workshop build: 1 man/2 hammers, saws, ladders,shovels, pick-axe, squares, etc.,etc.

[greg Forster]

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I guess a Workshop can be considered as the ultimate tool and this one will be used for mostly Neander' woodworking.


The house I bought last Summer came without any usable outbuildings; the wash-house pictured above was eaten up by termites, so I tore
it down. I'm doing everything myself (only have a few weekends a month free and I'm a little slower than I used to be), from mixing 1-1/2
tons of concrete in a wheelbarrow to driving every nail by hand ( no nail gun)

I hit a rock ledge at the upper end, so block piers go with the terrain.


More to follow...

[Jim Matthews]

You dug those piers by hand?
Wow.

You related to this guy?

[Andrew Fleck]

As my Dad would say, that is some good character building. I look forward to seeing the completion.

[greg Forster]

You're not the only one...

[Joe Bailey]

Awesome work, Greg
That there's real neandering!

Keep those progress pictures coming

[Shawn Pixley]

Nice work! If you didn't have character before, you will when done.

[greg Forster]

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slowly, slowly; next time I'll hire better help; but building is dried in. ...wished I'd spaced the windows a little different, and the propane tank is finally gone!!

5.26.14 030.jpg the neighbors are nosey, but not much help

[Steve Voigt]

Hey Greg, looking good!
I'd like to know a little more about the piers. How deep down did you dig? Shovel, or did you rent a power auger? Did you just pour by hand, from a wheelbarrow, or did the concrete truck pay you a visit? You made your own forms, I assume?
Sorry for all the nosy questions. Love the cows!

[greg Forster]

Steve:
Mostly about 2' deep
I have an 18" frost line here in NC
Unlike the 42-48" I grew up with in
WNY
I dealing with red clay + a lot of white flint mixed in, plus some layers of
"Near Rock"; so shovel, pickaxe and
4' wrecking bar

I mixed the concrete in a wheelbarrow
With 80lb bags of Quikcrete with
Some Portland cement added to richen the mix. It was 1-1/2 tons dry mix, so with water probably over 2-1/2
tons of mixing in the wheel barrow

I could barely lift the last few bags, if you go this route add a few 50# bags
For when you get too tired

[greg Forster]

5.26.14 023.jpg
rough-sawn yellow pine I bought wet ( 24%)from a country sawmill; dried for 2 months brought it down to 11-12%
5.26.14 024.jpg face planed with a lunchbox planer

5.26.14 025.jpg some planed to 1/2" for siding- similar to what's on my 1840s house

5.26.14 027.jpg I did hand plane one edge- on 800 lnft of this siding5.26.14 028.jpg

[greg Forster]

siding finished; reglazed a pr of 9 lite sash, I bought at auction, with wavy glass; also have a pair of 4 over 4 double hung sash from an
1830s farm house to flank the entry door (with original early glass- lots of character)

ws2.jpg ws1.jpg shop.jpg

still have the overhang to shingle, stairs to build, painting exterior, and etc

[Bob Jones]

Slow? We have very different standards for speed. Nice work!

[greg Forster]

haven't had much time since August, but exterior finished -minus the door(which I have material for) and steps- which I haven't decided on yet, and how to "dress-up" concrete block piers

I'm really happy with the way the siding turned out; (partly neander; I ran the face side thru the planer, but the edge was trued with a cambered Stanley #5 and a 22" wooden try plane; it took about 3 minutes to edge plane each 8-9 foot piece of siding ) IMG_2699 (2).jpg and the shop fits in with my 1840s house, which was the goal458 (3).jpg

[Bruce Page]

Shop looks great. It looks like you have been busy on the house too.

[Mike Holbrook]

Very nice Greg. There is nothing quite like building your own building. I had help along the way on the building I made for my business. It started as a simple pole barn built into the side of a hill to get it out of flood plain. I just wanted a place to train dogs out of the weather. As luck would have it we ran into a spring in the side of the hill, then lots of rain. It took a year of clearing wet mud out of the area with a tractor just to get something dry enough to build on. I had to build a french drain at the bottom of the hill and around the two sides to drain water off into two small ponds. We piped a truck load of concrete about 200' through the woods, down a steep hill to get a slab to put blocks on. The original block structure was only 60' x 20'x 8', built to give dogs an inside area in cold weather. We built a 60x40' deck on top of the blocks. The original 2'x5' footer holes to support the deck protruding out from the cinder block building were dug with a two man auger. I found out the hard way that one of those things could pick me right off the ground and sling me around. The holes we dug filled almost to the top with water while we were digging them.....

Remind me not to build the foundation for a building in the side of a hill with a spring in it, at the edge of a flood plain again.