Jens' New Shop
Construction Project

Jens Jensen of Stanwood, Washington, USA highandry@verizon.net, has built his own new shop structure, from the ground up and he let us watch as he progressed. The shop is now structurally completed and this page documents the entire project. So here's the story of Jens' New Shop!

Summer, 2003

I have finally been able to take on a good fun project which involves the building of a cozy wood shop, not real large by any means but cozy. It is 16' x 24' with 10 foot walls. It is post frame construction. I will have 1 truss on the front wall and rafters on the back 12 feet, so that this way I can put a loft in it for wood and supplies.

The first picture shows the size of the bank I had to excavate and the next is one of the post holes. When building this style of construction the support poles are dropped into holes on top of two bags of cement and then paced with sand. This allows for any ground movement, to allow the building to do the same with out structural damage. They are 4' deep and will be packed with sand after the poles have been plumbed. The holes were dug this past weekend.

We are starting to frame on Saturday, Aug. 2nd, 2003 and if you have never seen a post frame building, you might be surprised at how "cost saving" on labor and material it is. I hope to have the framing done Saturday and if I get the barn raising crew that I want, the metal should be on very soon.

For framing, I'll be using girts which are made of 2 x 6's layed flat on the outside of the poles depending on size of bays (pole spacing). My structure will be 24' deep so I will have corner poles - one at 12 feet and the the other corner, so I will use a 12' girt. These are every 2 feet from the bottom to the eve. After these are put on all around the building, we use a 2" rolled insulation blanket with vinyl backing. The vinyl goes to inside of building - this way it has a finished look to it instead of looking at fiberglass. This is stapled onto the girts and after this step, the wall metal is screwed on top.

The metal is 3' wide and the length is whatever you want it to be. It has a ribbed design. The screws are wood grip with a rubber washer and hex head for drywall guns. I will try to get pictures of all the material like screws etc. for visitors to see. It will be a lot of pictures but there will be a lot to see as a learning experience. This material is all engineered. When photos are shown in the next few days with this description, a lot of any confusion will be cleared up.

The Process Begins

"This shows my friend placing a corner pole in a 4 foot hole. To know the exact location of the poles we mark the layout string and make sure everything is in its place before any poles are set.

We find all corners using the square formula and the measure from point A to next pole and make a mark. In my case, it is 16' x 24' so my side pole would be 12 feet and so on, if it was a longer building."

"This next step shows a corner pole in it's place. Notice the 2 string lines on back side of pole. (see green arrows in close up). This is how the corners are set. Also notice the back filled holes. They have to be tamped, or we can run water in the holes to pack them tightly."

"This photo shows how the wall girts are placed on the poles. They are spaced every 2 feet o/c. You make a story pole for the layout, and nail this to your grade mark. Nails are driven in every 2 feet.

Nail this arrangement to the post and rest your board on it, and then raise the other end to a layout mark you have previously made. Then that end is attached."

"The pressure treated 2x4 is the first girt placed on the wall at the bottom. This is later used as the screed board for the concrete slab. All the ground has to be brought up to the lower edge of the 2 x 4 and then the slab is poured to the top of that piece."

"This shows a 2x6 located and resting on top of the pressure treated 2x4. The reason for using pressure treated wood on the bottom, is that if it was not pressure treated, it would eventually rot in time. Also, notice the the area under the 1st or bottom girt.

This has to be completely filled, right to the bottom, like it has been on the right side of this picture."

"This photo shows a corner where the corner pole hole has been backfilled and the grade is pretty good - just a bit still to be filled in under the bottom girt"

Aug. 6, 2003 Update

"This picture with the 4x4 pole standing by itself is the door post. The door frame is inside of this after I cut the girts out for opening.The frame is then nailed to the corner post and to the 4x4. Being it is non structual, I will only have to dig 1 foot hole for it to sit in and the concrete will keep it in place along with nailing the backside onto the girts that are in back of it."

"The next 2 pictures are of what's called a T-girt. It is nailed flush to the top of the wall girt and toe nailed to the post on each end. The reason for having the T-girts, is to stabilize any racking movement. All that is required is one T-girt at the height of six feet and one at the height of the eve. The picture on the left, shows both the 6 foot and eve girt in place."

"Before you do the inside walls, you must T-girt every girt. This is done so that you have a plumb area to apply your wall panels - using Sheetrock or whatever. I might be doing my inside walls with old barn wood (FREE). I'll have to prime it about three times and spray it with high gloss enamel for a nice bright look."

Aug. 17, 2003 Update

"This is called a peak purlin. It is connecting the end wall post to the center post to the other end post. You can see that there are two to a crossing. This is the first purlins you put up and cut to exact length so when the ends are tied in to each other it will be true and plumb."

"This shows the middle rafter and peak purlins."

"This is continuation of peak purlin as it ties into the truss end of building"

"You will notice the post tops and how they stick up above roof. They all get cut next to the run so we can put the metal roof down. The two posts on the end wall are door posts and carry no weight except the barn doors.They will be made with 3/4 inch cdx and I will be putting some deco design on them."

"Here is a shot of the front girts that end where the barn doors are going to be placed."

"This shows a rafter block. It is the 4/12 cut under the rafter and is engineered to take the rafter load and use the block for stress. I will be drilling two bolts all way through the post and bolt the blocks using 3/4 inch bolts."

"Here is how the purlins are placed on top of the rafters. You will notice there are long ones and shorter ones. The long ones are put up first and they are two feet longer than the bay length, and then when the other purlins are put up, they are the bays length so you get a 2 foot splice. These are nailed together to make a continuos run from end to end."

"Notice the 2x4's nailed flat on top of the rafters. These are purlin blocks and as the fir purlins are run across the rafters, the purlin is nailed to this block so the rafter is secured also."

Aug. 18, 2003 Update

"This is the insulation blanket. It is only R-9 value so it actually works more as a vapor barrier."

"This shows the top side of the blanket."

"This is my Granddaughter who is a crafter and gardener like Grampa."

"This is where the roof is started. Start out at the edge of a truss and measure from the bottom of the sheet to the top girt for the little overhang. Try to keep it to about a two inch over hang. Measure each sheet at the bottom of the run and keep it straight best as you can."

"The jobsite foreman is checking up on me."

"Here is my $50.00 man door. It has a bent threshhold so it was a blem. It is a $210.00 door in perfect shape. Guess who the fool was here HAHA."

Aug. 23, 2003 Update

"Here is last weekend's progress on my woodworking shop structure. I got the roof on so now it can rain all it wants. It went kind of slow on account of the heat we had here, about 85 degrees so it gets real cozy on that metal.

Remember if anyone has any questions fire away at my email address."

"Here is a evening project. After work, I installed my FREE 4x4 vynal window. I set it 4 feet off of my slab girt. That way I will be able to see over the retaining wall I'll be adding this fall on the bank that I had to tear into."

"I have to do a 5/8 type X sheetrock on the side where my house is, so this is what I'm doing today. Good God,,, that stuff is heavy! The code says it has to be solid blocked in seams. That is what shows in this picture."

"Here is a picture of the bolting of the truss and rafter blocks."

"Rafter blocks and bolts"

"Exterior wall with type X rock. This wall had to be firewalled on account of the closeness to my house. "

Aug. 26, 2003 Update

"Here are some shots of the walls and the corner trim along with the gable trim. The opening in the front will be where my barn doors will be. I will use 3/4 inch plywood and do some dutch door X's on them to add some appeal."

Sept. 24, 2003 Update

"Here are some pictures of today's work. The post picture shows a heta strap. It is nailed to the post before the cement is poured. Notice the nail on the lower girt - they are nailed all around the perimeter and they too help to insure that the slab stays put and the lower girt can not move."

"The person standing in front of Grandpa's Workshop is my father-in-law from Minnesota. They are out here on vacation while my wife is in hospital for surgery this month."

"This is my lovely understanding wife who is very understanding and a friend for life."

"This person is my buddy Jim who works with me. He is doing one bang-up job for me and now all I have to do is pay him back by doing some brick work for him in his home this fall. Boy this bartering sure works out good!"

"These two stepping stones were made for me by my two granddaughters so I decided to put them in the door pad."

Jens says that pretty soon the doors will be open on "Grandpa's Workshop".

Note from Don. That name sounds kinda familiar. Hmmm",,, ;-))

Oct. 4, 2003 Update

"Finally got the doors installed. Might put x's in centers this spring. Next week it is time to wire it and then after that I will start my masonry work for my wood stove."

Please remember, if anyone has any questions or comments on this shop project, Jens would be happy to hear from you and will reply with any info you may require. You can write your email to him by clicking on his email address below.

If you would like to contact Jens directly, here's his email address. highandry@verizon.net

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