Hey Guys
Just thought i would show what i've been working on. Since i have gotten back into RC i have been building and buying kits, engines, tools and other RC equipment. My office has turned into a plane building room and everytime i get detailing work i have to clean off my desk to do the job, then when its done all the RC stuff comes back in.

I have kits and tools four rooms in the house and the wife is not crazy about it. She was all for building a new building when i brought the idea up.

Heres a few pics of the weeks work. We (wife & I ) started monday and i thought we would be futher along, but the weather and just the two of us it went pretty slow.'

Its 12 X 24 with floor joist, wall studs and roof truss all on 16" centers

Good start! I did something similar but for my work office. Now it's half work office and half workshop Added two circuits (one for the AC and one for the rest) and ran electrical to it underground. Insulated it well also.

My wife was all gung ho for the idea also. Don't understand why she doesn't have the same passion for the hobby as I do

Robert

Someday I'd like to do the exact same thing...my office is ALL airplanes and NOT office...wife doesn't mind...but I'd like to have it back to an office.

That's going to make for a VERY nice model shop.

If it's not too late yet I'd strongly suggest that you tip up the floor with some help and better prepare the ground under the floor. I'd slice away the sod for starters. Then I'd ensure that the ground is smoothly sloped for drainage. That part seems good but you simply don't want any dips. Then I'd lay down landscape cloth and top it with a couple of inches of drain gravel.

It'll greatly aid in cutting down grass and weeds growing under the edges and keep down the amount of moisture under the floor.

If it's not possible to raise the floor and move it at least lay down some cloth and gravel. Blocking off the light will kill the grass below. It's not as good as doing it from scratch but it's better than leaving it the way it is. If you don't do this the grass around and just under the edges will be a pest home of the worst order. It'll also tend to grow up and prevent the free flow of air underneath that is needed to prevent the wood from rotting due to long term moisture exposure.

Originally Posted by BMatthews

That's going to make for a VERY nice model shop.

If it's not too late yet I'd strongly suggest that you tip up the floor with some help and better prepare the ground under the floor. I'd slice away the sod for starters. Then I'd ensure that the ground is smoothly sloped for drainage. That part seems good but you simply don't want any dips. Then I'd lay down landscape cloth and top it with a couple of inches of drain gravel.

It'll greatly aid in cutting down grass and weeds growing under the edges and keep down the amount of moisture under the floor.

If it's not possible to raise the floor and move it at least lay down some cloth and gravel. Blocking off the light will kill the grass below. It's not as good as doing it from scratch but it's better than leaving it the way it is. If you don't do this the grass around and just under the edges will be a pest home of the worst order. It'll also tend to grow up and prevent the free flow of air underneath that is needed to prevent the wood from rotting due to long term moisture exposure.

Hi Bruce
What do you mean by "tip up the floor" ?

I used concrete piers and dug a little extra and added pebble under piers for drainage and to hopefully keep it from shifting or sinking. Seemed to help as mine has been up for over 10 years.

Robert

Literally to jack it up so you can do the prep to the area under the raised shop that you should have done before you started.

While you're at it I'd consider digging out and locating your footings further down. When they simply sit on the sod you'll find that they have a way of sinking down when things get wet and the earth is saturated and when it freezes and heaves up it'll again move the building. It's the basic reason why building foundations are dug down below the frost line for each area.

I know that all this is postively the last thing you ever wanted to hear. But while it'll be a lot of effort to back up and do this in the end it'll be worth it. A 12x24 shed isn't the sort of thing that you can just plunk down and let it sit directly on the ground without finding that it produces troubles later on.

And what about electric power and telephone? And maybe water for a little sink along with a dug down rock pit for the drain?

Originally Posted by BMatthews

Literally to jack it up so you can do the prep to the area under the raised shop that you should have done before you started.

While you're at it I'd consider digging out and locating your footings further down. When they simply sit on the sod you'll find that they have a way of sinking down when things get wet and the earth is saturated and when it freezes and heaves up it'll again move the building. It's the basic reason why building foundations are dug down below the frost line for each area.

I know that all this is postively the last thing you ever wanted to hear. But while it'll be a lot of effort to back up and do this in the end it'll be worth it. A 12x24 shed isn't the sort of thing that you can just plunk down and let it sit directly on the ground without finding that it produces troubles later on.

And what about electric power and telephone? And maybe water for a little sink along with a dug down rock pit for the drain?

Hi Bruce, Im aware of all the issues you mentioned. This method is done alot in my area. The solid blocks i used are dug down a few inches and set on a tamped down bed of gravel. The ground around here is like concrete and we rarely get ground freeze. I put the chain link fence in myself back in july and rented a power auger, the type you pull behind your truck and it would barely scratch the surface without many water soakings. We don't have nice dark soil, we have rock hard clay. The ground does slope from one side to the other and away from the building. I will kill the grass around it and add some type of landscaping stones. The building will have electricity only.
I appreciate your comments and keep them coming.
Todd

Grats on the new space. I was looking at doing a shop the same size and i am curious to see how you fit. Good luck on the build

Fair enough Todd.

So using a ditch witch to trench for the electrical is going to be a real bear by the sounds of it....

I'd still consider killing off the grass under the shed and go with landscape cloth and some gravel out to a foot beyond the walls. It actually would not be that bad to do after the fact when I think about it. The grass under the middle is going to die off soon anyway due to lack of light. Around the endges you can mow it down super short and then lay the cloth and gravel. I'd even say that you could build in a drain ditch at the same time to aid in guiding away the surface water from rain. See sketch below.

I seem to see a definite slope to your yard so a catch ditch would only be needed on the high sides and down to the lower where it can then drain into the lower end of the yard.

It seems like a lot of trouble but doing this SHOULD keep a lot of water away from under the shed. And I can't see that being a bad thing even with it being so open. But if others are lasting well then great. Mind you the real goal is to aid in making it easier to cut the grass by not having to jam the mower uder the walls.

Originally Posted by BMatthews

Fair enough Todd.

So using a ditch witch to trench for the electrical is going to be a real bear by the sounds of it....

I'd still consider killing off the grass under the shed and go with landscape cloth and some gravel out to a foot beyond the walls. It actually would not be that bad to do after the fact when I think about it. The grass under the middle is going to die off soon anyway due to lack of light. Around the endges you can mow it down super short and then lay the cloth and gravel. I'd even say that you could build in a drain ditch at the same time to aid in guiding away the surface water from rain. See sketch below.

I seem to see a definite slope to your yard so a catch ditch would only be needed on the high sides and down to the lower where it can then drain into the lower end of the yard.

It seems like a lot of trouble but doing this SHOULD keep a lot of water away from under the shed. And I can't see that being a bad thing even with it being so open. But if others are lasting well then great. Mind you the real goal is to aid in making it easier to cut the grass by not having to jam the mower uder the walls.

Good idea on drain ditch. Would it go the length of the building on the high side and drain down both sides? Im thinking about guttering also. The 24' X 24' that the new building is behind has gutters.
Thanks Todd

Gutters are mostly to avoid the rain from running down your neck when you dash into the building on a rainy day. Also over time rain falling off a non guttered lip will cut into the grass below. Which won't be an issue if you extend the gravel out far enough that it falls onto the stones. Although even if you do put in the gravel you may not want it to extend out that far. Generally soffets are about 2 feet wide after all.

Along the high side and down the two sloping sides is what I was thinking. The low side won't need it unless you want to direct the rain towards a specific area. If that would help then you'll want to do the drain ditch all around with an low "finger" of ditch leading away to the low end of the yard for the water to flow that way.

Jealous.. enough said.

Definitely gutters .minimise the water running down the walls.
Stuart

Had time to work on it today. Got the first wall built and had to make some phone calls to get help to stand it up. There was no way the wife and i was going to stand up a 24' wall with 19/32" ply sheathing on it. I also got the 2nd 24' wall cut out and plan on working on it tomorrow. Not alot of time to work on it in the evenings after work, but its coming along.