Quote from: MountainDon on February 24, 2014, 07:24:34 PM
http://www.menards.com/main/building-materials/drywall/panels/1-2-x-54-x-12-super-wide-light-weight-drywall/p-1934629-c-5656.htm

Yes I know it is available.  But locally I am not sure that I can get it.  I did look at Lowes site and they do not offer it unless it is something they have in the store and not on the site.  I have one more place to check.  In fact they were where I was going to get the drywall.  Not that I normally shop there but they have a drwall craine so I can have them shoot it into the end door.  Thanks for the suggestions.

Well Don are you coming this way any ways soon?  If so you can bring me about 8 sheets from Menards.  I checked the price at a Building Supply in Lewisburg and their price was $22.99 a sheet.      Regular 1/2 X 4 X 12 is $12.99.  Can't convence me there is $10 more material in 6" of product.  Give or take a few dollars and that is almost double for a regular width sheet. 

Oh and BTW pick me up about 50' of 6/3WG wire for the range.  $2.79 per foot.

I did check Menards site you gave me and it was $15.49.

Look at it this way it could be a trial run for your new trailer.   

No road trip east of the Mississippi this year.  And there's no Menards here; I just had them come up first in a search. Locally the only place I know of that has the wider sheets has no website.

Quote from: Redoverfarm on February 27, 2014, 06:40:10 PM
Well Don are you coming this way any ways soon?  If so you can bring me about 8 sheets from Menards.  I checked the price at a Building Supply in Lewisburg and their price was $22.99 a sheet.      Regular 1/2 X 4 X 12 is $12.99.  Can't convence me there is $10 more material in 6" of product.  Give or take a few dollars and that is almost double for a regular width sheet. 

Oh and BTW pick me up about 50' of 6/3WG wire for the range.  $2.79 per foot.

I did check Menards site you gave me and it was $15.49.

Look at it this way it could be a trial run for your new trailer.   

I'll check on the 6/3 on Monday when I get back to work. I can probably help you there. I think on the kitchen lighting I would put the overhead light in and then use the track above the base cabinets. You can get some pretty small fixtures these days and It will give you the most flexibility to putting the light were you need it. I usually put ceiling lights ( recessed) 1/2 on and 1/2 off the counter edge as that eliminates your shadow on the cabinet but sounds like that is not an option for you, CHUCK

Hey buddy it is a done deal.  I already got it pulled and installed.  I just figured once and awhile you just have to bite the bullet to keep it on time.  You know that I have a timeline of completion . 

I am going to keep checking for some inexpensive tracks that are small and maybe use LED rather than incandescent.  Missed the auction over at Fishersville but am going to try to make it at Lewisburg the last of April.  They might have something.

If it's worth a roadtrip you might want to check precision wallboard in roanoke.

After much pondering on what to do on the drywall for the apartment I have come up with a solution.  At the price of the "stretched" drywall being as it is I decided to go with regular width X 12' drwall.  Instead of hanging it perpendicular to  the trusses I will hang it parrallel cutting the sheets to the desired length. The price being that I can almost buy an extra sheet for a few dollars more than one sheet of the wider (54").  Basicly I will end up with a 48" X 45" end piece which I can utilize in the storage area directly behind the kneewalls.  That area will be pieced together anyway with surplus pieces. Only real dowside of doing it in this fashion is that I will have more seams to tape.  But if there is an upside it will be that all the seams will be on the taper portion and no butt joints.

On a unrelated note I picked up a 1000' spool of 12/2 wire.  I noticed that this product was made in Mexico where as the previously purchased wire was made in the USA.  There does seem to be a difference in the outside coating which appears to be thinner but I think the interior wires are the standard guage "12" but maybe the inner coatings are lighter as well.  But that doesn't keep the cost down which I found out being at $.275 @ ft.   

Quote from: Redoverfarm on March 05, 2014, 11:17:23 AM
.... upside it will be that all the seams will be on the taper portion and no butt joints.
.

I do prefer the tapered joints. Those I can do very well. Butts are a much harder thing for me.

Today was hard to stay focused in the project at hand with the temperature near 60F after the past several months.   But I had several things that had to be done when the weather was decent pertaining to the garage.   When the garage was framed I allowed for two vent pipe penetrations in the roof.  Unfortuneately the contractor did not install them correctly in that they were not plumb and during the winter snows that followed after 2004 had pushed them further to the point that the boots were starting to leak.  So I replaced the boots and corrected their lean.

I run the vent pipe for the bathroom exhaust fan.  No simple task.  I did not want to vent it to the roof and my only other options was a soffit vent or wall vent.  The distance to the wall was 18 feet.  Due to the 16 OC rafters I could not get any pipe up there that was longer than 4' .  So I inserted Sch 20 pipe from the outside through the whole which would be a louvered dryer vent.  Easy not so much.  This had to be done on a 6' platform atop a 6' ladder while holding the 10' pipe some 15 feet above the ground.  Thank goodness it was only Sch 20 and not Sch 40.  I also had to add a couple 22 deg fitttings to make it up over the ceiling rafters from the location of the fan.







I have managed to get all the slanted walls insulated with R19 and about 1/3 of the ceiling with R30.  I still have the remaining ceiling to do as well as the endwall which will be either R13 or R15.  The slanted walls or trusses were insulated to a length of 15'8".  By doing it this full length I will not have to insulate the kneewalls and the storage area behind them will be conditioned space.





I have more or less decided on a heat system for the apartment.  I am going with a Mitsubishi Mini-Split heatpump which will heat and air condition the apartment.  I had gotten an estimate on two floor air handlers and a 20,000 BTU pump.  I started looking on line and found that for the same price I could get the same system except it will be 42,000 BTU (3.5 ton) and I will have 4 air handlers.  The additional two will be in my shop and the garage immediately under the apartment.  I had inquired whether the unit could be recessed in the wall some.  As I have access doors on either side of where the handlers will be placed.  I needed 2" more depth so that the handlers would not restrict my access into the storage area. No problem he said.  So I removed the small wall while I was awaiting a factory rep to call on the actual depth it would be recessed.  He said they can not be recessed "per se" but they can be enclosed in a framed grated box to give the appearence of being recessed in the wall. The most efficent air handler is a wall unit which mounts high on the wall but with the attic truss this wasn't possible so I opt'd for a standing floor unit.  So I figured out that by adding 1 more 2X to the door framing would give me sufficent room.  Only down side is that my door will be 22-1/2" wide where as it was suppose to be 24"  I still think a decent size tote will fit through the opening.  Here is the location of the air handlers with some additional blocking.  Oh yeah I had to rebuild those two walls again after learning I could not recess.  Sawzall's are my friend.

That is going to be really cool! (ha!  HVAC joke)

Really though, I love the minisplits.  Can't wait to see how it goes. 

Also, great work on the vent pipe!  I hate roof penetrations and have thought about how I was going to get the run of PVC through the trusses.  I had only thought of putting it up there when I was setting the trusses (had a skytrak rented), but obviously, that isn't the only chance to do it.  I would have never thought to slide it in from the outside.  I would have cut it and then joined it back or something like that.  Nice job!

Quote from: dablack on March 24, 2014, 07:48:35 AM
That is going to be really cool! (ha!  HVAC joke)

Really though, I love the minisplits.  Can't wait to see how it goes. 

Also, great work on the vent pipe!  I hate roof penetrations and have thought about how I was going to get the run of PVC through the trusses.  I had only thought of putting it up there when I was setting the trusses (had a skytrak rented), but obviously, that isn't the only chance to do it.  I would have never thought to slide it in from the outside.  I would have cut it and then joined it back or something like that.  Nice job!

Well like a lot of other occurances it did not go as planned the first time around.  I slid the full section through first, attached the dryer vent, put the siding back up and then realized that I had another 6 feet.  There was no way to get it up in the cavity.  So it was time to start over again, taking the siding off & dryer vent. The 6' was way easier than the 10' section.  All in all a little bump .  Maybe I needed  .   The exhaust manufacturer recommended 4" and my alternatives were limited in that you should not use flexible dryer line because moisture will get caught in the crevices.  Aluminum pipe in sections would be too expensive in comparison to the Thinwall PVC.   I do have a slight pitch to the pipe so the moisture should exit it to the outside. 

Yes the HVAC.  I have racked my brains trying to figure out a system independent from the house.  Gas furnace, heatpump but with a convientional set up I would be over my sub panel capacity .  The Mini-split is only a 25 amp so that will work out better.  I also hadn't planned on the garage & workshop as part of the apartment heat but it seems that I may now include those without coming up with something else for those area's.  The cool thing ( no pun intended)is that I can operate them independently of each other.

So four air handlers and 3.5 tons.  How many sqft is each air handler handling?  Where are you getting the system? 

thanks
Austin

Quote from: dablack on March 24, 2014, 09:51:09 AM
So four air handlers and 3.5 tons.  How many sqft is each air handler handling?  Where are you getting the system? 

thanks
Austin

The apartment was sized by a HVAC contractor at 2-9,000 BTU's.  I just went on line and found a calculator for the garage and shop and figured that 12,000 BTU on each would be good enough (close).  The site was http://www.younits.com/

you are moving along good John!
cant wait to see the mini unit installation.

No matter how I figure it is not going to work.       It looks like I am going to have to upgrade my house from a 200 AMP to a 400 AMP Service.  What really put me over was the garage apartment.  If it were just lighting and recepticles I would be ok but.......

When I built the addition on the house I moved my laundry room (dryer) to the addition, installed a couple of baseboard heaters, then the lights, recepticles .  Well that was OK to as I put a 100 AMP subpanel to take care of these in the garage below the apartment.  Now comes the apartment which will require a 50 AMP range, 40 AMP heat pump and additional hotwater heater 30 AMP, bathroom heater, Microwave, light and recepticles.  Need I say more.   

Oh yeah I forgot.  I still have the workshop to put on that circuit. Table saws, drill press, planner, shaper and other misc.. tools. 

I'm sending you a PM.

Well I took the week off.  No not really.  I had promised the kids a year or so ago that I would build them a hutch for their pigs.  So this week I decided it needed done as they will be getting their pigs at the end of the month.  I had already had five of the 8 post set before hand.  I set three additional post.  These were a good 8-9" in diameter.  Actually they were telephone poles in their past life.  Anyway I attached ledger and in intermediate floor joist and added a wooden floor.  Next was the roof and then the sides.  I had the majority of the materials salvaged over the years.  I think I spent about $150 total for mostly pressure treated lumber for ground contact material.  I did have to go to the local muber yard and pick up some rough cut "barn grade" lumber for the floor and a portion of the sides .  Well here is some pictures.





The floor and part of the sides didn't take too long with the use of these wide boards.  It is not very often you see a 18-1/2" board.



There is a door that gets put on the front.  Actually it is leaning against the fence to the left of the Hutch in front of the water tank.  Need to pick up a set of hinges when I go to town for it.





Hopefully about another day and I can get back to the project at hand which is the apartment and installing the Mini-split HVAC system.

looks like a great design..  they should be very content pigs!

Very Nice John!

One more chore I can mark off my list.  Pig pen is done.   

Nice sturdy building. That gate looks particularly porker proof!

Quote from: John Raabe on April 17, 2014, 09:25:00 AM
Nice sturdy building. That gate looks particularly porker proof!

Thanks John.  The gate is rough cut 2X's which sandwich the wire panel.  The complete building is a little overkill but most of the materials were free so why not.  It's always good to build things when accuracy is not so much important.  Some of the post were set a little off but all in all it did turn out pretty good.  My son said he wished I would have made it a little taller so that it could be used as a "bull pen".   

It is a far cry from what it once was. Should increase the well being of the animals as well.



The sturdiness of the gate would really be needed for these little fellows as you could keep them in a clothes basket but later on when they get this size you need something a little more substantial.

Quote from: Redoverfarm on April 14, 2014, 08:24:21 PM
  It is not very often you see a 18-1/2" board.

Where we live it's not often you see a tree 18 1/2" in diameter let alone a board.   

Well today was a little more productive than yesterday.  Had equipment malfunction.  When your Hole saw bits fail your are sort of dead on the water when it comes to cutting holes for refrigerant, electric and drain lines for the new Mitsubishi system.  Had two that the mandrel just wouldn't tighten up and the arbor kept free spinning inside the cutting bit.  Worse part was that I couldn't remove it from the blade bit either.  So this morning I took it to a friend of mine that has a garage and he welded it tight.  Can still remove the mandrel as it is needed for the other cutting blades.  Anyway I got all the holes cut.  I have to admit it was a better job than the one that I seen at a friends house that was done by the Company that oiginally gave me the estimate.

Seems the installers felt it was better to notch out the studs and top plate rather than drill holes with a s hole saw.  The end result is that he has about 4 studs all in a row which were notched at least 3/4 of their original 5-1/2" width.  Just wonder if the roof will ever sag?   

Got the two air handlers mounted to the garage & shop wall below the apartment.  It will be sometime before I get around to finishing this area but I wanted to make use of them in the meantime.  So I used 1/2" ply of the same shape as the air handlers then mounted to nailers in between the original studs.  I let the nailers protrude about 1-1/2" beyond the air handler/plywood demensions.  This will allow me to later drywall around the air handler without removing it as the 1/2 ply is the same demensions as the drywall thickness.





The drywall will have to be installed to the dormer walls before I can mount the air handlers to those.  Here  is the location of those handlers one being at each dormer space.  I had to modify the storage access doors width in the dormer space so the doors would not hit the air handlers.  Just a matter of adding another 2X to the rough framing which will cut down on the doorway opening but not by more than 1-1/2" after adding the 3/4" facia board.  I still should end up with a 22-1/2" wide door.



Well off to mow the grass (hit & miss) for the first time this year and ready the camper for a weekend outing.  Annually we camp in a remote area ( no actual sites)of the National Forest for a weekend of digging ramps, having a huge ramp feed fixed every imaginable way and play music to the wee hours of the morning.     

So was the weather good for "ramping"