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East bound and down!
- Thread starter kevin.decelles
- Start date
I learned the hard way about rust already. Humidity is about 70 percent and I had flash rust overnight. Started coating everything in fluid film before leaving calgary. So far so good but I’ve been reading the dehumidifier threads with interest
Glad to have you back! You are just a short trip away from me now. Only 2.5 hours. The shop planning is a challenging but rewarding task. My shop is just starting the build today.
So, its been a year since we pulled the trigger on the move back to SK, and 9 months living on the property. We 'upsized' in terms of property (25 acres vs 5), but downsized in terms of home and shop. We went from a 1800 sq ft bungalow w/walk-out basement to a 1940's farmhouse that is maybe 1000 sq ft total.
As for shop, I had a metal shop (28x40 w/12ft ceilings and a 40ft mezzanine) and a wood shop (24x15) and went to a single 3-car garage (28x44) w/10ft ceilings and no mezzanine. Ya, I know, poor me, but it has meant living with a wood shop full of tools in my metal space, plus a mezzanine full of treasure scattered about. Now that spring/summer has arrived we got busy with our 2023 projects which includes an addition to the house and an extension to the shop (new wood shop).
I won't bore you with the house addition, lets get into the shop details.
After consulting the local rural-municipality (R.M.), (equivalent to an Alberta 'county'), I discovered that starting in 2022 they have started supporting building permits and such...... which is funny given that up until last year it was the wild wild west.... you could put up what you want. It is being done on an r.m. by r.m. basis I believe so some others may have the good ole days in effect.
Permit fees were about $800, electrical permit is $150. I decided to build a standalone 22x24 garage package (10ft ceilings, 2x6 walls, r20 insulation walls, r40 or better ceiling). Standalone, but basically immediately adjacent to the old building, as in the slabs are touching but not 'doweled together' w/rebar. Why? Money. If I added to the existing slab, I exceed the maximum square footage allowed for standard slab or for thickened edge slab..... because they use the total square footage of the overall building (28x44 + 22x24). This means engineered drawings, foundations, grade-beam etc.
I want a wood shop, 5 inch slab (non thickened edge). If the construction material is 1" away from the existing shop, no problem, so that is what I'm doing.
Here is a pic of the slab formed up
We used about 40 yards of gravel base which I had on the property because I have a huge gravel seam running through here.
Here is the cement being poured
But wait, we're not done yet! There is no pavement on the property, so it was gravel up to the existing 3 car garage, and will be gravel to the new shop..... so I added an 'apron' to the front. The existing garage apron is 44 x 10ft, and the apron in front of the new shop will be 24x13 ft (because it is narrower and centered on the existing.
some apron pics
Power trowel on the slab, brush finish on the apron. Now I can use pallet jacks to move equipment around, and the 24x13 apron fits the 2-ton gantry nicely so I can off load new treasure!
Building the shop was quick, framed, stood and shingled in 2 days
You can see the gantry in its new home here:
Framing inspection was today (pass!) and now the electrical and insulation get done.
As for shop, I had a metal shop (28x40 w/12ft ceilings and a 40ft mezzanine) and a wood shop (24x15) and went to a single 3-car garage (28x44) w/10ft ceilings and no mezzanine. Ya, I know, poor me, but it has meant living with a wood shop full of tools in my metal space, plus a mezzanine full of treasure scattered about. Now that spring/summer has arrived we got busy with our 2023 projects which includes an addition to the house and an extension to the shop (new wood shop).
I won't bore you with the house addition, lets get into the shop details.
After consulting the local rural-municipality (R.M.), (equivalent to an Alberta 'county'), I discovered that starting in 2022 they have started supporting building permits and such...... which is funny given that up until last year it was the wild wild west.... you could put up what you want. It is being done on an r.m. by r.m. basis I believe so some others may have the good ole days in effect.
Permit fees were about $800, electrical permit is $150. I decided to build a standalone 22x24 garage package (10ft ceilings, 2x6 walls, r20 insulation walls, r40 or better ceiling). Standalone, but basically immediately adjacent to the old building, as in the slabs are touching but not 'doweled together' w/rebar. Why? Money. If I added to the existing slab, I exceed the maximum square footage allowed for standard slab or for thickened edge slab..... because they use the total square footage of the overall building (28x44 + 22x24). This means engineered drawings, foundations, grade-beam etc.
I want a wood shop, 5 inch slab (non thickened edge). If the construction material is 1" away from the existing shop, no problem, so that is what I'm doing.
Here is a pic of the slab formed up
We used about 40 yards of gravel base which I had on the property because I have a huge gravel seam running through here.
Here is the cement being poured
But wait, we're not done yet! There is no pavement on the property, so it was gravel up to the existing 3 car garage, and will be gravel to the new shop..... so I added an 'apron' to the front. The existing garage apron is 44 x 10ft, and the apron in front of the new shop will be 24x13 ft (because it is narrower and centered on the existing.
some apron pics
Power trowel on the slab, brush finish on the apron. Now I can use pallet jacks to move equipment around, and the 24x13 apron fits the 2-ton gantry nicely so I can off load new treasure!
Building the shop was quick, framed, stood and shingled in 2 days
You can see the gantry in its new home here:
Framing inspection was today (pass!) and now the electrical and insulation get done.
Last edited:
A big shout out to Aaron and his team from Grid643 out of Grenfell SK. Aaron and his team did all the labor with the exception of the gravel which I provided and moved. Excellent job, can't say enough about them. If you're in the south-eastern part of the province, I highly recommend them.
Notes:
The shop-slab was laid on top of 1.5" rigid insulation.
The garage package was purchased from McMunn and Yates out of Yorkton. I shopped it to 3 vendors and they were 15% cheaper, and offered $150 delivery to my acreage (80km). They delivered everything (lumber, trusses, windows, doors, shingles, hardware etc.). The building package included everything needed including concrete anchors, tuck-tape (blue), staples....
Concrete came out of Melville SK.
The shop-slab was laid on top of 1.5" rigid insulation.
The garage package was purchased from McMunn and Yates out of Yorkton. I shopped it to 3 vendors and they were 15% cheaper, and offered $150 delivery to my acreage (80km). They delivered everything (lumber, trusses, windows, doors, shingles, hardware etc.). The building package included everything needed including concrete anchors, tuck-tape (blue), staples....
Concrete came out of Melville SK.
And when the shop was shingled, it was time to sit by the fire.
Hey @kevin.decelles , what an awesome advancement! You will be a happy camper!
By thickened edges on the slab, do you mean rat wall or load bearing?
I love your apron idea. The lip at my barn doors is a major pain in the butt. An apron would fix that. I had been thinking about putting gravel on the shop yard, but your apron would be WAAAAY better.
By thickened edges on the slab, do you mean rat wall or load bearing?
I love your apron idea. The lip at my barn doors is a major pain in the butt. An apron would fix that. I had been thinking about putting gravel on the shop yard, but your apron would be WAAAAY better.
I did a 10' apron on the smithy end of my workshop. Incredibly useful for loading, unloading, and messy out-door work. I just wish I'd put one at the other end where the tractor and small boats park (24x44', one wide overhead door on one end, double single overhead doors on the other). I have an 18" strip that holds a drain, and I can tell I'm going to be pouring a much larger slab there to act as a driveway and work space for the tractor and boats. The annoying part is that it's brutally expensive to barge over a ciment truck, so it's going to be mixed at the top of the driveway. At least my neighbor has a decent-sized mixer. But it still comes out to at least 3 yards of concrete.