Shop advice

macguy

macguy

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Cuemakers and those repair guys that work at home, do you ever have a problem with zoning or code inspectors? I am a cue hobbyist although I have a very complete shop with five lathes set up. I Have a 1800 sq. foot free standing building on the back of my property that has been my shop for years, there is an apartment up stairs that I sometimes rent out but usually keep it for guests. and for many years have never had a problem but I doubt an inspector would look kindly on it if he ever stuck his head in the door and saw all that equipment. I have a city and county license but it is for a home office and certainly not for manufacturing. Anyway, I never really give much thought to it since I have lived here forever but I want to move now and build a new house and keeping my shop is very important to me.

I bought one piece of property and thought I would build there. It's in a developing gated community and since I bought it a few years ago the rules has gotten very strict. Even though I have a secluded 1 1/2 acres I know it will be a problem at some point all you need a busybody neighbor so I don't even want to get started. As it turns out the property has appreciated 800% since I bought it when there was nothing at all there so I don't really care, it's on the market now. So now I am searching again for a place and am very worried I won't have it as good as I have here as far as getting away with working at home. I am now thinking about just moving to a rural area so I can do what I want but I don't know if my wife would go for that. I don't really want to have to rent space, not so much about the cost but I like working at home when the urge moves me. Any advice
 
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do some checking

In a parish(county) where I owned property manufacturing required heavy industrial zoning, tough to get. However a cottage industry making things was perfectly OK even in residental zoning.

So are you a manufacturer or just a homebody with a cottage industry? :D ;) :D

Hu
 
ShootingArts said:
In a parish(county) where I owned property manufacturing required heavy industrial zoning, tough to get. However a cottage industry making things was perfectly OK even in residental zoning.

So are you a manufacturer or just a homebody with a cottage industry? :D ;) :D

Hu
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I would say a cottage industry since what I do is not mass produced. I think a cuemaker is more like an artist and they commonly have home studios. You can also run into the problem if you had say a fire, your insurance could turn down your claim because you were running an illegal business from the house. I actually read of a case like that with a furniture maker, he lost everything and they wouldn't pay. For my new shop I plan another free standing building like I have now not attached to the main house. Either way I would keep a low profile you would still be cutting hairs even with the cottage industry deal. You don't want to be dealing with code or zoning guys if you don't have to they can be real A-holes.
 
I'm in the same situation just about, and will be moving to a rural area also. A gated community is just asking for trouble IMO. The land we're on now has moved up in value over the years also, so that should really help finance the move. I've been looking at land for a while. I have run accross some zoned for light manufacturing. I would think that cue repair would fall under that catagory but who knows? Still the high price reflects the zoning, so looks like green acres is the place to be.:p
 
Rural

I agree, go green acres all the way or else keep a low low profile. I don't even have shop visitors even though I'd love to.

I just got through setting up my CNC shop equipment last month after I took most of it to high ground due to Huricane Rita.

Trying to move several thousand pounds of equipment on short notice when you can't even get on the freeways is no fun. I just hauled my most of my sensitive stuff upstairs and wrapped the rest as best I could.

Rising water, falling trees, tornadoes, fire all spell total loss for me because regular home insurance is not going to cover.
 
I'm with you on that, living in fla. here. Right now I'm right on the water also, and If the tide ever comes up where they have It marked for a surge on the poles, My whole house would be under water up to the roof. I've been here for 36 years , and never even had It come up to the foundation, but then again We've been lucky many of times, and sooner or later, well you can guess the rest. Roof damage and downed trees though, I have seen plenty of. Had a few old growth oaks go down in 2004 when we had alot of hurricanes roll through in the same year. One of them was lifting the foundation because the roots ran under the house, one went down on the roof, and roof sections were ripped off both houses from winds. It was a mess, and still have more damage that needs fixed then We can handle with everything else going on, and rather put that work into the new place, but that will be someone elses problem anyway, because It's already on the market.

Besides the embarasement of the conditions here, I can't really have the traffic in or out either, so same situation for me when people want to come by, and it's going to be nice to just get out of here, and into a place where there are no such issues anymore.

Neighbors can be an issue also, so I would suggest to get as much land as possible for a decent buffer. Where I live all the land in the county is being built on quickly, so I'm shooting for 4 to 10 acres to make sure noone can build on top of us in the future, and start complaining.
I have no ill feelings, but We had that happen, and they called the county so many times on us at the drop of a dime, that even the woman that came out was getting tired of It, and told us It was ridiculous, she was sorry, but she had to come out and investagate anyway when they called. Our other long time neighbor said he told them Why don't you get off their back already, and mind your own bussiness :p . Incidently they had called them on him also for a small pole barn he had to park his truck under on a extra lot he had, and his house and yard were imaculate. They tried to make him tear It down, but what they did'nt know was he had connections, and that did'nt happen, but what did happen was he called them back on them, and made them tear down this huge canopy they had setup to park their motor home under.;) I never could understand It, because altough there was stuff that needed improvement, everytime we would start working on things they would spy through their windows at us, and then call them on us again for something else. Go figure.
Anyway You don't want to get stuck with someone like that backed up on your land.

I'm really looking forward to the move, so I can finally focus all My attention on cue work and building. I have plenty of orders, especially from this one cue I built, Just about everyone that has hit with that one has tried to buy It on the spot. Let this new guy on our bca team shoot with It last night, and he said that was the best he had ever shot, and said I don't what that cue costs, but I'll pay you whatever you want for It. I felt bad telling him It was'nt for sale as usual, and he was'nt the only one that wanted It. I did tell him that the good news was I know what went into, and can build him one as soon as we get setup at the new place. I could have sold 10 to 20 of that cue If I had them built, but I'm holding up until we get moved and setup alittle better.
 
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Cue Crazy said:
I'm with you on that, living in fla. here. Right now I'm right on the water also, and If the tide ever comes up where they have It marked for a surge on the poles, My whole house would be under water up to the roof. I've been here for 36 years , and never even had It come up to the foundation, but then again We've been lucky many of times, and sooner or later, well you can guess the rest. Roof damage and downed trees though, I have seen plenty of. Had a few old growth oaks go down in 2004 when we had alot of hurricanes roll through in the same year. One of them was lifting the foundation because the roots ran under the house, one went down on the roof, and roof sections were ripped off both houses from winds. It was a mess, and still have more damage that needs fixed then We can handle with everything else going on, and rather put that work into the new place, but that will be someone elses problem anyway, because It's already on the market.

Besides the embarasement of the conditions here, I can't really have the traffic in or out either, so same situation for me when people want to come by, and it's going to be nice to just get out of here, and into a place where there are no such issues anymore.

Neighbors can be an issue also, so I would suggest to get as much land as possible for a decent buffer. Where I live all the land in the county is being built on quickly, so I'm shooting for 4 to 10 acres to make sure noone can build on top of us in the future, and start complaining.
I have no ill feelings, but We had that happen, and they called the county so many times on us at the drop of a dime, that even the woman that came out was getting tired of It, and told us It was ridiculous, she was sorry, but she had to come out and investagate anyway when they called. Our other long time neighbor said he told them Why don't you get off their back already, and mind your own bussiness :p . Incidently they had called them on him also for a small pole barn he had to park his truck under on a extra lot he had, and his house and yard were imaculate. They tried to make him tear It down, but what they did'nt know was he had connections, and that did'nt happen, but what did happen was he called them back on them, and made them tear down this huge canopy they had setup to park their motor home under.;) I never could understand It, because altough there was stuff that needed improvement, everytime we would start working on things they would spy through their windows at us, and then call them on us again for something else. Go figure.
Anyway You don't want to get stuck with someone like that backed up on your land.

I'm really looking forward to the move, so I can finally focus all My attention on cue work and building. I have plenty of orders, especially from this one cue I built, Just about everyone that has hit with that one has tried to buy It on the spot. Let this new guy on our bca team shoot with It last night, and he said that was the best he had ever shot, and said I don't what that cue costs, but I'll pay you whatever you want for It. I felt bad telling him It was'nt for sale as usual, and he was'nt the only one that wanted It. I did tell him that the good news was I know what went into, and can build him one as soon as we get setup at the new place. I could have sold 10 to 20 of that cue If I had them built, but I'm holding up until we get moved and setup alittle better.
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Since you live in Florida you may find this interesting. This is the guy who will be building our house. http://www.dac-art.net/
It will, I hope, be virtually hurricane proof when it is done. He will build the shell and we will finish it out ourselves. I bought out a lot of the stock of a building supply that was going out of business a couple of years ago at from 70 to 90% off. I have except for the walls a complete house in the warehouse ready to go. Bathrooms, kitchen, tile, wiring, lighting, plumbing supplies all sorts of stuff. I have had this plan for sometime but this years hurricanes and $5000.00 year home owners insurance with an almost $8000.00 deductable. clinched it. Except for liability, I don't even plan on insuring the new house. I have been looking at northern Florida maybe in the panhandle near the Georgia or Alabama line. There seems to be a lot to buy up that way and lower taxes as well. Heck I pay $110.00 a month now just for water sewer and garbage not to mention my taxes.
 
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macguy said:
Since you live in Florida, this is the guy who will be building our house. http://www.dac-art.net/
I will, I hope, be virtually hurricane proof when it is done. He will build the shell and we will finish it out ourselves. I bought out a lot of the stock of a building supply that was going out of business a couple of years ago at from 70 to 90% off. I have except for the walls a complete house in the warehouse ready to go. Bathrooms, kitchen, tile, wiring, lighting, plumbing supplies all sorts of stuff. I have had this plan for sometime but this years hurricanes and $5000.00 year home owners insurance clinched it. Except for liability, I don't even plan on insuring the new house. I have been looking at northern Florida maybe in the panhandle near the Georgia or Alabama line. There seems to be a lot to buy up that way and lower taxes as well. Hell I pay $110.00 a month now just for water sewer and garbage not to mention my taxes.
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You have to go above north fla., because it's all going up quick here, even the rural areas, but I know alot of people moving to southern georgia, and you can get alot better bang for the buck. If we were willing to move there we could possibly be sitting on 25-80 acres, but just have too many ties here.
Your correct about the cost of living though, because the more it's worth the more your taxed, and it's getting tuff to live here now days.
That's going to hurt when we move, because My grandfather built these houses in the 50's-60's, and been in the family since, so the taxes don't really reflect the land value, but when we move, we'll be taxed on what we pay for the new place which will be way higher then the current estimate.

Probably slap a couple double wides up first unless there is something setup there already, then have someone come in and build the shell for the shop, so I can be setting It up, then start on a couple of houses. I like the shell idea, because I really don't want a stick frame either, these places here are block, and that's about the only part that withstood the test of time. Just depends on what it would cost and how much capital is left to work with. Most of the finishing & top out would be easy enough that It would'nt be a big problem for us. The plumbing & any framing would pass code, but the electrical might have to pull a favor for that just to make sure there are no setbacks.

Sounds like a deal you got to finish yours out with, I'll be looking to pick deals up like that also when I have the room to store it.

Nice places on that site, I'd like to see some pictures when you get yours up.
 
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