THE SHOP TOUR
Right now "the shop" is my garage. The house we bought back in 2004 had an old barn on the property. The plan was to use this as our shop. At 12' wide it was kinda narrow, but I figured it could work. Well reality set in last year. There was no way this 40+ year old wooden barn would make for a decent shop. It wasnt in the best shape inside, and sinking money into it to make it suitable was foolish.
Here is a pic of the barn as it originally stood when we purchased the place
12/05
Well we made a decision that I needed a proper shop to tinker in and build parts and cars in. So lets put up a new building. Off to the county to get a building permit. Although the people Ive dealt with so far at the county have been very helpful, Im finding that getting this done is much more complicated than I thought. Lots of red tape. And I will document my trials and tribulations for your education, and venting for my own sanity. I pre-order a prefab metal building from Miracle truss. Looks very well made. It better be, it wasnt cheap. But they have been very helpful and great to deal with.
01/06
Get a building permit, easy right? Wrong! While applying for it I am made aware that according to the county I cant have more than 1000 sq ft of outbuilding space on my property because its just shy of an acre (I thought it was 1000sq ft per building). I could apply for a variance and maybe I could get to keep the barn, but the board doesnt meet for 3 months, and Id have to have my application in by the end of the week. Now Im a patient man, but even I have my limits. So before construction can begin, destruction of the old barn must happen. This of course also requires a permit, which I spend the better part of one morning downtown at the building dept to get.
Ok, demo begins. And with some help and 2 weeks time, the building is gone (along with about $500 in dumpster rental fees). Im waiting for a final inspection form the building dept, then this small begining chapter will be closed.
02/06
Barn is history and now we need to get the show going. Well now the county says I cant draw the site plan cause anything over 120sq ft needs the site drawn by an engineer, architect,contractor or surveyor. WTF!?!?!?!?! Its a little square drawn to scale on my survey (I have copies of the one done before we bought the place). Well finally found that the company that did the original survey would be happy to do this for $50. Great! Get it done and their drawing looks just like what I did :rolleyes: Whatever. End of Feb rolls around and the building arrives! YAY! Rented a bobcat to get it off the truck (another $375) and here it sits.
03/06
We're all set, but it wasnt easy. Next trip to the county was a doosie. Zoning looks over the plans and all. Max height for a utility bldg is 15'. My building is 15' 1 3/8". OMG! Thats too high, no permit for you! So I beg, reason, plead, argue that this is ludicrous. Finally after much debate they finally relent and approve my plans. Then onto the building dept to get the actual permit. Get sent to the county records dept to get a notice of commencement, then back to bldg dept for the final approval. This took 2 days BTW. Good thing they got comfy chairs there! Got my concrete guy all lined up and ready to go. I may actually have a foundation by April! Stay tuned.
