Richard: Looks great. I like the rebar set up and they even spaced it above the ground before pouring. Common mistake. I like to run pvc chases in areas where electrical and plumbing will come up under the walls, (even for future use), under the concrete just below the surface and either take pictures or film them so as not to have to run conduit on the inner or outside walls later. Keep the pic's coming.

 

they have been busy the last couple of days

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Richard,

I love to see erection

 

Richard, sorry but pictures 2 and 3 in your first post don't look that impressive but it sure is coming along! Bet you're pretty excited. Oh yeah, you did say you were erect in the *NEW*Good Morning Thread...

 

Starting to take shape Richard. Have you figured out you interior layout yet? Lots of fun with a new building you lucky dog you

 

Already laid out months ago.

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Looking good.

Those ironworkers going to have the tower crane operator hoist the traditional evergreen tree and American flag up there for a topping off ceremony?

 

The progress pics are great.

 

very nice!!!!!

 

Wow! that is going to be a really nice shop... not just a garage like most of us have but a real shop!!! John

 

Coming along nicely, Richard! Good seeing y'all today at the meeting!

 

Came home to this tonight. Its getting close now.
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shop249.jpg?t=1300237474

 

hey look it`s 66 Vert Red

Looks great Richard getting close

 

Wow, that's coming along quickly. Lookin good!

 

Wow - I'm jealous!!!!!!

 

Lookin good..........having property is half the battle,In my wildest dreams i would have a shop like that......Or even bigger! lol

 

Well I am getting close but I am not the happiest right now. I told them to build my 20 x 20 carport just high enough so to was not any lower than the 10 ft tall door on the building. I came home to one that that is almost 2 ft higher than the door. Most of the day its worthless for shade because it so tall.

So I am just going live with it and fix it myself by adding some R panels part way down the sides to add shade. Just as I was over being mad about that I am up at the top of my ladder painting the frame to the carport so it won't rust and will match the rest of my trim. I grab ahold of my frame to steady myself at the top of the ladder the the whole thing moves. I can sway the whole thing back and forth over an inch because they didn't tie the frame to the building anywhere.

I swear its near impossible to find people that care about quality and craftmanship anymore.

 

It won't be long now and you will be moving in.

Looking very nice!

 

That is the absolute truth. I always did everything myself, but now age is starting to catch up with me and I cringe at thinking I'll have to hire people to do any major projects.
Higgins

 

Sounds like no sway braces on the on the outside columns Richard. Not a good thing

 

Just a quick update on the shop. I ran out of money and was not very happy over all with my builder. I don't want to waste any more money on crap work so I am doing the electrical myself. Its mostly uncharted territory for me so its been lots of reading and planning. I finally had a weekend off so I did a bunch of work. Its a slow process because am making sure no mistakes are made. Over the last week and this weekend I built a wall to mount the service box, mounted the box, got a 2ft deep trench dug and burried 1 1/4 schedule 40 pvc , hammered two 8ft ground rods (what a bitch that was) , and ran 3 #4 cables through the conduit to handle the 70 amps.

I gained new respect for anyone that works in attics all the time. It was not even hot today and I sweated out at least a gallon of fluids crawling around up there.

I am almost ready to power up the box so I will at least have a few plugs and lights so I can start working on the rest of the whole shop worth of lights and wiring at night after its dark.

 

I know first hand what you mean by people doing crappy work because it's either cheaper or they just don't care.
If you have the capacity, I would strongly suggest raising the panel to at least 100 amps. Unless they've come out with much more efficient flourescent lighting in the past 5 years, six 2 bulb 8 foot lights draw almost 20 amps alone. I have a 30X30 garage with 5 rows of 8ft lights with 3 in each for a total of 15. I can't overstate how important/nice it is to have plenty of light in the shop. But, if I turn all the lights on, I'm at almost 50 amps without doing anything.
Add a fridge, clock, couple lighted displays, a fan of some kind, tv or radio and you're up another 10 amps. If my service was only 70 amps, I couldn't run a tool that drew more than 10 amps. It adds up quick.
Also, if you haven't filled in the trench, you might also consider running another pipe for future additions of electric, cable, phone etc.
I designed and wired my garage too. I don't know if you're planning to have it inspected but if you are, you might find an electrician buddy and have him fill you in on the local codes.
Good luck,
Randy

 

same here for the 100 amps, unless your wire is too small now id think about the bigger panel. congrats on the shop. i was stoked when mine went up. no more changing starters in the driveway.sorry not a great pic, just over 1000 sq ft, 100 amps, office, bathroom, with a couple hundred sq ft of mezzanine space ontop office/bathroom. good luck wiring, i wont touch it


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Thanks for the input. The house is only set up for 150 amps and there are not any 2 pole breakers ava for any more than 70amps for the box in the house. I had 50 amps with the old shop and it was always fine since its just me working and only one tool, and the compressor may be on at the same time along with the lights.

I did a lot of reseach on lights and I have ended up with 18 giant cfls and 5 of the old 2 x 4 t8 fixtures I saved from the old shop. I saved about $2000 in light fixtures and I have 30% more lumens and still use less energy than running traditional long bulb fixtures. Each bulb is about $30.00 and they mount in regular $2.00 light sockets.

I don't have any codes to meet but i have been reading up on the NEC requirements and following them. Whats scary is how bad the old setup was now that I know whats right. Its been like that for 8 years I have lived there and no telling how long from the previous owner but there were many violations.

 

sounds like youve done your homework, how long till you bring in a car to work on?

 

Good question. Once I have a few plugs and a few temp lights in there, (this week if I can get home in the daylight on night) then I can start doing a little each night when I get home. It will go a lot faster then. I promised myself I am not doing any car work until the building is all done. I also have twins on the way and thier due date is rapidly approaching so I hope to be all moved in ready to work before they are here in July.

 

GREAT progress with your Mega-Garage!! CONGRATS and thanks for keeping us posted! (which also keeps most of us MOTIVATED to build our very own "GaragMahal's!" ) MAYBE "ONE of these days!" BEST of luck w/ it all and ENJOY It!

 

looks great but i thought the plans we drew up had my bedroom and two lifts? you are one lucky man to have that kinda space!

 

Richard,

Sound to me like this is one of those times when ya gotta be better than a 2 plate juggler.

 

Trying to keep 5 up now

 

If you're going to use black pipe for air, I would clean them out first, I helped a buddy build his shop, and we had an oily mess when we pressurized the lines.
just my .02

 

Looking good, be careful though my 2400 sf shop filled up quickly and now I must sell a ton of stuff to be able to work on my projects. Congrats on the twins that are on the way! You must be proud of that!
Scot

 

The plan is 3/4 copper if it would stop going up daily.

 

I got home early enough to make a little progress tonight. I now have 3 temporary lights and plugs wired inside the building. No more extention cords running from the back of the house.

I think I am going to be very pleased with my lights. This is what the shop looks like inside at night with only 3 lights mounted 6 ft up the side of a wall. I will have 16 on the ceiling and they only use .8 amps each

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I saw this pic and was struck by how different the construction site looks than it would here in AZ.

 

Looking awesome! I also like your welding cart .

 

Just a thought, as this is how I ran my garage panel. Instead of jumping off the house panel, I jumped right into the main line right after the meter, but before the house breaker. Basically, the new leads are right behind the meter and then split go to the garage to service a 100 amp box in there, and the 100 amp one in the house.

I did have to hire someone to do that, as I'm not insane enough to mess with live 220v+, but it was well worth it, as I now have all the power I'll ever need. I run the 220v hottub out of the garage box along with all the lighting and tools I've ever needed. Something to think about down the road if you run into any brownouts. When I enlarged the back of the garage by another 30', I installed another 60 amp box in the rear of the building as well.

My concrete on the other hand is a horror story. the guy I ended up hiring (after a straw poll of many local friends) turned out to be on a coke binge during my job and there's all kinds of issues. Got a great price, but was that worth it... nope. I'd do it over in a heartbeat. Fool put a brushed surface INSIDE the garage. By the time I was home from work, it was too late to do anything about it. /facepalm

My garage is about 18x58, so it's a 3 car, but has to be long because of a stupid law somewhere that says I can only build on my property and there was no where else to go. 1 big door on each end and a bowling alley in between them. As soon as I find pics on the backup drive, I'll post a few. Nothing as nice and amazing as the work you're doing. I'm jealous as well, but I did take what I had and expanded it as much as physically possible. My poor little lot is 60' of road frontage that goes back 651. not easy to work with, but it does keep the decision process to a minimum.

-Jeff

 

Tapping between the meter and the house box was not feasable. The meter is only inches away from the box outside on the brick.

 

Sorry, Should have been a little more precise. The box the meter is installed in is (on my place anyway) has enough room on the box that I ran new conduit from a hole in the bottom of that box the meter is in over to the garage. That's how I was able to do it. My meter is on the wall only a few inches from my house panel as well, but there was enough room in the meter box itself to make that work. I'll trust that you researched feasible options, as you're doing a magnificent job on the building compared to mine, but thought I'd try and offer another solution to consider if you needed it.

Keep up the great work. It looks awesome! Wish I had headroom for a lift at my place. Thankfully, a buddy about 1/2 mile down the road has a full shop at his place with a lift if I ever need one. He's a full-time Honda tech, and just the other week, he had four S2000's lined up in his garage. His own white one, and 3 others. Yellow, red and silver. Pretty to see them all sitting there like that. I imagine you'll be in a similar situation soon with a few classic Oldsmobiles!

p.s. LOVE the car in your sig. Been seeing her for a while now, and I'd miss that one too...

 

I was told you can't double tap off the box like that here.