After roughly leveling the yard where the boat shop (aka Greenhouse) is going, my son Ben and I begin the assembly of the tubing.
The arches have compression fittings and the linear pipe is 1" plastic water pipe that is bolted to the arches every two feet with a zinc bolt and a nylon lock nut.
The arches are made of 1 inch annodized aluminum pipe. Since we aren't making a solid foundation we are having to "force" them into the width footprint that we want.
An electric nut driver saves a lot of work.
All of the original frames are assembled.
I cut 10' sections of 1 " galvanized EMT pipe in half and used collars to connect them to the bottom edge of the arches. This raised the structure 5 feet.
It took an amazing amount of muscle and sweat to get the plastic and the shade tarp pulled over the frame!
The site is marked for the strongback layout and post holes are dug 3 feet deep.
The first joisted is bolted on level.
After the second joist is hung the 2x4s are layed out...
... and then nailed on making sure to keep the framing level. spacing was 16" on center.
Decking is placed with screws. In hindsight I would do this with 10" spacing on the 2x4s and a single layer of 3/4" plywood. I ended up using two layers to get the stiffness I wanted.
After painting the surface with latex ceiling paint, I lofted the backbone and created hardboard templates.
The open ends were framed in with 2x4s on top of pressure treated 4x4s that were leveled on the ground.
The slope of the yard is most pronounced on the south end of the building and I used a few courses of 10x10 timbers to create a level platform for the 2x4s
Framing was the same as the other end, both with doors and fans/vents.
I also pulled 12/4 coax for lights that will be 3 way switched at both doors.
It is a very bright and airy work space.
Basic structure closed in.
North end door, clock, thermometer and storage bins. All of this will be relocated over time.
Bungee cord detail to capture the door knob in order to hold it open.
The 2x4 keeps the door knob from tearing the plastic.
Next was trenching from the house service panel for a power cable.
Maybe I should have rented a trencher....!
Service panel is in with lights, fans and two different circuits of GFCI outlets. The main breaker is inside the house and remains off unless I am working in the shop.
North end view from my back porch. Note the additional section of shade tarp. It gets hot in the afternoon sun.
Center view from my back porch. In the morning light you can see inside through the shade tarp.
South end view from my back porch. This before the drainage ditch was dug.