My New Shop... well less then a year old.

[David Prince]

Looks like you have a good space for a shop that should suit your purposes.

Staggering your roof sheeting would have given you a lot more strength. Could you have poured a floating slab instead of, footings, block and floor joists? This could have saved you some unless you specifically wanted the wooden floor. You should be able to get by with polly on the crawl space dirt with a pea rock material covering it for a ground vapor barrier. This would have been easier prior to framing the floor.

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

James - nice shop. Good job on the construction!

[Rich Aldrich]

Nice shop. What about the inside?

[James Combs]

Hmmm... Stagger the roof sheeting... pea gravel before the floor... Now you tell me. I'll go out tomorrow and strip the roof and stagger them critters... Actually I was thinking of stapling the plastic to the lower side of the floor joists. What do you think. There is quite a bit of room in the crawl space if a body doesn't mind working with knee pads. I could funnel some pea gravel in thru the four vents I have in the block. I will figure out something to mediate the moisture.

Yes I prefer a wooden floor thats the reason I made it 1-1/2" thick. Believe me it is solid on the inside.

Looks like you have a good space for a shop that should suit your purposes.

Staggering your roof sheeting would have given you a lot more strength. Could you have poured a floating slab instead of, footings, block and floor joists? This could have saved you some unless you specifically wanted the wooden floor. You should be able to get by with polly on the crawl space dirt with a pea rock material covering it for a ground vapor barrier. This would have been easier prior to framing the floor.

[James Combs]

Working on a photo album to show off the inside. Be a week or two. (have to sweep and rearrange the furniture before photo ready.

Nice shop. What about the inside?

[David Prince]

Hmmm... Stagger the roof sheeting... pea gravel before the floor... Now you tell me. I'll go out tomorrow and strip the roof and stagger them critters... Actually I was thinking of stapling the plastic to the lower side of the floor joists. What do you think. There is quite a bit of room in the crawl space if a body doesn't mind working with knee pads. I could funnel some pea gravel in thru the four vents I have in the block. I will figure out something to mediate the moisture.

Yes I prefer a wooden floor thats the reason I made it 1-1/2" thick. Believe me it is solid on the inside.

Lay the poly on the ground and pour the pea rock over the top. You only need it an inch or so deep to keep it in place. This will stop any moisture before it enters the crawl. Poly under the floor joists could trap moisture in the joist bays. You would normally want your vapor barrier closest to your heated space. If you wish to insulate the space, you could use 2 inch foam board on the inside of the block and then stuff fiberglass into the joist bay around the sill. I would then skip insulation in the joists. If you cut the foam pieces right, you can stuff them down your crawl space hole and glue them to the inside of the block. Block off the crawlspace vents during the winter.

Given the pattern of your roof sheathing, I would install extra CLB (cross lateral bracing) in your roof trusses. This will help correct that situation.

[James Combs]

CLB? Is that something like the black X's in the top of the photo?

Lay the poly on the ground and pour the pea rock over the top. You only need it an inch or so deep to keep it in place. This will stop any moisture before it enters the crawl. Poly under the floor joists could trap moisture in the joist bays. You would normally want your vapor barrier closest to your heated space. If you wish to insulate the space, you could use 2 inch foam board on the inside of the block and then stuff fiberglass into the joist bay around the sill. I would then skip insulation in the joists. If you cut the foam pieces right, you can stuff them down your crawl space hole and glue them to the inside of the block. Block off the crawlspace vents during the winter.

Given the pattern of your roof sheathing, I would install extra CLB (cross lateral bracing) in your roof trusses. This will help correct that situation.

[David Prince]

CLB? Is that something like the black X's in the top of the photo?

Let's say that your shop faces north and south. (The gable ends north and south). Your roof trusses are then east and west. If you have a wind force from the east or west, you are pretty strong at this point. If you have a wind force from the north or south, you could potentially topple the rafters. (Think dominos) Your roof sheathing will help support the rafters against that force, BUT you have all of your seams lined up on single rafters creating a weakest link on 4 of the rafters. What you want to do is create a support system that will provide north and south support. First thing I would do is place a horizontal 2 x 4 from the north to the south laying flat on the top of the horizontal rafters inside your attic space. Where you have a seam, overlap this member to form a continuous support from north to south. Then, make a diagonal from the north peak down to this horizontal member. (kinda the opposite of your diagonal) (Your diagonal does help) To your benefit, the ridge board will help carry the support.

(Imagine a large piece of construction equipment pushing on the very peak of your gable end. As this pushes, imagine the domino effect. If it pushes hard enough, the rafters will give way at a seam where you have all the sheathing on a single rafter guaranteed! The wind is the reality that could push this! What you want to do is provide support so this does not topple) (Your CLB is meant to distribute this force (load) so that the building can hold its own.) If your sheathing was staggered, all rafters would carry an equal load and failure could happen on any rafter... meaning that the load was equally distributed.

Did you stagger the sub-flooring?

[James Combs]

I think I got it. Kind of an upside down version of the two braces I already have but under the sheeting seams. BTW The gables are north and south.

As for the floor I did offset each row by 1/2 sheet, I am not sure why I didn't do the roof sheeting the same way. I think I was rushing to get it done between storms and just wasn't thinking clearly. Happens when you get older. The second layer of flooring is shifted 1/2 sheet width from the first layer (no seams on seams) very solid.

Did you stagger the sub-flooring?