A sad day on the farm

[YanmarFever]

Yeah but how long ago was that? I wired my other building myself and I had over $10,000.00 in it and that was 15 years ago. I need 4, 50 amp circuits and one 60 amp circuit and the runs are going to be roughly 34' to almost 60'. The wire alone is going to cost a bunch, have you priced wire lately? Also I have called at leaste 6 different companies before I found this guy. Come to find out he is a friend of my oldest son and I believe he will do me right.

Sounds like you have a grip on it....

 

[mx842]

I have OSB on the inside of my shop. You can paint it sort of just to make it white and brighter. It’s also strong enough you can hang stuff off of it that’s not real heavy. The bad is it’s not as fire resistant as metal. I’m not sure if I posted in this thread earlier or not but I bought a bench grinder stand. Before it was mounted to a wall and throwing sparks against the OSB. Your post made me get the stand so I can drag it out away from the wall in the middle of the concrete floor for safety’s sake.

Nawh it was hunting season and I had not done anything in the shop for like 2 weeks before it happened. Also I had almost 3500' sq feet of osb on the walls and most of the celings. That was the main reason the fire was so hot all of the heat was contained within the medal walls until it finally burned through the roof at that point no amount of water wood have done any good.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

Maybe just insulate the part you'll be working in. As others said electric in steel conduit you could do yourself. My garage I have high current things near panel box so really no voltage drop or long heavy gauge wire runs. The welder outlets and panel box near door so I can weld outside if I want.
The more you do yourself you save money.

 

[civilian]

I made my own wire chases along my garage walls and inside the wood working shop. I ran 2 pieces of 2"x2" horizontal along the walls about 6" apart. Ran all my romex in there and covered it by screwing OSB over top of them. Then I can remove the OSB and add more circuits or outlets etc. The walls were OSB in the garage and drywall in the wood working shop. Jon

 

[Jstpssng]

I had a 316 ss border as a base board in every room in the building. Also I had medal panels 14' high on all of the walls where I welded and at my plasma table. The walls that were exposed had 2 coats of fire retardant paint. I don't know what else I could do accept maybe find a new hobby like maybe crocheting or needle point.

I was really referring to the posters who still have wooden walls. I once started a grinder fire on the rare occasion that I was using somebody's garage... luckily I saw it and was able to put it out. That's just another reason why I don't believe in borrowing.

 

[Glenndg]

Awful news!! I would rather my house burn down than my shop.

 

[mslisaj]

Some of you may remember what I went through building my pole barn that turned into my giant man cave. It was my place away from home that I spent many hours in playing with all my toys. I had all my most sacred things that I had gathered over my life time. All my machines, two lathes, my mill, all of the tooling, my Bickford 21" Super Service, 2 more drill presses. Three welders, Dynasty 300, millermatic 252 and an older miller AC/DC buzz box and all the stuff that went along with my welding shop. I never realized how much stuff I had in that building until I started going through the rubble. I never thought about how much in dollars I had laying around. In just different clamps and vices I have found over $7,000.00 in the rubble. It hasn't been too hard to find things because I had everything in there own spaces, plumbing, electrical, AC, hydraulic stuff, test equipment, welding equipment and consumables all had their own little spot in the shop.

One of the hardest things I have had to deal with was all my civil war relics, my native american artifact, bottle collection and my fossil collection. it's hard to lose stuff I have spent a lifetime collecting but all my books for the different habbits, my research papers and recording books that took more time to do than the actural collecting itself.

Everything was gone in less than 2 hours from the time it started to when there was nothing else to burn. In the end all that is left is the siding and roof metal and what's few 6x6 post that are still standing. One of the firemen that was here told me that in 20 years of fire fighting this was the hottest fire he had ever been to. That huge trolly beam system I built and was so proud of now looks like a big pertzel still hanging from it's upright support beams. Anything aluminum or copper was turned to liquid, every where you look there are piles of melted lead, aluminum and cooper parts that were once motors, tools or anything else that was made of these metals.

After a little over a month I have finally gotten the go ahead from the insurance co to start clean up and that will be a giant under taking in itself. I have enough insurance to cover most of the contence except my historical items but The way insurance work it you only get a certain percent of the amount of what it would cost to bebuild the the house itself. I already know there is not enough in that part to cover the cost of what I had so I'll have to do all the clean up just like I built it to begin with by myself. It probably will take the better part of a couple months to get it all cleaned up so I can start over.

Such a devistating story and all our worst nightmare!! I too have a 3200 sqft shop and it's filled with tools and equipment from my father's gas station and then the garage our family ran until I retired and reassembled everything into this building. I just feel your pain and while I didn't want to read this story as I knew the ending I had to and shake my head in sorry with you. :-(

 

[Tinstafl]

That is so sad. My neighbor lost his barn a couple years ago now with a lifetime of things in it. James river came out to Powhatan with a backhoe and a skid steer with tracks and did the clean up for him. He lost a John Deere tractor and a gator.

 

[ray66v]

A couple modern pole barns have burned down in my area, as the OP said, they go real fast.

It would seem, that is largely because of all the exposed wood.

Steel siding, the other popular interior finishing material, seems like a good idea for fire prevention, but it actually has a zero fire rating.

I suggest the use 5/8" fireguard drywall, on as much of an interior as possible, at a minimum, on the ceilings of the shop areas, where a fire is more likely to occur. One layer of 5/8", gives you a 2 hour fire rating.

Finishing drywall ceilings on large pole barns requires special techniques, because these buildings move so much. You need to use some type of expansion joints, to allow for the truss up and down movements.

I like to use Trim Tex Majic Corner for this. It can give you a rubber joint over the top of the butted edges of the drywall, rather than in a space between them. And, it comes in 200' rolls, so it is always long enough. No cracking, or ridging, when I use this product.

The drywall may not prevent a fire from doing serious damage. But, it could slow the fire down enough to give the fire department a chance to save something.

 

[schulzie]

I feel your pain, my small barn with attached workshop/man cave burned down 2 years ago. Lost a lot of relics/tools etc. We've rebuilt and started over. Luckily I was well insured, but the cost of rebuilding during COVID was astronomical. Never would wish that on anyone.

 

[mx842]

Such a devistating story and all our worst nightmare!! I too have a 3200 sqft shop and it's filled with tools and equipment from my father's gas station and then the garage our family ran until I retired and reassembled everything into this building. I just feel your pain and while I didn't want to read this story as I knew the ending I had to and shake my head in sorry with you. :-(

Thanks.......

 

[mx842]

A couple modern pole barns have burned down in my area, as the OP said, they go real fast.

It would seem, that is largely because of all the exposed wood.

Steel siding, the other popular interior finishing material, seems like a good idea for fire prevention, but it actually has a zero fire rating.

I suggest the use 5/8" fireguard drywall, on as much of an interior as possible, at a minimum, on the ceilings of the shop areas, where a fire is more likely to occur. One layer of 5/8", gives you a 2 hour fire rating.

Finishing drywall ceilings on large pole barns requires special techniques, because these buildings move so much. You need to use some type of expansion joints, to allow for the truss up and down movements.

I like to use Trim Tex Majic Corner for this. It can give you a rubber joint over the top of the butted edges of the drywall, rather than in a space between them. And, it comes in 200' rolls, so it is always long enough. No cracking, or ridging, when I use this product.

The drywall may not prevent a fire from doing serious damage. But, it could slow the fire down enough to give the fire department a chance to save something.

The problem as I see it with drywall is it not very good at taking a beating and easy to poke a hole in. My walls are 14' 6" tall there are no truss to speak of because it is an all steel building. The inside is completely open so drywall is really not an option there. I'm putting medal siding on it inside walls up to the roof line and I'll probably leave the spray insulation on the roof exposed. I may spray on some fire retardant paint up there but most likely just leave it exposed.
As someone else said before the fire department doesn't come out to try and save anything they come to put out the fire and what the fire don't get all the water will. In my case the water damage was as bad as the fire damage. I probably could have saved some of my tooling and maybe a machine or two but once that water saturated everything and by the time I got the go ahead to clean up everything was just a rust bucket and no longer salvageable.

 

[mx842]

That is so sad. My neighbor lost his barn a couple years ago now with a lifetime of things in it. James river came out to Powhatan with a backhoe and a skid steer with tracks and did the clean up for him. He lost a John Deere tractor and a gator.

Yeah fire can be a good thing but can also be a really bad thing in cases like this. I really feel for anyone that has ever gone through losing everything they have worked so hard for.
I'm getting ready to head over to Powhatan in a little bit to pick up a machine from a guy. He lives somewhere on Huguenot trail. I used to not mind traveling through that area but with the way that area has grown up it's a real pain to get out that way.

 

[ray66v]

The problem as I see it with drywall is it not very good at taking a beating and easy to poke a hole in. My walls are 14' 6" tall there are no truss to speak of because it is an all steel building. The inside is completely open so drywall is really not an option there. I'm putting medal siding on it inside walls up to the roof line and I'll probably leave the spray insulation on the roof exposed. I may spray on some fire retardant paint up there but most likely just leave it exposed.
As someone else said before the fire department doesn't come out to try and save anything they come to put out the fire and what the fire don't get all the water will. In my case the water damage was as bad as the fire damage. I probably could have saved some of my tooling and maybe a machine or two but once that water saturated everything and by the time I got the go ahead to clean up everything was just a rust bucket and no longer salvageable.

Yes, an all steel building is a whole different story.

Catch a car on fire in one, and the roof sheeting goes pretty fast, because there really isn't enough to stop the fire from getting to it.

I prefer the wood building, if for no other reason, because I can really insulate it well. (I have to heat with propane).

I have 40+ years working in drywalled pole buildings. Yes, you can't treat the walls like they are bullet proof. But, it really doesn't take a lot of effort to avoid seriously damaging them. That being said, we all know a guy who could destroy an iron ball, so no, it's not for everyone.

Other very than minor repairs, damage has not been an issue for me. It doesn't require a lot more than simply having some respect for keeping it nice. Same way most people would treat anything they are proud of.

Cutting holes in the walls or the ceiling, are easy to do if it's drywall, and it's real easy to makes changes later. I prefer to do a smooth ceiling in a barn for that reason, no texture to try and match if you get back into it.

Hope your nightmare is soon behind you.

 

[mx842]

Yes, an all steel building is a whole different story.

Catch a car on fire in one, and the roof sheeting goes pretty fast, because there really isn't enough to stop the fire from getting to it.

I prefer the wood building, if for no other reason, because I can really insulate it well. (I have to heat with propane).

I have 40+ years working in drywalled pole buildings. Yes, you can't treat the walls like they are bullet proof. But, it really doesn't take a lot of effort to avoid seriously damaging them. That being said, we all know a guy who could destroy an iron ball, so no, it's not for everyone.

Other very than minor repairs, damage has not been an issue for me. It doesn't require a lot more than simply having some respect for keeping it nice. Same way most people would treat anything they are proud of.

Cutting holes in the walls or the ceiling, are easy to do if it's drywall, and it's real easy to makes changes later. I prefer to do a smooth ceiling in a barn for that reason, no texture to try and match if you get back into it.

Hope your nightmare is soon behind you.

26 ga metal is some pretty tough stuff. In my fire the metal didn't fail or burn through. It came down because when all the wood framing and OSB burned away the metal had nothing to hold it up. The fire went through the roof in 5 places where I had skylights and once that happened there was not enough water in the Colorado river to calm it down. The metal held in all that heat like it was a giant oven and consumed anything in or near it.
Talking about insulation I don't see how you could get better insulation than with closed cell spray on insulation. It seals out everything, unwanted air flow, insects, water. Yes, it seems expensive but when you figure in all the framing that will hold the drywall in place it's really cheap. The cost you save from the lumber alone will pay for the foam.
I see where you are coming from though as far as having a nice shop you can be proud of but this is a work shop first and something to look at a little farther down the line. I was very proud of my old shop once it was done and the OSB looked pretty good once it had a few coats of paint on it. I don't think the metal siding I'm putting up will look as good as my old shop but there are trade offs to everything. And yes, I know that no matter what you put up in a work shop will guarantee that it will never get damaged. I'm that guy you spoke of a little bit ago with the iron ball so I'm sure there will be a booboo somewhere along the line.

 

[aczlan]

With all that said, if any of my buildings were full of the flammables that were in my old shop and they caught on fire, they too would burn to the ground.

That's why the gas cans live in a single car garage, not in my shop. About the only flammables in the shop are chainsaws, oil/hydraulic fluid, spray cans (paint, oil, cleaners) and the parts washer.

In a shop, your chances of defeating a fire are over in a very short time. For me, the best part of my fire was it's completeness. The Insurance Adjuster drove up to the shop. Got out of his truck introducing myself and shaking my hand. Turned toward the shop with his hands on his waist. "No question here, it's a total loss".

Yep, neighbor lost their house a while back, didn't burn a the way down and the insurance company wanted them to reuse the burned out foundation.

Aaron Z

 

[ray66v]

26 ga metal is some pretty tough stuff. In my fire the metal didn't fail or burn through. It came down because when all the wood framing and OSB burned away the metal had nothing to hold it up. The fire went through the roof in 5 places where I had skylights and once that happened there was not enough water in the Colorado river to calm it down. The metal held in all that heat like it was a giant oven and consumed anything in or near it.
Talking about insulation I don't see how you could get better insulation than with closed cell spray on insulation. It seals out everything, unwanted air flow, insects, water. Yes, it seems expensive but when you figure in all the framing that will hold the drywall in place it's really cheap. The cost you save from the lumber alone will pay for the foam.
I see where you are coming from though as far as having a nice shop you can be proud of but this is a work shop first and something to look at a little farther down the line. I was very proud of my old shop once it was done and the OSB looked pretty good once it had a few coats of paint on it. I don't think the metal siding I'm putting up will look as good as my old shop but there are trade offs to everything. And yes, I know that no matter what you put up in a work shop will guarantee that it will never get damaged. I'm that guy you spoke of a little bit ago with the iron ball so I'm sure there will be a booboo somewhere along the line.

We're talking apples and oranges again though.

I don't have a need for a 14', 16', 18', or more ceiling, and really don't want to try and heat that kind of volume, especially with the current cost of propane.

I also kept my shop a size where I could air condition it, if it becomes absolutely necessary.

You can blow a ton of cellulose insulation in an attic yourself, for peanuts, and it works great.

 

[Tinstafl]

Yeah fire can be a good thing but can also be a really bad thing in cases like this. I really feel for anyone that has ever gone through losing everything they have worked so hard for.
I'm getting ready to head over to Powhatan in a little bit to pick up a machine from a guy. He lives somewhere on Huguenot trail. I used to not mind traveling through that area but with the way that area has grown up it's a real pain to get out that way.

You will not be far from me then