Building a Shop

[Huskerplowboy]

Pretty cool. Did that cost extra, or was that the foundation guy's everyday forms?

That's this company's standard forms. Every job I've seen that they've done around here has that same brick look. I figure down the road I may find some paint or something to give them some color once I know how much of the concrete will be exposed where after the final landscaping...

 

[Huskerplowboy]

Question for those who have built pole buildings before:

Which would you install first, the wall steel or the roof steel? I can think of reasons for both but thought I'd pick a few brains out here too. I'm currently leaning towards doing the roof last to avoid a large wind-catching "sail" on top of some spindly legs with minimal bracing.

 

[Duffster]

Question for those who have built pole buildings before:

Which would you install first, the wall steel or the roof steel? I can think of reasons for both but thought I'd pick a few brains out here too. I'm currently leaning towards doing the roof last to avoid a large wind-catching "sail" on top of some spindly legs with minimal bracing.

Roof first, Let me repaet myself, Roof First. Trust Me

 

[Johndeere3720]

Yeah, roof first. My grandpa builds pole barn so I've learned a few things from being on the job. We've only used wood to build the barns and it seems pretty simple. Oh, when you put up the metal sideing, predrill the holes so that when screwing it on to the shop, the screws are in line and go in a lot smoother. You will notice that screws for metal are not cheap. Have you chose a color yet?

 

[yooperdave]

Make sure you laterally brace all those posts while installing the roof.

Good Luck,

Yooper Dave

 

[Duffster]

Make sure you laterally brace all those posts while installing the roof.

Good Luck,

Yooper Dave

How do you mean Dave?

 

[Huskerplowboy]

Update:

Well, on Sunday, the wife and I worked some on laying out the shop. First, we pulled a string line along the west property line so we could square the building up to the world. Then we flagged the approximate corners where we intend the building to sit.

After roughly placing the building, we drove stakes and nailed on batter boards so we could pull stringlines. So far, so good.

Next, we set out to square up the strings. We spent a good deal of time and struggled to get things to come out right. I hadn't expected it to be easy, but something seemed off. Eventually (after she'd gone back home frustrated) I figured out that the 150' open reel tape measure would stretch or seemed to stretch, so you could make a measurement come out to any number you wanted, just pull a little more or a little less. Worst was any measurement along a stringline up off the ground, since you had to pull quite a bit to take up the sag, so getting a measurement to repeat was nearly impossible...

I got things close enough for hole drilling I thought, considering 18" holes for 14" footings and 4.5"x5.5" poles...

 

[Huskerplowboy]

Broke stuff:

I had tried out my old 3-point post hole digger with the big auger and my 2320 a couple weeks ago. It'll turn it, but it's all that tractor wants and more once you get 2.5-3' deep. So, I borrowed a friend's 4020 for the hole drilling, figured I'd be able to idle back and keep the digging more under control with the bigger "real" tractor.

After getting the stringlines close enough, I marked the hole locations and hooked up the PHD. My wife came back out to watch and help me keep things plumb. We drilled the first hole with ok results. The deep clay is real sticky, so it doesn't clean out the best, but it worked ok. We got about halfway down the second hole, and "pop"

At first I figured I'd popped a shear bolt on the digger, so I pulled it out of the hole and took a look. Yes, the shear bolt was gone, but when I tried turning the auger and shaft to see if the hole would line back up, I noticed the input shaft to the gearbox moved in directions it was never intended to move! Looks like a bearing and/or something else in there is giving up and likely will never like drilling 16 holes that big around and that deep. So, it looks like I'll be renting a skid loader with a PHD on it to drill the remaining holes, if it ever stops raining...

 

[Huskerplowboy]

Have you chose a color yet?

Yup, went with "Hickory Moss" (beige sort of color) on the walls and "Evergreen" on the roof, trim, and wainscot. Cleary put up a nice looking building 5-6 miles away this spring with those colors, looks real sharp. Plus, it should work pretty well with the house colors the wife has in mine.

 

[Duffster]

You will need a steel tape.