014)

hey.. that almost looks like it might end of structurally sound.   Hope you get it poured before the weather turns bad


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## CabinetMaker (Oct 6, 2014)

wyone said:


> hey.. that almost looks like it might end of structurally sound.   Hope you get it poured before the weather turns bad


Scheduled for this Wednesday.  If the weather people are correct, I should be good.  Providing the weather holds, I should have a new garage by early November which is well before the weather gets really bad.  I hope.


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## wyone (Oct 6, 2014)

Well I live in Littleton.. so yes.. you should be good..unless the weatherman is..  wrong..  that would never happen though.


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## Dalecamino (Oct 6, 2014)

It's looking better now. :wink:


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## hobbyist2013 (Oct 8, 2014)

It looks great. You got a wide space.


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