Workshop Building Saga

With our move from Temecula to Foresthill, one of the criteria in the beginning was that our new house must have a workshop.  As we looked at homes in the area, that criteria had to be dropped because it limited our options too much.  Instead, it was revised to "property that could accommodate a shop".  The following is the saga that is becoming "Tommy's workshop".

04/17/08
    With Natalie's parents coming for a 3 week visit, we wanted to make sure that Bruce had something to work on. :)  It's time to get this workshop project off the ground.  I was debating between renting a tractor / backhoe, or buying one.  We've been shopping for a couple weeks now and today was the day we pulled the trigger.  We bought a New Holland TC1510 tractor with a 757C backhoe.

    The first project for the tractor was removing the dog-pen.  Over the past few days I removed the 4" square wire fencing around the pen.  Now it was time to remove the posts.  In total there was about 40 of them.  Two had large concrete footings, for the gate.  The tractor had no problem removing any of them.  As a matter of fact, I didn't know two of them had concrete footings until they were pulled up and hanging from the bucket.

    My mom and her friend John (aka Cork) were coming to visit this weekend and I ended up putting them to work too.  We started by using the backhoe to remove a rotted stump, and a huge, not-rotted stump. 

04/18/08
    This morning we worked on moving the stump over to the staging area, and burying the hole that the stump left behind.  After that, we went to work relocating the shed.  The shed is a Tuff-Built 12'x16' unit on an aluminum frame/base.  We needed to move it forward about 30', then to the right about 100', then back about 15'.  We used the bucket on the tractor to lift each side, then place temporary blocks to hold it elevated.  Then we used 2x6's and the rounds posts from the dog-pen to roll the shed.  We placed 9 concrete blocks in the new home and dropped the shed on them.  Although that sounds like an easy project, it took us all day and was a lot of work.

04/23/08
    We decided on a building from BuildingStoreOnline.com.  It's 32' wide, 50' deep and has an interior ceiling of 14'6".  It comes with (2) 12' wide, 13' high roll-up garage doors.  These aren't sectional garage doors, but the kind that roll up onto themselves.  That type of garage door doesn't look as nice, but it also doesn't interfere with space and lighting as much as sectional doors do.  I have mixed feelings on the garage doors.  We also decided on installing (2) "man doors".  One at the front right of the building (on the side) and one at the back left of the building (also on the side).  The back door is mainly for airflow on a hot day.  The walls are going to be a Light Stone color.  The roof will be a Mocha Tan.  The garage doors will be Buckskin, which kinda looks like grey leather.  The trim around the doors and on the corners will be white.

04/26/08
    Today I started digging the footings for the shop.  The backhoe on the tractor is really coming in handy.

04/30/08
    I picked up the wood for the concrete forms today.  Since the grade where the shop is going to be isn't flat, the wall at the back of the building will be about 2' tall to match the grade at the front of the building.  This requires building the forms up high, then back-filling the middle with gravel.

05/02/08
    I had ordered 20 yards of gravel, but I learned something.  Although the gravel comes on a transfer truck with a 20 yard capacity, they can only get 12 yards in the truck due to weight (25 tons).  I think I'm going to need more gravel :)

05/04/08
    Bruce and I installed the rebar for the footings today.  Two loops go all the way around the footings, centered left to right.  One round is about 3" or 4" from the bottom.  The other round is about 6" from the top of the slab.

05/05/08
    Da Rea Concrete poured the concrete footings today.  We're pouring in 2 phases.  Phase 1 will be the footings, poured to about 5" from the top of the slab.  After the concrete was in place, Bruce placed 4' long rebar vertically in the footings.  We'll bend this over later and use it to tie in the slab pour.

05/06/08
    Bruce used the tractor to distribute the gravel between the footings.  As predicted, it was not enough.  Another order for 20 yards (or more accurately, 25 tons) of gravel is needed.

05/07/08
    Another transfer truck arrived with 25 tons of gravel.  Bruce went right to work spreading it around with the tractor.  Although we're just a little short on rock, we'll make it up with concrete and just have a slightly thicker slab.  With a vehicle lift going in, that's not a bad thing.

05/08/08
    Da Rea Concrete poured the slab today.  What amazing work these guys did.  It's all one big slab with no reliefs.  The plan is to cut the concrete with a saw tomorrow so the joints are smaller.

05/09/08
    Bruce and I took turns with the skill-saw and a 7" concrete blade.  It took a while and was quite a workout, but the payoff will be big.  We also picked up a lawn sprinkler to keep the concrete wet for a few days.

    Bruce and I also took the trailer to Woodland to pickup the sheeting material.  It turned out to be a joke because the guy that ordered it (Joe) forgot to tell the manufacture that the pieces should fit on a home-owners trailer.  Unfortunately we couldn't pick up all the pieces.  There was a bundle of 37 pieces that was 32' long.  After some discussion with the delivery guys, they will deliver it next Friday (7 days) on the Bob-tail truck.

    Natalie spoke with Joe and he's going to cover the cost of delivery.

05/10/08
    Bruce and I went to town with the tractor and dug up trenches for the water.  Bruce replaced all the hose bib valves in the center of the courtyard with 1" ball-valves.  For some reason, the previous owner had this plumbing tree sticking up about 3 feet with 3 hose-bibs on it.  I couldn't ever figure out why more than 1 would be needed.  Bruce built the new plumbing tree about a foot above ground with a 1" ball-valve for the hose and another 1" ball-valve going back underground for the shop.

    We trenched from the new plumbing tree, to the nearest corner of the shop, for a hose connection inside the shop.  From there the trench split to reach the opposite front corner, for future sprinklers and also to the back of the building for a sink.

05/11/08
    Today Bruce and I went to work on burying the conduit for the electrical.  I trenched from the shop over to the house.  There was some asphalt that had to come up, but future plans don't include asphalt, so no big deal.  After pressure testing the water lines we put in yesterday, we also buried all the trenches.

05/14/08
    The building was originally scheduled to be delivered today but that's not going to happen.

05/16/08
    The sheeting company delivered the 32' long bundle of material today.  We had no way to off-load it all at once, so we did it sheet by sheet.  It didn't take very long

05/22/08
    I took some time off work today to meet with the delivery truck with my building.  When we started off-loading the material, it just didn't seem right.  There wasn't enough stuff, or I've been ripped off.  The driver was confused because the material only had those "Hello, my name is" stickers and it said "ARLO".  Arlo doesn't mean anything to me or the driver.  Then I started looking that the base rail.  It's really obvious because it's a length of metal with 2' stubs sticking up, spaced every 4'.  I added up all the base rail material and it was only 72'.  That's for a 36' long building.  I called Joe and asked him if he know who "Arlo" was.  He did.  I asked if Arlo ordered a 36' building.  Yes he did.  The driver and I re-loaded everything onto the truck.

    I also noticed that the "man-door" was 4' wide.  This is so it fits between two perlin segments (essentially the studs).  The door was some plastic material and didn't even include door handle hardware.  I was not impressed at all.  I would like a traditional, exterior, 36" man-door.  When I spoke to Joe, I let him know I didn't like the doors and am not interested in them.

05/24/08
    I got a call from Melissa at BuildingStoreOnline today.  She said that my building was in Cottonwood at Arlo's house.  I asked if I could go get it.  She called Arlo and asked if he minded and he did not.  I called Arlo and got directions.  I had to unload all the roofing material from the trailer, picked up Mike and Chuck and we drove to Cottonwood.  Arlo was a neat old guy.  He had a tractor and helped get everything loaded on my trailer.  I was glad to have my building finally in my possession.

    I did notice that I still didn't have any screws or anchor bolts.  Since tomorrow I'd like to get started on the base-rails, I stopped at Lowes and bought my own epoxy anchor bolts.

05/25/08
    I started laying out all the pieces and checking out what I had.  I was able to lay out the base rails, cut out the man door openings, drill the concrete anchor holes and attach the base rails to each other.  I epoxied the anchor bolts into the concrete.  I'll let that set up overnight.

05/26/08
    Today I tightened the base rails down, then assembled one of the perlins.  I hoisted it with an extension bar on the tractor bucket.  This gave me some scale as to how high the building will actually be.  This perlin is currently sitting higher than it's supposed to because I still don't know where the truss crossbar is going to be.  I'd like to make sure that my interior ceiling is at least 14'6".

    I started assembling another perlin with the truss cross-member, but it seems I don't have the pieces required.  I called Joe and let him know what's going on.  He's going to check to see if some of my parts are at Arlo's house in Cottonwood.

05/28/08
    Joe claims that the garage doors are shipping today.

05/30/08
    Joe stopped by the house today to inventory what parts I have.  Turns out I'm missing quite a few items.  I'm short a couple items, like the hat channel.  Other parts are completely missing.  He said that the parts will ship Saturday or Monday, overnight.

06/04/08
    Joe says that the parts from Waldrops Carports in Terrell, TX are shipping today.  I have my doubts.

06/05/08
    I looked up Waldrops Carports on Yahoo yellow pages and called them directly.  I asked for a tracking number so I would know when to expect the shipment.  Turns out they have not shipped as Joe claimed.  Instead, they are waiting for screws to arrive before they ship.  I suggested shipping what they have, then shipping the screws overnight.  I am terribly behind schedule due to their poor labeling on the shipment.  They claim that shipping will only take a day or two and they prefer to ship all at once.

    I also contacted Joe regarding the garage doors.  He claims they are shipping on Monday, due to arrive Tuesday.  I have my doubts.

06/06/08
    Called Waldrops again.  Still no screws.

06/07/08
    I worked on the electrical at the house side today.  I connected the electrical conduit for the power to the electrical box.  I still need to get a 100amp circuit breaker.

06/09/08
    Called Waldrops again.  Still no screws.

06/10/08
    Garage doors did not arrive today.

06/11/08
    Spoke to Tyler at Waldrops.  The parts are ready to ship.  The best shipping they can do is 7 days.  I let him know that I am very disappointed and this puts me yet another week behind schedule.  I feel there is a shipping method to get the parts to my house overnight, but they aren't willing to pay for it.  Instead their customer is paying with his time, as usual.

06/13/08
    Got an email from Joe today.  He gave me the tracking number for the garage doors.  Turns out they did ship Monday as he said they would.  They're sitting in Sacramento waiting for a scheduled appointment for delivery.  I called and made the appointment.  They're coming on Monday (06/16/08) between 2pm and 6pm.

    I also order my 2-post lift today.  I'm getting a BendPak XPR-10ACX.  It should arrive sometime next week, long before I'm ready to install it.

    I stopped at Lowes today to look at doors and windows.  I will be installing 3 man doors and 3 windows.  Two of the man doors are external and one will go between the shop and my office.  Same with the windows.  Two in the office looking outside and one between the office and the shop.  I was going to get 4 foot wide, 3 foot high windows that slide left-right.  I think I've changed my mind.  Instead, I like the 3 foot wide, 5 foot high single hung windows (bottom sash opens vertically, top sash is stationary).  I'll put two of those in the office looking outside, probably to the back of the shop.  I'll look for a 5 or 6 foot window with no moving sash for between the office and shop.

06/16/08
    Although the shipping company accepted the appointment for today (Monday), they don't deliver to Foresthill on Monday's.  Rescheduled for tomorrow at 4pm.

06/17/08
    The garage doors arrived today.  They're the wrong color.  Just another mistake made by people who have no vestment in this project.  My first choice for color was Buckskin.  It looks kinda like grey leather.  Second choice is white.  They're white.  I'm not going to return them though.  Chances are it will take 2 months to get the new doors, and when they arrive they'll be the wrong size.  I'll see how white looks, and perhaps paint them.

    Getting the garage doors off the truck was an adventure.  I knew I was in for it when I learned that it's a single pallet, 900 lbs.  My tractor will only lift 800 pounds with the loader bucket.  Turns out, the single pallet was 3' wide, 3' tall and 20' long!  I had thoughts of dismantling the pallet and unloading it piece by piece.  Problem was, the driver didn't think he could make the turn onto my driveway, so we were unloading on the single lane gravel road.  We used a strap and picked up one end and dragged it out of the truck about 19'.  I set that end down, then picked up the other end.  The driver pulled his truck out and I set it down.

    Now the fun part.  Getting this big crate down my driveway.  The driver recommended that I pick up one end and drag it.  I didn't feel like fixing the gravel so I looked into another solution.  I needed to pick it up at an angle to fit down the driveway (about 14' wide).  I set the tractor up on the angle.  Then I attached a strap from the back of the bucket to one side of the crate.  I used the bucket lift to get that half off the ground.  Then I attached another strap kinda off the front of the bucket to the other end of the crate.  Then I could use the curl (stronger lift) to get the rest of the crate off the ground.  Success!  I lifted a 900# crate with a 800# capacity tractor.  And I didn't even blow a hydraulic line.

    After I had it placed in the staging area, I inspected the crate.  I verified that indeed the color was wrong, it was.  I also found that a single garage door receiver was included, not two.  I emailed Joe and asked him to send a second receiver.

06/20/08
    Two trucks came today.  Wouldn't you know it, they were at the house at the same time.  First was FedEx Freight Phil.  He brought the replacement parts for the building from Waldrop.  For the first time, a delivery arrived complete and as expected.  (24) 4' 2x2's, 2500 screws, (4) eave brackets, (10) 20' hat channel and (24) 1.75"x1.75" inserts.  Just when Phil was about to leave was when the other truck arrived.  It was the same guy that "couldn't" make the turn a couple days ago.  He saw that FedEx truck back by the shop and exclaimed, "He got that truck back there?"  I thought the visible evidence was enough, but I assured him, yes, that truck is back there.  I asked him to wait while the FedEx truck left.  He took the opportunity to drive to the end of the street and turn around.  Entrance to the property is much easier from that direction.  I wished that either of us thought of that a couple days ago.

    The second delivery truck was bringing my BendPak 2-post lift.  This was also a single pallet, about 18" wide, 4' tall and 1800#.  Not sure why anyone would pallet something so heavy so it was so top heavy, but they did.  My instinct was to bring it down piece by piece, but the driver was confident we didn't have to.  We strapped one end, picked it up and dragged it out about 10' or so.  After setting that end down, I positioned and picked up the other end.  Just like last time, he drove his truck out of the way and I set it down.  It seemed to lift easier than expected, so I doubt each end was 900#.  After he left, I disassembled the pallet and piece by piece carried it over to the staging area and covered it with a tarp.  It's day will come soon.

06/23/08
    I didn't get to work on the building over the weekend.  I promised a friend I'd help move furniture from SoCal.  This evening I started getting the area ready for the truss assembly phase.  I placed the piles of pieces adjacent to the assembly area and started laying out my template truss.

    I also received a call from Darrin's uncle Harlan.  He's got a 8' long, 30" wide workbench with drawers that he's looking to get rid of.  He thought of my shop.  He's going to bring it to me tomorrow.

06/24/08
    Harlan and Lee were waiting on the porch when I got home.  We unloaded the workbench and placed it over next to the shed.  I'll reassemble it and place it in the shop after the walls and roof are on. 

    I assembled the template truss today.  I screwed together only one side so the screw heads wouldn't get in the way as I build the subsequent trusses on top.  I assembled (1) complete truss (screwed both sides).  I also attached 26 of the 28 eave brackets.  These brackets give the building the squared off eaves as opposed to rounded eaves that you see on a lot of metal buildings.  The 2 eave brackets left over go on the perlin that's already standing.  I'll get to that later.

06/25/08
    I called Waldrop today to inquire about blue prints and/or specific instructions regarding my building.  I was happy to hear that have something.  I asked for them to email it.  After seeing it, I wish I never did.  It was only two JPG images.  One contained obvious information that any idiot already knows.  The 2nd contained one piece of valuable information and some miss-information.  First the miss-information.  According to that JPG, my shop has one garage door, not two.  Oy.  The valuable information informed me that the roof slope should be constructed of the 12'2" pieces of 2x3, and the wall of the 12'0" 2x3 pieces.  I had built them with the 12'0" on the slope and the 12'2" for the walls. Another Oy.

    When I got home I went to work taking apart the trusses I already built.  I started with the template.  After it was squared and true and built with the proper parts, I went to work on the completed truss.  After it was complete and moved out of the way I took down the one perlin that was standing.  While it was down I installed the 2 remaining eave brackets.  Then I rearranged it's parts and stood it back up.

06/29/08
    Over the past few days I assembled all of the perlins with trusses.  I used the tractor to stand them up in place.  I also started installing the hat channel.  There's (10) runs of 50' each of hat channel that run from front to back, only on the roof.

07/03/08
    Most of the hat channel us up now.  I've been ill for a couple days, so I haven't got as much done as I would have liked.  Natalie and I also made a trip to Lowes today.  I picked up (40) 2x4x16's, (12) 2x4x20's and (3) 36" solid core, insulated, pre-hung doors.

07/04/08
    Darrin came over today and helped install some of the wall sheeting.  All together we got about 1/2 of one long wall done.  The sheets are large and difficult to handle.

    Later in the evening I drove Darrin home and went to Lowe's.  I picked up (4) 4x4 posts, screws for attaching wood to metal, window caulking and my 3 windows.  I decided on 3' wide, 5' high single hung windows for between the office and the outside.  The third window is 5' wide and 3' tall (left-right slider) for between the office and the shop.

07/05/08
    Today I drilled all the remaining wall anchor holes in the slab.  6 for the back wall and 4 for the front wall.  I also completed the hat channel.  Nice to have that complete.

07/06/08
    I worked on installing roof panels today.  It's very difficult to do by myself, but not impossible.  I managed to get almost half the roof done.

07/12/08
    Darrin and Travis came over today and we got a TON done!  Before lunch we finished the other side of the roof and hung all the long wall panels (except the very bottom panels).  After lunch, Darrin and I cut the bottom panels and installed them.  We also installed the rear wall base plate and started installing the long vertical 2x4's.

07/13/08
    Today I installed more 2x4 studs for the back wall.  All of the long 2x4s for the side opposite of the office are installed.  Next I went to work on the electrical.  I mounted the electrical sub panel, wired in the breakers and installed the 100amp breaker on the house side.  Then I mounted a double gang electrical box below the sub panel so I have power in the shop now.  Next I went to work on the front wall.  It's made from 2x2 metal.  I framed out the garage door openings, so that wall is now ready for panels and garage doors.  Last thing I did was clean up the tools and sweep out the shop.

07/14/08
    Not much work done on the shop today.  I reworked my drawings to increase the ceiling inside the office from 7'2" to 7'7-1/2".  It's a lower ceiling so the tractor bucket can reach on top of the office for storage.  Someday I hope to have forklift forks for the front of the tractor.  The lift height is limited to 100".  Factor in 2x8's for ceiling joists and the inside ceiling has to be lower than standard.  The last thing I did was I installed the hose bib at the front left of the building.

07/15/08
    I installed my 6 light fixtures today.  They are 8' "High Output" units designed for 16' ceilings.  They take 2 110W High Output bulbs each.  No bulbs or wiring yet.

07/16/08
    I wired up 3 of the light fixtures.  I'm going to split the overhead lights into 2 sections of 3 lights each.  Basically, the front half of the shop on one switch and the back half of the shop on another switch.  After running the wire in conduit, I plugged the romex directly into an extension cord and lit up the 3 lights.  I'm happy with the light they provide.

07/17/08
    All 6 lights are wired and working from the wall switches.  I ran 12-2 wire from the breaker box to the switch and 14-2 to each circuit of 3 lights.

07/19/08
    Today I finished framing the back wall.  I hung one of the office to exterior windows.  I also hung both of the exterior man-doors.

07/20/08
    Chuck came over today to help with the shop.  We sheeted the entire back wall with the exception of the small piece up top.  We also sheeted the front wall from the top of the garage doors up (again, except for the small piece way up top).  We also cut the pieces for the outsides of the garage doors.  I managed to hang 3 of the 4 small sheets on one garage side before I ran out of steam and called it a day.  I have yet to cut the front sheets up top, so that's why the building has that old western look with the faux front.

07/21/08
    This evening I worked a bit more on the shop.  I installed door handles and dead bolts on the two exterior man doors.  Next I  trimmed the metal at the front of the building to match the roof line.  I also cut and attached the small triangular piece located at the top center of the front wall.  Last thing I did was I installed my 30' retractable extension cord from a truss cross bar located toward the center of the shop.

07/22/08
  I worked on the front of the shop today.  I installed the eave trim and corner trim.  The front of the building is really starting to take shape. 

07/23/08
  Today I finished cutting the garage door openings, cut the gable fan openings, installed the gable vents, installed the last of the sheet metal (located between the garage doors) and started looking at the garage doors themselves.  I used the tractor and moved all the garage door material into the shop.  I looked at the instructions and immediately realized that a bracket needs to mount to the shop where I already have brackets holding the building together.  I put the welder in the tractor bucket, raised it up and welded the shop together so I could remove the offending brackets.  Then I welded the garage door brackets to the shop walls.  I managed to get 2 of 4 of these brackets installed before calling it a day. 

    Today I also ordered my Air Conditioner / Heater unit.  I went with the LG LT1030HR.  It's 230V,10,000 BTU cooling and 11,200 BTU heating.  It's Energy Star compliant and comes with a remote control.  It's supposed to arrive next Thursday, although I won't be ready to install it for a month or so.  Also, it's not for the main shop, it's just for the office (192 sq/ft).

07/24/08
    I made some negative progress today.  After finishing the welding on the garage door plates, Jim and I installed the vertical rails and assembled one of the garage doors with the electric opener.  We used the tractor to lift the garage door up into place.  That's when we discovered that the plates are installed wrong.  There's a large plate and a smaller plate.  The instructions indicate that the smaller plate goes on the left and the larger plate on the right.  Turns out the larger plate needs to go where the electric opener goes and that has to be on the left.  The instructions indicate that the opener can go on the left or the right, but that's not right either.  When we tried to install the opener on the right, the axle that the entire door rotates on is too short on the opener side.  The axle doesn't seem to want to move to the left or right.  We lowered the garage door to the ground and called it a day.  Tomorrow I'll look at shifting the axle, or cutting the plates down and swapping them.

07/27/08
    This past weekend I continued work on the garage doors.  I ended up not moving the plates and not moving the axle.  I installed the opener on the left of the door for both doors.  I welded the brackets to the wall plates instead of using the provided bolts.  Since the wall plates are in the wrong spots, the bolt holes didn't line up.  No big deal though, I trust a weld over a bolt any day. 

    Both doors are installed and wired.  There's different issues with both doors with the electronics though.  The left door (as viewed from inside the building) will not close with one touch of the button.  I have to hold the button the entire time.  The instructions claim that I can change that behavior with a jumper, but that jumper makes no difference.  The right door is acting really strange.  The door close button works (again, have to push and hold), but the limit switch doesn't work.  The door just wants to keep on closing.  Then, the "door open" button doesn't work at all.  I'm pretty sure this indicates a problem in the operator motor assembly, not the control box.  Monday night I'll spend some more troubleshooting time before calling the manufacturer on Tuesday.  One side note on the garage doors.  I am absolutely amazed how quiet they are when they're opening or closing.  If someone isn't careful, they could be closing on your head and you wouldn't know they're coming down.  Maybe I will look into some photo-cell safety things.

    This weekend I also installed the gable fans.  Funny...  The gable vents are designed specifically for these gable fans, yet they require different openings to mount.  The vents require a square hole 16.5" x 16.5".  The widest opening the fans can mount on is 14.5".  I installed some blocks for the fans to mount to.  Then I went to work on the electrical conduit.  I ran most of the conduit back toward the wall switch, but it started getting late and I was getting tired.  I "hot wired" them to see if they worked and they do.  They aren't very loud either, so that's nice.

07/28/08
    First thing this morning I sent an email to Janus, the garage door company.  Within 15 minutes I had a return email with diagrams and my phone was ringing.  I spoke to Jake and he gave me some ideas to try.  I told him I'd try them tonight and let him know tomorrow how it goes.  Great customer service!

    When I got home I worked more on the garage door electronics.  I managed to get one of the doors completely functional, even with a remote control.  The 2nd door is having issues though.  It appears that the electronics have a short to ground somewhere.  I took the opener completely apart looking for a frayed wire or other problem.  Nothing struck me as wrong.  The problem with the door is that it will roll down, but not up.  When I press the up button, the 8amp breaker on the bottom of the control box trips.  Also, the limit switches that stop the opener at the top and bottom of it's cycle do not work at all.  It appears that those are ground trip switches (disconnect ground to the motor).  I removed them and put them on the work bench and still the door will close (also, still will not open).  This tells me that the motors are getting ground from somewhere else.  Regardless, I've emailed the manufacturer with the status.  I'm hoping that they will ship a new opener and control box and I can just exchange everything.  I started a communication with them yesterday and I was very pleased with their response time and willingness to help.

    The next issue is the remotes and receivers.  My hope was to use my existing Lift Master 3-button remotes to control the garage door on the house and the two doors on the shop.  Turns out, the new Lift Master receivers can't hear the older 3-button remotes.  The new remotes are single button.  I'd prefer not to have to carry 3 remotes in every vehicle.  I've requested 3-button remotes from the garage door company, so we'll see what they come back with.  The next thing to check is if my existing garage door opener on the house can hear the new remotes.  If not, I'll have to figure out a new receiver or something for that.

07/29/08
    I emailed Jake again this morning to let him know it seems the 2nd door has a short to ground somewhere.  Never did get a response from him.  I also have not heard back from their sales department regarding the photo cells or 3-button remotes.

07/30/08
    I emailed Jake again this morning.  He responded quickly and apologized for yesterday.  He was out of the office.  He said he's going to start the process for swapping out the opener on the 2nd door.

    When I got home I worked on the roof.  I finished installing the gable trim on the back of the shop, then I installed the ridge cap.  After that I went to work with the clear silicon caulk.  I sealed up any cracks and holes in the roof.  I'll need to get more silicon caulk to seal around the windows and gable vents.

07/31/08
    I never heard back from the sales department again at Janus.  I've emailed Jake and asked him to check on sales to find out how I can get information regarding the photo cells and 3-button remotes.

    Next I contacted an epoxy flooring company.  I've researched epoxy flooring from a couple companies.  I'm getting quotes for about $1.50 sq/ft from a couple companies.  Although I'm sure that's a very nice floor, it's out of my price range.  The other alternative is $0.25 sq/ft epoxy from your Lowes and Home Depot stores.  I'm looking for something in between.  I finally found a product that's 100% solids, grey with black, white and blue flakes, covers at 9.7 mils and costs about $0.64 sq/ft.  I ordered it.  Should be here some time next week.

    Then I got a phone call from a guy named Fermin.  He runs a distribution center for Janus down in Los Angeles.  He offered to help troubleshoot the door opener.  He says that it would be very rare that an opener has a dead short.  He thinks that he can help me get the door functioning.  My preference is to swap out the equipment, but he's the professional.  At worst, this will only cost me 1 day, which isn't that big of a deal.  If he's right, the door might be working tonight.  He also mentioned there's a Janus rep in the Sacramento area that might have a circuit board.  Perhaps I'll get someone to come to the house and diagnose the problem with me.  I told Fermin that I'd call him tonight when I get home around 5pm. 

    When I got home I called Fermin.  He wanted to walk me through a few basic troubleshooting tasks.  I had tried all of them before.  Last thing he wanted, which is something I thought of doing, but didn't want to, was to swap the control boxes between the doors to narrow the problem down to the control box, or the opener (motors).  I didn't want to do this mainly because I've got door #1 working exactly the way I want it and I don't want to ruin it.  I told Fermin that I had evening plans and I'd swap the boxes as soon as I could.
    After we got home from our evening plans there was a box in the driveway.  The LG Air Conditioner / Heat unit arrived.

08/01/08
    This morning I swapped the boxes as Fermin requested.  The problem stayed on door #2, so now we know both control boxes work as intended.  The problem is with the motors on door #2 (something I had already proved to myself).  Since removing the limit switches from the opener has no effect, the problem has to be inside the motor assembly.  On the way to work I called Fermin and shared the news.  I was glad he didn't have any more troubleshooting tasks for me.  He said he's going to ship me a new motor assembly.  He also asked about the 3-button remotes that I've emailed sales about.  It sounds like he's going to send me some.  We'll see.  I'm hoping that process doesn't hold up shipping the motor assembly.

    This afternoon I ordered my water heater for the sink.  The best price was through Home Depot online.  It's a Bosch AE12.  It's a 220v, 50amp "instant hot", "tankless", "point of use" water heater.  Nice thing is, since it doesn't have a tank, I can mount it under the sink so I don't lose any real estate in the shop or in the office.  It's due to arrive next Friday (8/8/08).

08/03/08
    I didn't get a lot done on the shop this weekend.  He had company visiting.  I did manage to get the shop entirely emptied.  I then tried to pressure wash the floor, but the washer isn't working correctly.  I didn't feel like diagnosing it, so I just hosed the shop out.  Later in the day I started hanging the trim on the garage doors.  I also hung a new 50 foot retractable electrical cord reel.  I'll hang the 30 foot cord reel in the garage attached to the house.

08/04/08
    I called Fermin today to find out when I should expect to see the replacement garage door opener.  I left a voice mail and didn't hear back.

08/05/08
    I emailed Jake at the garage door company to push from that side to get the replacement door opener.  I didn't hear back from him.  I did hear back from Fermin.  He said that he is waiting on Jake to process some paperwork or something so he could ship the replacement motor. 

    Natalie called DaRea concrete and ordered 25 tons of 3/4" crushed rock for the courtyard.  It was delivered by 4pm the same day.  When I got home from work I started spreading it around with the tractor.  We also had a brief, summer-time rain shower.  You know those huge rain drops you get in the summertime, then the sun comes out?  The rain was enough that if I had a leak in the roof, it would have shown up.  No leaks!  Also, the rain was nice to keep the dust down while spreading rock.

08/06/08
    Got an email back from Jake.  He's going to check with customer service on the status of the replacement order.  He said he'd get back to me when he knows anything.  Didn't hear back again today.

    The epoxy supplies arrived as expected.  I got home late from work, so no progress today.

08/07/08
    I emailed Jake again today to ask about the replacement door opener, no response

08/08/08
    I emailed Jake again this morning.  A bit later Fermin replied and let me know it's scheduled to be delivered today.  When I got home, UPS had delivered the opener and my sink water heater.

    When I got home I acid etched the floor.  The final step in the etching is to "triple hose the area".  I decided to take another look at my pressure washer to see what's going on.  I was going to spray some silicon into the water inlet to lube things up.  I had to remove the ball valve that I leave on there all the time.  When I did, I saw the screen filter and it was blocked with gunk.  I removed the gunk and the washer started working fantastic.  I managed to get half the shop pressure washed before calling it a night.  I was hoping to start rolling out the epoxy on Saturday morning, but I have to finish cleaning the floor.
   
08/09/08
    I finished the pressure washing.  Again, I'm really impressed with the pressure washer.  It brought the concrete floor from the red color, to the same gray color that it was when it was freshly poured.   After washing the floor, I used the squeegee broom to get the puddles out.  Then I used masking tape to tape off the bottom of the walls to keep the epoxy off them.  The floor has to dry for 6 hours before we can coat it, so I went to work on installing the screws on the outside of the building.  I did the ones I could reach without a ladder.

08/10/08
    Today, Natalie and I coated the floor with epoxy.  It was a neat process and I think was pretty easy.  It was a lot of work, but it doesn't take a lot of talent to get the floor looking nice.  The "kit" from Epoxy-Coat.com included almost everything you need.  I had to buy masking tape, of course, and a couple paint roller handles and extension handles.  The kit included the cut-in brush, mixing paddle, squeegee, gloves, buckets, 3/8" nap roller cover, epoxy and hardener.  It only took about 4 hours to coat the floor.

08/13/08
    I moved a few things into the shop today.  The door and 2 windows for the office, the replacement garage door opener, trim, electrical conduit and the Jeep!

08/14/08
    Today I replaced the motor in the 2nd garage door.  After adjusting the limit switches, that door now works perfectly.  I mounted the receiver and programmed the new 3-button remotes.  I tested the new buttons on the garage door on the house, and it's not compatible.  That's disappointing because all the equipment is from the same manufacturer, yet they can't talk to each other.  I'll probably have to get a new receiver for the house garage door.

    I also picked up a couch from Darrin and Kathy today.  Well, I picked of half of the "L".  I'll get the other half tomorrow.  I set this one half in the area that will be my office and it sure seemed small in there.  I used the tractor and moved the desk in there too to check clearances.  The desk is so heavy that it started falling apart under it's own weight.  No exaggeration, it's about 400 pounds.  I decided the desk wasn't worth my trouble, so I used the tractor to deposit it in the staging area.  I'll finish breaking it up and take it to the dump.

    Natalie came up with a new plan for a desk.  Get a piece of 1" laminate from Lowes or where ever and attach it to the wall.  Then have a single leg that holds up the other end.  That way I can make it as large or small as I please and it will "open up" the area.

08/15/08
    I started laying out the vehicle lift today.  I used the tractor to bring in one of the verticals and stood it up.  I brought the 2nd vertical over and placed it just outside the shop.

08/16/08
    I got the lift completely installed and tested today.  The install took longer than I thought it would.  I ended up installing it backwards because I always back my equipment into the shop.

08/17/08
    I moved a bunch of stuff from the house into the shop today.  The goal was to get the house garage cleaned out enough that Natalie can start parking her van in there.  I moved all my dad's tools into my white trailer and parked that in the shop.  Then I moved my 60 gal air compressor into the shop.  I still have to wire up the electrical outlet for that.  Then Natalie helped and we swept, hosed and mopped the garage floor.  Then we washed her van and my black truck.

 08/20/08
    Chuck and I swapped couches.  The "L" shaped couch from Darrin will fit better in his living room than the two love-seats.  I really only anticipate needing one couch for the office, so I prefer a love-seat.  Should work out nicely. 

    Only progress on the shop today was I started drilling holes and mounting electrical outlets for my workbench.  The plan is to mount double-gang boxes on each metal stud (approx 4' apart).  I'll mount them on 7 studs.  Each double-gang box will have a double outlet on circuit "A" and another double outlet on circuit "B".

08/21/08
    I worked more on the electrical outlet wiring.  I have 6 of the 7 boxes populated and wired.  I need to populate the last double-gang box and wire to the breaker box.

08/24/08
    This weekend I worked on building my office.  I managed to get almost all of the framing up.  I also attempted to install the LG A/C & heater unit.  I was very disappointed to learn that the unit doesn't come with the required mounting box for the wall.  I'm not sure how someone would use this device without mounting it.  I'll check at Lowe's to see if they stock the mounting box / shell.

08/25/08   
    Today I picked up 6 sheets of plywood for the loft.  Lowe's doesn't stock the mounting box / shell for the LG A/C.  As a matter of fact, they thought I was goofy that I needed such a thing.  All the A/C units they sell come with mounting hardware.  I would have purchased from them if they carried a 220v unit that also heats, but they don't.  When I got home I wired up the remote antennas for the garage door openers.  After that I unloaded the plywood from the truck and stored it up in a pile on top of the office.  Then I cleaned up the area from the weekends work and took some pictures.

08/29/08
    I ordered the A/C unit mounting shell today.  $79.00 plus $30.00 for shipping.  Oy ve!  It's due to arrive on 09/09/08.

09/02/08
    Over the long weekend I worked on the office more.  I cut and nailed in all the blocking, mounted all the electrical boxes and ran the electrical wire.  I ran 3 circuits from the breaker box, a 20amp 120v for the outlets, lights, etc.,  a 30amp 220v for the A/C Heat and a 50amp 220v for the sink heater.  All of that stuffed into 60 feet of 1" conduit.

09/03/08
    I finished the wiring on the outlets for the workbench and for the ceiling mounted retractable extension cord.

09/05/08
    Today I installed the remaining exterior window, the interior window between the office and shop, and the interior door, also between the office and shop.  I also installed the wiring for some crown molding lighting inside the office.  I haven't' decided for sure if that's what I want to do, but it's there for now.

09/08/08
    Ordered the 21' DVI extension today.  This will eventually link the future computer in the office to the future LCD TV mounted on the wall.  It's due to arrive on 09/10/08.

09/10/08
    DVI cable arrived.  I'm no human measuring stick, but it just didn't look 7 meters long (23 feet).  I laid it out and put the tape measure to it.  Just short of 16'.  That's not even 5 meters long.  Also, the adapter that the sales lady said would make it an extension (essentially a gender-changer) doesn't change gender. 

09/11/08
    Called CabelsToGo and talked through the problems with the guy.  He was surprised that the cable was so short.  I can only guess that it was swapped out by someone.  The packaging indicated 7 meters, but it wasn't sealed.  It had a zipper, so anyone could have changed it.  He's going to send me a new cable and an actual gender-changer.  I'm not sure that I need the gender changer, but it's only a couple bucks.  Should arrive early next week sometime.  He offered the pay for the 2-day shipping because of the mixup.

09/15/08
    Today I installed the 1" plywood above the office.  This will be a storage area.  Also, the replacement DVI cable arrived.  This one is actually 7 meters long and thicker than the other one.  I routed it in the wall.  All I need now is to route a couple RCA cables and the water for the sink and I'm ready to insulate & drywall.

09/16/08
    I picked up the drywall for the inside and outside of the office.  I also picked up the insulation for the walls.

09/17/08
    Natalie and I picked up the insulation for the ceiling.  We also went to Fry's and got the remaining audio/video cables for the future TV.  I'll have a DVI cable, a set of component RCA cables and a set of composite RCA cables from the TV to my desk.  Then there's another set of composite RCA cables from the TV to the audio receiver that will be in the closet.

09/18/08
    A guy at work donated a mill to the "Tommy's Workshop" project.  Actually, that will probably end up being a web page of it's own because it isn't just a plug-n-play thing.  The mill is missing 2 of it's 3 wheels and it runs on 3-phase power.  I don't have 3-phase power, but there's a couple options to get it spinning.  That might just be the tip of the ice-berg to get it going, but I'll figure all that out later.

09/19/08
    I ran all the audio/video wires in the ceiling that are needed.  Component cables from the TV to the closet.  Composite RCA from the TV to my desk and from my desk to the closet.  Eventually I'll have my stereo and perhaps a DVD player or Directv receiver in the closet.  No sound will be sent to the TV, just video.  Bose speakers will mount on the wall next to the TV and will be sourced from the stereo.

09/20/08
    I rented a drywall lift for today.  I managed to insulate and drywall the ceiling inside the office.  6 sheets of drywall.  There's a small piece of ceiling above the sink that isn't done yet, but it's outside the office and the jack isn't needed there.  Funny because I managed to hang 3 sheets of drywall before realizing I forgot to insulate.  I had to take the sheets down, insulate, then put them back up.  Yeah, amateur here...

09/24/08
    Today I ran the water pipe for the sink.  I also ran two cat-6 pulls from my desk location to the demarc in the shop.  One for Ethernet and the other for phone.  Then I only hung one sheet of drywall before realizing again I forgot to insulate.  I took the sheet down, installed all the insulation, then reinstalled the drywall sheet.  After that I was itchy, so I went in to take a shower.  The intent was to come back out and hang more drywall, but I felt too clean.  I put all the vehicles away and spent the evening with Natalie and Lucas.

    I've been a bit skimpy with the pictures lately, so Natalie took these for ya.

09/28/08
    Bruce and I hung all the drywall inside the office today.  We also re-hung the door between the shop and the office.  It wasn't quite centered in the wall and would have cause a problem installing trim later on.

09/29/08
    Bruce finished installing all the drywall screws inside the office today.

    After work, I picked up 3 buckets of drywall mud and 1000' of drywall tape.

10/05/08
    Over the past few days Bruce has been working tirelessly in the office.  He taped and mudded all the seams and corners.  Sanded everything down and today we applied the texture.  I rented the texture gun from Home Depot.

10/06/08
    Bruce, Kathy and I picked up the primer, paint and all the trim pieces for the office.  We also picked up wood for inside the widow jams and for the windowsills.

10/09/08
    Over the past couple days Bruce has painted the entire office and outside two walls.  Today he started installing the trim.  I worked on installing some electrical switches and outlets.  I ran out of parts, so tomorrow I'll pick up some more.

10/14/08
    We've been so busy on the shop that I haven't updated the site in a while.  The walls are painted, the baseboard, crown molding, door & window trim is all installed, nail holes filled, primed and ready for paint.  The rope lighting is installed above the crown molding (crown is held down from the ceiling about 2 inches).  I installed a ceiling fan with a light as well.  Neither light source is very effective, so if I need anything more, it'll be a lamp on the desk.  Bruce built me an awesome desk.  It's 6' x 3' with the end of it fully rounded.  It's attached to the wall on one end and has 2 legs under the other end.  It's high density MDF then laminated with a "Greek Stone" look.  I've also install the light above the sink.  Now that light is bright!  Natalie reminded me that the outlet next to the sink needs to be a GFCI, so on my next trim to Lowes, that's on the list.
    I tested my DVI cable between my desk and the wall where a future TV will mount, and it appears I damaged it.  There's a green "noise" that's constantly on the screen and is very annoying.  When I installed the corner trim on the outside of the building a couple weeks ago, I placed a screw in the one spot I wasn't supposed to.  I've been hoping all this time that I missed the wire, but I knew the odds were against me.  It was confirmed last night when I borrowed one of Natalie's monitors and the Home Theater PC.  I loosened part of the corner trim to have a look at the damage and it appears slight from the outside.  This coming weekend I hope to take the rest of the corner trim off and see if I can repair the cable.
    Last thing that Bruce and I worked on was the counter top for the sink.  It has the same laminate as my desk.  Unfortunately I can't build a very square corner, so the counter has to be custom cut on all sides to fit in there.  We did the best we could with what we had to work with, but I'll have to install side splashes to cover up the gaps next to the wall.

10/16/08
    Over the past couple days Natalie and Bruce painted all the trim and installed the desk.  The office is really looking great.  Hopefully I'll get some pictures this coming weekend.

06/11/09
    OK, so I haven't updated the site in a while.  The office is all moved in, there's tons of stuff stored in the loft above the office.  I routinely keep my 1 ton dually, the tractor, my father in laws truck and my M416 trailer inside the shop.  The office maintains a decent temperature all the time thanks to the insulation and low-e windows and door.  I'll occasionally use the heat or A/C if I'm in the office, but it's not required 24x7.
    On to the update!  I finally built a workbench.  I was so busy building it, I never took any pictures until it was complete.  It's constructed of a 2x6 ledger on the wall, 2x4 half lap frames, a 2x4 half-lap fascia, 1" ply top covered with 1/4" masonite, 1/2" ply shelves, 3/8" particle board sides and 1/2" particle board doors.  The wall is insulated and drywalled.  The pegboard is spaced from the drywall with 1"x1" framing.  The overall dimensions of the workbench are 12' wide, 31" deep and 42" high.  It's pretty tall, but I really like it that way.  For standard height stuff I'll end up with a rolling welding table anyways.