mrd wrote:Well, now that winter is coming upon us... any of you fucks have workshops/garages and if so, what methods do you use for heating them in the cold months?
yes, and i don't bother. why waste money on utilities for a garage when a decent fleece does just as well, especially since you'll probably be moving around a lot
if you really have to heat the place, i'd suggest setting fire to a couple of netherrack blocks
I'll have to check into those little kerosene heaters, never seen 'em before. I'm assuming kerosene is cheaper than electricity...
Well, the place used to have a floor but I actually took it out because I was worried that it was not sturdy and safe. The garage is really old (60-70+ years) and I think it was mostly built as an after-thought with spare materials and lumber. Nothing in here is standardized, so I've had a real hard time just doing basic shit like insulation. All the batts are built for 16" centres but whoever built this place did so on crack cuz the centres go like 18", 23.5", 17", 20", etc. Just totally fucking random. Much fun to work with. Also the joists that held/would hold the floor up are not thick enough. They used what looks like a handful of 6x8s and the rest are super long 2x6s. I'm pretty sure the safe span of a 2x6 is not 26' so I just feel better having nothing up there. Also the entire roof is leaning to one side by about 5-10 degrees. More or less just a big pile of fucking shit. If I had the cash I'd love to knock this shit over and re-do it.
As for fleece... well, it's not really a workshop in the conventional sense, with tools and whatnot, it's my hideout for musical creations and computer tasks so most of the work is done sitting down with a guitar in my hands. Doesn't really facilitate natural body heat and the part of my body that gets cold the quickest (fingers) are the part that I'm most reliant on to get any work done. Anyway, thanks for all the suggestions folks!
ps @obs - When I first moved here, the previous owner (fuckin' alcoholic) had a nice pot-bellied stove inside. There's even a hole in the wall and a fucking chimney for it. But he took that, and left absolutely everything else for me... I literally filled six 5'x15' disposal bins full of his shit from this garage... fuck, if I ever find out where that cunt moved to I'm gunna set his fuckin house on fire.
seremtan wrote:if you really have to heat the place, i'd suggest setting fire to a couple of netherrack blocks
One time after doing LSD and playing Minecraft for a few hours on the comedown I had a very strong urge to take a shovel to my backyard... start building some tunnels to the neighbours' houses...
mrd wrote:
ps @obs - When I first moved here, the previous owner (fuckin' alcoholic) had a nice pot-bellied stove inside. There's even a hole in the wall and a fucking chimney for it. But he took that, and left absolutely everything else for me... I literally filled six 5'x15' disposal bins full of his shit from this garage... fuck, if I ever find out where that cunt moved to I'm gunna set his fuckin house on fire.
How much time do you spend in there? Could you just put another wood stove in? Minimal installation if the chimney's already there and maintenance is practically zero. It would be a bit of work to stoke if you're out there everyday, but not bad if just once a week. That will turn the place fucking tropical.
Oh for sure, a stove would make this place probably TOO hot, heh. But no... a stove is not ideal. I have too much expensive electronic equipment in here to start burning wood fires right beside it all. If I ever move all my shit to a new space then I'd love to get another stove... they have a certain charm about them.
While you're here... we have gas in the house (duh), just no line to the garage. I already dug a trench through the yard for an electrical and ethernet line... would a gas line be much more expensive? I'm just thinking that paying a plumber or whoever to come do all the piping and make sure its all up to code will probably cost at least $1000...
stop being a moron and do it yourself. google it. The pipes required seem easy to put together (threaded ) and simply shut the main gas line off while you're screwing around. You could probably tell if there is any leaking after you're done, by simply shutting everything down and see if the meter is moving.
I thought that when my parents ran a line to their garage, they just did it themselves. But the more I think about it, they must've at least had someone check it out for them. I have this weird notion that you're in Canada... ? Is that true? Regulations about what you can and can't do yourself probably differ between there and Canada Jr. (MN) where I am. I think you probably need to install a meter on the shed, as well.
Can't tell you more than that.
It seemed like a simple job for them, but maybe it wasn't...
I don't see a need for another meter. It's not a different property..it's all part of the same thing.just make sure you're tapping into one of the lines that are being already fed from your house's main gas meter. It all seems very straight forward. But I guess for that extra religious sense of security you could have someone come out and check it, for a minimal fee. Honnestly I wouldn't bother at all with that, unless you think you're a complete idiot when it comes to home improvement.
As for regulations,only about 20% of contractors bother with all this permit bullshit. It's an non-issue unless you're making some externally visible changes to your house and you get caught for some retarded reason.
I'll probably get rimmed for my lack of concern, being that this is a gas pipe, but honestly, put down the bong for a minute and think the project through...it's very straight forward.
Oi, I hear ya mate. Most of the red tape surrounding home improvement/alterations is just bullshit. I'm currently doing some external work on my place and I'm supposed to have a permit and all this inspection bullshit but... fuckit. Waste of money. I feel confident enough doing it and it's a small enough project that I would pretty much have to invite City Hall into my property to get caught. Not so sure gas lines are up my alley though, I've never done anything even remotely similar to that sort of thing. I'm less concerned with blowing my face off than I am with doing a shitty job that I wouldn't be proud of I think tapping into the existing line is a bit more involved that just threading some pipes together. I'll have to look at it... it would be pretty rad to have a gas line out here heh.
ps - bongs aren't my style, too harsh.
@werldhed yeah I'm up in Canader, eh. I think Tsakali is right about the meter, as all the gas would still be flowing through the meter, it'd just be branching off after the fact to come to the garage.
it's all strange and alien from the outside, but once you pop up the hood and actually look inside, it all starts making sense...once you give it some research it all becomes easy to understand, and then immediately you feel foolish for not having that knowledge already.
Anyway I'm not trying to bully you into doing it, I just want to say from experience that I've yet to fail at any sort of home improvement project I braved into.
So now I know in the future that anything short of a triple bypass surgery, I can probably handle myself.
All good, you're totally right, and that's the experience I've had time and time again when tackling anything I've never done before. Also a good bit of patience helps heh.
1. if it came up when trying to sell the house,
2. if Canada handles that stuff differently than the US. For all I know you have a Royal Mounted Gas-Line Inspector who comes by every month.
werldhed wrote:My only concerns about having it up to code were:
1. if it came up when trying to sell the house,
2. if Canada handles that stuff differently than the US. For all I know you have a Royal Mounted Gas-Line Inspector who comes by every month.
1. Which it might, depending on how diligent the buyers/home inspectors are. At worst they could stir some shit up or perhaps they might take it as a sign and just drop the deal. I'm not too worried as this place is quite old and the property is zoned for a larger building. My entire street is monster-homes except for mine (original building, almost 100 years old) so I know damn well the buyer will be a builder who will just drive a bulldozer across the lot 5 times and call it a day.
2. My guess is stuff like this is relatively the same across the two countries. I mean stuff like building codes are designed with safety in mind, whilst taking into consideration environment hazards. IE: My guess is that in hurricane-prone areas of the States, hurricane ties are mandatory on roof beams to prevent your roof from flying away whereas here, it's an option as I don't think we've had a hurricane for more than 50 years.
seremtan wrote:if you really have to heat the place, i'd suggest setting fire to a couple of netherrack blocks
One time after doing LSD and playing Minecraft for a few hours on the comedown I had a very strong urge to take a shovel to my backyard... start building some tunnels to the neighbours' houses...
