You can score some points with your wife with this one. Put 2 whiskey barrels or other large planters on either side of the does and one in the middle and plant some nice flowers to add some color and greenery.

 

I finally got my lights up. I think that finishes up all wiring until I get a lift. I just need to caulk around the lights to seal them up.
We have had quite a bit of rain lately and I have a leak in the shop. I'm not sure where it starts. I think it might be on the roof line and coming down the wall from there. I cold never tell before because I had so much water coming in through my open garage doors. The tarps only kept out so much. Time to climb up and see what I can find...On a dry, sunny, warm day.

Here are a couple of pictures. The over the door light seems small with that large expanse around the doors. The wire run between the two garage door lights is long just in case Gwen decides there needs to be a light between the doors. I should have enough spare wire to break it for a junction.

 

Nice, Joe.

 

Hope you're able to track down the leak. Might be hard with the blow in insulation.

The lights look terrific!

 

Shouldn't the company that put the building up he responsible for finding the leak?

 

Well, it wasn't a company that did the work. they all work for the same construction company, but they did the work on their own.
But, they did say if there are leaks they will come back and find them. I will get with them and have them come out.

 

Building looks great Joe. They are framing the pad today for mine so the concrete can be poured tomorrow. I hope mine turns out as nice as yours did. Keep up showing us some pictures.

 

Tracy,
A strong recommendation for a grid of rebar in the pad and NOT the 4 x 4 wire. You can ask me why.

 

The lights look great Joe. Do they come on at dusk/off at dawn, or on a switch? Maybe you have good street lights that light it up well at night. Here in the country we have a yard light that comes on at dust. Does a great job of lighting the area up. Not to add to your to do list but did they cut joints in your concrete? Relief cuts help the concrete crack evenly and not randomly. Maybe they are there and I just can't see them!

 

Joe,
Shop is looking great! You have come a long way with the project. So nice ot have space to work in things too. Tell us about the lift? Maybe I missed the discussion? Drive on? Two post? Weight to lift? That is probably the next thing I should get in my shop too.
Regards,
Chris

 

EDIT: I logged in on my PC tonight and saw this is an older thread so the comments I made are a little late. It's a little difficult to see that on a mobile phone so I guess my comments below may be helpful for someone in the future.
btw: Joe- Nice barn you ended up with. Plenty of height for a lift. Best of luck finding the leak- I'm sure you'll track it down.

Original response....

I guess the primary question is “What’s your budget?” 😁.

i may be repeating what others have mentioned but i’ll list my thoughts, observations, and “wish I woulda dones”

When I did my barn, I was going to build a 24 x 32 and thank god a friend of mine said “too small”. I ended up with a 32 x 48 and, believe me, it filled up quickly!

some suggestions I have:
- 12’ ceilings
- 6” slab in the barn as well as the apron
- two side by side overhead doors. If you have space, put another overhead door on the opposite wall from these to allow a breeze through the barn when needed and also make it easy to shuffle cars/trucks and other toys in and out of the barn. There’s nothing worse than having to empty out the barn to get at something stored in the back of the barn. (I didn’t install a third door on the back of my barn and I wish I did)
- run Cat 5 or Cat 6 network cable to the barn. It is really handy having a PC in the barn to check forums when something isn’t going right. Secondly, a metal barn is a nice faraday cage so cell service will be minimal. With network cable run to the barn, you can hang a wireless router or access point inside the barn to enable you to use your cell phone if you have the IP calling feature turned on.
- run a water line to the barn with a frost free spigot outside on the apron for hosing stuff off.
- if you have natural gas available, run a line to the barn even if you don’t need it immediately.
- consider storage trusses- a second floor is ideal for storing parts and creating a man cave. It adds height to the barn but if your zoning allows it, do it. I don’t know what I would do without all that extra storage.
- consider heat and how you use your barn. In-slab radiant heat is nice but if you’re not in the barn a lot, it takes quite a bit of time to heat up that thermal mass of the slab. If you only need it sporadically, consider a quick heating source like an natural gas unit. A friend of mine put a heat pump in his barn (well insulated of course) and enjoys working in air conditioned comfort during the summer. I didn’t plan for heat in my barn and wish I did. I built a temporary work area in 1/4 of my barn and heat it with a kerosene heater which is a PITA.
- Heavy poly under the slab to prevent moisture from wicking up.
- 100A service if available. Lots of outlets around the barn. 120V at least every 10’. consider where you’ll be doing must of your work and put in a couple of 220V outlets
- insulate the walls and ceiling. - I wish I did this when I built the barn.
- Band the barn with 7/16” x 2’ wide waferboard between the lower two purlins. This provides a 4’ band around the lower part of the siding to back up the metal siding. This prevent dings and dents from becoming full blown holes when you inevitably hit the siding with something
- put in an indoor sink and point of use hot water heater. (I didn’t and wish I did)
- Install a variable speed vent on one of the walls to draw out fumes from welding/spraying/grinding. I use this a lot!
- install lots of lighting. Flat panel LED lights are great and provide a nice, uniform light. I installed mid bay LED lights and while they are glare bombs, they work well.
- wire the lights in banks (ie- if you have three strips of lights the length of the barn, put each strip on a separate switch. That way you only turn on the lights you need.
- consider adding floor drains. I didn’t and I wish I did every time I pull my tractor into the barn after clearing snow.
- install good area lights outside
- place some electrical outlets in the ceiling where you plan to work for retractable work lights
- figure out where you’re going to put a compressor and run 220 there. Then run compressed air lines in the wall with taps every 15-20 feet or so around the barn. Plan for good drainage of condensate in the lines or put in 20-30’ of vertical copper condensation loop near the compressor to condense water at the compressor before it gets into your distribution pipes.

I installed sky lights and, while they’re nice, they do leak and I don’t think I’d install them again if I had to do it over. Others I’ve spoken with that put them in their barns all mention theirs leak as well.

I hope this helps!!!

Ron

 

Is that a 1963 tr3 "B" ?

 

bigwin- keen eye! It's a 1959 TR3A that is my project car. The F1 truck is my wife's and I've been focused on that the past few months so the TR sits and waits patiently. It ain't easy having two project vehicles underway and It's tough keeping the parts separated. Occasionally there's a benefit (TR fuel pump and F1 pump are very similar so rebuilding one after the other was easy). Another positive is that aside from a few whitworth & british standard fasteners, the nuts and bolts on the Triumph and F1 all UNF so I was able to buy boxes of them from Bolt Depot in standard sizes.

 

Chris,
As for lift, I'm planning on a two post lift. I'm not sure when I will get one, hopefully before too long though.. When the time comes, I will look into the type closer again

Ron, those are a lot of great tips. Most I have done, a few I haven't Some of them come down to budget. You did a great job of outlining those needs.
By the way, great looking shop you have there. Nice car you have there as well. I need something like that finished so my wife can drive around.....That comes after the lift for sure...

 

Well.....I went to my daughters house (my in laws old house) and picked up a bunch of stuff from Gwen's mom's shed. I also got my workbench moved. Guess where all the stuff went....



I was thinking that area would be a great spot for my dorm fridge, a couple of chairs and possibly a small table for lounging and studying my manuals. It would be a great spot to ponder my next move. This stuff shouldn't stay there forever though. Gwen's sister can't move around very well, so we will have her drive her can into the shop and the two of them can go through all this stuff. Everyone will be over for Easter, so I think I will direct the kids and niece and nephew over there to look through it.

Of course as we stacked all this stuff in here Gwen told me we want to clear the area clear for Sunday.....

Here is my workbench in it's home. I made this out of the bed wood from the original flatbed. If I had known what I know now, that flatbed would still be on the truck. Oh well, since my son built my current one, I'm very happy with what I have.
The bench is on wheels. So, if I keep it somewhat clean, it will be great to pull over to the truck when I'm working.