Build Thread - bike workshop

willis

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Thought I would start a build thread on my new workshop i am building. I've lived in this house for about 4 years now and have never been able to park in my garage! I've kept all my bike stuff in half of our cramped little 2 car garage, which the wife parks in half of. I had a small attached storage shed that was pretty dilapidated with a short roof that I stored all my lawn equipment in. I always had ideas about converting it into a workshop, but it was in pretty bad shape. Conveniently early this spring a wind storm blew a 100ft tree down and crushed the storage building, and part of my truck. Its been a long road fighting with insurance on the replacement, but I am happy to say the new structure is up and finally passed all inspections. Time to start rebuilding.
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The wife and I decided that if we had to pay 4k in deductibles to rebuild, then lets get our monies worth!!! I surely wasn't going to fork out that kind of money and end up with a crappy little building that we started with. After struggling to get quotes from contractors (busy season), we determined that because we had limited budget that the shop would be 12'x27' (original shed was 10x20). We were restricted on 2 sides by buried gas line that we could not afford to move. In addition, we were giving it full 8' ceilings inside as you previously had to duck to get in the 5' door to get inside. Once we got the old building down, we ran into another issue. Due to the location of the electrical service supplying the house, we could not get the extra 2' that I was hoping for. New dimensions were revised to 10'x27'. Not ideal, but still an improvement. So now the main construction is all complete. Now its time for my planning the layout and building the workbench and storage. I have been putting a lot of thought into this to maximize my space. A 10'wide workshop will start to get small real fast if I don't plan ahead.

I worked with the electrician so he knew what i wanted to accomplish. We started with a 30 amp sub panel, as my main block in the garage was maxed out. I am not running 220 as I do not have a welder or even know how. Outlets are spaced every 6 feet on the long walls, and then 2 quad receptacles above the workbench area on the far end. I had him wire 3 outlets on the ceiling for lighting controlled by the switch. I found a good deal on 8' LED fixtures for $20 a piece, so I got 4 of them for general lighting. I still need to get the walls and ceiling painted before I get too much farther though. They are all covered in 1/2" OSB, so I'd like to get a couple coats of white paint up before I start installing cabinets, pegboard & shelves.
 
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You mean the insurance investigator did not notice the fresh saw marks in the trunk of the tree?

LOL... it was actually hollowed out by insects, but you could not tell from the outside. We had a massive windstorm that took out lots of trees. Our neighborhood is full of 100' oaks. Had it blown a little more to the north it would have come down on the house and into our daughters bedrooms. We were extremely lucky!!
 
So this brings me up to the current state. Walls and ceiling still need finished painting, but I got my cabinets set up to go on the wall with simple wood hangers. Workbench is almost done. It's the full 10' length of the far wall. I'm trying to leave plenty of room underneath for storage, as my intentions are to build a 2'x8' wood bike stand that can be stored there when not in use, and double as a storage shelf. I am thinking about adding a small L on the one end so that I have a place for my vice and possible a bench grinder or drill press that I plan on purchasing in the near future. My thoughts on the L section would be to cover it in plate steel. I would also love to make a setup to have the bench grinder and vice interchangeable so they could be stored out of the way when not in use. Still working on ideas for that though. I've seen setups utilizing old receiver hitches and like that idea, but unsure if its the way i want to go. I've got 6 sheets of pegboard framed and ready to go up once I complete the workbench. I plan on lining most of the long open wall with it and have a storage shelf above it also running the full length of the wall.
 

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Wow - what a cool story Willis - I love your new shed! :bow2::bow2:

I'd give my right one (well, almost...) for a shop like that.

Have a ball and play safely!

Pete
 
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Willis, I love your new shop / garage / hang out!
Sorry it took a tree falling on your house to get it, but things have a way of working out! Once you get it all set up and get your bike in there, your wife will have to pry you out of there! Looks as though you have room for another bike now!
 
LOL... it was actually hollowed out by insects, but you could not tell from the outside. We had a massive windstorm that took out lots of trees. Our neighborhood is full of 100' oaks. Had it blown a little more to the north it would have come down on the house and into our daughters bedrooms. We were extremely lucky!!
Well we had some "good luck" our selves. No property damage! But on the access road for city water line across from our house an old maple lost a large section. Fairly tall tree and about 18 inches across where it broke. The "good luck" part is we heat with wood so the last couple days I have been "helping" the city by cleaning the mess up for them at no charge! Probably will end up with a month or so of "free" heat for a few days work. There is still over half that tree standing so next wind storm I might have more free wood.

Glad you were lucky too with no serious damage or personal injuries!
 
Well we had some "good luck" our selves. No property damage! But on the access road for city water line across from our house an old maple lost a large section. Fairly tall tree and about 18 inches across where it broke. The "good luck" part is we heat with wood so the last couple days I have been "helping" the city by cleaning the mess up for them at no charge! Probably will end up with a month or so of "free" heat for a few days work. There is still over half that tree standing so next wind storm I might have more free wood.

Glad you were lucky too with no serious damage or personal injuries!
I heat with wood, too, Ken, and last year NYSEG came through and cut down 10 trees to clear the power lines. I helped them out and also asked them to cut the trees into proper lengths for my woodstove, and ended up with 2 winters worth of heat ! :laugh2:
 
I heat with wood, too, Ken, and last year NYSEG came through and cut down 10 trees to clear the power lines. I helped them out and also asked them to cut the trees into proper lengths for my woodstove, and ended up with 2 winters worth of heat ! :laugh2:
I'm just hoping the guys who's job it would be to clear the right-a-way don't mention to their boss that the tree is gone! They could have a good relaxing afternoon listening to the radio in the "company truck"!
 
Peg board is great but you might consider doing some wall sections in plain wood boards or thick plywood. Then you can "custom" hang stuff with nails and screw hooks. I have an "L" shaped work bench in the corner of my shed. One side has peg board above it, the other wood boards.
 
Well we had some "good luck" our selves. No property damage! But on the access road for city water line across from our house an old maple lost a large section. Fairly tall tree and about 18 inches across where it broke. The "good luck" part is we heat with wood so the last couple days I have been "helping" the city by cleaning the mess up for them at no charge! Probably will end up with a month or so of "free" heat for a few days work. There is still over half that tree standing so next wind storm I might have more free wood.

Glad you were lucky too with no serious damage or personal injuries!

Helping the city.....what a civic-minded individual! ;)
 
Peg board is great but you might consider doing some wall sections in plain wood boards or thick plywood. Then you can "custom" hang stuff with nails and screw hooks. I have an "L" shaped work bench in the corner of my shed. One side has peg board above it, the other wood boards.

The only reason I have so much pegboard was because I got a great deal on craigslist. It was an all or nothing deal. I may just do a couple sections on the wall. I will see as I go and may use a couple in my existing garage too. I like your idea of the thicker wood though too. The end of the building that is attached to the garage turned out to be all 1x12 siding boards. I opted to leave it alone to add some character to it. The house was built in the 30's and has had multiple additions over the years. You can see where the garage was extended once we removed the cedar siding.
 
Willis, I love your new shop / garage / hang out!
Sorry it took a tree falling on your house to get it, but things have a way of working out! Once you get it all set up and get your bike in there, your wife will have to pry you out of there! Looks as though you have room for another bike now!

I've got 2 young girls going through puberty right now, so I am really excited to have an escape room!!! I've already got a 2nd bike, but now I may actually have a place to hide a new project from the wife...
 
I've got 2 young girls going through puberty right now, so I am really excited to have an escape room!!! I've already got a 2nd bike, but now I may actually have a place to hide a new project from the wife...

I've got three of those in their 20's. Hold on Willis - it gets much easier.
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I love pegboard. I don't have all my tools up on it but most of my hand tools.
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Rub our noses in it why don't cha...........some of us, (me for sure) wouldn'rt be able to put all the rubbish from my floor in to that bin...........what do you need that big one for any ways........ looks like you could eat off that floor :)
 
Rub our noses in it why don't cha...........some of us, (me for sure) wouldn'rt be able to put all the rubbish from my floor in to that bin...........what do you need that big one for any ways........ looks like you could eat off that floor :)

OMG !!!!
You're an obsessive tool-hanger like me !!!
And I thought I was all alone in this world ! :lmao:

What this place? That's just where I keep my lawn mower.
THIS is my garage!
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