Building a home for my CarveWright

[mca]

Wow, 64*80=5120 sf. That is about 6.5 times the size of my apt. I did a quick survey in Google Earth and most of the back yards around here (SE Houston) clock in at ~2-3000 sf. I take it you don't live in the suburbs PCW?

[chebytrk]

I bought a "kit" at HD (16x20) and they came out and put it up for me. Took them a few hours. It has a small loft in it and is presently my Utility shed. I'm getting a quote to have someone run power out to it and I'm moving all my CW stuff out there. Garage just don't quite do it for me any more. The shed is basically the same as the design picture except I just have 1 window on each side. No paneling or insulation. I'll be making my move out there real soon. I really don't have much in "sheenery" so I still don't know what to run out there. Just have my CC, DC and small power tools (dremel, jig saw, coping saw, sander) that I use, but no all at once. You think maybe just 1 30amp circuit breaker would be enough? Oh yeah... needs lights too. Just wondering.... The shed was about 1300 including install.

[PCW]

Wow, 64*80=5120 sf. That is about 6.5 times the size of my apt. I did a quick survey in Google Earth and most of the back yards around here (SE Houston) clock in at ~2-3000 sf. I take it you don't live in the suburbs PCW?

Mark,

I live in no man's land. Not one red light in the county of Montmorency where I'm at in MI.. One fast food restaurant (subway) in a BP gas station. It nice till you need something. (smile)

[Ducky63]

I would ask about heat for the winter? I also agree with Al-Who make it as big as you can afford because you always need the room. I know that I wish my shop was bigger but it is as big as I can make it. Good luck on your new shop.

[DurhamDev]

Did the Big Box Store offer any shed kits and how did the prices stack up against your design and bill of materials? I've priced out one in my market and I cannot beat their kit price built on site.

I know that there are some that are around the same size, which I believe come out about $500 - $1000 more, and usually don't include a ground kit. As it is, I've designed it with a full floor, so I'm sure that makes it even more economical. I believe most of the kits they sell are also that plastic stuff, and I'm not too excited about that.

I would ask about heat for the winter? I also agree with Al-Who make it as big as you can afford because you always need the room. I know that I wish my shop was bigger but it is as big as I can make it. Good luck on your new shop.

Heat is a big question for winter months. I haven't incorporated anything into the plan as yet, but I do hope to have something for the space. When I was younger, I remember working with my Dad in the garage, with nothing more than a 12" space heater blowing... ...but I think I'm going to upgrade that a little bit. If anyone has recommendations of heating the area, I'm all for it.

As for the size issue... ...my Wife turned to me in the car - about 20 minutes ago - and asked, "Since we're already building the workshop 12' x 16', do you see any benefit of going any bigger?"

WHHHHHAAAAATTTTTTTT???????!!!!!! Yes, folks. She asked if I wanted to build my workshop BIGGER!!!

Let me give you an overview of my property. If you were looking down from above, my property is about 40' wide by 120' deep. There are two sheds existing now, (which I claim NO responsibility for their construction - they came with the house) one in each corner. The one in the left corner is about 9' x 10', is made of wood and is rotten and falling over. The one in the right corner is about 8' x 6', made of steel, and filled to the brim with all of my tools, as well as most of my Dad's tools that I inherited when he passed away just over a year ago. (Lung cancer - it sucks.) In between each of these sheds are four trees. Old trees. Old trees that have been cut about 10' high, and are entangled in the electrical wires at the back of the house. Damn.

So, the revised plan now, is to make a bigger workshop - which I will likely stretch to 16' x 20'... I have a call in to Ontario Hydro, who offer a free service to trim your trees out of their wires. I hope to be there when they come by, so that I can ask them to simply "cut the trees as low as you want". I do own a chainsaw, so yes, as soon as they are away from the wires, those trees are coming down.

Question to you tree experts: If I cut a tree down to 'as close to ground level as I can', and I build a deck immediately above it, is there any chance that the tree will continue to grow up through my deck? I can't see why, if I'm depriving it of light, why it would, but I figure I'd ask the question anyway. (Of course, if there's a quick 'down and dirty' solution, I'd love to hear it. We recently got a quote to remove the trees and stumps, which was up over $3K. That's where my 'workshop' money came from, as my Wife deemed the tree removal a bit expensive.)

[cnsranch]

Regarding heat -

It gets pretty cold here, but not as bad as where you're at.....

I had my shop wrapped (insulated) when it was biult, then had a ceiling put in with 6" of insulation blown in on top of that. Had to put in the ceiling - the walls are 11.5' high, and the rafter area was large enough that all the heat I generated went straight up.

I don't think you'll have that problem, and the rafters will give you some wood storage.

Can't remember what it's called, but you can wrap your building with the thin insulation - about 3/8" thick, before the outer walls are put up.

Although I've got a pellet stove in the shop, it takes way too long for it to bring the shop from 20 degrees to 60. So, I use a 55,000 BTU diesel powered torpedo heater to get it up to temp. That bad boy can take the shop from 20 to 70 in about 45 minutes, then the pellet stove keeps it there.

You can find them all day long on Craigslist for cheap. You can get away with less than half of what I use, but, bigger is always better. For less than $100, you're off to the races.

Just make sure you give the shop fresh air - open the door a crack, etc.

My shop's drafty enough that I don't even do that.

[cestout]

I don't see room for other tools. We designed and built our own house just 10 years ago. I built a 3 car size garage with 2 10' x 8' doors and wall with a window dividing my wife's car from my shop. The shop is 2 cars wide and was the first part of the house completed. We needed it to finish the house, I built all the cabinets there. My shop is almost as complete as Norm's from necessity. now I have added the CarveWright as an additional tool in my arsenal. If you only have the CarveWright, you are limiting your possibilities. You should have a table saw, miter saw (or if space is limited, a radial saw instead of those 2), jointer planer, router table, and various sanders - stationary and hand held. This is a minimum to open you possibilities. I still have my Montgomery Ward radial arm saw (a classic) that I got in about 1968.
Clint

[cnsranch]

I don't see room for other tools.Clint

I know some of you will cringe when I say this - but for the first 20 years of my hobby I used a Shopsmith - didn't have the space for anything else.

I love the thing, and even though I've got lots of tools now to replace most of the SS's versatility, I still use it all the time for it's bandsaw, planer, jointer and lathe.

[bjbethke]

I have a PDF for a Storage shed, It looks like an old country school house.I might try to build one of these this summer to have a place for the GrandKids to stay in when they come to visit.

It would also work for my Scroll Saw and paint shop.

[Capt Bruce]

Thanks for the price comparison and types of materials used in your area.