Oh my gosh I know!! I KNOW some of you have been waiting to see the new shop. So long that it isn’t even especially new anymore.
Back in March I posted about drilling the property to take electricity to the back. Then in June I posted when the exterior of the place was done. At the end of the post I mentioned that electrical and insulation had been installed and that drywall had been started. I have a lot of catching up to do.
What caused most of my wait was that Pedro wanted to outfit the place inside first. This took a long time. To avoid getting permits for the construction, we kept it less than 200 square feet by exterior measurements. That kept the footprint small, and needed Pedro’s deliberate plans, in order to make it all fit right.
About the time he finished the place, I had stopped posting for a while. But now it’s time to sate the salivatory cravings of the workshop curious population!
As the season progressed, we realized the full power of wisteria. I have never been at a property where a wisteria grows, and have always admired them from afar. Thus, I had no knowledge of what a monster this plant is. We trimmed, to no avail. The darned thing grew back in moments. So we hacked it way back, and took a single nap, and when we woke the thing had come back more heartily than ever.
The metal cabinets are a clever design. The white boards you see on the right are the mounting racks. Attach those to the walls, then the wall cabinets hook into the slots and hang on the wall. They can then be pushed left or right to be just where you want them. The floor cabinets are on feet, as you can see. The entire system is mobile, and has allowed Pedro to use them at three different locations so far, as he brought his originals from his home before we moved here.
Pedro decided to install a dust vacuum system, which he had not used before. It seemed like a good investment for this tiny, airtight workshop in the backyard. His planned projects include mostly woodworking and then welding when he can add that into the mix. Sawdust from the wood projects will be a constant problem, but the vacuum will help.
The worst task of all was organizing and putting away. Once all the cabinetry was where he wanted it, then he placed extra work tables. He settled on the best place for each piece of equipment. He committed and bolted a few things to table tops. And then, the only thing left was to completely unpack and put stuff away. Some of his stuff had not breathed free air since he was still married to the twins’ mom. He spent an entire weekend just unpacking, putting things on shelves, organizing, and labeling. And in the end, cleaning cleaning cleaning.
In the video, I mention that his first construction project in the shop was going to be building a bespoke table for his table saw. It turned out great, using a recycled tabletop from a bench my friend Vladimir gave us. You can see the table top leaning against the wall in the video, and I moved it to show the outlet for the welder. The board was warped, so he spent some time flatenning it at first. When it was flat, he cut the table top in half and put it on hinges, so that he can make a wider work space, but then fold it and put it away when he’s not using it.
In the photo above, you can see the plastic floor tiles that he installed. These also came from his old place before he moved. They are 1/2 inch above the concrete, so they offer a little give, and are easier on the back.
The shop is so well built that it appeals to both of us. When I was getting my class materials ready for my recent training in Annapolis, I spent hours out there, practicing my lecture. It was deliciously cool all summer, but these days the important thing is that it is as dry as dry gets.
I hope that was a good look at it. I’m sure I missed something, or didn’t get a photo at the right angle to show all the things. So please ask for it. This beautiful building is only a few steps from my desk, so it’s easy peasy to run out there and get a quick answer to your question.
Pedro works at home, so he’s right here to answer questions, too. If you could ask him one thing, what would you ask?
Conscious Engagement 
I really like the lighting, and the housing he made for the saw. wonderful job.
Thank you, Lou! I will let him know you like the housing. He is proud of it. The lighting also turned out to be great. We are both discovering that age makes lighting more important than it used to be. Having extremely bright lights helps so much, ha ha.
By the Way, Crystal, where did he get the lighting? As you mention with age comes an increased need for it, and I also am always looking to upgrade the carving shops lighting. Thanks!
Pedro bought the lights on Amazon. Search for “oooled shop lights super bright” https://a.co/d/07lYY1B He said that they came from China, but every LED lighting option he was interested in came from China. He bought eight of them, and one already died after 4 months of use. The others are still working fine.
Thanks, Crystal. and thanks to Pedro!
I love how neat and tidy that workshop is, Crystal. I’m sure Pedro is going to spend many, many happy hours there building things. Thanks for the tour. I especially loved the video tour of it.
You noticed Pedro’s organization tendencies! This is one thing I have appreciated about him since day one. You should see his closet: perfectly organized by type of clothing, all on matching hangars. He is a fiend for shoes, and owns about 45 pairs, and they are all displayed on racks by shoe type. It’s marvelous. In his shop, inside the cabinets, he has things in plastic bins with lids, and labels. So…rope in a bin. Zip ties in a bin. All his nuts and bolts are sorted and stored carefully. We are very compatible in this way. He likes his home to be clean and organized, and works to keep it that way. For example, he makes the bed every single morning, without fail, even when he’s sick or didn’t sleep well, or gets up really late on a Saturday.
I’m glad you liked the video. I think that gives a better sense of what the space feels like. It’s so perfectly sound and cozy in there. I am jealous, ha ha.
That is amazing, Crystal! You really found yourself a treasure in Pedro. I must admit that I cannot function amidst chaos and dirt. Which is why I keep tidying up on the quinta so that it doesn’t constantly look like I am living on a building site. 😁 I suspect that he will have loads of fun tinkering in his workshop.
Oh! And Happy Almost Birthday!
How sweet of you to remember. I will be spending my birthday in a lovely hotel on the coast, and it looks like the weather will play along nicely.
It looked big before the equipment went in. Is the enough space for doing big projects? What are the things Pedro makes? Love the vacuum system. I must like sweeping 😂
My shed is around 64 square feet and I never have enough space as I am always having too many projects on the go at one time and finding other stuff. I do lots of repairs and refurbishing of stuff to sell so my projects pile up especially when I find “that’ll come in handy” or “I can do something with that” plus do things for people.
Shhhh, don’t give him any ideas. So far, Pedro has not collected a pile of stuff that could be used later. I think that is mostly because it’s so new. You know, I just realized that we do not have a storage space for that: wood scraps or anything. Hm, it will become necessary I’m sure.
Most of the time his projects are things he thinks the property needs. I asked him what he wants to build, and all the things that came to mind first were things to improve our property, sort of like you described. Things that need fixing. Things that are missing. His next project is to replace a wooden gate in the fence because the one we have is currently falling apart and rotting from bad weather. In the past he has built stuff for the chicken pen, a gate, a fence, and netting and supports at the top of the fence to discourage them from flying out.
As for the space, we had to think that through too. We wanted to keep the building small so we wouldn’t have to get a permit. So that’s when he got the idea of the garage door, with the concrete ramp at the end of the path paved with bricks. He is thinking it will be possible to extend his work out the door on good weather days. And the welding, especially, will need to be out the door. So he has multiple outlets and the welder outlet close to the door.
I did think about welding in there. Just needs an awning over the front door. The garage door is a brilliant idea. I guess the awning would increase the footprint size or would it be allowed.
I am building two sets of gates for the front on my property.
This is the side double doors and the gate timbers being sorted.
Look at your beautiful shop! It looks huge! Thank you for the awning idea, and I’ll suggest it to Pedro. It would be allowed, because an awning does not approach the property line, but would instead come into our property, which is fine.
It is big Crystal and only just big enough. I should do a tidy up and a photo tour.
Glad I can help out. I am sure Pedro would be onto it you’ll just have to make sure he doesn’t encroach into the garden too far 😂
He heh. I will definitely keep him out of the garden! He liked the idea about an awning and will be thinking about it. I would love to see a photo tour of your workshop, cleaned up or otherwise.
Did you tell Pedro I’m your ideas man 😁
I like the idea of a shed tour. Cluttered would show how many projects on the go. Pedro would be aghast at stuff all over the place but at least I know where everything is 😀
Such a precisely planned and well executed project. As you will see here you can be ruthless with a wisteria and it will regenerate
That’s my hope with the wisteria. I ruthlessly hacked it down to just a few “tree trunks” and topped those at about 7 feet high. My thinking is that I can now keep a handle on the growth, and let vines grow at the top, and wind them around and make it into a tree shape, which I think would be fun, using the thick stalks as support. I’ve never done that, but my sense is that it would be hard to kill a wisteria. So that gives me confidence.
That should be successful
I am green with envy.
🙂 It’s a splendid space. I think there are many people who covet a dedicated space designed just for them with their own projects in mind. I am so pleased we were able to do this.
How great ! That was really smart to put a garage-type roll-up door in the shop. Love the color! My Q for Pedro: What projects are top on your list? Can’t wait to see what you create!
Lenore, I’m glad you noticed how useful and functional the roll-up door is intended to be. That was a careful decision because we want to get large things in and out with little fuss, and also be able to extend his work area outside when necessary for space reasons.
I asked him what his first project was going to be, and he said he already did it! The table! ha ha. But after that, he built a squirrel condominium, which I’ll show you soon. This spring, a wooden squirrel house finally rotted and dropped off the tree it had been mounted to. It had been used by one of our yard squirrels over the winter, but luckily the babies had grown up and left the nest when that happened. Replacing the squirrel home was a perfect low-stakes project to try out the new shop on, and it turned out pretty cool.
His next project will be to replace the gate in our property fence, that leads to the chicken pen. Wooden fences and gates in this climate don’t last very long because of the rain, and this one is very rotted, and has been repaired with more wood, and the repairs are rotted. The only reason the chickens haven’t broken through into the street is because they are happy where they are (and sorta dumb).
A man that loves to create in the shop is a rare commodity these days. I love seeing a man putter. T.S. has his now, more or less but nothing like Pedro’s. It takes a lot of brain cells to do that kind of thing. Pedro’s shop is a thing of beauty. Wish I could get my sewing room more organized but it’s a rental so very little I can do with it. You need to be organized to get anything done. Going to watch the video on TV. My speakers on the laptop are not very good.
You are so right about organization. Also, some brains can be more creative with an organized space. I think my Kellen is just as creative in chaos, but I can’t even begin to let my mind fantasize when there is disorder around me. Sadly, this quirk prevents a lot of creativity, because it always requires cleaning first, and then I usually run out of time.
I run out of steam so that puts me behind on everything. I was just handed some plants that needed lots of love and now I’m even more behind. It never ends.
Oy, less of a gift when it’s like that.
No questions, Crystal. But wow! I had no idea that Pedro was such a handy-man. The shop is beautiful and obviously efficient. Congratulations.
Thanks, Curt. And Yes! Pedro is very handy, but more than that, he enjoys this kind of work. He enjoys building, and he likes electronics, so there are lots of home projects that get taken care of with almost no effort from me. I am grateful. It’s so nice to have people with different skills taking care of the same home.