Colter's Shop of Klipsch

[colterphoto1]

That's right gang, the House of Klipsch just signed on the line with a contractor to build the Shop of Klipsch (Klipsch-shop is just too much tongue twister). In about 10 days we'll have the permits hopefully and 4-5 weeks down the road the shell should be completed. With us doing some finishing work beginning week 3, it's possible that I'll be moved in around Halloween. (just in time for a nice shop-warming party).

This will be 32 x 48 (the same size as the nearby pole barn for those of you who have been guests of the HOK), but I'm having a real foundation put in and building with 2x6 stud walls and trusses. OSB roof decking and shingles up top so it fits in with the neighborhood.

Brother Steve and I (and hopefully a few friends) will put up Hardiplank lap siding, wire, insulate, and drywall the ceiling. For acoustical purposes I don't think I'll drywall the entire space. Firstly, it's a workshop, it's doesn't have to be fancy, secondly I don't want to finish that much drywall, thirdly I think it'll sound much better with soft walls than with all that drywall. Right now I'm thinking of putting T111 or OSB along the bottom 4 feet for 'bumper' space and to have walls to install outlets and switches to. Any ideas?

Basically from the motor court view, to the left will be double overhead doors for boat/truck parking with storage at the front end of those. To the right will be 24 wide by 32 deep workshop area with entry door, single O/H on that end of the building (toward large lawn area), and a couple of windows. Pull the truck out and there's plenty of room for a band to practice!

Electrically we'll pull 100 amps from the house with one 20 amp circuit each for:

garage doors

lighting interior and exterior (I have some track lighting that would be good for task areas

thinking of two circuits for outlets, put one duplex about every 6 feet and mix it up so every other outlet is on the other circuit, that way if you're working with two tools you can be working off of two circuits, or plug in a heater nearby whereever you are.

I have a 220 V air conditioner unit that we'll install high on one wall near the workshop side.

No thoughts as to how to heat yet, was going to put in radiant floor tubing but that might get very expensive. Gas and Electric are available utilities.

I'm looking for ideas as to how to set up shop so I get this as right as possible. I'll post a plan as soon as I get drawings.

[colterphoto1]

Here's the lot - my workshop will be between the house and the existing pole barn structure (that was subdivided away before I bought this place)

[picky]

Michael: I am GREEN with envy! Have fun with your project; it sounds absolutley wonderful! I am VERY happy you are finally getting your dream to come true. [H] Cool, Daddy-o! -Glenn

[SilverSport]

although it might conjur up a negative connotation, I would go with Klipsch Joint...[]

Bill

[Groomlakearea51]

The ultimate Man Cave!!!![H]

[fenderbender]

No darkroom??? Man I'd love to have a space like that to set up 3-4 8x10 enlargers!

[dtel]

Glad to hear this, you really need the space and that's a good size, many people go small and are sorry later.

Not sure after reading, you will enter from motor court or from your rear drive ?

[colterphoto1]

The side drive gets torn out and will be used for fill. I'm going to blast a hole through the limestone wall to enter the two bays of garage.

Then we'll be using that limestone for a 3' wainscott to tie the look of the workshop in with the house. That is if it's easy enough to get the 50 year old mortar off of it.

Dtel, can you help with overall landscape plan now that the building is set in place?

[colterphoto1]

plot showing approx location of new building (same footprint as old pole barn), also shows possible room addition off the back of the house where shed roof porch is now. This will form an open courtyard of sorts to the right of the new drive (between workshop and garage). Also there is now defined open play space to right end of the barn and some gardening can take place somewhere on the property. I also need to fill in the front corner of the property where a four-way stop is.

The property line is midway between the two workshop buildings in this image. I have shown the new drive and photoshopped out the old drive to the side road.

[greg928gts]

Way to go Michael!

Are you able to have a bathroom out there? If there's any way possible, you really should have one.

Radiant floor heating is not too expensive if you're pouring a new concrete floor anyway. You should insulate under the floor. PEX tubing is available at a very reasonable cost, and it's easy for you and a friend to tie in place. There are several ways to economically heat water. Radiant tubing is a low-temp system, so it will work with just about anything that can make warm water, including solar, so you have a lot of options now and in the future. Is there natural gas out your way? We use L.P. gas here.

If you're using fiberglass in the walls, consider installing a layer of foam insulation on the outside of the walls. This will "blanket" the framing, add R-value, and increase the performance level of the fiberglass.

I used 1 x 10 rough-cut ship-lap pine on the inside of my walls and I love it. I used an exterior solid stain to finish it. Here in Maine we can get this pine from local sawmills reasonably priced, I don't know how it is in your area. T-111 is probably a good idea too. Having wood on the walls is more durable, and it allows you to hang shelves, hooks, tools, etc... anywhere.

Greg

[tigerwoodKhorns]

Mike, that lot is HUGE. Do you have an acre?

Great idea with the shop, you should love it.

EDIT - I just looked at the plans; 2 acres!! Wow.

A big lot in Las Vegas is 10,000 feet. Most new homes here are on about 5,000 feet.

[jtkinney]

I agree with Greg on the bathroom, even if you have to sneak the plumbing in after the footing inspection [:$] Of course, I'm over 50 and bio-breaks are coming sooner and sooner.

Also, if you cover the fiberglass insulation with something, it will cut down on the dust, especially the glass kind.

I am also green with envy. I wish I could have more than a 2 car size garage.

[customsteve01]

Great to hear Micheal. I ditto on the bathroom, I wish I had one out in the barn.

Steve

[BLSamuel]

I've seen suggestions, so how about "The Workshop At The House Of Klipsch" . The "Klipsch Shop" almost sounds like a store.

Congratulations on getting your workshop / ultimate man cave plans underway.

[BLSamuel]

I agree that a bathroom would be extremely nice.

That could add a lot of cost to the project if you've not considered it but would probably be less expensive now than adding later. May require more permits for the plumbing.

Getting water out there would also allow you to have a utility sink for any cleanup requiring water. You could even add a shower at some point if desired.

[colterphoto1]

No way on the bathroom, far to expensive and the septic field is in the front of the lot. There's a 1/2 bath inside the laundry room right off the back of the house. It's like 20 steps away. And there's nothing wrong with MY plumbing.

We're wrapping the 24 oc studs with OSB, then Tyvek house wrap so we have a more solid backing for the lap siding. Would using 2" blue foam and 3.5" fibreglass be better than 5.5" fibreglass? It adds a step and doubles the cutting. I will put secondary vapor barrier on the interior, probably just stapled on plastic. Can't get too fancy, with this square footage things add up in a hurry.

I'll keep looking into the PEX thing but something tells me to stay out of the contractor's way and keep this simple. I tend to complicate things.

Just the excavation, real footers and foundation added about $6,000 to the ticket. I'm done spending money.

I'm loosely figuring $5,000 for siding, 5/8 drywall for ceiling, insulation, finish electrical and some labor. It'll likely be way more than that.

[dtel]

" Dtel, can you help with overall landscape plan now that the building is set in place? "

Sure, something to tie it in, but leave plenty enough access to get your lawn mower thru to the back. Also keep it simple, as in not alot of maintenance, I hear the homeowner has enough projects to keep him busy.

[colterphoto1]

That little out-of-the-way bit between my barn and the neighbor to the left would be great for about 4-6 dwarf fruit trees.

I'm thinking maybe a shade tree or medium ornamental somewhere in the area but mostly patio and lower plantings. The tall trees to the west shade the immediate area from about 3:00pm on. Mornings it's full sun. Needs some summer shade on the east end somehow.

[michael hurd]

Colter: I would forgo the rigid styrofoam, and also the fiberglass. Check into ROXUL rockwool ( or Fiber-X, etc ) equivalent. A couple ( 2-3 ) bucks a bundle more here... but a WHOLE much better product. More rigid, less prone to sagging down, easy to cut with a serrated bread knife, etc. Because of the higher density, the bundles are larger IE: not as compacted. More transportation costs because of it, but IMO a much superior performing product.

[chrisinvermont]

We're wrapping the 24 oc studs with OSB, then Tyvek house wrap so we have a more solid backing for the lap siding. Would using 2" blue foam and 3.5" fibreglass be better than 5.5" fibreglass? It adds a step and doubles the cutting. I will put secondary vapor barrier on the interior, probably just stapled on plastic. Can't get too fancy, with this square footage things add up in a hurry.

I'll keep looking into the PEX thing but something tells me to stay out of the contractor's way and keep this simple. I tend to complicate things.

Congrats on the shop! If you are interested in adding extra insulation using a combination of foam board and fiberglass I would just using the 5.5" fiberglass in the walls and putting 1/2" or 1" blue board on the exterior under the siding. Hardiplank can be installed over the insulation and you would just use longer nails. I don't know if you have worked with the Hardiplank before, but it is really good stuff! I have found that using a roofing nailer is the quickest way to install. Also you mention putting in a "secondary" vapor barrier. Be very careful with this. In the past few years the industry has moved from "vapor barrier" to "vapor retarder". They have to be carefully placed within the wall so that you don't create a dew point within the wall cavity which will result in mold growth. I have some details that cover the Indianapolis area at home. I will try and scan and email them to you tonight.

Running the pex isn't too bad. For my oversized one car garage my contractor said about $1,000 to run the tubing. I decided to remove it because I don't need to heat the garage all of the time. Radiant is great if you are in there working all the time, especially on cars or other items where you are on the ground all of the time. The drawback is that it isn't really efficient to set the temperature back. It is great if you want to maintain a constant temperature but if you want to maintain a minimum temp and then boost the temp while you are working out there then radiant probably isn't the way to go.

Good Luck,

Chris