"tool" gloat: a new (old) workbench

[brenthenze]

Originally Posted by ptt49er

Unless I'm terribly mistaken (which happens often), he's referring to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. The one in Charlotte is just off of Wendover, across from the HD, right off of Idenpendence.

Actually, no, not the ReStore (though that's a great spot to check for stuff too). It's "ReTool"--a used tool store. The one in Greenville is located at the corner of Greenville Blvd. and Mall Road, right across the street from the Ruby Tuesday's (about a mile east of Lowes). For all you Mapquesters, the address is:

ReTool
800 Mall Drive, Ste. E
Greenville NC 27834
Phone: (252) 215-0862

There is also a Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Greenville (on west 10th Street), but that's more of a used appliances and fixtures place (some construction-related items--windows, shutters, etc.--but not so many tools).

[brenthenze]

Originally Posted by Woodman2k

What size is the foot print of your building and how tall are your sidewalls to the overhang.I want to build something similar,I have an area thats 24 x 36 to work with.I like the truss arrangement with the second floor.What size I-joist did you use and what's the span?Sorry about hammering you with all the questions but its always easier when you can see it built up.
Thanx,Greg B

Woodman: it's 24x30, plus a side shed (open, but it sould be boxed in) of 10x30. The I-joists are 14" deep, 16" o.c.. You're welcome to take a look at the whole picture series at my Ofoto page:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/BrowsePh...8931319&page=1

So far the building is framed, sheathed, and roofed. However, I just learned that some of the sheathing on the front side is going to have to be replaced with marine plywood because it's not 6" above grade. This is of course frustrating, since the first inspector approved our slab preparation (including its height above grade) before the concrete was poured, and now another inspector from the same office is saying that it's not high enough. But it's easily fixed--not worth arguing about. (I shouldn't even say that--I'll probably jinx it.) And I think the complaint is only on the one short side, and, in fact, half of that side is taken up with the big doors, so it's really only a 2' x 14' section of wall that should need to be altered.

I had bought my building plans initially from a company called BarnPlans.com. (Their website is worth checking out.) HOWEVER: if you're in an area where building code requires more than 80mph wind resistance, you won't be able to follow the BarnPlans drawing exactly--most importantly, the plans come with plans for building your own trusses, but they're designed to meet 80mph code, not the 110mph that we have in the coastal plain (even higher on the coast itself). So you either have to hire an engineer to alter and wet stamp the design (about $500) or buy premanufactured trusses that are already designed for your local code. Then that leads to other modifications in the plans, and by the time you're done, there's not a lot left intact in the initial set of drawings. I won't say more about it here, but if you're looking to build something like this, I'd be happy to share more details about my experience. (Not "expertise"--I'm decidedly not an expert!)

I will say, it's been a very enjoyable process, despite three or four goofs (mine and others') and despite the fact that the inspection/regulatory aspects of the process are not particularly amenable to one-off amateur builders.

[brenthenze]

Originally Posted by nelsone

Great score on the bench! It looks really nice and solid.

Do tell more about Restore. I've never heard of it. Where is it? Do they have a web site?

Here's the corporate website for the ReTool chain; this shows the nationwide locations. According to this site, the Greenville location is the only one in NC. However, this information is obviously outdated, since for at least the eight years that I've lived here, the store's location has been on Mall Road (the address I gave in a previous post), not at the location listed on the website. (The proprieters are the same: Denise and Don Golden--very nice folks. Nice enough to have helped me load that heavy bench and RAS into my truck!)

http://www.re-tool.com/

[Beancounter]

Sweet score on the bench! A few repairs as you've described and it will be good for another 50-60 years at least!