I have a small 20x36 existing pole barn on my property. The back half of the building is on a 4" existing slab. (20x18) - It used to be open poles with the sides of the backend boarded with original 150+ yr old cypress planks and had some inner walls. I took out the inner walls and built (2) 10' swinging gates on the front with the wood and some PT wood for the frame. I beefed up all of the existing poles (before adding the heavy cypress gates) with new 4x4 PT posts. Attached with lag screws, carriage bolts, etc. Added sides to the building and reinforced the whole building with 2x4 PT collar ties and hurricane straps on the rafters/joists.
I built a back wall onto the building and built a really HD workbench in the middle of the backwall (10 feet wide) - used 2x6 wood, (2) layers of 3/4" PLY and sheet of MFD for top and coated with 4 layers of urethane. Bench is attached to 2 4x4 PT beams into the concrete for the back and (2) 4x4 PT legs on the front ends. (notch cut into the posts with the 2x6 resting and lag bolted into the posts)
My plans:
Originally wanted a really nice --- electrified (well-lit), concrete floored workshop to do general home/farm repair, RC projects, car projects, etc in. No farm animals etc! I think sometimes I would be better off by building a new building for this and leaving this as a general farm storage building, but I just dont know.
The ceiling joists (which could be raised or eliminated with care) are at the 7' level --- kinda low. The peak of the roof is around 16'
My questions:
Originally I wanted to make this a work place for future projects etc but I have some issues to face:
1. Have all of my existing tractor/lawn garden equipment in this area. That easily takes up 1/4 of the building -
2. Tired of the dirt on the ground and equipment. Should I concrete the front 18x20? Cost? Was thinking about extending the concrete out in front of the building to make a nice landing. Ideas? (cost is a factor)
3. The building is not HVAC setup or insulated (mostly against heat down here in LA) --- open rafters, spaces between boards, openings, etc) --- what is the recommendation for this? Insulate and/or how? Or just leave it alone? (guess really dont need AC but would be really nice. How to insulate this beast? or just concrete it in and use workshop fans?) - going to need ventilation in some regard anyhow I guess.
Any comments?
Amdy
I built a back wall onto the building and built a really HD workbench in the middle of the backwall (10 feet wide) - used 2x6 wood, (2) layers of 3/4" PLY and sheet of MFD for top and coated with 4 layers of urethane. Bench is attached to 2 4x4 PT beams into the concrete for the back and (2) 4x4 PT legs on the front ends. (notch cut into the posts with the 2x6 resting and lag bolted into the posts)
My plans:
Originally wanted a really nice --- electrified (well-lit), concrete floored workshop to do general home/farm repair, RC projects, car projects, etc in. No farm animals etc! I think sometimes I would be better off by building a new building for this and leaving this as a general farm storage building, but I just dont know.
The ceiling joists (which could be raised or eliminated with care) are at the 7' level --- kinda low. The peak of the roof is around 16'
My questions:
Originally I wanted to make this a work place for future projects etc but I have some issues to face:
1. Have all of my existing tractor/lawn garden equipment in this area. That easily takes up 1/4 of the building -
2. Tired of the dirt on the ground and equipment. Should I concrete the front 18x20? Cost? Was thinking about extending the concrete out in front of the building to make a nice landing. Ideas? (cost is a factor)
3. The building is not HVAC setup or insulated (mostly against heat down here in LA) --- open rafters, spaces between boards, openings, etc) --- what is the recommendation for this? Insulate and/or how? Or just leave it alone? (guess really dont need AC but would be really nice. How to insulate this beast? or just concrete it in and use workshop fans?) - going to need ventilation in some regard anyhow I guess.
Any comments?
Amdy