At long last: completing the shop

On or about April/May 2010 shortly before or after the birth of Aven, the birth of our new shop began. When we bought this house (or when we shopped for a new house) we were always looking for either a shop space or a large enough yard to accommodate a shop for Abe's woodworking and business.  Our old house had a tiny shop and we knew we needed new space.  The shop at the Ellis St. house had promising potential.  It was two stories and much larger with better access to the parking area and the alley for unloading/loading tools, supplies and finished work.  We soon realized that the project would entail much much more work than we had anticipated.  

Not only was the shop leaning over into the alley (mostly due to the fact that there were three large doors, one on the yard side, one on the alley and a roll up garage door that opened to the parking area), but there were other multiple cut outs in the woodworking siding that would be nearly impossible to patch or find matching woodwork for.  The ceiling would need to be raised to accommodate easier use of plywood and long sticks in the shop space and there was no existing electrical of any kind.  So, we (and when I say "we" I mean Abe, Kevin, Rob and other friends and relatives who pitched in- including occasionally me when I wasn't nursing a baby, watching her or working) set to work on restoring/renovating this space.

pre-work April 2010

April 2010 (see Hay loft above)- now a window

notice the angle of the shop, the lean and the cut out spaces and graffiti

wonderful old sliding door that was massively heavy

Abe & Kevin set to work by building a stem wall on the parking area and cutting out the framing and siding on the bottom to build the base of this wall

next began framing in the other walls where the sliding doors were since there was no framing at all

then came winter and we had managed to sheet the entire building and Abe installed windows 

(these were before the above) these pictures were taken right before Christmas 2010- framing the yard side of the wall & installing windows

from inside the shop, new windows (from the ReStore) and rolls of insulation yet to be installed

the new ceiling raised to about 10 feet with all new flooring for the "loft"

all dried in for the winter, papered and windows installed

still trying to figure out the alley side door/entrance (we wanted to have an easy access for materials and for moving furniture and cabinets in and out)

inside fully insulated, electrical installed, lighting (I helped on that), dry-walled, painted and moved in!

The shop gets some siding & trim

alley side doors installed and trim installed around the shop

fully sided (fall 2011), outside light can be turned on

siding on all 4 sides (shingles above to match the house)

September 2012, painted on all sides and gutters and small back deck on yard side

view from the alley

changed the lighting on the parking side and skipped the paint on the eves in favor of raw shingles, fully painted, gutters and finished on the outside!

DEEP BREATH

It is a victory.  It sort of feels like it has been a project for more than 2 1/2 years but it is also a real accomplishment considering where we came from.  I am especially proud of the careful attention to detail that Abe put into helping the shop match our house and feel like it has always been here.  Although we didn't end up doing all the work ourselves (time, money, difficulty of doing a large project like this with having a child and working full time) I can proudly say that our hands were a part of every aspect of this shop and especially when it came to the vision.  Thanks to all those who volunteered their time to help on various projects with us and thanks to those who gave us a great deal on their work to help us accomplish this awesome project.

Now, I just have to submit all of this to American Bungalow and get it published :)

shop update- the short version

Current state of the yard side- windows installed, last bit of papering to do

same view before sheeting and windows, paper, etc.

Large sliding door still installed, existing framing and supports put into place before this wall was rebuilt

view from the alley of the garage (leaning)- with two massive sliding doors and a roll up door on the parking space side, there was little to keep the garage from slowly tilting over!

View from the alley as it sits now- a variety of windows were obtained from the Re-Store, free from a neighbor and some new ones purchased to match the others-as you can see the alley side has some small windows up top for light but to keep the area secure. There will also be a sliding door (using one of the original) on the alley side to deliver and unload materials/cabinets/tools, etc.

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A quick update on our shop. It is a slow work in progress and while I cannot really take any credit, it is coming along. This last month Abe has put a lot of hours into the final push. Thankfully a few friends have donated many hours as well while I watch Aven and cannot really help Abe. The shop has been completely re framed from the ground up including new ground plates. All that really remains from the original framing are the trusses and a few 2x4's on the alley side. All windows have now been installed and the double glass doors that face the yard. Randy (Abe's Dad) is here this week getting all of the electrical done and prepped so that power will be available. The whole shop has been re framed and sheeted, doors and windows installed, 3 sides papered and the floor raised and re framed. As far as the outside goes the alley door will need to be fitted and installed (just in place right now to cover the gap) and siding, trim and paint! We have tons of rolls of insulation for the inside and after the electrical is installed we can begin that process. Then its drywall, trim and bring in the tools and wood. We are still trying to figure out the best source of heat but right now we have a free Fisher wood stove....just a matter of finding pipe that isn't too expensive. It is really exciting to see it all coming together. It is a really cool space. I know it doesn't feel big enough to Abe but I am really excited to have him here on site once he gets moved in and settled. The pictures really don't do it justice of how much work has gone into this project. More to come.