Building a Ski Shop
Once we knew that we would be relocating the shop to southern Maine the next question of course was "where are we going to put the shop"? We looked at many possibilities but ultimately decided that we wanted to avoid paying rent until we had the production back up and running. After a few late night discussions, Ej noted that he had some lumber available and stacked from his family property in Rumford Maine and that we could build a shop on his property in Gray. None of us had ever built a shop, shed or even outhouse; but we convinced ourselves that this was doable and a great idea!
The next decision we had to make was how much space we needed. While we knew that more space was always best; we also needed to keep the costs low in order to make the project work for our needs. With that we decided to take a backpacker mentality; what do we absolutely need vs. want and what is the smallest space that would suit our needs. Ultimately after doing some research online and finding ski companies that had been started in mobile trailers or even storage locations we landed on a 16' x 20'
We ordered some plans from a website (http://jamaicacottageshop.com) and found them very easy to follow and use; even for some newbies like us. We also utilized a local lumber company for additional lumber when our supply ran low; Red Mil Lumber in Casco, ME. (http://www.redmilllumber.com)
We all have pretty demanding day jobs, so what we thought was going to be a quick project turned into 2 months of weekends in order to complete.
The building is fully insulated and holds all of our equipment. Of course most of our equipment is on casters in order to maximize the space, but it works for now.
Stay tuned for more information on the equipment and process used for making skis and snowboards!