Much Needed Shop Facility

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Andrew,

I guess maybe I have a different attitude than most concerning codes. The codes are there to insure a certain minimum standard of construction , electrical and plumbing installations are met. They are there for the homeowner's protection.

Example. I bought a home and prior to my owning it a couple of elderly gentlemen added a carport to it. Shortly after I bought it we got 9" of snow and as a neighbor and I were returning my ladders after I had helped him sheath the inside of his new garage, we found and measured a 2 3/8" sag in the middle of the header on my carport. Long story short, I ended up retrussing and installing a new header on this 25' x 25' carport in place. I did it THIS TIME to code. IF it had been done to code the first time, I wouldn't have had to do and it wouldn't have been nearly as difficult or expensive.

These gentlemen had made a 25' header to span an 18' span out of doubled 2x8 without any plywood sandwiched between them and no glue of any kind. They didn't waste a lot of money on nails either. I'm lucky I didn't end up with the entire carport on the ground.

A farm house we lived in when I was 6 years old burned to the ground while we were visiting an uncle one evening. The fire was caused by a gas leak as witnessed by a passing trucker on US 50. He kicked the door in to make sure everyone was out of the house. He saw where the fire was at it's early stage. There was no code for gas in those days but the house wouldn't have met code anyway.

My parents didn't have insurance when our farmhouse burned to the ground. They had 6 kids and they never did recover financially or own another home.

15 years later while stationed in the Navy at NAS Meridian, MS, my wife, two kids and I had just moved into base housing. Some 6 months later the trailer we had been renting off base for 2 years burned to the ground as the result of an electrical fire. Fires....gas or electric...scare the hell out of me.

The building code is there for protection of the average Joe from unscrupulous builders/electricians/plumbers who might take some dramatic cuts in the quality of their work just to make a profit. It's to prevent people from being put into some unsafe conditions.

JMHO.

[Andrew Joiner]

Ken,

I agree codes and engineering standards for construction are needed. They are the best rules to go by or exceed.

I built our new house. It's all to code and inspected by the city. I used very unique and creative methods for my design and construction. It was less frustration than I thought to work with inspectors and codes, actually a fun challenge.

This thread is great because we got to discuss the insurance aspects. No home is perfect,especially older homes. I was grateful to get John's comments. His experience say's one can't take it to far and rely on worry free insurance coverage.

[phil harold]

I think the part he misses is that clearence needed around to sevice an electical panel


This is just as bad as the video of this guy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yp-bQQl3FWY

by posting his much needed shop facility is "okay" beyond comprehension and he should be nominated for a Darwin Award

[Bob Slater]

I guess we shouldn't use our real names . Make sure your friends are good aimers. I also have a jug to use in my shop. A custom washer fluid jug with a cutout just for me. It is emptied every night while no one is looking. For the more urgent fecal process I have an Incinolet. It electrocutes the waste matter and sends it out the side of the shop in putrid cloud. Electricity is too expensive to waste on Liquid matter. Too much information.

[Jim O'Dell]

snip For the more urgent fecal process I have an Incinolet. It electrocutes the waste matter and sends it out the side of the shop in putrid cloud. Electricity is too expensive to waste on Liquid matter. Too much information.

And what other shop tool could you have purchased for what that cost??? Man, if I have to go, I walk about 60' to the house, then to the nearest bathroom. If my wife said she felt in anyway worried because of a friend I had over that needed to use the facilities, I'd either go to the house with my guest, or rethink my list of friends. This isn't to slam the OP in any way.
I will say this thread has been fun to see what some people will go to to relieve themselves! Jim.

[Bob Slater]

And what other shop tool could you have purchased for what that cost??? Man, if I have to go, I walk about 60' to the house, then to the nearest bathroom. If my wife said she felt in anyway worried because of a friend I had over that needed to use the facilities, I'd either go to the house with my guest, or rethink my list of friends. This isn't to slam the OP in any way.
I will say this thread has been fun to see what some people will go to to relieve themselves! Jim.

Well, my shop is in a semi tough Urban part of Toronto and about an 8 minute drive from my House. I find cooking wine bottles on my stoop some mornings and have a security camera monitoring my door for when I leave late at night. Once inside, it is a bunker....thus the need for an Incinolet. It is a great tool, perhaps I can think of something else to do with it. So far I am at $50 per use and working the cost down over time. (again, too much information!!)

[Jim O'Dell]

Well, my shop is in a semi tough Urban part of Toronto and about an 8 minute drive from my House. I find cooking wine bottles on my stoop some mornings and have a security camera monitoring my door for when I leave late at night. Once inside, it is a bunker...thus the need for an Incinolet. It is a great tool, perhaps I can think of something else to do with it.

WOW! Not sure I would be that dedicated of a woodworker. So, is this a commercial venture? Sounds like there is no water/sewer hookup to the building?

So far I am at $50 per use and working the cost down over time. (again, too much information!!)

Now that is funny! Thanks for the explanation. Jim.

[Bob Slater]

I am actually a dedicated putterer. I have everything I like under one roof. Cars, tools, stereo, guitar, AC/heat, books. One hookup to civilization through a 200 amp service. Good lumber store nearby and some good Middle Eastern food nearby. It is a Man Cave and if something good comes out of it that is sellable, it will be a success. My blood pressure is scientifically proven to be lower here. All I need is a dog. Oh yeah, and somehow I have free internet (wifi poacher), so I can hang around forums like this.