Finally time to pull the trigger . . . starting on the New (much anticipated) SHOP - Build

[conv67bdere]

Once again . . . Life gets in the path . . . simple "task" has to turn into an "adventure" . . .
( story of my live )

Lot's to report on this past couple of weeks . . . sh*t just happens . . . deal with it and move on . . .

You know the past tales of my truck . . . and the tales just continue . . . The plan - move my mom in with me.
My mom was living with my older brother in PA - and we're going to move her in with me - she is tired of the snow.

Plan seems pretty simple . . . meet half way with a trailer of her stuff - swap it to my truck - drive home.
( as you've seen - EVERYTHING in my life turns into an adventure )
We meet in WV - swap the trailer to my truck - running lights on trailer work - no brake lights or turn signals.
Start trying to find the cause . . . fuse now blows- NO LIGHTS at all - BUT, I've got time to make it home while it's light.
Drove a little bit to a U-know what place to have them help find the lack of lights on truck and trailer.
Blown fuse cause - but we could not track down WHAT was causing it . . . I had to go to able to drive in daylight.

Drive 350 miles with no trailer lights and no truck tail lights . . . looks like we're getting home about 9:30 ( dark ).
Call up a buddy who meets me about 30 minute out, and follows me home (knows I have no lights) - gets me home safe.

Loosen up the bed . . . look for pinched wires - nothing . . . put it all back together - everything works . . . ARGH ! Hate that !
Truck broken rear ended, fixed, broken fuel pump, fixed, broken lights, fixed . . .

Then a storm blows through the area - not that big of one either . . . but I find this in the morning . . .

Thing is . . . I Hated this tree . . . so this was just a sign . . . and just what I need . . . another project . . .

Please welcome the new inspector . . . Oberon . . . we call him Obie for short . . .
He seems to be adjusting pretty well . . . as you can see . . . the house was not the same without a puppy . . .

Got a real comfortable bed . . . and he's sleeping on the hard floor . . . go figure . . .

Obie gets to meet some of the neighbors . . . he's not too sure what to think . . .

My brother sends Obie a package - with a new ball . . . and that thing does not leave his side . . .

Remember that cedar tree that I didn't like . . . well . . . guess what happened with that tree . . .

Yup . . . it's down, and just in time as it's now raining here . . .

Lot has transformed in the last couple weeks - changes at the home, and some time has been spent with the new puppy.

All in all - he's a pretty good pup, got a couple things that will need to be worked on - but he's progressing very well.


More Later . . .

 

[Nxcoupe]

Once again . . . Life gets in the path . . . simple "task" has to turn into an "adventure" . . .
( story of my live )

Lot's to report on this past couple of weeks . . . sh*t just happens . . . deal with it and move on . . .

You know the past tales of my truck . . . and the tales just continue . . . The plan - move my mom in with me.
My mom was living with my older brother in PA - and we're going to move her in with me - she is tired of the snow.

Plan seems pretty simple . . . meet half way with a trailer of her stuff - swap it to my truck - drive home.
( as you've seen - EVERYTHING in my life turns into an adventure )
We meet in WV - swap the trailer to my truck - running lights on trailer work - no brake lights or turn signals.
Start trying to find the cause . . . fuse now blows- NO LIGHTS at all - BUT, I've got time to make it home while it's light.
Drove a little bit to a U-know what place to have them help find the lack of lights on truck and trailer.
Blown fuse cause - but we could not track down WHAT was causing it . . . I had to go to able to drive in daylight.

Drive 350 miles with no trailer lights and no truck tail lights . . . looks like we're getting home about 9:30 ( dark ).
Call up a buddy who meets me about 30 minute out, and follows me home (knows I have no lights) - gets me home safe.

Loosen up the bed . . . look for pinched wires - nothing . . . put it all back together - everything works . . . ARGH ! Hate that !
Truck broken rear ended, fixed, broken fuel pump, fixed, broken lights, fixed . . .

Then a storm blows through the area - not that big of one either . . . but I find this in the morning . . .

View attachment 1310932

Thing is . . . I Hated this tree . . . so this was just a sign . . . and just what I need . . . another project . . .

View attachment 1310933

Please welcome the new inspector . . . Oberon . . . we call him Obie for short . . .
He seems to be adjusting pretty well . . . as you can see . . . the house was not the same without a puppy . . .

View attachment 1310934

Got a real comfortable bed . . . and he's sleeping on the hard floor . . . go figure . . .

View attachment 1310935

Obie gets to meet some of the neighbors . . . he's not too sure what to think . . .

View attachment 1310936

My brother sends Obie a package - with a new ball . . . and that thing does not leave his side . . .

View attachment 1310937

Remember that cedar tree that I didn't like . . . well . . . guess what happened with that tree . . .

View attachment 1310938

Yup . . . it's down, and just in time as it's now raining here . . .

View attachment 1310939

Lot has transformed in the last couple weeks - changes at the home, and some time has been spent with the new puppy.

All in all - he's a pretty good pup, got a couple things that will need to be worked on - but he's progressing very well.


More Later . . .

How did you pull that tree out by the roots?

 

[conv67bdere]

How did you pull that tree out by the roots?

One thing I can't stand . . . is stumps in the way . . .

First of all . . . I didn't pull the stump out of the ground . . . as much as I don't like them.
I let the weight of the tree - used as a fulcrum - to pull the stump out as a result of the tree falling.

This is from my Mad Scientist Build thread - where I've showed how this was accomplished . . .
( it does take a bit of work . . . ) ( page 127 - in my Mad Scientist Build )

First step - dig away at the base of the tree and cut all the roots . . . ( this is the work part )

Attach chains and straps to get out of the way . . .

Attach to my 98 Chevy Silverado with 340,000 miles . . . and pull . . .
Oh . . . and you do have to get the "pull" point a good way off the ground - higher = better !

and let physics do the job . . .
( the height and weight of the tree help to pull it out of the ground no stump to contend with . . . )

No stump to worry about . . . this way . . . ( little work - but I much prefer the outcome )_

That . . . in a nutshell . . . is how it's accomplished . . .

More Later . . .

 

[Nxcoupe]

One thing I can't stand . . . is stumps in the way . . .

First of all . . . I didn't pull the stump out of the ground . . . as much as I don't like them.
I let the weight of the tree - used as a fulcrum - to pull the stump out as a result of the tree falling.

This is from my Mad Scientist Build thread - where I've showed how this was accomplished . . .
( it does take a bit of work . . . ) ( page 127 - in my Mad Scientist Build )

First step - dig away at the base of the tree and cut all the roots . . . ( this is the work part )

View attachment 1311227

Attach chains and straps to get out of the way . . .

View attachment 1311228

Attach to my 98 Chevy Silverado with 340,000 miles . . . and pull . . .
Oh . . . and you do have to get the "pull" point a good way off the ground - higher = better !

View attachment 1311229

and let physics do the job . . .
( the height and weight of the tree help to pull it out of the ground no stump to contend with . . . )

View attachment 1311230

No stump to worry about . . . this way . . . ( little work - but I much prefer the outcome )_

View attachment 1311231

That . . . in a nutshell . . . is how it's accomplished . . .

More Later . . .

Excellent! Bill Nigh the Science guy!

 

[1 Wild R/T]

One thing I can't stand . . . is stumps in the way . . .

First of all . . . I didn't pull the stump out of the ground . . . as much as I don't like them.
I let the weight of the tree - used as a fulcrum - to pull the stump out as a result of the tree falling.

This is from my Mad Scientist Build thread - where I've showed how this was accomplished . . .
( it does take a bit of work . . . ) ( page 127 - in my Mad Scientist Build )

First step - dig away at the base of the tree and cut all the roots . . . ( this is the work part )

View attachment 1311227

Attach chains and straps to get out of the way . . .

View attachment 1311228

Attach to my 98 Chevy Silverado with 340,000 miles . . . and pull . . .
Oh . . . and you do have to get the "pull" point a good way off the ground - higher = better !

View attachment 1311229

and let physics do the job . . .
( the height and weight of the tree help to pull it out of the ground no stump to contend with . . . )

View attachment 1311230

No stump to worry about . . . this way . . . ( little work - but I much prefer the outcome )_

View attachment 1311231

That . . . in a nutshell . . . is how it's accomplished . . .

More Later . . .

When I've done this in the past the first thing I do is prune all the branches I can reach with a pole saw off the side of the tree in the direction I don't want the tree to fall, focus the weight in the direction you want the tree to go...... I dropped a 80 foot tall tree in my back yard that only had about ten feet side to side or it would have taken out my fence or my house... Oh, and if the tree had been 90 feet tall it would have hit my neighbors house....

 

[conv67bdere]

Cedar cleanup is completed . . . New Inspector is progressing well . . .

The Cedar tree that lost a limb is now gone and cleaned up . . . After dropping the tree . . .

I know this is going to settle . . . but it's filled in "mostly" . . .

The new "inspector" is learning his role quite well as he inspects the cut up tree pieces . . .
And . . . the hand cart comes to the rescue again . . . amazing what that thing can help with . . .

The final look of the clean up ( and a tree that I never liked . . . gone ) . . . YAY ! ! !

Cleanup on the walkway . . . My mom "asked" is she could clean this up . . . I'm so grateful for the help
And the results . . . is AMAZING ! ! ! One big THANKS to mom ! ! !

And . . . another beautiful evening sky down here in North Carolina . . .

Now that the Cedar is out of the way - hopefully, it's time to get back to building.
The "new" puppy dog is doing pretty well and is getting used to being outside while I work on my projects.

Hope to make a little progress on the building(s) . . . this weekend . . .

More Later . . .

 

[conv67bdere]

Mixing it up with a rainy weekend . . . but got something done . . .

Had a weekend of threats of rain . . . but trying to make progress . . .
Got all of the corners done . . . and decided to get some paint on this old boy ( it was under cover "if" it rained )

This is how the building looked in it's original state . . . basically - All red . . . ( not that it's all that bad ) . . .

Changed up the trim and this is the new look that's it's sporting now . . .

And another view of the side ( and eaves ) of the building . . .

Wonder if I'm going to be able to find the red stain that was used on this building ( and if it'll be in stock ) . . .

Also - spending some time with the new puppy dog - and working on some training with him . . . ( or is he training me ? )

More Later . . .

 

[ct71rr]

Congrats on the new pup! We had a Merle too. Good looking pup you got there!

 

[conv67bdere]

Time for another update - lots to report, just been busy . . .

As usual here in the South . . . I get to contend with evening thunder storms . . .
This update is being done with one going on outside as I'm typing . . . good time to get this done !

So the eaves need some vents in them to allow the air "in" so the ridge vent can let the air "out" . . .

Got the one on the front of the building completed . . .

Side trip . . . Found a nice wood planer for sale in CL . . . and it was up in the mountains near Boone - Road Trip
On the way back I stopped for some lunch and saw this parked in the parking lot . . . love seeing old cars being driven !

This thing is HEAVY . . . yes, the engine hoist comes to the rescue for me again . . .
When it's not moving walls, it's moving Heavy Wood Planers . . .
As you can see . . . my inspector is getting the hang of his "new" job and is doing very well ! ! !

A little more trim work that need to be done on the front of the building . . .

Didn't like the big openings, to allow critters to get into the building . . . so they got filled with wood pieces . . .

Got some new stain an got the front of the building painted . . . here's the comparison to the side of the building . . .

Did I mention to you about the Summer storms that we have . . . here is my drive home from work . . .
See that big storm cloud . . . well my house is just up ahead, to the left, and covered by the clouds here
So . . . when I get home from work . . . it'll will most likely be raining . . . ( meaning - no work again )

Got started on the side of the building . . . here you can see the contrast . . .

As with the front of the building, the openings on the side were also filled with plugs . . . these were angled . . .

Been making okay progress . . . the heat wave that we've been having is really stifling . . . go through 3 shirts a day.

But things are starting to settle down with the new rescue puppy . . . and I'm able to get back out and do work again.

He's quite the treat to have around . . . and he's fitting in well . . .

More later . . .

 

[conv67bdere]

Got this side of the building done . . .

Finally, got this side done . . . And the inspector is there with me . . . Doing his job very well ! !

The shutters have been removed, and are re-painted black, and sitting in the shop drying ( out of the rain )

On the other side, the trim has all been painted with the first coat of white, the wood plugs are in place . . .
And it's ready to get the red painted . . . Oh, the shutters are also down . . .

Hope to be able to get back out there, after the rain, and get more painting done . . . with 300% humidity ! !

More later . . .

 

[conv67bdere]

Good weekend progress . . . even with fighting with the evening showers . . .

As usual . . . the evening showers are a part of my life . . .

My morning session . . . thought getting out early "might" help the heat and humidity . . . NOT !
First - got all the white trim painted it's first coat . . . and the top half of the red . . .

The afternoon session . . . got the rest of the bottom red painted on this side . . .

the evening session . . . was . . . guess what . . . Rained out . . .

This morning - started early, but with the rain last night is was really thick . . . went through 3 shirts today ( soaked )
Got all the eaves work done, and the vents installed . . . then got all the red painted on the back of the building . . .

The afternoon session . . . got the first coat of white painted on the eaves on the back . . .

Wanted to go back and get the second coat on the eaves . . . but thunder in the distance . . .

And the sky looking like this . . . heading my direction . . . the evening session was . . .

Guess what . . . Rained Out Yet Again . . . .

Got the first coat of paint on everything this weekend, and it's looking really good.
The back, since it was under a lean-to was in much better shape that painting was a lot easier.

Got to figure out what and how I'm going to handle the bottom edges - some are pretty bad and need some "help".

Anxious to just get this thing done and get back on the bigger shop ! ! !

More Later . . .

 

[conv67bdere]

More Work . . pecking away at it bit by bit . . .

Well . . . the floor in the shop was never up to the level that it needed to be for 4" concrete . . .

So . . . got 14 tons of ABC stone delivered today to fix that deficiency . . . oh boy ! ! !

So the work has begun to get this stuff in the shop as needed . . .

My concrete "emblem" is in one corner . . . and about to get covered up . . .

Covered up to be "found" in some future generation . . . and they'll wonder what it means . . . .
FYI - BSH . . . Brick Sh*t House . . . how I do my buildings . . .

Was not sure I'd get this far today . . . but somehow . . . I managed to get there . . . it's up to level . . .

Tomorrow, will need to rent a compactor and get this stuff compacted . . . and refilled . . . and compacted . . .
You know the drill . . . get it ready for concrete . . . Not sure if the pour is going to happen now . . . or later . . .

Will need to do some thinking on that . . .

Obie story ( the new inspector ) . . .

My brother sent Obie a new ball, and he carries it with him everywhere. One thing, it's not allowed to go outside.
When he get to the door, he'll drop the ball, and go outside . . . and when he reenters the house, he'll pick it back up.

Simple enough . . . but this dog is really smart ! !

So he's "learned" . . . that if he wants to go outside, the ball needs to stay inside . . . Follow this . . .

Now, when I leave for work in the morning, he'll run over and pick up his ball, take it over to mom, and drop it in her
lap - basically "telling" her . . . I'm ready to go outside . . . ( thought it could have been a twist of fate . . . )

The other day a truck pulled into the driveway, and rang the doorbell . . . Obie was very protective and NOT happy . . .
Mom did not answer the door . . . they walked off ( think they really wanted the house next door ) . . .
Next thing . . . Obie is dropping the ball in mom's lap . . . I want to go out and check out WHO is at the door ! ! !

This dog is really smart . . .

More later . . .

 

[conv67bdere]

The "return" of the red-neck wrecker . . . What's on the agenda this time ? ! ? ! ? ! ? ! ? ! ?

Well . . . got this "crazy" idea . . . that this piece of concrete, that's in the way . . .
Might be able to be moved . . . . so the question is . . . can it, and will it ? ? ? ?

Before we get into that project . . . let's check out the other things that got done this weekend . . .
Rented a compactor and got the entire floor of the moved shop compacted . . .
You guessed it . . . the inspector was indeed there to check out my work . . .

Got a little bit of a retaining wall that i need over on this side to allow this side to be leveled out better . . .
Got the forms in place, and got the first pours done as the sky started to get a bit dark . . . threat of rain . . .

And . . . the rain never materialized ( today ) . . . but I had this crazy idea of moving a concrete slab . . .

The "return" of the red-neck wrecker . . .

Fist pick up - and I had it pretty close to level . . . strapped it in place to keep it from bouncing around . . .

And got it ready to go down in it's new location - after doing a bit of ground leveling and used some of the ABC stone . . .

Dropped into place pretty nicely, and the "quick" leveling job that I did . . . was not too shabby . . .

Proof . . . it's no longer in it's old location and it's also no longer in my way . . .

The final result . . . I've now got an entry walkway to my moved shop . . . (might need a little adjustments . . . )

Sometime . . . I think that Obie is almost human, like when I see him like this, sleeping on a pillow . . .

The weekend went pretty well, and I was able to get a few things done . . . including one hair brained idea . . .
Got a bit more work to do on the retaining wall, and get that area leveled out, but the plan is now in action . . .
Notice, that there are some drainage pipes in place to allow the gutters, and maybe some French drains - to drain

Time for another week of back to work, so I can get some rest from my weekend . . .

More Later . . .

 

[conv67bdere]

Trying to take a bite out of all this stuff that needs to get done . . . one bite at a time . . .

Lots of stuff that needs to get done . . . and Saturday, we actually got a bit of a break from the humidity . . .

Clean up of the cedar stump behind the shop . . . this was a whole lot of (not) fun . . . but got it done !

The piece of stump on the right, with the chain going over it allowed pulling forces "upward" along with sideways . . .
It was the major reason that they got pulled out . . . and the nylon strapping that allowed "stored" energy pulling forces.

You can see all of the pieces of the stump in this picture - it was very large . . . and it's now split up . . .

In the process, I broke the hickory pick-ax handle . . . no big deal, but a new one . . . Can't find one in this city.

Notice - the blade side of the tool has a 1/4" plate welded into the curve, got tired of it bending on me when I used it.
This give me so much additional forces with this tool . . . that I can now break hickory handles . . .

Had to liquid nail the handle back together, so I still can use it . . . but this tool is very needed in my arsenal ! ! !

The aftermath of the work . . . a clean area ( with one piece of root sticking up - might need to work on it . . . )

This side of the shop needs a bit of a retaining wall to allow it to be leveled out . . . so the forms we set up . . .
And the concrete was poured ( including a couple drains . . . )

The final concrete . . . should work out just fine for holding the dirt back . . .
Hope that covering the roots of that hickory tree won't kill the tree . . . 3/4 of that tree roots are not effected . . .

The tree by my shop needed some work to remove some of the branches . . . it's almost naked now . . .

Took down a whole bunch of limbs from the tree . . . here's one of the piles of branches cut down . . .

And another pile of branches that were cut down . . . For the most part, they dropped where I wanted them to drop !

Backfilling on the area where the concrete retaining was was poured . . . is coming along pretty well too . . .

Did have a little break in the weather, as far as heat and humidity - but the work that I'm doing I still sweat !

Lots of things going on all at once, and trying to keep it all moving forward . . . one day at a time . . .

More later . . .

 

[conv67bdere]

Tree clean up . . . no sooner than it's done . . . another mess is made . . . ARGH !

The tree cleanup was on the agenda for this week . . . and great progress was made . .

Actually had the back yard looking pretty good again . . .

But that was very short lived . . . and the rest of the this tree needs to be attended to . . .
This branch was hanging over the shop so I attached my strap to it and cut it . . . and it swung to the tree . . .

Simply lowered it . . . removed the strap . . . and no shop damage . . . That's a bonus ! ! !

3 more branches to attend to . . . the first one . . . Hold my beer and watch this . . . WHAT can go wrong ? ! ? ! ?

Dropped it right where I wanted it to go . . .

The second branch strapped to the Jeep and ready to go . . .

Another view of the second branch . . . all ready to go . . .

Once again . . . dropped it right where I wanted it to go . . .

The last branch . . . too this down as one . . . and it dropped right where I wanted it . . .

I'm afraid that this Pin Oak tree is not going to be providing much shade for me and the shop anymore . . .

As stated . . . got it all cleaned up, and then came back and made another mess . . . but got the tree trimmed . . .

Didn't "really" want to take this tree down, but it's too close to the shop . . . and I had other worries . . .

More Later . . .

 

[conv67bdere]

Why did this tree have to come down . . . Here's the reason . . .

This tree was not doing very well . . . lost a limb on it a couple years ago . . .

But didn't look at it to see just how bad it really was . . .

One of the branches that was taken down from the top . . . had some additional rot . . .

Did a lot of work to clip off the twigs and branches . . . and then the chainsaw to get some of the bigger stuff cut . . .
Still got a lot of work to do to get this all cleaned up, but I'm also collecting firewood from this . . .

The rest of the tree will come down and be cut up into firewood too . . . need it for this winter . . .

More Later . . .

 

[conv67bdere]

Took a while . . . but . . . all cleaned up . . .

Got the mess from all the branches all cleaned up . . .

Got a few of the larger branches that'll need to be cut with the chainsaw, but I'll get to that later . . .

Glad to get that mess all cleaned up . . . now on to something else . . .

More Later . . .

 

[conv67bdere]

Got a little bit of progress during the week . . .

Still a bit warm and humid down here . . . a bit cooler, but still working on stuff . . .

Had a beautiful sunset the other night, and snapped this picture to share . . .
. . . might be hot and humid, gut this is sure pretty to look at . . .

Got tired of looking at this building with the yellow color . . . and grabbed the red from the other building . . .
REALLY like the way it looks so much better than the yellow . . .

Both of the buildings in this picture . . . slowly but surely, it's coming together . . .

Will post pics soon . . . of the project that I've got in store for this weekend . . .

More Later . . .

 

[conv67bdere]

Liked the color so much . . . the rest of the shop need some added color too . . .

The front of the shop looked so nice in the barn red, the rest needed some color . . .

So . . .

I like to take pics as the project progresses, being up close and personal does not give you the view.

About the half way point . . .

About the 3/4 point . . .

And the 50' side wall now has a first coat of paint . . .

After that long wall . . . the back wall was a breeze to get knocked out . . .

Hope to get this next project going . . . but we'll see.
Had my daughter and grand daughters stop by for a visit and spent some time with them . . . Family time !

Hope to be making some additional progress on this today . . .

More Later . . .

 

[conv67bdere]

Sunday - weekend edition . . . You ever had one of those days . . . .

Decided to get some more stain ( it was on sale - great time ) for the shop . . .
Picked up some white to be able to get the boards on the new shop stained and protected . . .

After picking up a 5 gallon pail of the white . . . and getting started . . . I realized I've got a LOT to get stained . . .

Stayed away from the edges as to not get stain on the metal roofing . . . will have to go back and get it with a brush . . .
And took a look at the front and it was looking good . . .

That is . . . until I got a look at it from another perspective . . . ever have one of those days . . .
Guess that's proof positive . . . I am human . . .

The project that I was hoping to get to this weekend - didn't happen, so I planned for plan B and got started on staining.
Also thinking about some alternatives for the front and back overhangs on this shop . . .

More Later . . .