MadModder
The Shop => Our Shop => Topic started by: John Hill on December 09, 2009, 03:08:03 PM
-
We have been looking at houses to buy and nothing that comes close to what we want so we will probably be building. Building sites are getting smaller!
I think I need to face having a shop no bigger than a single garage space. :doh:
-
John
That seems to be the way it is nowadays. Just when you should have a larger shop because you have more time for it the economy comes along and bites you in the a??. I see some of the stuff they are building around here, looks like shoe boxes stood on end. They are built so close together that the only way to the back yard is through the house. :lol: :lol:
Hope something comes up for you John. :D
Cheers :beer:
Don
-
john: good luck with the work shop.
don: my last house you had to carry the lawn mower through the house to get to the back yard and cut the grass,
or have one mower in the back yard and one in the front yard. what a PITA :doh:
chuck
-
We have been looking at houses to buy and nothing that comes close to what we want so we will probably be building. Building sites are getting smaller!
I think I need to face having a shop no bigger than a single garage space. :doh:
John,
We did just that 5 years ago. I was getting arthritic and had 13 acres, 5 to mow, and a tenth of a mile long driveway. It was more time and effort with mowing and snow removal than I was enjoying, but I had a 24' x 40' pole barn shop. We couldn't find a smaller place that suited us so, with the help of our sons-in-law we built a bigger house (nice warm shop included) on a city lot. The daughters prevailed on us to build a bigger house so that they could have all the family gatherings here. Has worked out well, no regrets, even with the decision to downsize the shop to 14'x16'.
-
14'x16' Weston Bye? I guess that is just a little bigger than I will end up with although decisions have not been made yet.
Yes, we are downsizing everything too, steep streets and stairs do not go well with old bones and I would rather do it now that later when it might be forced on us.
-
John,
The shop is situated between the house proper and the garage, all attached. The shop is 2 steps up from the garage and has a concrete floor, its own heater and air conditioner to keep shop fumes out of the house. It is then 1 step up to the house. I wish that I could have worked out the design to avoid the steps, but that was not possible. If my situation deteriorates, I may have to engineer a power lift or two - there is space to add them.
The house has 3' doors throughout and wide halls in case I need a wheelchair in the future. Some of my woodworking machinery, a 4x6 bandsaw, buzzbox welder and O/A torch, and "valuable junk". occupy one stall of the garage.
To finance the new place, we took a home equity line of credit on the old home and used it to build the new one. When we sold the old place we paid off the loan and now own the new place free and clear. That was 5 years ago, when such things were still possible. Don't know if there are any cooperative bankers left now.
I am beginning to size my projects to be done on my Sherline lathe and mill, though I have an Atlas 6" lathe and a small ancient horizontal production (rack & pinion feed) mill equipped with an add-on Bridgeport M-head. These last two may be sold off in the future, as they see little use.
You are in a good position to plan ahead for your next shop.
-
Weston Bye,
I am trying to keep things in perspective as I would hate to be trapped in a big house with all my toys in an attached shop but be unable to do anything for lack of money to pay the electricity! I am sure we will be OK but it quite a stressful time trying to balance everything.
-
John,if you're building,make sure there are no restrictions on separate buildings on the property.
A lot of new subdivisions don't allow any separate structures.
Presumably,people are not supposed to have any hobbies. :(
-
Sounds like "do-gooders" strike again ....
I don't want a shed so why should anyone else .....
-
The typical restrictions we face are to not cover more than 35% of the land in buildings and to have no more than 10 metres of wall along a boundary. 35% of 900 sq metres seem pretty generous until you measure it out and find 300sq metres is taken up in driveway! :doh:
-
Build it on the end of the driveway then, that's what I did for the same reasons/rules.
Not that I measured anything