Lost Penguin HQ: New Shop Intro


Lost Penguin HQ: New Shop Intro

Well, were all moved into the new house, but don’t give us too much credit, there are still some boxes to be unpacked! I had put up and stored what I thought was the last of the move boxes from the garage, and it looked so nice and clean. Clean & empty enough for us to park both of our cars in, but alas, that was short lived after we went and packed up the last remaining items from the old house…. Plus all those metal cabinets taking up so much space, but we'll talk more about those later.

The New Shop:

You don’t want to hear about the house anymore. You’re here for the shop details. The studio? The Craft room? The Maker Space? We can worry about the descriptive name later, for now it will just be The Shop.

Having  a dedicated work space that isn’t in the house is a big deal y’all. This new space is going to allow me to grow and take on more work. It is very exciting, and something I have been working towards for a long time, and now that it has happened, I want it to be my space. I plan to build it out the way I want it, and I am going to lay those plans out here.

The space is ~410sq. ft. It has one entry door, and two 36x36” windows on each wall. It also has a 8 foot roll up door on the back side of the shop. Concrete floors and an 8foor ceiling.

Considering the age of the shop, it is in good shape. The previous owner took great care of this space, and it is evident that the space was a very dedicated area. The old fixtures, shelving, hook hangers and more tells me that the gentleman who worked there before had a very methodical layout for his workflow. However, that is not my workflow or lay out.

The windows are not trimmed out, the walls are old tired brown MDF or particle board. There are a lot of rodent holes in the walls and some water damage from the windows not being sealed off well. The two light fixtures look like old ceiling fan light fixtures that were modified to work at the time. The ceilings are also MDF/particle board and are showing a lot of sag. There is a bit of damage to the door seal and trim as well.

Now that I have given a slight summary of the move in condition, lets talk about the good

     

   

 The Renovation Plans:

Walls and Insulation. So, I though initially I could go through and paint the walls and make them look okay. After I thought about it a while, I decided that they needed to be replaced. We are going to be at this house for a long time and I don’t want to be patching things up over time, I want this space to be my own and want to do things correctly the first time. I want a nice clean work area that’s going to look nice and presentable when I have guests or clients over to the shop. So, this created a bit of a snowball. Here are the plans.

1-- Empty Shop, wash/clean concrete floors while everything is out.

2-- Rip out the old walls and ceiling. Inspect insulation and electrical.

3—Add/replace insulation where necessary, add radiant/reflective insulation on inside of roof. 

4 – Inspect structure behind walls and make repairs if necessary.

5 – Electrical: Wire for new lighting and update any outlets as necessary.

6 – Hang new drywall: walls and ceiling.

7 – Build Decorative partition / divider wall between shop and yard tool storage corner. (Some examples here)

8 – Install baseboard trim and upper trim. Trim out windows and door.

9 – Paint walls, ceiling, and trim. Maybe add Chair rail or beadboard: undecided.

10 – Hang new cabinets. New Metal Husky Modular Garage cabinets.

11 – Install Air conditioning unit. Shop already has pre-cut and trimmed hole for window unit.

12 – Move shop tools, equipment, tables etc. back into shop.

13 – Add décor, finish out Man Cave corner with chairs, TV, mini-bar, area rug and lighting.

14—Play catch upon orders because I’ve been down so long doing renovations!!

 

So, that’s a lengthy list, I know. And NO, I have not won any sort of lottery! I did not find a briefcase full of cash on the side of the road. I will be budgeting, planning and executing these projects one at a time, as funding allows. My timeline is to have it all complete within 3 months from now. I am sure it will take longer, however; I hope to fulfill the orders necessary to fund this project soon. A few of the line items will need to be done consecutively or at the same time. To save time, I hope to knock them all out as quick as possible all within the same time window.

So, what have I started so far? Well, I have secured my cabinets. I was lucky enough to find a set of modular, metal garage/shop cabinets, Huskey brand at a local surplus depo for more that half the retail prices. I had initially planned to install traditional cabinets along one wall and one corner of the shop, but the price to do so was going to cost significantly more than what I was able to secure the metal cabinets for. I will also be picking up a Harbor Freight Rolling 46" 9-drawer tool cabinet to roll into place under the new metal cabinets.

Unfortunately, I am struggling not to install the cabinets in the shop now. I am wildly excited about them, but I only want to install them once. If I install them now, I will have to take them all down when we tear out the walls for new insulation and dry wall. To Jayme’s misfortune, they are currently living in her parking spot in the garage. (sorry babe!)


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