Dumbwaiter for wood? And the ultimate indoor storage system?

[kevinmoelk]

Perhaps I should elaborate a little on the current design of the home.

The home I'm designing is made to be constructed in stages. The first stage will be a one story home, with a very open floor plan, much like an urban loft. The home is designed to easily add a 2nd full story. I'm concerned about heating the 2nd floor, and since I've gotten into the whole wood lifesytle, I'm thinking another stove on the second floor will be used for heat. That said, the question is really not dealing so much with the stove that will be on the first floor. It's moreso a matter of moving wood up to the second floor, how to do so easily, and without bringing a bunch of debris in the home during transport, and saving my back.

I've scratched the idea of a separate room below the home, as I feel outdoor storage would be sufficient and since the interior dumbwaiter idea seems as though it would be a hassle to get past code. After reading the posts, and considering design, here is what I'm thinking....

Have a long breezeway at one of the homes entry points. The breezeway would be large enough to store approximately 1 1/2 cords on either side. Then at one of the corners of the breezeway where it meets the structure of the home, have an exterior dumbwaiter that could be used to transport a rather large load of wood up to the second floor. The dumbwaiter would be large enough also to move other heavy, oddly shaped objects, so perhaps more of an elevator than a dumbwaiter. I would construct a steel frame and attach a winch on top (or perhaps a hydraulic pump with cables) to power the device. Much like a 4 post car lift, only taller and skinnier. The entire device would be enclosed within a chase, and the dumbwaiter portion would have gates to keep the load contained.

Thoughts? Concerns?

-Kevin

 

[nshif]

Perhaps people need to learn the differences between a SHOP and a GARAGE. If the are no vehicles in there or fuel or combustible storage then there is no reason to to treat it like a garage.

Part of what inspectors and other such folks have to worry about is that "chit happens" and what you are using it for today doesn't tell them what you'll be doing with it tomorrow, or that you aren't going to sell it to some schmuck that thinks home repairs are what you hire contractors for and that one is actually supposed to keep CARS in a garage ;-P (My GF still has trouble with this concept) Thus, no matter what label you stick on it, if it's got a driveway going up to it, and it has a garage door, the inspector has to think of it as a garage.... If you replace the garage door with a wall, possibly with a door to small to get a car into, then he will let you call it a shop, perhaps....

Gooserider

I agree., but hell I have a set of double front doors 8' tall that you could drive a car through ( almost 8' wide ) but that doesnt make my Living room a garage.

 

[kevinmoelk]

Semantics, semantics. The important thing to consider is that your insurance company, building inspector, and you are all on the same page, period. We're beating a dead horse on this "woodstove in garage" issue. That said, I kindly request the thread topic stay focused and not morph into yet another argument on the garage issue. Thank you.

-Kevin

 

[elkimmeg]

at times I read them as I see them . When people do not want to here safety warning they assume I'm attacking them

how many times in life does not say If I only had known. I consider my warning about a door in the garage floor that way.

I can tell you no permit was obtained or never an inspector consulted ,If they were they would have never issued a permit
Karyan may not like or missinterpet a tone but a dangereous condition exist. I was trying to make you aware of it. Again not what you wanted to hear

I have nothing more to add to this post

 

[Gooserider]

Perhaps I should elaborate a little on the current design of the home.

The home I'm designing is made to be constructed in stages. The first stage will be a one story home, with a very open floor plan, much like an urban loft. The home is designed to easily add a 2nd full story. I'm concerned about heating the 2nd floor, and since I've gotten into the whole wood lifesytle, I'm thinking another stove on the second floor will be used for heat. That said, the question is really not dealing so much with the stove that will be on the first floor. It's moreso a matter of moving wood up to the second floor, how to do so easily, and without bringing a bunch of debris in the home during transport, and saving my back.

I've scratched the idea of a separate room below the home, as I feel outdoor storage would be sufficient and since the interior dumbwaiter idea seems as though it would be a hassle to get past code. After reading the posts, and considering design, here is what I'm thinking....

Have a long breezeway at one of the homes entry points. The breezeway would be large enough to store approximately 1 1/2 cords on either side. Then at one of the corners of the breezeway where it meets the structure of the home, have an exterior dumbwaiter that could be used to transport a rather large load of wood up to the second floor. The dumbwaiter would be large enough also to move other heavy, oddly shaped objects, so perhaps more of an elevator than a dumbwaiter. I would construct a steel frame and attach a winch on top (or perhaps a hydraulic pump with cables) to power the device. Much like a 4 post car lift, only taller and skinnier. The entire device would be enclosed within a chase, and the dumbwaiter portion would have gates to keep the load contained.

Thoughts? Concerns?

-Kevin

I'm not the code guru, so I don't know the exact answer, but I suspect you are going to have to be real careful on the sizing... There are TONS of safety regs on dumbwaiters and elevators, especially if the moving box is big enough that a person could ride in it... They are as fussy or worse than gas fitters - I had a job once at a photo lab, and they had a dumbwaiter intended to take the exposed cassettes of paper (suitcase sized, ~ 50lbs per) from the printing machines downstairs to the processor room upstairs to be loaded into the developer machine. It broke, and the basic response when I tried to call about service was that they couldn't legally sell me the parts for it - we HAD to have one of their techs come work on it.

I suspect that anything you make will need to be limited in size to not big enough to ride in, or be very much "off the books"

Gooserider

 

[kevinmoelk]

Good point Goose. I'll have to do some poking around as to the legal aspects. No need to be "off the books" in my opinion. If I can't build what I want, I'll just have to come up with an alternate plan of action. (thinking)

-Kevin