operation toy shed/man cave project input

[BLACKJACK]

I'll bet the local lumber yard would provide you with a drawing if you promise to buy most of your lumber, rafters, and other materials from them.

I wish I would have put one wider door into my shed, I pull a tractor with a seven foot snowblower on it into the shed, its tight!!! A wide door will always take a smaller vehicle.

[JohnMickish]

One question is how do you go from a dream to making it a reality? Whats the best way to get some ideas on paper etc. I just cant figure out how to take a image in my head and put it on paper so we can get this started.

Have you talked to your lending institution yet? Depending on their needs you might need a set of architectual drawing that are site specific.

The first thing I would do is to ask what they need to see. That will tell you what you need to do next.

[rundrave]

Have you talked to your lending institution yet? Depending on their needs you might need a set of architectual drawing that are site specific.

The first thing I would do is to ask what they need to see. That will tell you what you need to do next.

I wont be doing any borrowing....this will be as Randy Moss says.... "Straight cash homey"

I have a nice little nest egg set aside to get the ball rolling on this. There will lots of small odds and ends that will probably go on forever, but I have more than enough saved right now to get the footings poured, roof on, framed, and sided etc.

[cavalierowner]

What you are describing is pretty custom and may have some code implications with a living space above. As suggested you may want to consider getting a local architect to help you lay things out, make sure it blends into the house architecture, meets code, etc. Here's a link to the SD chapter of the American Institute of Architects: http://aiasouthdakota.weebly.com/ They would be able to help you find an architect.

Good luck with your project, it sounds like fun!

[rundrave]

I don't have any plans to have any sort of living space above, but would like to use the attic area for storage.

I have checked and double checked all the rules and regs as well as code. I have gotten a lot of good literature from my counties zoning office as well as reached out to them via email/phone.

I will start pinging some contacts and see what I can do to go about getting a draft completed.

[soldoncass]

What you are struggling with is exactly what a contracor DOES FOR YOU. Takes your ideas, designs the layout according to your wants, places it on your lot ,where you want it...and will let you know what meets code. You should be able to find 1 that will just take it as far as you want then to.

That is my recommendation for you.

[Tom7227]

Make absolute positive no doubt about it sure that what you are getting ready to do is OK with the local city/township/county. What someone tells you over the phone, or even face to face, doesn't mean beans. I would go to the place you need to get a permit from with at a minimum of a footprint drawing showing distances from lot lines, size of existing and new structure(s). I would include information about the height of the building, and about what type of exterior you are going to use. Some places even get involved with the color you want to use.

Finally, is there a neighborhood association or any sort of covenants on the title to the land that would allow someone to raise a stink about what you're planning?

My career as a government lawyer taught me that you never know what's going to bite your butt. Best cover it as best as you can to try and avoid some sort of stop order.

[JohnMickish]

I wont be doing any borrowing....this will be as Randy Moss says.... "Straight cash homey"

Nice

Find a contractor that you feel comfortable with, one that has lots of personal references with custom projects like this. As mentioned above, that is what a good contractor will do for you. An experienced contractor will have contacts of all sorts of people in the industry to answer any questions you have.

[rundrave]

updates and progress:

I did get a draft completed and all that fun stuff. I decided to go with a 32x28 with a gable entry on the 32 side. I will have a 14' and 9' garage doors with a walk in door. I would have liked to go bigger but with the septic tank, drain field, propane tank, neighbors yard, existing trees etc etc, this is what I was most comfortable with and still have a nice big sized yard left.

I am having the concrete work done by a relative on his spare time so lots of late nights and weekend work. In the last 2 weeks we have had the track hoe out and got the footings dug 48". That went really well, only found one big rock and hit 1 sprinkler line. Found lots of good dirt and no water thankfully. My property had a pretty high water table until recently with the lack of rain which really helped getting this project started.

Got the forms set up for the spread footings and steel put in place(holy sticker shock on the steel) It all passed inspection so we got that poured last Wednesday.

Over the weekend we set the forms for the foundation walls and got the concrete poured last night. Will hopefully get all the forms dissembled and taken down tonight if the concrete looks like its ready. Then back fill with gravel and some grading with the access dirt piles.

All in all we are off to a good start and its been a lot of fun. I am learning lots as I have never really been part of any concrete work before so its been fun other than my yard getting tore up.

Here are a few pics of the progress:

[randerson]

So where is the progress report?

[BoxMN]

Yeah, inquiring minds want to know I see in the middle pic that at least you have a couple good supervisors

[rundrave]

no updates really (time calls in other directions). I cant wait to get ready for the fun stuff (framing, roofing etc) though

As of now we finally got the forms off but we ran into a small issue. They were using some device to vibrate the concrete down into the forms for the foundation walls. This was a brand new device and it broke/failed a few feet into the job. They resorted to using sledge hammers to bang on the forms while we poured and I think it worked pretty well. However now that we got the forms off there are going to be a few areas that need to be grouted or filled in.

I by no means think the integrity of the foundation is/was compromised but its mostly cosmetic things. There isn't any rebar exposed except for one really small area.

Everything was back filled with a couple loads of gravel and then the existing dirt on top of that. I also made the mistake of not leaving the sprinkler line exposed that we cut in the process of digging the forms. I pulled the one end that had one sprinkler head on it right in the middle of where the building will go. But I let the other cut end get buried so I will have to use some elbow grease and start digging by hand. At least I know where its located lol.

I still need to finish a couple design and planning details. I am probably going to end up residing my house at the same time and I will be hiring that out so I am researching and getting some bids so that I can get the house and new garage done at the same time.

Weekend free time will be hard to come by in the next few weeek with 2 weekends of turkey hunting, weddings, graduations and all the other things in life, its going to get put on hold for a bit. I am lining up lots of friends and family to have what I call an old fashioned "barn raising party" lol. I will update again we some actual work is done.

[rundrave]

I see in the middle pic that at least you have a couple good supervisors

They are pretty good at supervising, but the only thing they are good for is leaving some unnecessary but strategically placed land mines in our working area.

[cavalierowner]

From what you are describing, you are correct in that the honeycombing, rock pockets, etc are just cosmetic and can be easily repaired. Use a mix of one part portland cement to 2-1/2 parts sand mixed with as little water as possible to have a packable patching mix.

[vikingmeatwad]

Nice drawings, great to see the project.

I hope to be building my garage this year or next and will use some of the info.

fyi, my 18.5' boat is needs 23' with the tongue broken down.

[SalmonSlayer]

Anything new to show?

[rundrave]

sorry nothing new to report. I just haven't had any free time as I mentioned above.

We had a graduation last weekend, both a wedding and graduation out of state this coming weekend, followed by another wedding next weekend in Milwaukee so that will include some vacation time and travel to Chicago and the Dells.

Good news is most of materials, garage doors are all ordered. I am having a nice little get together with friends and family first weekend in June and hopefully we get most of it done then. "many hands make light work"

I will update more with pics then.

[Gordie]

Mine is 30 X 40 and wish it was bigger I would not ever go any smaller I have to different size doors one 8ft wide and one 12 ft wide and I'll tell you this the 8 ft door hardly ever get opened up. Its a pain to back the boat into that stall, so the only time I use it is if I bring in a car/truck to have a bunch of work done on.

I went with the standerd Menards garage package 12 years ago and set it up on block so I have 10 ft ceilings if I would do it agian the block would be 4 ft tall so i would have 12 ft ceilings.

I have the standerd ceiling trusses and inbetween them down the center I have 5/8ths plywood screwed down and thats my extra storage area and lots of room.

My shop is all sheet rocked and painted but if I were to do it again it would be white steel siding.

I think it would be easier to clean.

Mine is mostly a welding shop more than a toy storage/mancave

lots of great ideas none are wrong its just what do you like or want.

[LightningBG]

Rundrave,

Wondering if you'd be willing to share what the concrete work cost for your project (slab and footings). That's the one aspect of building a similar project that I wouldn't want to tackle on my own and have no idea of what it runs. (I know it might be a little different based on location).

[rundrave]

concrete was done by a close relative that works construction. Long story short he works for a big outfit and they literally do $ millions of dollars of work a year so I didn't pay what the average Joe would get charged.

He used his own equipment and I got a discount for any labor work needed. The 2 deliveries for the concrete truck per yard was were probably a little less per yard as well but I am not sure.

when I get back from vacation next week I can look at my invoices and tell you what I paid per yard. Dont forget when budgeting to remember steel for the rebar as that adds up quick as well.

[LightningBG]

concrete was done by a close relative that works construction. Long story short he works for a big outfit and they literally do $ millions of dollars of work a year so I didn't pay what the average Joe would get charged.

He used his own equipment and I got a discount for any labor work needed. The 2 deliveries for the concrete truck per yard was were probably a little less per yard as well but I am not sure.

when I get back from vacation next week I can look at my invoices and tell you what I paid per yard. Dont forget when budgeting to remember steel for the rebar as that adds up quick as well.

Thanks for the 411. You don't need to worry too much about the concrete costs. I have a general idea of costs for that stuff (doing other projects). It was the labor I was curious about. No worries, I'll just have to call around when the time comes. Thanks.

[rundrave]

materials were delivered yesterday.

I got 3 of the walls framed this evening after work. Tomorrow the real fun begins I will try to get some pics of the process.

[LightningBG]

3 walls after work is moving right along. Keep us posted.

[rundrave]

had a few guys to help me out yesterday and we didn't get as far as I would have hoped but progress so far:

-walls are up

-trusses are up (way easier than I thought they would be)

-most of the roof is sheeted

-both garage doors installed (14'x8' and 9'x8) and functional (minus openers)

today I am going to try and finish sheeting the walls and roof and try to start shingling if possible

The wife took pics through out the day yesterday I will get them uploaded later. I will get back to work after church today.

[Bryce]

Missed out on this from the beginning. Shot of how we expanded a standard suburban 3 stall. 18 x 10 door is plenty wide for backing into and the shack fits if I lower it most of the way down. There is also a 15' jon to the left of the backed in truck. Storage trusses above with pull down door. Wish we could have went a bit bigger and have a full staiway.