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- #121
Again, to keep things nice and tight, I ended up with one of the anchor bolts on each side inside the column. So I epoxied the anchor bolts and base plate in place and then welded the columns to the baseplates.
Workshop Extension and Updates
- Thread starter PAToyota
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- #123
Getting the beam into place got a bit interesting - particularly doing it all by myself. The ratchet straps got it 80% of the way up and then the HF lift table and a few blocks were able to push it the last part of the way. Again, once everything was in place it was all welded.
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- #124
I could have epoxied all-thread in place, put the base plate over them, and then used nuts to tie it down, but it was just as easy to epoxy the bolts in place.
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- #125
Next step was the ridge beam. I wanted a cathedral ceiling in this space for the headroom and also wanted to be able to use the beam as a lifting point. Spanning over 20’ meant that was one big-a** beam! I had initially been convinced to go with an LVL, but when it was delivered it was half again as heavy as they had told me to expect. For doing things yourself, that makes a difference. I really should have just stuck with steel. And I think I need some IH8MUD stickers for the mini-excavator...
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- #126
I cut through the roof of the existing workshop and down through the wall framing so that I could run the column down to the knee wall. Then it was just a matter of threading the column down through the hole from the top. One advantage of using steel over wood is that you can “fix” it. I had some existing wiring runs that would have been a pain to pull out or re-run. So I notched the column.
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- #127
Here’s the slice being welded back into the column and shots of the beam saddles lined up and ready for the beam. I used a roof vent boot and some peel-n-stick flashing to seal up the column through the roof temporarily.
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- #128
Then it was a matter of lifting that big honkin’ beam into place. Let’s just say it wasn’t pretty but nobody got injured and leave it at that… 
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- #129
From there it was just a matter of cutting and placing the rafters and then sheathing the roof.
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- #130
The local surplus store had a five-gallon bucket of grey paint for $20, so I put that down on the sheathing to give me some more time to work. Again, working by myself meant that I wasn’t out there every day for eight hours until it got done. So the paint helped keep things from deteriorating.
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- #131
Tar paper and shingles went down pretty quickly. Fast enough that I didn’t really get “in progress shots” of that stage.
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- #132
Finished up framing the end wall under the roof and then got the walls wrapped with Tyvek.
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- #133
The next step was getting things closed in by installing the overhead door. It’s not complicated, but there was a bit of trial and error to get everything adjusted right. I’m sure an installer would know all the tricks and get it on the first try. The basic steps were assembling all the hardware onto the door panels, putting the vertical tracks up on either side of the opening, and then just stacking the panels in the tracks and connecting them. The spring and “horizontal” tracks (these were diagonal, since they follow the roof pitch) were then installed and the spring was wound to apply tension.
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- #134
Then siding and trim - and that is where it currently stands. I’m working on finishing up the soffits and then have to paint to get the outside finished up. From there I have to pour the concrete floor and get it all wired up inside.
You should bond that steel to your electrical service, ground rod, or something, with the way that romex is run through the steel. When it shorts out on that steel you will want that breaker to open, not energize that steel. Toss some cheap plastic snap in bushings for metal studs in that hole or something, crap use a piece of heater hose slit down the middle and sleeve that hole where the romex passes through.
Where are you at in PA?
Where are you at in PA?
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- #138
Yep, exactly what I did. Split a piece of hose and wrapped it around the romex where it went through the column. But with the wall sealed up, it’s not like the romex is going to rub through the insulation anyway.
Near Harrisburg.
You’d have seen more activity with the grass growing than with the workshop!
Nothing connects to my house. The addition ties into the original workshop. You can see the picture where the column is put in down through the existing roof, through the original workshop wall, and sits on the stem wall. Yes, the wall foundations are tied together. In the following picture you can see where the new block walls tie into the existing walls. The foundations are doweled together and there are ties at each course of block.
Sweet! I'm down 81 near Hagerstown. Great looking addition.