Shop upgrades.

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67Dart440GT

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Hey all. I have been recently working on some plans and upgrades to my shop. I have some new l.e.d. bulbs coming to make things a bit brighter. The inside needs some serious help. It had some bitchin 70s wood grain paneling and insulation that is filled with mouse turds. I was wondering if anyone has a suggestion for spray insulation. My thoughts are getting a kit to do it myself, and then put up steel siding. Probably going to attack this one wall at a time. This is a 30x50 building.
 
The cost of having the foam done has come down drastically in the past few years- the cost of buying to do it yourself foam packs, the time it's going to take you to do it (pros can knock out your shop in a couple of hours), and the fact that 1/3 of your foam may be wasted from you "learning to do it" (overapplying and having to trim off all the excess, not getting the adhesion right and having panels fall out before they set, etc.) starts to make farming it out more attractive.
But either way, make sure you have all your power runs and other utilities in the wall before you start foaming- it's no treat to snake new Romex through the walls after the fact. If in doubt, install some conduit runs so you can wire it up later.
Enjoy- you won't believe what a difference it will make... winter is coming!
 
Here are a few shop updates. I used my original fixtures and eliminated the ballast. Then had to replace the lamp holders as some were bad. All new led lights. What a world of difference.

Now onto the mouse issue. This building sat unoccupied for about 2 years. The mice got into he walls and ruined all the insulation and ugly wood panels. I tore everything out and did some framing to support a cabinet I have and some shelves. Spray foam insulation will be fine Friday and then I'll put up the metal walls. One wall at a time!

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Wow, what a difference already!

If you've never visited The Garage Journal forums, now is the time! Over 100,000 very talented worldwide members will give you more hints, tips and advice on anything garage-related you could possibly need.
 
You're going to love it when you get it done. Insulating my shop was one of the best things I've ever done. A tip from experience, put in more lighting and more outlets that you think you will need. It's tough to go back in to add them later and costs almost nothing to put them in ahead of time.

I have 6" thick insulated walls and skinned the lower with 1/2" plywood. The upper walls and ceiling were skinned in some kind of white Tyvek looking stuff that really brightened up the place once the LED lights went in. It was a lot of work and about $4000 all told but worth every penny.
 
My 28x30 I have nearly completed. Lot of work for sure.

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I forgot to add a photo, here's what it looks like all done up. The first shot is before I finished the walls and ceiling, the second is after. The insulation is good enough I can block off the air gap at the sliding door and fire up a 50K propane heater and be comfy even when it's in the 30's and 40's outside.

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Thanks everyone. I am just doing one wall for now. Its pretty expensive doing everything including the spray foam. I'm lucky enough that I have a big ceiling mounted Reznor furnace. The shop is set up fantastic but just needs a little love. 32x50 ish12 foot ceiling, 200amp service, own gas service, floor drain. There are multiple 220 outlets and came with an old compressor. I wired up my compressor and plumbed the two together so I have 80 gallon tank and probably 50. The lights turned out great and very happy with them. Here are my boys in front of the new to us shop.

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That’s a lot of work but it’s looking good. Hopefully your boys are out there helping you and spending time together.
 
Probably just fat fingers..."agree/disagree" buttons are side by side....on a phone it's an easy mistake.
Wheres the "jealous" button? Great work and nice wall art!
That's looking good. Keep up the good work! I'm trying to figure out what someone disagrees with?
 
That’s a lot of work but it’s looking good. Hopefully your boys are out there helping you and spending time together.

Thanks. Lots of work for sure but well worth it. My boys help me with all of my projects thankfully. They have pretty good work ethics for 11 years old!

Last part of the wall. I had a couple sheets left over so I started putting some tin around the man door. Pics when it's done.

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Here are a few outdoor repairs. I can't do the other wall interior quite yet but I wanted to address the mice getting in the walls. Dug out the foundation and replaced the rotted wood with some new treated lumber. My plan is to grade this away from the wall better and add some stone to help drain the rain water away. Once the green wood is dried I will prime and paint it up... Probably spring as she's cooling off now in Southern Wisconsin.

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Lots of awesome work, but why are the bottoms of the wood walls buried under dirt? I would think that the concrete slab and lower wall plates would be above the dirt? Did that old setup allow water to come inside your building when it rained?
 
Lots of awesome work, but why are the bottoms of the wood walls buried under dirt? I would think that the concrete slab and lower wall plates would be above the dirt? Did that old setup allow water to come inside your building when it rained?

No clue. I have no idea why they graded the building that way. Im going to build a small edge with some timbers, fill it with rock up to the building and then grade the hill back. The back and other side is the same way. No evidence of water in the building but enough to rot all the wood.
 
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