-MattK- Posted February 4, 2016 Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 After a prolonged wait, my new woodshop is going up today. To help others, I'm happy to share details on the long process that got me here, but in the meantime, I've temporarily made our nest cam in the attic overlooking the site available to the public here: https://video.nest.com/live/hNIhQB Afterwards I'll put together a video on the assembly. It's a pre-fab building, so the walls and trusses were assembled offsite. The crane is expected around noon eastern time if you want to see how it all goes together. Best, Matt 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
estesbubba Posted February 4, 2016 Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 Looking forward to following this thread and seeing your new shop progress. Congrats and have fun building it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davewyo Posted February 4, 2016 Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 That is pretty cool! Congrats. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip Posted February 4, 2016 Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 Pulled-up the video feed... Nice camera and the video stream is smooth... Is the stream recordable or do you need a separate camera for that? It would be fun as a stop-action... We've got the same weather here, so it'll be a wet day for the crew... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Bob Posted February 4, 2016 Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 Talk about living vicariously! Very cool and congratulations on the new shop. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-MattK- Posted February 4, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 8 minutes ago, hhh said: Pulled-up the video feed... Nice camera and the video stream is smooth... Is the stream recordable or do you need a separate camera for that? It would be fun as a stop-action... We've got the same weather here, so it'll be a wet day for the crew... It's a dropcam / nestcam - video is 720p. If you pay a fee they keep 30 days of video (with pointers on the timeline for when movement was detected). You can download videos compressed into 2 minute time lapses I've done a crappy combined time lapse of everything that's happened so far with that camera: i also have my DLSR out there taking photos today to get a better quality video... No rain here for us today, thankfully! 51 minutes ago, estesbubba said: Looking forward to following this thread and seeing your new shop progress. Congrats and have fun building it. Thanks mike, I learned a ton from your build, I've been through that thread quite a few times!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted February 4, 2016 Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 This is awesome! How deep was the foundation? The scale while he was digging made it look shallow until the workers got down there. I'm pretty sure it's because it's what i do for a living but i enjoy watching construction and can't wait to see more and the completed video. Are you going to disclose any of the cost information? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteJr Posted February 4, 2016 Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 Very cool and congratulations on the new workshop. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodenskye Posted February 4, 2016 Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 Congrats on the new shop! What are the dimensions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Immortan D Posted February 4, 2016 Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 Awesome! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drzaius Posted February 4, 2016 Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 Nothing crappy about that time lapse. I love this stuff. Thanks for documenting & posting. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-MattK- Posted February 4, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 38 minutes ago, Woodenskye said: Congrats on the new shop! What are the dimensions? 22x36 outside dimensions with 2x6 walls. I think it ends up at ~735 sq ft. I'm limited to 800 sq ft for an accessory building based on my zoning. I mistakenly interpreted that as footprint, so the buildings a bit smaller than I could have built. The perils of trying to figure it all out on your own! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneymack Posted February 4, 2016 Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 This is really cool Matt. You've done an awesome job documenting this so far. I will be following every step of this, I would LOVE to do this some day. Being in a brand new 735 sq ft space is a dream to me !!! And btw, you have one sweet truck ! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-MattK- Posted February 4, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 7 minutes ago, shaneymack said: This is really cool Matt. You've done an awesome job documenting this so far. I will be following every step of this, I would LOVE to do this some day. Being in a brand new 735 sq ft space is a dream to me !!! And btw, you have one sweet truck ! Thanks Shane! After years of basement and garage shops, I'm really excited to have a dedicated space. And my wife is excited to have the garage back for her car! Were you talking about the black pickup or that amazing truck that delivered the forms for the foundation? I though that thing was pretty sweet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat60 Posted February 4, 2016 Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 Thats going to be a great shop..Like the 2 by 6 walls for lots of insulation..I think I see the roofing on the job and was wondering how far they are going to take the job..Are you lucky enough to have them do the inside work done or will you be doing some of it yourself?..Cool to see your project Matt. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneymack Posted February 4, 2016 Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 This is really cool Matt. You've done an awesome job documenting this so far. I will be following every step of this, I would LOVE to do this some day. Being in a brand new 735 sq ft space is a dream to me !!! And btw, you have one sweet truck ! Thanks Shane! After years of basement and garage shops, I'm really excited to have a dedicated space. And my wife is excited to have the garage back for her car! Were you talking about the black pickup or that amazing truck that delivered the forms for the foundation? I though that thing was pretty sweet! No definitely not the form truck. The sweet Toyota Tundra ! Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post -MattK- Posted February 4, 2016 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 1 hour ago, Chestnut said: This is awesome! How deep was the foundation? The scale while he was digging made it look shallow until the workers got down there. I'm pretty sure it's because it's what i do for a living but i enjoy watching construction and can't wait to see more and the completed video. Are you going to disclose any of the cost information? From the plans, the foundation was supposed to be a minimum of 42" deep. There's a 10x8" footing at the bottom and an 8" thick foundation wall. The site's mostly flat, I think there was one step down in the footing. Cost wise... well it's been tricky. I was working with a contractor who hooked me up with an architect. Between our initial talk and the detailed estimate (Feb '15 to Aug '15) the estimate doubled.. After throwing up in my mouth, I ditched the contractor and just treated the cost of the architect as a sunk cost from being naïve when it comes to home renovation and I started again. I spoke to two Connecticut-based companies that build pre-fab buildings. One builds post-and-beam buildings. Their cost for a timber framed building was $57K. No foundation or electricity. The other does stick-framed buildings where the walls and trusses are built offsite and then erected in a few days - their building cost was $37K. No foundation, electricity or insulation. That includes some upgrades - 9' walls (on top of 8" of foundation wall above the slab), 2x6 walls, a ceiling that's part storage loft / part vaulted, 8 windows (in 4 pairs of 4), and a cupola. I went with the latter. I've had some additional big costs that are associated with the project but probably not applicable to everyone... electricity - had to upgrade the house to 400-amp service as our 200-amp was stuffed full. That required a new trench to a transformer with new conduit and conductors. Had to run a 250+ foot trench from the far corner of the house (where the electricity comes in) across the lawn and driveway to run conduit. (I put in an extra conduit to run Ethernet and TV cable out to the shop). drainage - being close to the ocean and having dealt with 2 hurricanes in the last few years, our town is a big precious about dealing with storm water, so I had to put in 6 cultec chambers to deal with rainwater from the new building. 14 minutes ago, shaneymack said: No definitely not the form truck. The sweet Toyota Tundra ! Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk :-) Yeah, I love it. It was my treat when we moved and I transitioned from driving into NYC every day to taking the train. Terrible gas mileage but man it's a great drive - especially good in the snow. 19 minutes ago, mat60 said: Thats going to be a great shop..Like the 2 by 6 walls for lots of insulation..I think I see the roofing on the job and was wondering how far they are going to take the job..Are you lucky enough to have them do the inside work done or will you be doing some of it yourself?..Cool to see your project Matt. Thanks man! They're just doing walls, roof, windows and doors. (not even all the doors - I'm going to install a patio door on the wall to the right - they wanted something like $2500 for a patio door - we're going to put in a small patio just outside the building by the back lawn - you're looking out to the side lot of our house) They also still have to pour the slab which I think will happen next week. I'm still deciding on insulation - I'm going to get a quote for spray foam and if it's too much I'll put in fiberglass or roxul myself. I'm not going to touch a piece of sheetrock. I can't think of anything I hate more than drywalling. (not to mention I'm TERRIBLE at applying joint compound!). My wife and I will paint. I'll do the trim work myself I'm still deciding on flooring. I need to let the concrete cure - I think that's 60 days? After that, I'll either leave it as-is or I may do hardwood over subfloor + 2x4s and rigid foam... I still feel young (though I'm not - I turn 40 in less than 2 weeks), so I may just go with concrete and rubber mats until my joints break down some more! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip Posted February 4, 2016 Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 Being near Stamford, I was going to guess $80-$90/sq... Let me guess, the Architect approach got you to about $125/sq? Is HVAC and a bathroom in that number? How's the town with an outbuilding in front of the main structure? Around here, we'd have to put it out back... Unless you claim it's a garage or carriage house... Did you pull a permit for a garage, home office, what? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-MattK- Posted February 4, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 11 minutes ago, hhh said: Being near Stamford, I was going to guess $80-$90/sq... Let me guess, the Architect approach got you to about $125/sq? Is HVAC and a bathroom in that number? How's the town with an outbuilding in front of the main structure? Around here, we'd have to put it out back... Unless you claim it's a garage or guest house... Did you pull a permit for a garage, home office, what? over $200 a square foot! No plumbing. Didn't include HVAC. You can see why I ditched the guy ;-) It was some combination of the architect giving me a Cadillac of a building even when I kept saying "it's just a workshop, it's going to be dusty as hell" the contractor getting busy geographic pricing (gotta love Greenwich CT) and probably "career pricing" (knowing I work in finance) It was tough to even find an architect. Out of 5 I spoke with, only 2 were willing to work on the job. I pulled a permit. We're in 1 acre zoning, so we can have an 800 sq ft accessory building. I called it a workshop, but I don't think they care... As far as location - it's tricky. The camera is looking out towards the street that our address is on, but we're really on a private road off that main street (you can see it to the left on the camera). So as far as the orientation of the house, our front door is to the left. The only thing that mattered was set-backs. So there's a 50 foot setback from the edge of the property by the main road and a 25 foot setback from the edge of our property on the left (which is a few feet set-back from the private road we share with our neighbors). Here's a snippet of the site plan / survey: The crane is here! If you see someone out there in a bright orange jacket that's me with my "please don't drop a truss on me" outfit 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boelkers Posted February 4, 2016 Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 This is so exciting. I'm really enjoying watching this come together in real time! I should really get back to work.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneymack Posted February 4, 2016 Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 Being a construction superintendent, i feel the need to sit here and watch the guys put your building together. Its slow on my site anyways..... If they screw up, I will message you LOL ! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
estesbubba Posted February 4, 2016 Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 Those 6" walls will be really nice for insulation. I bought R-19 5'x41' rolls for mine which made hanging it go really fast. I also sprayed R-44 in the attic and my propane heater barely runs once it gets up to 60. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip Posted February 4, 2016 Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 Ahhh, that's right, Riverside is part of Greenwich township... $200/sq would be about right for an Architect job... I can see the limitations from the site plan... I'd have been tempted to off-set it towards the rear deck -- that way you could feign a dip in the pool and sneak-off to the shop... I see the drainage setup... My parents are in the Old Lyme area, so get the stormwater requirement... Post Sandy town requirements are a bitch... No septic field? No bathroom? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted February 4, 2016 Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 @-MattK- Drainage is becoming a big deal across the country. I live in a very hands off area as far as regulation goes and we have a lot of storm water regulations. The army Corps of Engineers is having to take jurisdiction over more water bodies and it's causing the agencies to look at things a different way. I'm assuming holding of the storm water was not volume related but was quality related? From my experience most residential zoning doesn't care about what the building is used for. An accessory building is an accessory building as long as it's not used for business. I like the idea of putting a sub-floor over the slab so you can get something other than concrete. It would probably keep the feet warmer during the cold months. Do you do all electric heat out there or are you piping in natural gas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boelkers Posted February 4, 2016 Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 Did anyone else see that fly walk across the camera? lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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