Above 1200 Sq/FT My new to me 30x50 shop with living quarters.

Chris Stapley · Jun 30, 2025

I'm just in the midst of renovating a pole barn my father in law had built for my dad in 1988. I'm recently divorced after 33 years married, I also have lost both parents in the last 5 years. Three years ago I was able to procure part of my folks estate, partially by inheritance, partially by purchasing out one of our siblings. The property is 6 acres with a pre existing 30'X50' pole barn and a nice dug well. I have been slow getting anything started due to legal paperwork, but now am slowly moving ahead with the help of a couple great friends. Located in south eastern Ontario , so I will also have seasonal issues when Mother Nature rears her head come winter, hoping to have some success before all that with electrical, septic and driveway permits / excavation before hand. Anyway, if I can figure out how to add photos as I go, I'll post here as I remember too...

Chris Stapley · Jun 30, 2025

First things first, lets buy more large tooling to be in the way as I try to build inside,lol.. Those of you know, just know...
I'm a hot rodder, restoration guy, custom painter getting back to a simple, more fulfilling lifestyle again.

Aladinsane07 · Jun 30, 2025

Sorry for the situation that made this possible, but good to hear you're making the best of it. I'll be following along.

runit · Jun 30, 2025

following!!

Chris Stapley · Jun 30, 2025

First "real" reno job, lets put in a man door...

Chris Stapley · Jun 30, 2025

Hmm, pretty dark inside here, lets install a nice window with an optional built in blind, out of site,out of mind if I'm not in here!

Chris Stapley · Jun 30, 2025

Getting a few trouble causing dead ash trees dropped, had four sheets of steel punctured during a high wind storm, better gone than gone through the roof again... sure is nice having friends with the right equipment..

Chris Stapley · Jun 30, 2025

Snow hits in Ontario so instead of stopping all production, why not limb a bunch of dead ash trees and make nice fun bonfire days instead of sitting inside sulking?

May as well make the best of this cold weather and gussy up my sisters plain old plywood kitchen cabinets too, a day with some scrap flooring and a bit of white paint and voila, she has shaker cabinets..

Chris Stapley · Jun 30, 2025

Here's a couple cool purchases for the shop to make it feel more " Like home"
The air standard that was down the street from me as a kid that was thought to be long gone
showed up on Marketplace..

And a nifty Sun Diagnostic Tool cabinet on wheels to support my giant buffer and all of my polishes in one place eventually.

Chris Stapley · Jun 30, 2025

Spring has sprung, lets get those sheets of steel off today while its not kite flying weather, dead quiet winds today !
Pay attention when on the roof whilst holding 14' 7" sheets of steel ! Its a long way down when you're cut in half! lol

Chris Stapley · Jun 30, 2025

Time to evict one of my cars from the main shop to store safely for now so enter the dry van body..

Will she fit ? Like a finger in a bum! lol

Oh yeah , there's a second 62 Coupe DeVille , lets put it in between two other van bodies for now?

Chris Stapley · Jun 30, 2025

Not wanting to lose any ceiling height ( never know when you're gonna bump in to a really well priced Peterbilt?) I opted not to buy a rollup door but rather to insulate the sliders I already have in place! More to this as I decide what I'm covering them in, probably steel ?

Chris Stapley · Jun 30, 2025

Second outside entry door , this will be in to my living room of the apartment as we build.

This will have a 8' x12' porch facing my 6 acres.

Chris Stapley · Jun 30, 2025

Aladinsane07 said:
Sorry for the situation that made this possible, but good to hear you're making the best of it. I'll be following along.

Thank you so much, yeah,no sense in dwelling on things, we merely ran out of similar interests once the kids flew the coop. No sense in either of us dragging the other in to a personal misery.

GlennSullivan · Jul 1, 2025

Chris Stapley said:
First things first, lets buy more large tooling to be in the way as I try to build inside,lol.. Those of you know, just know...
I'm a hot rodder, restoration guy, custom painter getting back to a simple, more fulfilling lifestyle again.

Man that is a beauty. Nice *********** (the metalworking kind, not the other kind)

Chris Stapley · Jul 1, 2025

GlennSullivan said:
Man that is a beauty. Nice *********** (the metalworking kind, not the other kind)

Haha, one must be very clear when talking about my tool like that …. Haha…

Chris Stapley · Jul 1, 2025

Okay, so next step, vapour barrier and then 1.5” R7.5 foam with 3/4” T& G plywood over my existing cement floor so as to not have cold feet all winter…

Chris Stapley · Jul 1, 2025

Sorry, moved to my phone where the photos are for most part, I’ll get this proper format yet if it kills me! Bedroom walls , mezzanine for storage or when someone needs to stay over for a spell.. Bedroom door seems big but half wall is not installed yet, this is a pocket door to save floor space without having to figure out the sweep of a traditional door!

Chris Stapley · Jul 1, 2025

On to kitchen/ dining/ living room area, this portion is a 12’ x20’ footprint, pretty well open concept, hoping next week to have a cathedral type ceiling framed in there to make it feel less like a box or a squash court!

Chris Stapley · Jul 1, 2025

Chris Stapley · Jul 1, 2025

This round was outside wall, framed in. Doorway leading to the bathroom/ laundry/ utility that will be built off the back of the building (8’x20’) that will wrap around with adjoining roof to the 8’x12’ porch.. also framed in a window over my kitchenette sink.. this catches us up for the time being..

Chris Stapley · Jul 3, 2025

Did a little trial and error with ceiling rafters ( not really rafters per say but something to hang drywall ) wanting to create a bit of a vaulted ceiling effect so the living room / kitchen area don't look like a squash court minus the glass wall..then I knocked the steel out above the kitchen sink area and installed a nice breezeway window..

Chris Stapley · Jul 3, 2025

Chris Stapley · Jul 6, 2025

Final bedroom perimeter wall built and a nice 36”x48” window installed for light and legal egress point.. and the cool truck is the mastermind, great friend and helper on this build..1971 Ford, started as an F350 stepside with a 9’ box, all fitted to a Crown Victoria chassis , what a nice driver! As for carpentry ,I’m clueless, I’m a custom car guy… lol

Fitted to a Crown Victoria chassis , what a nice driver! As for carpentry ,I’m clueless, I’m a custom car guy… lol

Chris Stapley · Sep 11, 2025

Added a back door to the shop because, how else will I get to the hottub, right?

Chris Stapley · Sep 11, 2025

Excavated outside to add (10) Bigfoot columns to fill with cement (52”) deep with 8” columns to support a small exterior room for bathroom, laundry and utilities .

Chris Stapley · Sep 11, 2025

Lesson learned, each Bigfoot took 7 wheelbarrows ( thank heavens I bought an old cement mixer , lol) times 10 tubes.. next time we call the truck.. this was two full days of mixing and carting haha…

Chris Stapley · Sep 11, 2025

Next we built the 8’x20’ outbuilding on a platform, Tyvek underneath, R22 Roxul insulation, vapour barrier then 5/8” plywood floor . I will skirt the entire building with 4” foam and steel siding to make things stay freeze proof yet accessible if ever need be here in Ontario.. we get get weather you know! lol..

Chris Stapley · Sep 11, 2025

Today we build the walls ( easy enough) then we figure out how to make rafters, well, the hip for the corner… turns out it wasn’t too bad for a couple of car guys after all!

Mr onetwo · Sep 12, 2025

Lots of hard work...very nice!

RoninB4 · Sep 12, 2025

-Unfortunate how your circumstances were created (been there too) but it looks like it's coming along nicely. Chin up, good luck to you.

Chris Stapley · Sep 15, 2025

On to the deck next..well, porch, but that’s the next install, just picked up the 8”x8” posts today too.. orange steel from the back wall have been harvested for the add on bathroom wing.. I’ll be doing a dark coloured grooved panelling in the living area to define it more from my garage entrance..

Chris Stapley · Sep 18, 2025

Grooved plywood siding installed and painted to define the living area of my shop, on to the porch roof and posts tomorrow…

Mr.zippy · Sep 18, 2025

That's going to be a great place when you are finished! Hard work but it's paying off.

Chris Stapley · Sep 18, 2025

Mr.zippy said:
That's going to be a great place when you are finished! Hard work but it's paying off.

Lots of new things to learn but in the long run, I cannot wait to have the place I've wanted for 40 years...

Mr.zippy · Sep 18, 2025

Well, looking good so far!

Chris Stapley · Sep 18, 2025

RoninB4 said:
-Unfortunate how your circumstances were created (been there too) but it looks like it's coming along nicely. Chin up, good luck to you.

I sure appreciate that Ron!

Chris Stapley · Sep 18, 2025

Mr.zippy said:
Well, looking good so far!

Thank you...

Chris Stapley · Sep 21, 2025

Did not get as far as expected yesterday, cutting all the dados and angles to match my other roofline on the utility room was a ton of head scratching ( not a wood construction guy,lol) but here we are now, posts are stood up , pinned at the bottom to the beams under the porch, bolted together, rafters are starting to go up now.. maybe have a chance to get some steel on this week! That would close in both the porch roof and utility / bathroom/ laundry… woo hoo!

Chris Stapley · Oct 2, 2025

So , I had not submitted my building permit in a timely fashion as opposed to my build timeline so I have been given a temporary stop work order until the paperwork is sorted. I have a good fried d taking care of the necessary documents so I’ve taken the time to have a proper driveway installed finally , and now I am officially approved there and finally have a permanent address too…. Approximately 550’ of driveway , I almost guess I had a sideroad built more than just a driveway lol?

Above 1200 Sq/FT My new to me 30x50 shop with living quarters.

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