TRDdrew's shop updates and improvements- The Cruiser Cottage

[TRDdrew]

You boys give me some serious shop envy with all these amazing shop builds. I figured id throw my 2cents in with mine as well as the future updates to come

We bought our house in 2018 and i had 2 requirements besides budget. It had to have a garage or shop already on it preferably detached or it had to have the room to build one.
Well I got both and stayed in budget! i have laid on gravel driveways or worked out in the cold for too long and didn't plan to do it any longer

The house we bought ended up having 2 lots. The first, having our home and a detached shop on it that kind of resembled a cottage behind it. (that's what I thought it was when i looked at the listing lol) Then the second lot next door that just has trees that we us as a side yard. Nice paved driveway all the way back to the shop and a 2 car parking pad out front of the house which leaves the shop access open which was a plus. Shop itself is 36x14 with a small porch of the front, not huge but its big enough to store my 100 series with plenty of room in front of it for my tools and workspace.

Ill be using this thread to keep track of shop updates/improvements and upcoming plans. That is where the second lot comes into play. We plan on building a pole barn on the second lot. Due to our proximity to the Chesapeake Bay i cannot have a "permanent" structure with more square footage than my home But Pole barns are permitted. So the future plan is a 30x50

These are from back from 2018 when we purchased

 

[TRDdrew]

Having a space to call your own it awesome but you also tend to acquire stuff. Coming up with ways to store it all in a relatively small space has been the fun part and is constantly evolving. I'm due for a giant spring cleaning and I see some dump runs in my future. Organized chaos is what I'm calling it

This photo was shortly after we moved in and was still trying to figure out a good lay out for everything.

 

[Bob Morazes]

Very nice Drew!
I spent 40+ years in SoMd, Mechanicsville to precise. I got taxed and regulated out of state.
Life is much calmer over here in the Northern Neck. Even the Amish have moved here!
Best of luck and Merry Christmas.
Bobmo

 

[TRDdrew]

Very nice Drew!
I spent 40+ years in SoMd, Mechanicsville to precise. I got taxed and regulated out of state.
Life is much calmer over here in the Northern Neck. Even the Amish have moved here!
Best of luck and Merry Christmas.
Bobmo

Ya man I here ya there. We aren't far from Mechanicsville, just north of Solomon's Island. Maybe one day ill get out but as of now I got a few things holding me here lol

Merry Christmas bro

 

[TRDdrew]

The biggest update I made to the shop was a large overhang I decided to build in July of last year. It spans an additional 12' out and full 36' length. Built it myself with the help and knowledge of my father, uncle, and friends. IIRC I think I'm under 2900.00 including gravel for the whole project

We built it off the original trusses with a 2 12 pitch

Roof is a tad low on the out most side but I can still fit my 80 under it and have a ton more covered storage

Day 1 got the posts leveled and concreted in

 

[TRDdrew]

We made great progress on day 2 finishing the roof and tar paper

 

[TRDdrew]

Was able to test fit the 80 under it, good thing our measurements were correct lol. We accomplished all that over a weekend and I really picked the wrong time of year to do this, it was miserably hot and humid

I have a awesome neighbor that let me borrow his mini John deer with a front loader to dig some of the dirt out in prep for the gravel

 

[TRDdrew]

had some assistance from my cousin and father again with the shingles. We got it knocked out fairly quickly after work the following Monday, couldn't find the exact same color shingle but it's on the back and can't see it from the house

 

[TRDdrew]

Had 9 tons of blue stone delivered and borrowed my neighbors tractor again to grade it all out. I love that thing and want to get one really bad. Been on the hunt for an older kubota b7200 for awhile now.

Once that was done I worked on getting my gutter and down spouts relocated and couldn't have finished at a better time. No more than an hour after I finished we had a good rain storm come through. The 80 stayed nice and dry

 

[1911]

Had 9 tons of blue stone delivered and borrowed my neighbors tractor again to grade it all out. I love that thing and want to get one really bad. Been on the hunt for an older kubota b7200 for awhile now.

I've had a Kubota B7400 for 21 years now, and that little tractor will do things out of all proportion to its 16 hp.

 

[TRDdrew]

I've had a Kubota B7400 for 21 years now, and that little tractor will do things out of all proportion to its 16 hp.

I'm just waiting for the right one to come along finding one with a loader is proving difficult, I think that size would be perfect for the small things around my house

 

[TRDdrew]

Had to get it sealed up before winter. My buddy brought over a sprayer. Lots of lessons where learned. I think I went through about 8 1/2 gallons way more than I originally bought

 

[TRDdrew]

out front the previous owners had planted a fire bush (that legit grows like wild fire) on one side and some decorative ivy and azalea bush on the other. Well I let the get out of control and the whole front of the shop needed a reset soooo ......

BEFORE

DURING

and AFTER

 

[TRDdrew]

This Post should have been in front of the last on but who cares lol

Had two trees growing out over top the shop at a weird angle so had them removed. Eventually about a total of 11 poplar trees on the side property need to come down for the new shop. Unfortunately I don't have the funds to do it all at once.

But I feel better having these two removed. We tend to get fairly strong winds that come off the bay

was quite an impressive piece of equipment they brought out

Also gave me an excuse to play with my new toy

 

[Skreddy]

Having a space to call your own it awesome but you also tend to acquire stuff. Coming up with ways to store it all in a relatively small space has been the fun part and is constantly evolving. I'm due for a giant spring cleaning and I see some dump runs in my future. Organized chaos is what I'm calling it

This photo was shortly after we moved in and was still trying to figure out a good lay out for everything.

View attachment 3794719

When we sold our house about 2 years ago, I took an overfull, heaped and strapped load of garbage to the dump that was all from my 24x30 shop there. I gave away a ton of stuff and sold a bunch too. I was amazed that much sh!t was in that shop. 10 years of accumulation.

 

[TRDdrew]

When we sold our house about 2 years ago, I took an overfull, heaped and strapped load of garbage to the dump that was all from my 24x30 shop there. I gave away a ton of stuff and sold a bunch too. I was amazed that much sh!t was in that shop. 10 years of accumulation.

We did the same when we moved here and I'm about to do it again. Amazing on how quickly crap accumulates lol. After the holidays I'm backing my tundra in here and just gonna start throwing stuff in the back

I'm out here cleaning up now lol

 

[TRDdrew]

Back to the organized chaos

I have been in the auto body industry for basically as long as I've been working. Was a technician for many years but now managing several accounts. So to say I have some tools is an understatement

I acquired a MAC tool box from a friend that was getting out of the auto body industry, since I'm already strapped for space I did some major reorganizing and placed them side by side on the outer wall ( I originally have one on each side of the shop and that didn't make much sense in my head) but during that clean up my wife got me a smart TV for the shop. I got to work setting up my version of a functional man cave

I was out in the shop last night cleaning up the next project is the back wall. Which is a series of shelves installed by the previous owner i have some bins that helped with the clutter but its turned into a "collect all" area...... I'm gonna fix that

 

[TRDdrew]

A couple weekends ago I Ripped down my old outdoor kayak rack I built that was mounting on the support posts for the overhang, and got some new rad racks off Amazon. I think eventually I'm gonna move my 2 big fishing kayaks from the inside wall of the shop to the outside wall under the overhang

 

[TRDdrew]

installed some outdoor outlets on the back wall of the shop for battery tenders or whatever

And pulled almost everything out of the rafters today and filled the back of my truck...... it's the season of giving........ to the dump

 

[knuckle47]

The hoarder in me makes that kind of activity difficult to pull off. I know anyone who saves junk has parted with it after hanging on to it for years and then discovering that 2 weeks after it is gone, YOU HAVE a use for it. The outside back of my pole barn looks like a storage field. I even keep a 10x20 hoop tent filled with more junk that prefers to stay out of the weather..

I’m getting closer to the age where it may never get used again and tossing some of it has proven to be a tiny bit empowering.
Time gets to be a very difficult balancing act for “stuff”. Especially as a tinkerer