From old workshop to new home gym - advice/tips?

Howdy folks,


Apologies in advance for the lengthy thread, but I've really no idea what I'm doing and just looking for some general advice.

Figure ye guys on here may be able to assist me with something I'm working on. I'm currently a member of a gym, and have been for a few years. Not exactly Mr. Sociable, I use it at 6 and 7 in the mornings which leaves me getting up early if i want to use it (or if i wake up later in the day, not using it at all).


So after not really having used the gym in a while (after a period of using it regularly at 7am) I figured it'd be a good idea to invest in a little weights bench for the house.

Then I remembered we have a shed out the back that was built to be used as a workshop and so my plan has changed from having a little bench to having my own leisure centre in the back garden (have to love optimism!). :P


So anyway, the workshop out the back hasn't been used in a long time, and due to the nature of a workshop, it's filthy. There is sawdust everywhere and the place is generally knackered.

Normally, I'd wander down to my local credit union and hope to give someone money and come back a week later and see it looking good as new. Unfortunately, Mr. Recession is biting and so I'm venturing in to do it all myself (which isn't very wise, I admit, as I haven't the first clue about any of this kind of stuff). That said, I am looking forward to getting stuck in!


So I was wondering if anyone on here would fancy giving me any tips/advice/opinions at all? I'd imagine most people on this forum would have some idea of what the best steps would be to bringing the place to a decent standard?


Here are a few quick photos of the place;


















Now, the shed does have a bit of mould on the wall, which is odd, as the shed doesn't leak at all (though obviously there's an issue with some dampness somewhere if it's getting mould).

As far as I can tell, the necessary steps involved in sorting the place out are:


1. Cleaning it out altogether (getting rid of the wood, the rack, the presses, etc. and completely pulling it out so it's just a shell).

2. Taking out the floor mats (these are thick rubber 'jigsaw' mats that clip in together. I plan to use these again, but have bought a few extra packs on Amazon as I know some of the ones that are already down will be unusable).

3. Cleaning the walls of sawdust/mould/cobwebs, etc. (I've absolutely no idea how to do this, but I'm predicting it's going to be a pain in the ass).

4. Taking the shoddily fitted double doors down and replacing them with a proper fitting door (this, unfortunately, will require a bit of building, too, I believe, as there doesn't seem to be any concrete/cement above the doors).

5. Sealing any/all cracks/gaps around the edges of the shed at the ceiling/doors/gate and such (again, not sure how to do this. Some of the gaps are large. Used to use silicone/painter's mate for gaps but that'd take forever for large gaps)

6. Sealing, priming, painting the walls and ceiling (possibly with an anti-mould paint on the wall affected by mould? Or is anti-mould paint just a novelty item that doesn't really do much at all). Walls/ceiling will likely be white (as it's cheaper).

7. The floor at the moment is just the thick rubber mats on top of concrete. I want to have the mats again, but I'm guessing I need to put down some underlay or something underneat them this time to do it properly? If I go wall-to-wall with the rubber mats, is there an easy/obvious way of 'sealing' them against the wall?

8. Sealing around the large steel gate, but somehow retaining it's ability to open/close properly (again, no idea how to get around this).

9. Re-lay the rubber mats and go wall to wall with them.

10. ... Done?


I'm sure I've missed a few things, but from what I can see, I've covered the most important stuff (in, as far as I know, the order it needs to be done)?


Sorry again for the size of this post, but just looking for anyone that could push me in the right direction, or who could make any constructive comments at all...


Cheers

jaspertheghost

get a skip,clear it all out keep any good timbers you have,then post again when your ready to start the actual building

Spread

If I was you , I'd create a room within a room. All you need is 12'X12'X9' to accommodate an Elliptical, Treadmill, a Cycle machine and a Bowflex. The roof seems to be OK - judging by the ceiling. If the green on the wall is algae bloom you have a bit of a problem in that direction. But a well constructed internal room will not set you back too much. Best of luck and do a few press ups for me daily.

jaspertheghost

jaspertheghost wrote: »

get a skip,clear it all out keep any good timbers you have,then post again when your ready to start the actual building

Well I'm hoping to keep 'actual building' to a minimum (ie; none at all) as I'm planning to d o this on my own. Workshop should (hopefully) be cleared out completely by Wednesday evening (all going well).

Spread wrote: »

If I was you , I'd create a room within a room. All you need is 12'X12'X9' to accommodate an Elliptical, Treadmill, a Cycle machine and a Bowflex. The roof seems to be OK - judging by the ceiling. If the green on the wall is algae bloom you have a bit of a problem in that direction. But a well constructed internal room will not set you back too much. Best of luck and do a few press ups for me daily.

Room-in-a-room sounds like an interesting concept, but it does sound a little complex for a DIY simpleton like myself, if I were to be completely honest with you.


I'm hoping that I can get away with just following the steps I outlined above (as they are all fairly easy in their own right and require little knowledge of actual building, etc. and more just a general cleaning knowledge).

That said, I'm unsure if my steps outlined above are realistic or not.

Can I ask ye guys a quick question?

The workshop is practically empty at the moment (well, it's full of wood that's broken down, but it'll be getting collected/removed tomorrow and be empty then).

What would you guys advise for cleaning the (interior concrete) walls? I know a guy with a power washer, and I was thinking of just getting him to go around the interior with it. The walls are destroyed with stubborn dust (sawdust in particular) and cobwebs that have become an absolute pain to clean.

The worry of the power washer idea though, is that it goes everywhere, and I'd be afraid of it hitting the sheets of MDF that form the ceiling and giving me issues with a damp ceiling that needs replacing.

I was thinking some kind of hoover may be made for such a job, but if there is such a thing out there, I certainly don't know anyone with one.


I can't really use sponges/towels etc. to wipe the wall, as it's a rough surface and causes the sponge/towel to tear/rip quite quickly.

Cheers

5T3PH3N

A scraper and a hard bristled brush should do the job, if ya cant get a proper scraper then a spade should do. Scrape as much of it off as ya can and the use the brush on the wall to get the little bits left over.

5T3PH3N

5T3PH3N wrote: »

A scraper and a hard bristled brush should do the job, if ya cant get a proper scraper then a spade should do. Scrape as much of it off as ya can and the use the brush on the wall to get the little bits left over.

Ah, that sounds fairly tedious and like it'd take forever to do, though

bette

Get that compressor going and blow the stuff off!

Hi all,

Me again. Looking to see if I can get a little more advice on something that has me completely dumbfounded.

Haven't really been designating as much time to cleaning out the workshop as I'd initially intended to, but I'm getting there. Place is practically empty now and I was thinking the next move is a coat of paint and a bit of silicone/caulk for around the edges of the ceiling where it's got gaps and such. (the doors have to come off, too, in favour of something better, but that's going on the long finger for the moment).


This is how it looks at the moment;








Anyway, the reason I'm updating this thread (instead of just slowly but surely plucking away at the shed) is because I went out to it this afternoon and I'm absolutely baffled.

I used a sponge and water and lifted up the mats on the floor, gave them a wipe down and then put them against the walls standing up (to try and dry them out a bit). I've been leaving the door open overnight and during the day on the shed to help get a bit of air moving around and such and all was going well.

Yesterday I locked the place up and left some more mats there to dry and all was grand. Today, I went out and I'm met with a big puddle of water in the shed and everything inside is soaking wet. There's now a weights bench in the shed; it, along with the light switches, plug holes, etc. are all soaking (it's as though they were put in a steam room for a few minutes).

I'm absolutely baffled by it and can't figure out what happened. The ceiling is dry, and there's no sign of leakage anywhere above the pool of water (and even if it was a leak, not everything would be wet).

What I'm thinking is perhaps the compressor might have something to do with it? I don't know how (though the water is around the general area of the air compressor, but that's also at the lowest point of the shed, where a pool of water would accumulate, anyway).


Would anyone have any idea on this? I really can't figure out the series of events that would have lead to this place being so wet in less than 24 hours. Makes no sense to me at all.


Cheers to anyone with any insight here.

dodzy

I know one thing....I'd kill for a garden that would allow me to put up a building of that size. Great potential.

Did you take any pics of the waterlogged room ?

dodzy

dodzy wrote: »

I know one thing....I'd kill for a garden that would allow me to put up a building of that size. Great potential.

Did you take any pics of the waterlogged room ?

I actually didn't. It was only partially 'flooded' (and the use of that word is a bit of an exaggeration, as it was more just a pool of water, about an inch or two deep, about 5 foot by 3 foot in size, but the biggest pool of water that I've seen in the shed).

So I got a brush and brushed the water around the room to spread it out in the hopes that that would help aid in drying it out (which it did, overnight, thankfully).

I've moved the compressor to a different part of the workshop and been spraying air randomly out to get the pressure down inside it (incase that had anything to do with it).

Still just can't quite grasp what would've caused it though. Even if the compressor leaked, unless there was actually steam coming out of it, then I've no idea how everything else would've gotten so wet on the other side of the room. It was like everything just had condensation all over it.



Regarding the size of the shed, yeah, it is quite large, but it's just poorly built. It was originally a workshop, but it was built quickly and not at all insulated properly. A concrete room, pretty much.

ted1

It may be rising up from the ground or was it windy and raining? If so it may be blown in under the door

It was windy and raining alright, but we've been having crappy weather for weeks now and it's never happened before. And even if it was blowing in under the door, it wouldn't explain the condensation on the light switches, plug sockets, etc. (there are two cardboard boxes out there, and both were soggy, also.

I really can't get my head around it. It really does seem like everything was just in a steam room/sauna for a little while.


I should probably mention that the door does allow a small bit of wetness at the bottom of it, but nothing this extreme.

So I just took another trip out to the workshop/shed. It's been heavily raining for a while now (not sure how long exactly, as I was asleep, but it's been coming down heavy for the last 3 hours I've been awake, anyway).

Shed is back to being the same again (pool of water, everything covered in condensation).

So, I'm blaming the weather.

My question is (to anyone out there that's even still reading this :P ) what's happening here? The water seems to be getting in under the door of the shed from what I can see, and converging on the lowest point of the floor. Bit of siliconing/caulking around the door and that's sorted.

But I still can't quite grasp the issue with everything being soaked. There are plug sockets, for example, dotted around the entire shed, on 3 of the 4 walls and all a decent distance away from each other, yet they're all wet.

The ceiling/MDF shows no signs of wetness though (that I can see, anyway). I've been googling around but can't seem to find anything.

Don't quite understand it.

arse..biscuits

Some of the water might evaporate after it gets into the shed, it then touches cold surfaces and condenses.

galwaydude18

Pictures pictures please so we can all see exactly what's going on

arse..biscuits

Here's a pic of my home gym

https://us.v-cdn.net/6034073/uploads/attachments/132018/206488.jpg

Syllabus

first things first

sell the workshop tools to finance the build



ill take the compressor

€50??

arse..biscuits

Tools, etc. aren't really mine to sell. I'd rather have the compressor there than €50 to be honest (which would get me very little). It's not really worth selling the stuff, to be honest.

arse..biscuits wrote: »

Here's a pic of my home gym

https://us.v-cdn.net/6034073/uploads/attachments/132018/206488.jpg

Looks good to me. I wouldn't say no to having a similar set up. Just don't want to put anything out in the shed if it's all just going to get destroyed in condensation straight away though (I'm unsure if it'd be harmful to the spongey material on the weight benches or such, for example).

galwaydude18 wrote: »

Pictures pictures please so we can all see exactly what's going on

I don't really know what to take pictures of, to be honest. The water is literally just a pool of water (and inside the door is a bit wet, too, so I assume that's where the majority of the water itself is coming from. I'll get a photo of it up next time it happens though (I'll run out now and take a look, but I'm not sure if there at the moment or not).

arse..biscuits wrote: »

Some of the water might evaporate after it gets into the shed, it then touches cold surfaces and condenses.

As far as I know, it's when very cold air touches the cold steel roof, it then condenses into the droplets of water that 'rains' down on everything inside.

What has me puzzled is how the MDF sheets aren't preventing this from happening/dropping into the shed. I could understand wet walls (as there are gaps around the edges) but the weights bench being wet, for example, which is sitting away from walls, doesn't make sense to me.


I'll get some photos up as soon as I can.

Righty oh, went out a few minutes ago and it's back to it's wet state again.

Puddle on the ground;






And some photos of the cheapo weight bench that's in it at the moment (not being used, of course) and how wet it is. Note that the bench isn't touching anything (ie; not connected the walls, where I'd have assumed condensation would be the problem):











Anyone any idea?

Cheers

igorbiscan

looks like condensation,,have you vents in the shed?Also might want to try some low level heating for a while to see if this helps.

teddyboy

Don't get me wrong I think your idea is right but I think your are just wasting your time and money. Your probably just a youngster

1. You will have to spend a lot of money just to get a poor gym

2. Working out on your own is very demotivating and your results will show that when you lose interest

3. You need to become more social...hiding away in your back garden will only make it worse. You must face your anxiety to overcome it. 6,855 post since 2008 would indicate you spend a lot of time online which is not good.


4. Gyms are cheap and you will have more equipment to use in a well fitted gym.


5. Pissing money against the wind. I go to the gym to workout but also to check out the women and talk to them after a hard day of college. The feeling of every one trying to reach the one goal.

6. mirrors mirrors mirrors ..you need them

7. Partner in crime..there are lots of them gym heads in a real gym

8 showers...happy days no messing at home

igorbiscan

igorbiscan wrote: »

looks like condensation,,have you vents in the shed?Also might want to try some low level heating for a while to see if this helps.

There are no vents, no. I think vents might have been a bit too fancy for what my brother had in mind when this was initially being built.


I've noticed that if I leave both windows open ever so slightly, that the condensation issue seems to stick solely to the windows (in other words, the interior side of the windows are drenched, but everything else is fine).

Could be just me getting poor timing though and it just hasn't happened since. So I'll leave it a few more days and see, before doing anything else in it.

teddyboy wrote: »

Don't get me wrong I think your idea is right but I think your are just wasting your time and money. Your probably just a youngster

1. You will have to spend a lot of money just to get a poor gym
2. Working out on your own is very demotivating and your results will show that when you lose interest
3. You need to become more social...hiding away in your back garden will only make it worse. You must face your anxiety to overcome it. 6,855 post since 2008 would indicate you spend a lot of time online which is not good.
4. Gyms are cheap and you will have more equipment to use in a well fitted gym.
5. Pissing money against the wind. I go to the gym to workout but also to check out the women and talk to them after a hard day of college. The feeling of every one trying to reach the one goal.
6. mirrors mirrors mirrors ..you need them
7. Partner in crime..there are lots of them gym heads in a real gym
8 showers...happy days no messing at home

I currently have a gym membership, but going forward prefer this option. Gonna stick some cheapo gym gear in it and see if I'm still using it 6 months down the line.

If I tire of the Gym idea, I can always do something else with it. Either way, I'll need to sort these issues out, anyway.

(I'm also a photographer so spend a fair bit of time working with lots of people).

Cheers though.

irelandspurs

You will need to insulate the whole shed to stop that,also vent it,it's happening because the inside is warmer and hitting the cold external walls causing the water which then rolls off the walls and forms in the lowest part of the floor.

arse..biscuits

My shed isn't insulated and I never get any condensation. I do however, have good ventilation.