The windows have arrived

Made a trip to Home Depot yesterday and bought two windows for the shop.  They will be installed in the east wall of the shop.  The windows will let in some welcome natural light and some nice air movement.  I didn't get the most expensive ones but they are energy efficient and will look nice.  Pictures will follow with the installation process.

There's more paint on the snow since yesterday so I am considering that progress in the electrical department.  Just waiting for them to show up with the wire.

Phase 2 is on the way

I got a call today that the power from the pole to the shop will be in before January 8.

What a concept.  I won't have to run the shop by extension cord.

Not quite my time frame but progress none the less.  It's been too cold out there to do any work anyway.  At least I wouldn't feel it when I hit my finger with the hammer.  Might shatter it but it wouldn't hurt until it unthawed.

Phase-1 electric is done

Had the electricians here yesterday for the first part of the electrical installation and it's done.  The electrical panel and meter post are in as are some outlets and an indoor and outdoor light.  I also found out that I must have a licensed electrician and a building permit to put in the rest of the electrical if I want it to be legal.  I was planning on the permit but the electrician is an expense I was hoping to avoid.

Anyway, now it's We Energies turn.  The paperwork is on the way to get that scheduled.

Maybe I won't have to drag that 100' extension cord to the house after another week or two.

Moving into an electricified world

It's starting!!!!  My electricians will be in-shop in two days.  They will be installing

• the parts to bring the power from underground to the breaker box
• a 40 circuit breaker box
• 3 outlets
• 1 inside light
• 1 outside light

Turns out that is the minimum if you are putting electricity into an 'out-building'.

Once that is done WE Energies will be scheduling the installation of the underground connection (200A) from the pole to the shop.

Total bill $2000.  It's a lot of money but what I need to have done to get to the point I can work on it myself.  The price seems in line with work done for other people so I guess I can't complain.  Once again, I'm in the wrong line of work.

Electricity is on the way

Had a visit from my electrician today to take a look at the project.  What I didn't know is that the company I called is the company that pulled out the previous owner's mess 2 years ago.  He had a ton of good ideas.  I just hope I can afford them.  If their price is at all reasonable I will probably let them do the whole thing.  Realistically it will probably save 3 or 4 months project time.

We'll have to see.

Electricians

So I sent an email to a potential new electrician Thursday afternoon.  Yes I know that was Thanksgiving.  I didn't say I was expecting an answer.

This morning I get an email when I turn my phone on at 6:30 that I will be getting a call from a specific person.  Guess what, I actually got a call from that person.  They will be here Wednesday.  Diggers Hotline will be here this week too yet.  Things are moving.

So what does Murphy's Law say will happen next?  Of course, the electrician I have been trying to call for two weeks calls me an hour later.  He is now waiting for me to call him.  Might be a while.

I picked out the lights I want inside and have decided to blow the insulation into the attic space.  Other than that, no major changes.

Black Friday

What could be better than Black Friday morning at Rockler?  Okay, it would have been nice if it was a little warmer than 17 degrees.  But it was fun.

I didn't quite reach my goal of saving more than I spent but I was awful close.  My big purchase was a set of 6 Sorby lathe tools for half price.  I also got various forms of digital measuring and set-up tools that were as low as 1/3 of the original price.  The other big item I got is an 8.5 foot long straightedge guide and a router base that attaches to it.  There were a couple of small items that will be useful.

I am probably switching electricians for the shop because I can't seem to get the one I called to call me back.  I don't know if it isn't a big enough job for them or what but they don't seem to want it.  Oh well, their loss.  I'm going for one that is more local.

Exciting week

I got confirmation this week that WE Energies will run power to my shop underground for less than $400.  I was expecting way more.

Waiting for my electrician to call me back.  He will be doing the new panel and 2 outlets.  The rest is on my shoulders.

I'm going to Restore this weekend to look at windows.  I'm hoping to find 2 that meet my specifications for the east side of the shop.

The next post should be even more exciting.  I will probably have power by then.

Playing Mr. Edison

Working with the electrician and We Energies to get power to the shop is sooooooooo much fun.
 
NOT!!!!!!!!  The area contractors are safe from me entering the market.

We are waiting for the decision of going overhead or underground.  As it sits now, the hope is to go underground and it looks like like that could possibly happen for $300.  We Energies was supposed to be out here last week but we have absolutely no confirmation whether or not they were.

I am also trying to decipher the electrical code so I can wire the inside myself.

Getting power

We have pretty much decided that I will wiring the shop on my own.  We will have an electrician install the new box and put in a circuit for the garage door opener.  Beyond that it's up to me.  I bought a book to help me get through the electrical code so I can get it right.

The electric company will be out, hopefully next week, to decide whether the power will be delivered overhead or underground.  I would like underground but expect it will be too expensive to be an option.  Overhead is just ugly.  The shop will have 200A service and it's own meter.  Once we know how the power will be delivered my electricians will come in an setup the box.  That may be all that gets done right now depending on how much it costs to get that far.

It's a slow and expensive phase that is driving me nuts.  I just want to get out there and get it done.

Naked in the shop

Wait!  That didn't come out right.  How about "In the naked shop"?

The shop is officially ready to be electrified.  All of the insulation is gone thanks to the help of a family that is finishing off their garage.  They are making use of much of the plywood that came off the walls and all of the insulation.  Just a little cleanup of screws and staples.

Time to arrange the electricians.

I'm busy trying to figure out which heater to get.  I have questions out to my insurance guy and a list ready for my electricians.

Google SketchUp images

I've been playing with Google's SketchUp 3D program and finding it to be pretty cool.  The program is free from Google so if you want to wander through the shop in 3D, download the application and go for it.

Here are some ShopShots of what the shop might look like.  Any ideas or suggestions are welcome.  The tools show are ones that are available and do not reflect the actual brands I necessarily plan to use.

Insulation

Some of the insulations comes out tomorrow.  A guy that took some of the plywood is coming to get it.  Most of the staples are out and ready for him to pick it up.

I'm working on a Google Sketch-up plan of the shop.  I will post it when I get it done.

We are spending the day today cutting firewood.  Should be a lot of fun.

Sidenote - Garden harvest

It was time to cut the stuff out of the garden.  We only had a few sunflowers and wierd gourds.

Here's the two largest sunflower heads. 

Here are a couple of the gourds.

The birds got to some of the seeds before I did.  It looks like they hung from the side to pick the seeds then used the back of the head as a dish.

After a whole day on the ladder yesterday, my feet and knees were shot so I didn't get out there today.  The guy that took the plywood may take some of the insulation too.  We found out that we can take a pickup truck load full once a week to our dump and have the garbage guys take three bags every Thursday.

Even better than a night in the shop

 A ton got accomplished today.  All of the plywood is down and gone.  A CraigsList posting took care of all the plywood, lights, and the workbench.  Most of the insulation in the ceiling is down and its time to start the walls.

I got some great help from Nathan today.  Nathan is the son of co-worker.  He was a huge help and a pleasure to work with.  The plywood would not all be down if it wasn't for his help.

Any night in the shop is a good night

We got the last of the crap out of the shop so now it's time to work again.  I have a friend coming over to help for the day so am optimistic that we will get a lot done.  Maybe even get a quote from an electrician next week.

I also have 3 people coming over tomorrow to take the plywood off my hands.  I took out two large pieces to keep as a work table out there but other than that it's up for grabs. It looks like the plywood was shipping crates in a previous life.

Movin' Out

So I'm moving the 'stuff' out of the shop so I can take down the rest of the plywood and insulation.  The plywood is on CraigsList so we will see what responses we get.  It's all there for free to whoever comes to get it.  The last of the stuff should be out tomorrow night.  On Saturday a co-worker's son is coming over to help out for part of the day.  It should be fun and productive.

We decided to replace the insulation instead of dealing with trying to keep it in good enough shape to put back up..  Seeking someone to use it or a way to get rid of it.

Not today

I won't be spending any serious time in the shop today.  Barb and I are participating in a Habitat for Humanity project being sponsored by my company.  We will be sheet-rocking.  We get to help some people out and practice a skill that we will need to complete the shop.  I'll probably find some tools I need though.

Another stint

The workbench is off the wall and so is the rest of the plywood on that side.  Pulled a couple of staples befrore the back started hurting and had to bail.

Date night tonight.  Barb will be there too.  Watching DVRd "Biggest Loser".

Soooooooooooo coooooooooooooool

I got to spend some time in the shop tonight.  Just me and some tunes pullin' staples.  The insulation is all but ready to come out of one of the long walls.  Just need to remove the workbench and it will be done in a half hour.

Then the challenge starts.  There's so much crap in there we need to start moving it around to be able to work.  Maybe one of the cars needs to park outside for a while.  I vote for Barb's.

Starting point

How we got here
One of the things we were looking for in a home near Milwaukee was a place where I could have a woodworking shop.  We didn't care if it was an existing structure or space to put a reasonable size building.  We were blessed to find a place with a large detached garage (29x23 feet).  It is nicely hidden in the trees off the side of the house and was only built a couple of years ago.

When I first saw the place I got the vision.  The building was well lit, insulated, and had finished walls.  It had previously been heated and still had the gas line functional.  (The toys in it in this picture are not ours.)  That was until it came time for the home inspection.  My inspector checked the building and recommended I have an electrician check it (strike 1).  The electrician said he was suprised the building hadn't burnt down and thought the cheapest path to fix it was to take everything out and start over (strike 2).  Thankfully the city of Muskego has a point-of-sale inspection.  The previous owner had not gotten a building permit to install the electrical (which we knew and asked to be provided as part of the closing documents) and the city's inspector spotted the safety issues too and made the owner pull out every last inch of wire (strike 3, the electical was out).  That included the buried power cable between the house and the garage.  Oh yea, the previous owner considered the structure an out-building, which it technically is, but the city inspector considered it a garage.  That means that all of the plywood covering the ceiling and walls all has to come out and be replaced by drywall.

Current State
Fast forward a year and a half.  When you have a large space that isn't being actively used, it's real convenient to put 'stuff' in it.  Especially when that space is fairly secure and stays dry.  There is, of course, no electricity other than the extension cord we run from the house.  More often than not the only light is the flashlight we bring with us to try to find something.  Removing the electrical required that some of the plywood wall covering and insulation be removed.  We did not require that they put it back up because we knew it was just coming down again anyway.

The owner left a workbench (left) made from rectangular steel tubes that is going to weigh a ton once it is removed (it is also up for grabs to anyone who wants it).  It has a massive metal working vise on top of it that I am keeping.  You can see that it has served well as a storage place (right). 

Day one

So today began the transformation from storage space to workshop.  The first step is to get all of the plywood out (Anyone need 3/8 plywood??  It's free but you have to come get it.) and remove some of the insulation.  I am hoping it is okay to remove only the locations that power needs to go through.  I'm skeptical and more or less planning that it will all need to be taken out.

We made really good headway in the 4 hours we got to spend out there today.  About half of the plywood down.  We are pulling the insulation from the ceiling as we go and will take the stuff out of the walls later.  The only question I have is where we are going to put all of this crap when the electricians are working out there.  I quess we will have to move it to the attached garage for a few days.

I learned something too.  The floor in the garage slopes about 3 inches from the back to the front.  I am assuming it is for draining but its sure going to make the cabinets I plan to build a little trickier.  Won't do much for leveling the tools either.

I got the travel on the garage door adjusted so it isn't using the opener's box as the stop block any more.  I also rewired the remote so we can open and close the garage door without running outside all the time.

And the big news . . . no mosquito bites.