Planning a shop, do's and don'ts?

[PaulTGarrett]

Do what Dodge Dude suggests... I'm thinkin' he's a proper surveyor. I'm just a Mechanical/Electrical/Civil Engineer. I climb TV towers, not theodoodle around the back yard! LOL

My surveying knowledge comes from listening to and talking with the surveyors and Codes Inspectors on my shop project and lots of other work-related projects. I am not a Surveyor and don't play one on TV. I will step aside for experts in their field.

Howwww ever... I still kinda have to stand by what I said, considering that the three buried pins they found were dead on the property corners. And the pin they found in the water meter box was about 1" away from the sidewalk, which is on the city's property. They said the missing pin was probably under the sidewalk, since their survey put the property corner about 6" into the sidewalk.

 

[DodgeDude99]

You are correct on about everything you said, except for setting your own pins.
Please don’t do that.
I’ve been a surveyor for 25 yrs now.

 

[PaulTGarrett]

Dodge Dude, rereading my reply to you I think I came of a bit (lot) more cocky than I intended. Didn't mean things that way. With all the surveyors I've worked with over the years, we have an understanding. I don't play with their theodolite, they don't climb my towers, and we both use the same set of AutoCAD xrefs for the documentation. LOL I appreciate and respect your insights in the thread and were just expressing my recent experiences.

Now, back to shop building!

 

[DodgeDude99]

I didn’t take it cocky at all. If/when someone puts a pin in thinking they are at the lot corner, it can cause confusion & chaos. Neighbor fueds, house or fence not built in the correct spot, etc.

We have gone on some cell towers before when the workers couldn’t set the azimuth. But haven’t in ages.

You must be well seasoned, theodolites haven’t really been used in 20 yrs. We use robots & RTK GPS now.

 

[PaulTGarrett]

Yeah... Few times around the block... I actually showed my concrete contractor where I wanted the finished floor level by using 150' of clear vinyl tubing filled with water. Set the level at one end, it's the same at the other! His guys thought I was pranking them... They just shook their heads, laughed, got out the laser level, and found out, damn! I knew what I was doing! Old school! LOL

 

[DodgeDude99]

Hey Paul
You something like this?
This was my grandfathers, he used it for his garage slab circa 1965 (those are his numbers on there).
He was a carpenter, work for the old Comiskey Park till he died in 1975.

I have it hanging in my office at work.

 

[PaulTGarrett]

Yep! Just like that! Except that I just went to Home Depot and bought the vinyl tubing. Old School will never let ya down! LOL

 

[bigred74]

Basically how we know tank levels of some systems at a nuclear power plant lol never lies

 

[JColdIron]

What will you be using the shop for? That will get a more informed response from us.

I'd not go without a floor. Once you fill the shop you will not want to pull everything out to put in a floor. You will cuss yourself the whole time. I'd build smaller and more turnkey and then add on to it as you can afford.

When we built my 28'x24' shop I had the shell stick built and concrete poured and then did the rest at my pace. Which took forever.

I moved in and then when I started to do wiring, insulation and drywall later I had to drag everything off of one side at a time by piling it into the un-involved part of the shop. Which disrupted everything. Each time. For. Each. Wall.

Now that it is completely wired, insulated, and walled in it is great but I would have had more use out of it in the long run if I had bit the bullet and done all the trades before moving a thing in.

 

[PaulTGarrett]

Copy that, JC... Unfortunately, I had to get it built and get everything shoveled in. The commercial warehouse that I was using for a shop went up on the rent after some California company bought them out... It was either get out or go broke. I am running all my electrical overhead so it will be easy to simply put a "drop" where I need it. Insulation and plywood walls will come in as soon as I can sort everything, dumpster what I don't want/need, and get things squared away.

 

[bigred74]

went and got all the zoning variation this week, need to fill it out and return it by Tuesday to have the zoning board hearing by may 30th. They told me I can apply for one variance but make it for reducing my set back line as well as a variance on building height so I wont have to bring as much fill in the back of the shop which will be nice.

As for uses:
my family rents a large storage unit for stuff so I wanna be able to get rid of that so want a lot of storage.
area to work on my trucks (hopefully with a lift)
haven't done woodworking in awhile but my dad has a 30x30 wood shop that as an only son I'm sure I will acquire a lot of those machines so want to build large enough to plan for that. would also like to get back into woodturning
We also have snowmobiles and a 30ft enclosed trailer so be able to store that inside