# New Shop Building



## rhyman (Apr 19, 2009)

If there is one thing I have learned since getting serious about large scale, it is this: YOU NEED LOTS OF SPACE!

I'm not just talking about room for the layout, I mean space to put your tools and work on your projects. It all started out innocently enough ... just a K-27 on the mantle over the fireplace. And then the caboose on the bookcase. Well ... you know where that led to ... every nook and cranny soon became filled with an ever-increasing stable of locomotives and rolling stock. The final straw was when I started building 8-foot long sections of hand-laid track over the winter and stacking them in the bedroom. I just needed someplace to put them until warm weather came. And besides, I had already filled-up all three bays of the garage. The wife finally gave me a final warning ... either get that stuff out of the house or she was gone.


Boy, I'm sure going to miss her!

Actually, I came up with a better solution. Fortunately, I have a good sized back yard, Here's how it all came together.











I had to take out eight trees first. Mostly just blackjack oaks and a couple of pecan trees.










Here is what the space looked like after the trees were out and the pad leveled.










Here are the forms in place. Note the stack of firewood ... I'll put that to good use next winter. The pad is 30' by 30'. The shop will be 30' x 24' and the porch will be 6' x 30'.











Before I poured the slab, I roughed-in water and drain lines for a bathroom ... it's a long way to the house! 











I went ahead and put in forms for a 4' by 12' pad. This will be the location of a car barn.










We had to pump the concrete since it was three hundred feet from the end of the driveway to the shop location. Twenty-eight cubic yards of concrete ... all through that little hose!










Here is the finished slab. The embedded angle iron is where the steel frame of the shop will be welded.










Here is the slab for the car barn. I placed anchor bolts in the wet concrete to hold the sill plate of the structure.










Here is the shop building erected on the slab. Although it looks white in this photo, it is actually depot buff with brown trim.











I put a ten foot garage door on the east wall of the shop. This way, I can back my trailer into the shop for loading and unloading.










Here in the view from inside, looking north. The structure is fully insulated.











Here is the inside view of the garage door. 



I took the last four photos about an hour ago. There is still a lot to do. The electrician comes next Tuesday to wire the interior (100 amp service). The electric utility company comes later in the week to run underground power from the street to the building (it will have a separate meter from the house.) I have a roofer coming next week to install gutters and downspouts. The HVAC technician comes the following week to install the heat pump for heating and air conditioning. I still have to build interior walls for the bathroom before I have the plumber put in the toilet, sink, and tank-less hot water heater. I have already bought the epoxy paint for the floor, but I have to wait until the concrete is 30 days old before I can paint it. Hopefully, I will have my train stuff out of the house and into the shop by April. Wish me luck!


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## Don Howard (Jan 2, 2008)

Great track shack! 
None of the ones here in Vermont are that big. 

Thanks for posting the how-tos. 
I'm printing this for my own building-now to figure out where to put the building.


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## livesteam53 (Jan 4, 2008)

Bob, 

Nice set up gee I wish I had the room to do this. 

Well if you wife throws you out you have a place to go. 

Thanks for posting.


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## RimfireJim (Mar 25, 2009)

Your shop may be buff and brown, but I'm green with envy. I may not covet my neighbor's wife, but I _ do_ covet his shop which is about the size of yours. Dang, that looks nice . . . 
I like the porch down the long side. I haven't seen that on a metal building before.


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## chaingun (Jan 4, 2008)

Bob, 
U - DA' MAN!!! 
Best, Ted


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## jebouck (Jan 2, 2008)

I'm noticing a lack of reinforcement in the concrete.
Is that code where you are from?
We'd never get away with that out here.
Just curious, that's all.


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## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

Super sweet Bob! I'm jealous ;-)


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