Looks great Danny! Keep up the good work. I did a backyard buddy 4 post lift in mine. Gave me an extra parking space. If I was smarter, I would post up some pics of my Morton bldg. split unit heat a/c is done. Gotta epoxy the floor before it gets too crowded in there!
Buddy

Thanx... Getting excited to get a sense of completion. It will probably be a few months, lots left to do.
Backyard Buddy are great lifts. I got my two CyTech 4-post lifts from a member here. They are older but in good shape. Made in USA in Kansas. Company is long out of business. I had to purchase self-lubricating bronze bushings for all the pulleys. They were getting worn out after 20 years of use. Had the machine shop press out old, and press in the new ones. Good to go for $310 each lift. Hoping to be able to set them up and use them some day. D

New Shop
 

Well, I finished the other 12 or so outlets. Dug another shorter ditch between the 2 buildings. I ran 2" flex in that ditch along with a 1/2" soft copper air line. I can pull power through that flex for my Mini-Split Heat/Air unit. So I can come off the 200amp main panel and save power in the new shop 100amp sub panel.My girlfriend bought me a 48,000btu unit.

https://www.premiumhomesource.com/pr...SABEgIonPD_BwE

So the double compressor mounts out side. Then there will be 2 wall units inside both 24,000btu's each. It says it will work for about 18,000 cubic feet. My shop is probably about 18 or 19,000 cu ft. 30 X 50 X about 12 = 18,000 cu ft. Going to run power from main panel to disconnect box, then into unit. I bought an extra 50' line set. So one wall unit on each side wall. Too much work and money to get the radiant heat going. And it's only heat. This will be heat and air cond.
I am putting the compressor in the small shop. It is insulted with closed cell spray foam. Then 25' or so away in the new shop will be the outlet. That way I don't have to listen to it turning on/running. I might be able to hear it some, but it won't be like having it a few feet away... LOUD.
Paid $6,500 for closed cell spray foam insulation in the new shop. 2" on the ceiling and 1-1/2" on the walls. So this should be a big help with temperature control. Getting excited... D

That foam looks great, but where do you live that you can get by with 2" ?? I blew in 24" of fiberglass in my ceiling.
I think you have enough outlets...:laugh:

I bought a mini split for my shop a few months ago too. Gets way to hot to work in during the summer. Hope to get it installed next year.

After looking into moving to Colorado, Montana, Nashville and a couple others...We have now settled in Oklahoma. My friend has lived here for 15 years and told us to come out and take a look. You have to deal with some things just like anywhere else. Lots of bugs, stickers, some pretty hefty winds and rains/storms. But WAY cheaper than CA in MANY ways. My truck registration was HUNDREDS of dollars, here $26. NO smog checks here. CA is every other year. Gas prices much cheaper here. Speed limit when towing is the same as the posted sign. So if it's 75mph, you can tow at that speed. Not that it's smart. CA is 55mph if you are towing. One REALLY big thing is virtually NO traffic. I sat in traffic in CA for 500 hours in the 60 years I lived there. So I don't miss that. Lower taxes all the way around. And it's an open carry State. So I just passed the background check from the FBI and got a license to carry a firearm in 36 States. My mom passed in '04 and my Dad in 2016. So family not holding me in CA. I lived in a 200 sq ft trailer for 6 years helping take care of my Dad. That was rough. We will see how it goes here, and if we decide we want a change we can always roll on out to another State. But for now, this is home.
As far as outlets, I HATE not having power where I need it. So now glass beader, grinder, wire wheel, parts cleaner, drill press, welder, buffer, vacuum, etc. etc. No matter where it is placed in the shop, there will be power. Most all things come with a 60" cord. D

Up until about 25 yrs ago, I would have moved to CA for the weather and car culture in a heartbeat. If I had, I'd be with the thousands now getting out too. Good call on OK although as a "northerner", I'd need more trees around me...:grin:

My shop building had 2 outlets when we moved here and I added 5 more when we insulated and put in the ceiling for heat. Not enough, but much of my wall space is behind cabinets and shelves anyway.

Nothing like that spray in foam. You shop looks great. I checked on doing my large 3 garage here in Illinois and it was close to your price so I used batt insulation for about half of that which was still too much but I put in a higher R value than was suggested too. However, I never needed to turn on my A/C on my mini-split as it never got that hot inside and always stayed around 72*. If you don't mind me asking, what is your total investment so far?

I spray foamed my shop at home. Nice and warm. Don't overlook humidity control when planning out your HVAC. I fight it in my shop with the hydronic heat here in the great white north.

I think a lot of my outlets will be covered with cabinets also. But if I decide to move them to another wall, guess what will be behind there... POWER!!

Total investment is about 75K at this time. I am just about finished with the electrical. I will then install the Mini-Split. I am trying to figure out what to do with the floor. Lots of options all about 6K. So might just epoxy paint it. After that I will set-up my 2 four post lifts and I am off to the races! D

Awesome shop! Are you going to put something on the walls (at least in the lower sections) to act as an ignition barrier for the spray foam?

That is not bad at all. I have $35k in my total tear down to the studs remodel (without a new cement floor) on my 36x24 garage and was figuring you were sitting around $100k easily so far so you are doing good.

It is pretty flat here. Nothing to hold back the winds. Just gotta make sure you have nothing that can blow away. I watched one of my folding tables go a 1/4 mile!
If you look up on Google the best weather in the US is Santa Barbara CA. BUT.. the prices there are out of our reach. I would rather buy cars. And CA was getting crazy with having to evacuate from all the fires.

The entire back wall will be covered with 5-ply plywood. About 22 sheets of 1/2" at a cost of about $2,500. So that takes care of 50 feet top to bottom. That will also help slightly with the R rating and help with the temp. control some. 1/2" plywood rates at about .062. So that is another 5/8ths of 1. You also pick up a little R rating with the space between the spray foam and the back of the plywood. It boils down to the U Factor. What amount of heat/cold transfer is able to pass through. Then as time goes by, I will plywood the side walls. We will see... D

Garage looks great so far! To add to the dehumidification comment made in an earlier post, I run a sante-fe dehumidifier a close HVAC friend turned me on to vs running an air conditioner most of the time here in chicagoland. My 24/30 x 50 garage gets by with that dehumidifier most of the time, I hardly even use an air unit. Lot cheaper. Hope you like the epoxy floor info I sent you in a pm. Bob

Just watch for any sparks etc on the sections that are not covered with plywood. Spray foam is flame resistant in most cases, but not flame proof.

Rick,
I am hoping not much more than another 10 or 15K for completion. I did all the plumbing myself. I will do the septic system and trim-out of fixtures. I also have done all the electrical and will continue with that to finish. I will do the floor myself if I choose to go for it. I think I have saved myself quite a bit of scratch so far.

Bob,
I have a dry feature on the mini-split in the garage that works very well. So I may program the new unit to keep it between 40 and 50. The problem with plugging a unit in and just letting it run, like a lot of guys do... IS.. anything below 40 starts to dry out all the car rubber. The optimum humidity for cars is 40 to 50. I would be afraid to set one on high and just let it go for days. I gotta get it figured out. There are weeks and weeks where I don't have to touch anything. Other times of course the humidity is WAY up. Maybe the unit you are talking about has a thermostat to set it up. Power is pretty cheap here. It was 3 or $400 a month in CA, only $142 a month here. Other months a little higher or lower. Not much though. 220V verses the 110V dehumidifier? I will do all the math.

Mark,
I will make sure to take that advice. I might just plywood one sheet up all the way around for starters. D

Curious about the dehumidifier set up. I’m in Mi 1800sf barn, spray foamed, and have considered mini split. There are probably a few weeks in Summer that it gets too hot and so just curious on the size you have and what you do w water?
Thx

Are you tying into existing septic or separate system for barn?

Beautiful shop!!!

Crush,
I have a 36,000 btu Mini-Split in my garage. It works great. It can be over 100 outside and I have it at 72 in the garage. I put it on high before dinner, then head out there and start doing projects in comfort. Same thing in the winter with heat.
The one I bought was MrCool for the garage so I just decided to stay with the same company. As mentioned, it is a 48,000btu unit. It is a DIY unit that comes pre-charged with freon. As soon as you connect the lines and open the valve, the system is live. No need to call an HVAC guy to charge the system for 1000's of dollars. Punch in DIYM248HPW01C27. That's my unit, many choices out there for sale. Maybe Bob can chime in with his model dehumidifier.

Probably just going to do a system at the barn It is 200 feet from the septic. At 2% drop it will be under the tank by the time it gets there. I may dig it up and shoot it and see just in case. But I don't think it's gonna make grade.


69M.. Thanx, getting excited. I now have room for 14 cars between garage and new shop. Good Times!... D

Progress
 

After burying and strapping the 2" flex it was time to pull wire through from box to box, 77 feet total. Rented a Green Lee Cable puller. It was broken. Drove it back 75 miles and used my own American ingenuity. Set-up a 10 foot ladder with a piece of pipe clamped to it so wires could roll over smoothly and down into the pipe. Stretched out all the wire and made sure it had no kinks. Set-up my cordless winch and backed my truck up outside and hooked it to my hitch. Tied a Butterfly knot every 15 feet or so of the pull rope and started pulling. Tore the top part of the main panel off the wall... YIKES!!! Too much at an angle. So I drilled the floor and set a lead anchor with a loop hook. So it would pull straight down instead of out. Worked great! VERY slow going as the winch crawls. I sprayed wire pulling lubricant into both ends every time I pulled 15 feet. I closed the door most of the way and wore a shield, heavy sweatshirt and gloves. This was in case the yellow 3/8ths" nylon rope broke and shot out to hit me. No remote on the winch, so you have to pull the trigger. Took a good hour to an hour and a half but I saw the wire handcuff coming through the box! Pulled it down a couple extra feet. Disconnected everything and put it all away. Wiped all the lube off the wires. Popped in a 50amp for the mini-split and a couple others. Wired it up and labeled it. Went to the new shop and set the short piece of pipe and box. Fed the wires through and wired it up. Now I can run the pig tail over to the disconnect box. Next will be to hang the mini-splits on each end of the shop and run the line sets. It's getting there.... D

more
 

wire pulling

some more
 

wire pull

Numbers on wire
 

They say never mark your wires because they will be all gone when ya get to the other end after the pull. Catching on fitting edges etc. And just figure it out after the pull. I labeled them and they all survived but one ground. Here is number 19. Easy fix to figure which ground it was on the other end. D

new shop progress
 

Got some things cleaned up. Ordered 17 tons of 3/4 crusher for the front of the shop for now. Spread by hand for about 5 hours. Then neighbor came over with baby John Deere and helped with the rest. So no mud for winter. Maybe concrete later.
Got a couple sheets of plywood cut. Hung them on screws. Used a clamp and the scissor lift to raise them up and set them on the screws at the correct height. Screwed them off. Set the mini split brackets and drilled the holes for the line sets and control wires. Hung both units.

more
 

more

New Shop
 

Tied in all the line sets and tested for leaks. Wired the air handlers into the double stacked condenser unit. Pulled the wires outside into the disconnect box and wired it. Ran the pigtail to the condenser. Turned on all the power and test ran both air handlers. All good to go!

Had to order an extra 50-foot line set and a coupler kit. So I have one unit on each end at 9 feet high. Air Handlers come with 25 footers. Aldo got a 75-foot control cable. I need to insulate all the line set joints. Maybe next week. Going to be in the single digits the next 3 or 4 days. Then I will finish zip tieing all the control cable etc. nice and sano. Now I can have heat in the shop while I finish some wiring and get ready to start moving things in. Can't wait for the picture of the 2 4-post lifts set-up and everything in place. Danny