A surprise in the wall

The floor is done.

The minisplit/heat pump is installed.

It's time to get this vision moving! Time to start on the dust collection system. I've done my research and I've decided that I will be purchasing the Oneida-Air V3000 dust collector. I got onto the Onieda-Air web site and got all of the installation instructions and dimensions and I'm ready to get to work.

As I've mentioned, the dust collector will be located in a lean-to (a yet to be built lean-to, that is) on the back of the workshop. This is where I put in the concrete pad; specifically for this very purpose.

The first step (after the concrete pad, so I guess it's the second step) is to cut away the siding so that I'll have a place to attach the lean-to to the workshop. What I didn't expect was for there to be styrofoam wall sheathing behind the siding. I was expecting OSB (Oriented strand board). OSB is very structurally sound and will provide a good, rigid place to route the ducting through. Imagine my surprise when I found exactly what I didn't expect: styrofoam sheathing. Styrofoam sheathing is actually quite a bit more expensive than OSB. Styrofoam has the advantage of adding insulation to the walls, but the disadvantage of being structurally non-existant.

Luckily, I happened to have some OSB on hand (who doesn't?). So, I cut the styrofoam sheathing out, marked the studs and replaced it with OSB. Grand total of about 3 hours of work. Not too bad of a start. It does make the back of the workshop look kind of scary, though.

I must say, I like the progress and it's making me realize bits and pieces of the workshop vision. Baby steps. Baby steps.