Packard Motor Car Information

Re: KPack

Posted by kevinpackard On 2022/3/10 13:15:19

Since I really haven't done any work on the car for the past 6 months, I might as well show you what's been commanding my attention instead.

For years my wife and I have talked about building a shop on our property because the house gets very small during the winter with 5 kids. And our attached garage gets small really fast with all my projects and hobbies. So we finally bit the bullet and signed with a company to build the building. We decided on a 36'x72' footprint, with the overall building split into two main rooms, each 36'x36'. The front half will be garage space with two bays, each with a 12'x 12' door. The back room will be for games, gathering, hobbies, etc, with a section taken out for a garden equipment room with a separate 8'x10' roll up door.

I had a guy come out and do the excavation for the site....removing all the grass and organics, then laying down a gravel driveway and pad. It took a ton of gravel. He also dug a trench for power and water. All the materials for the building were brought in on a single truck and dropped in preparation for construction.

The crew showed up and dug holes for the posts. The posts are three 2x8's glued and nailed together, with the bottom third treated. They were placed directly in the holes, squared up, then concrete poured all the way around them.

After a few days the crew came back and started work on the walls and roof. They built the roof in 12' sections, then winched it up into place on the posts, and attached it. Each section was brought up that way and then tied into the others. It made for a quick and impressive build. The walls were framed out in 2x6 horizontal girts (non-load bearing) in preparation for drywall and insulation.

Once all the wood framing was done they came back and added all the metal siding and roof. In November another crew came to do the concrete. I did 6" depth with #4 rebar on 24" centers throughout. Eventually the front half of the building will have at least one lift, so I wanted plenty of strength. I had run a bunch of conduit in the ground before the slab was poured, to make running electrical easier later on.

Once the concrete was done, I spent the next several months doing all the electrical myself. I've never done it before and it always kind of freaked me out, so I figured I should learn how to do it so I wouldn't worry about it anymore. Being a total novice, it took me way longer than it should have and cost me more. But I learned.

I did 1/2" EMT conduit in the walls so I can run more circuits later if I want. There are four outlets spaced every 12' along the walls, 4' off the ground. There are two 50 amp receptacles, one for each garage bay. A 30 amp receptacle is placed above one of the bays where a 2-post lift will likely be installed. Another 50 amp circuit will feed the compressor, which will likely be housed in a small room inside the garage space. Lights are not yet installed, but will eighteen 15K lumen high-bay LEDs....9 for the front of the building and 9 for the back. They are on wireless dimmers. Each main room of the shop will have an overhead fan to circulate air, and each room will be heated by an overhead propane heater.

Currently insulation and drywall are going in over the next week. Then paint and hanging lights. With any luck I might able to actually use the shop before summer time. I have a TON of work I want to do on the Panama this year and I really need to get rolling on it.

-Kevin

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