The DadsPipes Shedquarters Project Part III – A Coat of Paint & Interior Rough-Ins

The Shedquarters Build proceeds apace – it’s been a busy couple of weeks and I am really pleased with the progress.

We had a bit of good weather (finally) this Spring, so took full advantage of two days of sun to get a coat of fresh paint on the exterior of the building, matching it to the colours of the main house. Bye bye Basic Beige, hello Groovy Grey! These Before & After shots also show new gable vents in the attic space and freshly installed exterior outlets and a spot for a light fixture next tot he door.

I brought in the professionals to run 60 Amps of power from the house to the shop, a fairly large project in its own right. My wife and daughter stepped up to dig the trench into which the conduit was laid. And for the record, the soil here is heavy clay – not the most fun to dig, but the ladies impressed both the electricians and the inspector with their trenching skills!

This pic shows the trench with conduit laid for power and data lines. A nice side benefit to running Ethernet cable out to the shop is much improved WiFi reception in the back yard.

The conduit extends underneath the shop and pops up through the floor to the service panel which is tucked away behind the door. The expansion/slip joints shown below allow the conduit to slip up and down a few inches during freeze/thaw cycles without snapping – a handy feature in our Canadian winters! Eventually the conduit will be hidden away behind foundation skirting.

The main electrical panel is vastly oversized at 200 Amps and 32 spaces, but I got the entire panel and all the breakers for gas money from a fellow upgrading his home’s main panel. The short bank of breakers on the left will be used for the shop, leaving lots of room for expansion down the line if I feel the need.

I spent a few days before the electricians came roughing in all the circuits inside the shop, including runs for workbench outlets, lights, heat and AC, and the aforementioned exterior outlets and lighting. Future landscaping plans will definitely include garden lighting, so those exterior outlets will come in handy.

Here are a few shots of the rough-in. After the electrical inspector signed off on the wiring, I spent another couple of days adding insulation (a messy, sweaty job!) and vapour barrier. Much tidier looking now, and a LOT quieter inside.

I roped in some assistants to help manhandle the wall and ceiling boards into place. I chose to go with 1/2″ OSB instead of drywall. The price per sheet was essentially the same, but I don’t have to tape and mud OSB, and it will withstand my clumsiness much better than drywall.

Sheeting went up on the ceiling first, then the walls. This process could have been smoother – the walls were built with studs 16″ on centre, but I quickly discovered that this didn’t mean a stud would necessarily line up at either the 48″ or 96″ marks. Most of the sheeting had to be cut to ensure edges lined up with studs properly, but eventually it all came together.

You’ll notice the small baseboard heater in the second pic above  – no more frozen glue for me! I grew up with long electric baseboards running the full length of the wall – not pretty and hard to work around with cabinetry, etc. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that technology has improved since the 70’s – the new baseboard is only 32″ long, and tucks nicely under the back window. And at only 1000W for my not quite 100 interior square feet of shop, my electric bill will appreciate the cost savings over the 5000W forced air garage heater I’ve been running.

The new shop is painfully close to move-in ready, but before I can add in the first workbench I’ll have to finish off the trim around windows and door, add flooring. baseboards and some strapping to hide the seams in the OSB sheeting. A coat of paint will also help pull everything together before I clutter the place up with tools and other goodies.

Tune in next time when the Shedquarters will go from empty space to Pipe Restoration Central!

Until then, Happy Piping!