We have been working very hard, not just on the cars, but also on our building. We are expanding, and we are not doing so in the conventional way. Why? Because this is supposed to be fun. It’s about passion. And if our home is a dump, well, there wouldn’t be much passion or fun present. Sure we could have torn-down our Quonset hut and built something square, but if you love the two frog eyes on the hood of your car as much as I, you too would dream in curves, and thus our hut is well, Buggy. Curved. Bugeye-like.
Here’s the front facade when we moved-in in 2015.
As if a formerly run-down Quonset hut restoration wasn’t enough, we added a funky expansion structure with a similar curve, so the two round structures would play nicely. It has skylights, radiant heating in the floor and is at ground level, which allows a pleasant work space and faster departures and arrivals than our current structure which is four feet above grade. We’ll use the current building for more of a display space, and the new building will provide more storage and better work space than what we have now. This expansion will allow us to do more… and to do it even better.
One of the challenges of a bolt-together building is water leaks, and while we have minimized the issue, we still have a few, and thus we needed an internal skin that would allow any leaks to penetrate, with minimal damage. We’ll keep sealing the roof and striving for water-tight, but like the oil sump of a Bugeye, in spite of the best intentions, they are seldom leak-free.
And so we designed a slat ceiling, that would look great and breathe well, that would drain if needed, and would have components we could replace if they got water-stained. It was a smart solution, until we set out to mill the first 360 Eastern pine boards, and stain them, and poly them… well, this is taking longer than we had hoped.
BUT
Look at the awesome results…. one of the greatest gifts of employing great fabricators is that they love to make things, and while our crew is mostly hard at work on vehicle restorations, there is also time each week to make our expanded home spectacular. With the help of Mike (our now full time carpenter), and a host of other sub contractors and suppliers, our ceiling continues to line-up just right.
Now for the next 500 boards!