How I built my shop

[Jim O'Dell]

I love a good shop build series!! Jim.

[Gary Kvasnicka]

Mike,
I really like the timber frame. I would love to build a timber frame home one day. I have been following this and just today noticed where you live. It must have been the snow pictures that threw me off. You must get more snow up in the northern part of the county.

[Ben Franz]

Mike-

This is a very cool thread (or set of threads) you've put up. I like the timber frame a lot. Did you take classes in it, learn on your own or at Grampa's knee? I've always been facinated by timber framing - did a couple of small projects - a porch roof and a patio cover. Nothing like your shop. What's the roof panel material made from?

[Mike Mathieu]

Hi Ben
I worked for a contractor when I lived in Maine that built log homes and picked up a few tricks of the trade. I gained more experience in North Carolina building log homes and timberframes. I was a licensed electrical contractor in NC which was the ideal combination. (wiring log homes is tricky).
I used a roofing material called Ondura. It is a corrugated asphalt material that comes in 4'x 6' panels. Pretty durable and fairly easy to install.

[David G Baker]

Mike,
A local Borg carried Ondura for a short while several years ago but I haven't seen it locally since they quit carrying it. I ended up going with metal over 1 inch foam board. It looked quite simple to install and they had all the joint material with it as well. If I do another roof I may give it a try.
You are doing an awesome job and I love your step by step photos.

[Chris Damm]

I'm sorry you didn't choose the steel roofing. I built a barn in the late 80's with Ondura and where there were no trees it held up great. The side that had trees was so full of holes from falling branches that I had to replace it after only one year. In a wooded setting I would only use steel. If you insulate the roof it cuts down on the noise.

[phil harold]

Mike,
A local Borg carried Ondura for a short while several years ago but I haven't seen it locally since they quit carrying it. I ended up going with metal over 1 inch foam board. It looked quite simple to install and they had all the joint material with it as well. If I do another roof I may give it a try.
You are doing an awesome job and I love your step by step photos.

menards still carry it...

I have not used it yet

[Art Mulder]

Hey, Mike!

Cool thread. Very neat to see this construction happen "real fast"... fast for us that is

As I compare the model to the finished product, it seems like the pitch of the porch roof is steeper in the model. Is that so, or is it an optical illusion?

Also, I know very little about timber framing, so I'm wondering about the side walls. I noticed many 45-degree braces along the bottom of the wall supporting the vertical members. But I don't see any at the tops of the walls. Can you explain why this is?

best,
...art

[Mike Mathieu]

Hi Art
You are correct in your observation that the porch roof is steeper on the model. I raised the height on the front beams from 7'- 7'6" to give a little more head room. As far as the 45degree bracing on the bottom of the outside walls, it was just more convenient to build it this way during the construction .I had checked with the local building inspector to make sure that this would be acceptable. Bracing can be done either way.

[Rob Russell]

Merged the multiple threads together so folks can find the complete story. This post will also bump the whole thread back up .

[Mike Mathieu]

My shop is now dried in and now it’s time to get the inside work done. I have installed all of the lighting, using 8’-2 tube fluorescents that I salvaged from a grocery store remodel and have put all the lights on motion sensors. All of the outlet circuits are in conduit run under the floor and are stubbed up where needed.The 200 amp service is installed and powered up with plenty of space for future needs. The lumber racks are done and the miter saw station is complete. I decided to install hardwood flooring in the work area and found oak flooring for a dollar a sq. ft. Not the best but the price was right.
Installing the floor—nothing hi-tech about this.





Once the floor was installed, I did have to fill in knot holes with a mixture of epoxy and sawdust.



I rented a floor sander to sand it down before applying the finish.



I built the railings for the loft and the stairway and was ready for my final building and electrical inspections.



I built this shop over a 3 year period at a cost of $10,000 for all materials, but there is still always work to be done in Mike’s One Man Shop.

[Art Mulder]

- so the hardwood is only in part of the shop? And it seems to run across the width rather than the long way? Sure looks nice and rustic when it was freshly finished. And really, it's a shop, so I think it looks grand.

Based on the date stamp on that one photo, this is from back in 2002 ??

Still a great looking place. What do you use the loft for? is it storage, or is there an office up there or something else?

Did you insulate under the floor?

I love looking at shop builds!

[John Bailey]

That's one of the best builds and best lookin' shops I've seen. Nice job!!

John

[Jerry Olexa]

Very nice work. Thanks for showing us. Well done!!