Not fast but slow. It's part of my charm.

I've been busy lately with a number of aspects of the salle, but unfortunately it isn't something that you can really see. I've got a couple of quotes for the building now.

One is for an attractive steel building from Freedom Steel that is unfortunately out of our price range (by about 100%). I could afford it, but not the foundation to put it on or the labor needed to erect it or the tools needed for the erection.

I've also got a quote from Pioneer Steel which is well within my price range, even with all of the juicy extras. It's also something that I can put up with limited technical knowledge (and sweat equity from my friends). The downside is that it's not terribly attractive. There are some things I could to do make it more so, but I'm not sure what that would do to the price. One example would be replacing the sidewalls with Brick or Cinder block as in the example photo posted in a previous entry on this blog. However, I have no idea how much this would cost or what kind of bracing would be necessary (if any). I was also thinking that perhaps a green roof might be attractive (as well as adding insulation and noise reduction) but i don't know what our city requirements are nor the ability of the steel building to support the weight.

In other news I went into the back yard the other day to think about how the building might look and I realized that there is this hydro line going to the house diagonally across the space I want to put the building. In trying to figure out if I was going to need to move it or not, I discovered that Ottawa Hydro might have an easement on the property. In order to build where they have an easement, I need to submit a request for encroachment. So, first I need to find out if I have one which means a Title search at the registry office. While I can't go, I can probably convince my beloved wife to as long as I don't make any more cracks about Mini Wheats.

Since that's capable of killing my project I've had to think about alternatives. One possibility would be to put in a stone/concrete patio and erect a temporary structure over it. Some possibilities include perhaps a medieval pavilion, a second hand event tent from a party rental place and a yurt style building. The structure would be reasonably easy to construct and there is a place just down the street that makes sails (for all of the boat owners at the Yacht Club) that could probably be convinced to make the shell for me.

On the other hand, in searching for a replacement space for one of my fencing clubs I was directed to an Akido Dojo that is looking for other groups to use it's space. I must admit that I'm considering just running a class there regardless. I'd need 4 students at $10 a class to make it break even. I would wouldn't have the ability to go into the back yard to fence in all weather though. I'd have to finish the basement and even then I'd have to make sure not to do too many high guards. If I do build my salle, I'd have to run this class on the nights I'm letting another group (like the local SCA dance group) use my space.

It's a Steel at half the price

Yesterday, as I mentioned, I contacted a couple of companies about the costs of doing my fencing hall as a steel building (given that there are ways to do it without it looking terrible). Today I came home to a message letting me know that there might be a building I could have discounted if I was willing to be flexible about my size. I got a little excited about this, hoping it was something like a few feet too big. I could definitely work with that.

Unfortunately, when I finally got in touch with them I discovered that it was 20 X 30. A little too small. I was almost going to go for it but it turned out to be only 12 feet high at the apex (8' at the sidewalls) and unfortunately that was the deal breaker. That does tell me that with a 25' wide building 15' high I should have about 10' sidewalls, so that's useful information.

However, if any of you need a building that size, let me know and I'll put you in touch with them.

Finally, a break.

I've been avoiding posting here for a while, partly due to the discouragement mention in the previous post and partly due to the fact that it is the middle of winter here and it's really hard to think about doing things to the back yard when the back yard is covered snow and ice.

However, I've got some reasonably good stuff going on so I'll start talking about it now.

First off, one of my friends has offered his help with the foundation. He know people, you see, and is willing to help me out with the foundation requirements, including figuring out how to do the damn thing. He's at least as big a fencing geek as I am so I suspect he may be expecting something in return for his help. This assistance is great because I have finally got a quote on what a professional would charge to do it. The charge would be 8800 for everything (I think). Hopefully with the assistance of friends I can get that down, although the good will of having a machine do the excavation might be worth it.

Secondly, I've been thinking a lot lately about how to get the clear span needed for the roof. Obviously, regular rafters just won't work. However I can't find any real information about other rafters. I spoke to a friend who suggested (after telling me that she can't legally assist me in the planning) I talk to the Architecture school because I can get students to cheaply do the drawings that I need to submit to the city so that I can get my permits. They need the practice and I need the discount. That works well for me.

Finally, I've been hemming and hawing about steel buildings. They fit many of the criteria that I have for this building.

1. Inexpensive


2. Clear span roofs


3. Inexpensive


4. Can be assembled by novices


5. Inexpensive


6. Quick to put up

Unfortunately, they have the disadvantage of being terribly ugly.

However, I've discovered a Canadian company called Pioneer Buildings that does a building in the size I want. They have this building on sale at a price that fits neatly into my budget (and that price includes shipping!). However, the best part is they they have some photos and as you can see , they don't need to look like a farm building.

A little discouraged

I haven't posted here in for the last little while because I am feeling a little discouraged. This is for a number of reasons.

Firstly, a couple of the people I've talked to seem to think that by budget for the project is at least 100% too small and I should be expecting to pay at least twice what I'm budgeting. Obviously this is a major concern for me because while I really want to have a fencing hall, I do not want to go into debt to do it. There is no way that I can recoupe my costs in an effective way to make going into debt for this a good plan.

That being said, I do think that there are a number of potential income sources, including the local fencing groups and also, the local SCA dance group.

Another concern has been figuring out how to do the roof so that there is actually room to swing a sword. I've managed to find lots of information on roofs but I can't find any information on structural engineering to tell me if, for example, I need to cross bracing you would get from normal rafters for a Gambrel roof. The alternative is a scissor truss and a cathedral ceiling, but that still losses me about two feet in ceiling height and makes a loft impossible.

I'm also considering a post and beam style construction, but I don't know how that would change my costs given the structural requirements of the beam and the expense thereof. None of the building supply places seem to have their building material prices on line so figuring out how much things are going to cost me is not something I can do from my desk.

Yet another possibility is a flat roof, but I suspect that that would require some central support. Which limits the open space I want inside.

Then there is the foundation. Some of the reading I've been doing is telling me that a slab foundation just won't be stable enough and I should consider other, more complicated forms of foundation. I don't know enough to know if this is a good idea or not.

Thankfully I have a wide selection of friends who are willing to help out. What I really need is to sit down with someone who knows what they are doing and see if what I have planned makes sense or if I'm insane to try and do it with the budget I have.

I could always just go with the slab and an ugly steel shell, but while that would solve some of the problem, it would not be an attractive addition to the character of the neighborhood nor would add anything to the value of our property.

I wish I was dating someone who has built homes for a living like a couple of friends of mine.

Feasibility Studies

I've got most of the design finalized in my head now. My current vision has a small loft at the back of the building that will act as storage, a change area and possibly a viewing platform.

The main walls will be about 3m and then the peek of the roof should be a meter and a half above that. While this won't permit things like quarterstaff fencing indoors, we should be able to get away with longsword and, if we are careful, poleaxe.

My big concern right now is figuring out how to have the clear span trusses without breaking the bank.

According to Rona.ca, I should expect to spend between $30 and $40 per square foot. I'd like to see if I can get that down to at least $25 given volunteer labour (aka friends) and see if there are other building techniques (like straw bales or cordwood) that I could also use to help reduce my costs.

Part of the problem for this is that things what are cheep (like the steel or cover-all buildings) are pretty ugly and don't fit the character of the neighborhood. So while they would keep me in the cost range I have for this project, I'd prefer to go with something that won't look terrible.

On the plus side, it looks like I won't have too much trouble finding one of the things I wanted to add: Lockers. I took a walk up to Cohen and Cohen at lunch time and I should be able to get the lockers I want for about $500 total. this will give me space to lock up club equipment and also let people store some stuff on the site without getting worked up about mixing things together. Unfortunately the half hight lockers are not quite tall enough for swords (there was a golf club handy which I used to check) so I'd have to use the full hight lockers for that. Fortunately they had both and it looks like the full hight ones are cheaper.

Getting Started: I really mean it this time

While there are many things with this project that could stop me (money, illness, magic, giant mutant rabbits) the one thing that would stop me cold is if the city says no.

Expecting to be on hold for ages I gave a call to the city (3-1-1) where, after informing me that if it is a life threatening emergency I should instead call 9-1-1, I spoke to a live human moments later. Unfortunately this live person bumped me to the building permits department and I fell into the voice mail of someone named Judith. I was so pleased to almost get a live person I didn't write down their full name.

I hope they call me back.

24 hours later

No one has called me back yet so I tried calling again. This time I spoke to Martin who forwarded me to the Nepean Development Office at extension 41250. I left another message.

I hope they call me back.

24 hours later

They just called me back. The requirements are pretty simple. It can't be taller than 15 feet and the set back is 2 feet from the eves (not the walls). It must be more than 4 feet from the house. Finally, it cannot take up more than 50% of the yard it is in. Other than that, apparently I can do whatever I want from electricity to plumbing to a second floor to anything.

Now I need to generate a plan and submit it.

Preview of the after

If the city allows it and we can afford it, I'd like to see the end result look something like this plan from eplans.com.

And, even though it's tall, I don't have to feel like I'm a jerk for blocking the neighbor's view because there's already a big tree there.