Moose COVID Build

[kmoose]

The time had finally come where I was done with tent city and dirty boats... Done with projects done in the rain, heat and sweat. And done with the Friday night fire drill getting the boat loaded when the weather breaks. So I drink a double margarita and wandered out into the back forty with a stick and a half ass plan. My goal was to lay out a building foot print large enough to back the boat in and maybe the lawn mower and still remain married.

That evening I pulled Mels wine to the front of the fridge and waited patiently until she fell for the bait. After the third Dixie cup of white zin made it down I decided to spring my plan on her and hope for a glimmer of alcohol induced approval. At first she remained unusually silent and I knew I was going to hear how we need to save for Audi’s college and our retirement. But to my surprise she stood up and said “Show me what we’re going to do!”. So out the door we went with my measuring wheel in hand to layout the proposed project.

Long story much shorter, Mel was really excited about the idea but had pretty long list of mutually agreed upon demands that to assure we were both happy long term.
1. I was to contract out all aspects of the build and only act in the supervisory/owner roll
2. Building must be large enough to house at least 2 boats, one large project in the 30’ range
3. Room enough for a general work area with overhead storage and organized tool storage
4. Office with a clean room for rods, tackle and dive gear
5. Fully insulated for the entire shop and A/C for the Office/tackle room
6. NO CHEAPING OUT FOR ANY REASON!

After I measured and drew up the plans I spent a full week looking at buildings, pricing and quantity. I ended up selecting a company five miles a way that fabricated there own truss systems and floor rails. All to coastal wind specs.
And away we went.... Land clearing first!

[kmoose]

51 dump trucks full of dirt had to be removed due to a hill we had to cut down... and hauled off the old tool shed.

[kmoose]

6 inches of concrete throughout. Lots and lots of concrete. 2’x2’ footers with 3/4 rebar and “pencil rod” mesh over everything else with no fiber. Polished shop floors with broomed aprons and landing. Recessed door gutters. She said don’t skimp

[kmoose]

After 3 long weeks of watering and applying densifier the big 3 day weekend began. I did have to rent a lull for setting 40’ trusses but the crew as amazing and were very careful to not mess up the concrete in any way. The framework on this building is way more sturdy and heavy than I thought it would be. I was told by the crew that erects commercial building as well that the only step of from this was a red metal building. I did look at them but the cost and wait times for materials was astronomical.

[kmoose]

The build took 3 full days but the last day was just hanging the 14x14 doors. The 10x10 were a breeze but the 14s were totally different animals.

[kmoose]

I couldn’t wait to test fit the Tsunami. We did lots of measuring and clearing to enable a drive thru garage and everything worked as planed with no more backing in!

I really didn’t grasp how big the building really was until it swallowed the SeaCraft like it was a row boat.

[kmoose]

After having the electric run and panel installed we got an estimate for LED lighting that was simply ridiculous. Fortunately Mel and I priced out all of the fixtures and handled that ourselves. I did have to remind her that we were both lineman/woman at one time and that this was well within our wheelhouse.

The only problem we had was getting us to the work. I called my friend Scott (who has been to several of our gatherings) to see if he had some scaffolding. He had better! A perfect condition propane, hard tire forklift!..... that I could have If I’d come down and get it!

Well it’s a dam good thing OSHA didn’t see how this went down but man, having a fork lift is awesome! The thing is a thousand times more versatile than a gable and chainfall and saved me from having to buy one.

[kmoose]

Insulation was one of the ugliest purchases to endure. None of its cheap but holy smokes. Anyway, after a month of visiting dozens buildings we encountered two types of steel building owners.... Happy ones that used closed cell foam and those that wished they did. Some of the buildings were over ten years old and not one person with it had issues with leaks or rotting panels or moisture/condensation inside. The only requirement was that you need to have one ceiling or rail mounted fan running on low year round. I was told that the reason for this was that circulating the air kept all the surfaces in the shop at the Same temperature. For what it’s worth I have had no issues so far, even with the cold fronts.

For the record, to have a reputable company do it with fresh, name brand chemicals the cost will be right at $2 per sq ft of surface. It’s one of those things you get what u pay for.

[kmoose]

Right now we are finishing up the work, tool and storage areas as well as plumping. I built the two workbenches and the top that goes on the mail train cart that looks like a cage. It is on 4 large urethane locking casters and can easily be moved anywhere in the shop. It is a great project table for sawing, assembly, and rigging. If you have to grind or saw anything you just roll it out on the driveway and shut the bay door to keep the mess out of the shop. They also store a ton of crap inside as well. If anybody here wants one let me know as I think there is a few left.

[NoBones]

Nice job Ken & Mel !!
The only problem is you never build them big enough.......
My 50 X 40