Finishing out an existing concrete block building on the cheap..

[Fumesucker]

I'm crossposting this from the Poverty forum where I originally put it since this is a more appropriate forum....

I'm about halfway done finishing out an existing smallish block building on my daughter and son in law's property that was once used as a smokehouse using mostly donated and recycled materials. My brother has his own small painting company and I was in construction for a long time in various capacities so we have contacts to get surplus and demoed (demolished) construction supplies like sheetrock, metal studs, wood of various sizes, plywood, toilets, doors, insulation, cabinets and the like. These items are often removed from commercial spaces that are being renovated for new tenants and the materials are usually just thrown away and new purchased. Also a lot of times if there is extra new material beyond what's needed for a job it's possible to pick up those items from jobsites if you have a contact.

I have taken pictures of all the stages, from raw building full of junk to having the ceiling framed up with metal studs and insulation installed, raised bathroom floor is close to ready for the decking (we raised it so the plumbing pipes can be run out through the walls rather than having to break concrete floor and dig out the dirt underneath for piping).

If anyone is interested I can post the pictures here on this thread and also give ideas for cheap construction methods and hints on where you can get construction materials for free or at a fraction of retail cost as well as workarounds for some common problems you might run into on such a project.

If you have a place to put a building and don't have to deal with codes/inspection and so forth you can get away with cutting a lot of corners and still have a decent shelter.. A lot of these techniques and ideas can also be used renovating an existing structure for livability..

[Fumesucker]

1. First pictures..

An exterior shot.. The building is about 19 feet by 13 feet inside, small but livable as an efficiency.. This is the only door, there are two windows under a lean to type roof on the right hand side and a single window on the opposite side.

This is going to be my home when it's completed.



A view standing in the doorway just as it was before we started..



A view from the opposite end..



Since the block walls are only seven feet high we decided to put a vaulted ceiling in so there would be more headroom in the center of the building. The original roof rafter beams are darker, the lighter wood pieces are 2x4 that we cut off at an angle and nailed to the original beams, the 2x4 pieces then support the metal ceiling studs at the center of the ceiling.. Our insulation batting is R40 and too thick to easily compress into the space of just the original roof rafter beams, plus the triangulated structure with the metal studs adds strength to the entire roof structure to compensate for the rafters that were removed. We used metal studs because they were free off a commercial construction job (where metal is almost always used).

We carefully pulled apart all the original structures in the building, removed the nails and saved the wood for the new construction.



Ceiling studs completed on both sides.



Roof gable ends framed in by laying a metal stud with the U shape up and putting 2x4 wood studs vertically up to another metal stud with the U shape down attached to the wood rafter above. The whole thing has then been stuffed with R40 insulation batting (more freebie extras from a commercial job).

This amount of insulation should help keep down rain noise on the nearly fifty year old metal roof, the building was originally built by amateurs in 1963 and has been in my son in law's family since then, the property has been in his family since the late 1800's..

[babydollhead]

2. nice!

google "Edgar Miller" you will have no shortage of cool idesa for finishing your building

[The Straight Story]

3. Awesome! (nt)