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YIPPEE!! Ok, We've been dealing with this for months and I know the battle is only have over, but I am so thrilled. My shop gets built this fall!! Yippee!! We got the financing settled, We've sat down & talked to a few contractors, argued amongst ourselves (my bay needs to be wider! when exactly did YOU decide we are covering the walls in MY loft with drywall?) til we finally agreed to exactly what we wanted and whether or not those ideas would work. The contractor we prefer finally got back to us with a price (we've been playing phone tag for a couple days) and we agreed. He'll be over this week with the contract. It will be September or October before they get to it and the inside is unfinished so I'll be spending my winter in my new loft making walls but I can't wait. I already looked at the paneling I want for the showroom, I knew a year ago what I was doing on the walls in the shop, I've started gathering panels and displays and dust collectors. It's a barn style 2 story building. We're insisting on special trusses that make the walls in my loft angled instead of straight up & down. How cool is that? I know I'm rambling but I'm tickled to death, had to tell someone and I think the board was ready for something positive.
Oh yeah, consider this forewarning and an advance-apology for when I start ranting this fall while trying to finish my shop.
-------------------- Chris Welker Wildfire Signs Indiana, Pa Posts: 4254 | From: Indiana, PA | Registered: Mar 2001
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Hey, that sounds great ! There is no better feeling than the one you get when you build something for yourself...there's a sense of permanance, or maybe a validation of some sort, that pervades the atmosphere when you do that. It's like the satisfaction you get from doing an extra-nice sign, only on a larger scale. And it never ends. After you get into your new shop, I bet you add on, or build something else....it's contagious ! Congratulations !
-------------------- Jeff Ogden 8727 NE 68 Terr. Gainesville FL, 32609 Posts: 2138 | From: 8827 NE 68 Terr Gainesville Fl 32609 | Registered: Aug 2002
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Kool stuff Chris!!!! Make sure it is done right!!!
-------------------- Dave Grundy retired in Chelem,Yucatan,Mexico/Hensall,Ontario,Canada 1-519-262-3651 Canada 011-52-1-999-102-2923 Mexico cell 1-226-785-8957 Canada/Mexico home
Way to go! We are extremely pleased for you. We hope all goes great! It is indeed nice to hear something really nice. Let's see the plans.
-------------------- Bruce Bowers
DrCAS Custom Lettering and Design Saint Cloud, Minnesota
"Things work out best for the people who make the best of the way things work out." - Art Linkletter Posts: 6468 | From: Saint Cloud, Minnesota | Registered: Jun 1999
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Now you have to win one of those cool painted refrigerators for the shop
-------------------- Harris Kohen K-Man Pinstriping and Graphix Trenton, NJ "Showing the world that even I can strategically place the pigment where its got to go." Posts: 1739 | From: Trenton, NJ, USA | Registered: Jun 2001
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Is this a new building being erected on your own property? I'm dying to see the plans!
It's so neat designing your own shop. My current shop is a separated garage with an upstairs. The prev owners used the upstairs for a hayloft of all things. My contractor nearly died when I told him how many windows I wanted and how big and how low they needed to be. (I can't stand standing up to look out a window when seated at a desk)
It's your space and you get to call the shots cuz you be payin' for it! Enjoy, check often on the progress, and take a ton of pictures!
I certainly know the feeling! I hope to start construction on our new shop by the beginning of July... lots of details to take care of. In our case we will be doing everything except the electrical ourselves... gonna be a busy time!
Remember through all the frustrations that the end result will be worth it. Just ask Monte!
We can make our dreams do come true!
-dan
-------------------- Dan Sawatzky Imagination Corporation Yarrow, British Columbia dan@imaginationcorporation.com http://www.imaginationcorporation.com
Being a grampa is one of the the most wonderful things in the world!!! Posts: 8771 | From: Yarrow, B.C. Canada | Registered: Nov 1998
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Kissy, that is so terrific!!! How exciting!
Heck, I was excited just to get finally get my little hole of a shop CLEAN and with a cool new door. hahaaaa You are building the kind of shop I'd love to have!
Yup, I'll be watching for progress reports girl!
Congratulations! Nettie
-------------------- "When Love and Skill Work Together ... Expect a Masterpiece"
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Great news Chris!! I'm sure you will enjoy it very much.
Right now a friend who is in the sign trade is building a new shop.The problem that he is having is that some of his customers are asking why they didn't get a chance to bid on the job. Remember you can't please everybody.
-------------------- Robert Carney Fergus, Ontario Posts: 131 | From: Canada | Registered: Mar 2001
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You go girl! I'm excited for you and certainly hope everything goes well. Building something new is like being a little girl again and playing house! The excitement will give you the energy to deal with the whole process. Congratulations!
-------------------- Kathy Joiner River Road Graphics 41628 River Road Ponchatoula, La.70454
Old enough to know better...Too young to resist. Posts: 1891 | From: Ponchatoula, LA | Registered: Nov 2000
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way to go girl....congrats. I'm coming to your first meet. CJ
-------------------- Ed CJ Williams CJ Graffx Christiana,Pa. cjgraffx@comcast.net Just have'n fun.... Posts: 296 | From: Christiana,Pa. | Registered: May 1999
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Yes Donna, we're building this from scratch in the yard. Last year, my hubby cut down the only tree in our yard I liked so the garage could go up. I made him take a zillion picts of it first so I'm going to put one of the good ones in my shop.
Nettie, right now I'm working in 1/2 of the unfinished 1/2 of our basement. I call it "the overgrown closet" I am soooo tired of tripping and crawling over stuff.
Joey, around here they call the truss we want a scissor gambrel, I think. After talking with an idiot contractor who tried pushing us into the trusses the lumber supply talked him into, we got iritated and went to a hugh truss manufacturer here. They had exactly what we wanted (scissor gambrel) on their lot but only in 24'. When we talked to the good contractor, we told him exactly what we wanted and I think they ended up using the plan for the 24' Scissor gambrel but modifying it slightly so it would work as a 30' truss. So, I'm not sure exactly what they call the truss we're getting.
The upstairs loft will be my shop. The garage is 30 x 48 or 50. There won't be any walls in it until I decide where they go and put them up myself. We'll have 2 dormers with good size windows and I'll have a set of french doors at one end that will eventually be used with a hoist system. Downstairs, I'll have a good sized bay that I can pull vehicles in. My hubby & stepson have their own bays too.
I found a picture online of sorta what we want. This isn't exactly what what it will look like, but it'll give you an idea if you're looking at me strange for saying slanted walls. http://www.barnplans.com/images/loft_large.jpg
If you look closely, where the shelf is to the floor will be straight up & down giving us room to run wires, ductwork, etc. From the shelf up, the wall covering will be nailed directly to the truss so the walls will be domed.
Thanks for all the good comments guys. I'm so tickled. I've been waiting for summer to finally get here and now I can't wait for it to be over so I get my shop.
CJ, you better be at my first meet or I'm coming looking for you and it won't be pleasant when I find you.
-------------------- Chris Welker Wildfire Signs Indiana, Pa Posts: 4254 | From: Indiana, PA | Registered: Mar 2001
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Good for you...just remember your paying the tab, so make sure every cent is accounted for and let the contractor know early that your watching everything thats being done.
The trick here is to bring it in on budget (below if possible).
Oh and let everyone you love know that "the real" Chrissy will return after completion...It's best they know this so they can be there for you along the way.
I know it's frustration and somewhere along the line you will feel homicidal but I have to admit it's all worth it when its over.
Good luck...keep a chronical and let us know how it's going.See dreams do come true.
-------------------- "Werks fer me...it'll werk fer you"
The kid at 84 Lumber tried to telling us the only thing we could use had verticle support making the 30' area a 10' room. Lezzer seems ok as long as the contractor you talk to isn't a moron. We decided to take a little drive to Creekside.
The idiot contractor that wanted $10k more than the reputable one tried forcing us to use the trusses 84 told him to use. I think this guy is just the owner/salesman and wouldn't have a clue as to which end of the hammer to throw into shingles when you start to slide off a roof. I can't imagine why any contractor around here wouldn't automatically go to Fairman's Roof Trusses when the customer want's something different than the standard gable.
Dave, If you want to know who we're using or who the idiot was or how to get to Fairman's, give me a call.
-------------------- Chris Welker Wildfire Signs Indiana, Pa Posts: 4254 | From: Indiana, PA | Registered: Mar 2001
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Nothing quite like watching a dream come true. Congrats!
-------------------- “Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?” -Winnie the Pooh & A.A. Milne
Kelly Thorson Kel-T-Grafix 801 Main St. Holdfast, SK S0G 2H0 ktg@sasktel.net Posts: 5498 | From: Penzance, Saskatchewan | Registered: May 2002
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Chris, I used Fairman trusses when I built my house. I didn't buy them direct but still got a great price on them. A freind of mine had a home center just outside of Saltsburg so I gave him my business.
I didn't go the contractor route when I built. Since there is no zoning where I live, I built it myself with the help of some family members. I'm far from being done and we are living in the house now which makes it really difficult to work on. Having two daughters in college doen't help much either. We built without getting a mortgage so that's a plus. I'm doing what I can, when we can afford it and eventually we'll finish it.
-------------------- Dave Johnson Saltsburg, PA
724-459-7240 Posts: 228 | From: Saltsburg, PA | Registered: Dec 2001
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