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Shop Building Q's

nvrenuf

nvrenuf

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Ok, I'm about to have a small shop built and want to make sure I get it right...

It will be an 18'x36'x14' pole barn with a single man door, and a single 12'x12' roll up door, all on a 4" reinforced slab. The roll up door will be on the narrow end so it'll look like an RV garage. I'm also putting in an 8' loft on the far end. The interior will be unfinished since I can nail sheetrock or pegboard or whatever later and save a little $$.

The initial build will not include any electrical as I have a friend that can do that once it's built.

Once built I want to insulate the roof to cut down on the radiant heat (and maybe rain noise). Spray insulation is uber expensive, good alternatives?

Are there any do's / don't's I should watch out for? I've never had a shop or built a house before so it's all spanish to me. :1zhelp:
 
I would think ahead a little....you already said electrical, are you going underground (highly recommended) if so run your conduit now with a pull wire in it before pouring your slab, and what about water? Maybe not a big concern in AL though.
Think about your layout for compressed air, electrical, air conditioning, whatever now, to see if your construction needs to be altered to fit those items. Do you plan on painting in there, if so figure in an airflow pattern, I use a hole in the ceiling with a good furnace filter, and a hole in the wall for a box fan to fit into, both with replaceable sections to allow for insulating the holes.
I used 4" rolls of fiberglass insulation for my ceiling, but blown in is cheaper, once you have a ceiling in place. Think about adequate venting of your eaves, and roof.
 
ok pole barn, i've built a few.....are you using trusses? 2' centers? roof pitch? what are you going to nail to the girts for siding? why 14', for the loft area..flat ceiling and then cathedral (scissor trusses) for the loft?

as 76 said, blown in is cheaper later. think about the future needs and wants now. water is a nice luxury.......slop sink, toilet? you should put 220 in too, i would think. will you want a lift in there later? you're going to do radiant floor heat, tubing in the pour?

this will be a good thread, we just need some more info.
 
Like I said, I'm not real educated on this so I'll do my best...

Structure
I do believe it's on 2' centers, yes it wil use trusses and the roof pitch is 4/12. It will have a cathedral ceiling for the loft and all will be open. The siding is 26ga metal skin.

Insulation
Since the ceiling will be open I can't go with blown insulation. I considered having Icyene(?) sprayed because per the internet it's supposed to be super good but the guesstimate I got killed the budget ($3500 for ceiling and walls). I may readdress this once built for an estimate of doing the ceiling only.

Loft
The loft is going to be a play area for my kids. Plans are to roughly finish it myself by adding an end wall and sheetrock w/ some sort of insualtion. I spec'd a 30"x30" window in it so I can put in a window type a/c unit so the kids wont melt.

Plumbing
No plans at all for plumbing of any kind. Afaik, I'd have to tap the main line which would mean running a line approx 100' long that would also go under about 30' of asphalt driveway. Just too much trouble for my limited skill.

Power
I plan on (2) 220v outlets and probably (8) 110v outlets downstairs and maybe (2) 110v outlets in the loft.

Climate Control
Summer temps are one reason I'm looking at insulating it, I want to try and cut down on the interior temps. Aside for the window unit in the loft area I have no plans to heat or cool the shop. It doesn't get cold enough here to need to heat it and I'm sure if I can't afford to insulate it properly I can't afford to cool it. :D

Lift
While I would like to have a lift, I just don't think the shop would be wide enough for one. At only 17' of interior width I'm not sure it would fit very well and allow walking room around a truck plus I don't want it to take up all the space in that end of the shop while I'm not using it.

Compressor
I have an upright 60 gal that will use one of the 220v outlets. Initially I'll use my existing air hose but later I'd like to plumb air lines down one side with several drops.

I hadn't thought about eave or ridge vents, good point!

Ok, it's quittin' time so I'll revisit this when I'm home. :thumb:
 
John, I can only say one thing about your plans: go bigger.

Trust me on this, I wished I had built mine bigger than the 30 x 50 it is now. Don't spend money twice. Just do it once and be done with it.
 
Go bigger and run water you can do a shop sink into a mini septic field, aka a 55gal drum buried with holes and rocks, or even just an out side spigot.
 
Water is an easy one to run. You don't necessarily have to run it that far. Talk to the water dept. and see if a main is closer than you think (maybe behind you). If nothing else you will want a bar sink and a wall mount urinal for emegencies.:whistle:

Maybe a 220v upstairs for a heat/cool window unit?:dunno: Take care of the girls first you mean old dad.:D

Don't forget you will need power for the fridge too.:pimp:

If it's not climate controlled you will want to do plywood or some paneling. It installs easier and you won't have to worry about it crumbling from the humidity you might possibly have in Mobile.:doah:

Call me if you want to.
 
7/16ths OSB is the best for sheeting the inside wait till the colder season and its usually 4-5 bucks a sheet. and you can hang stuff anywhere on there that you want. No using anchors or looking for studs. plus its cheaper and stronger than peg or drywall. But for now Like they say get the biggest you can afford to go, Water electric and all that can be added simply later. but size is hard to add.
 
I do wish I could go bigger but due to the layout of my yard I can't. My yard has a downhill grade that ends in an area that doesn't flood often but still can, and has, during the very worst storms or hurricanes - this prevents me from going further back on the lot where there's more room. Next my septic system covers the middle of my yard so that prevents me from putting the building sideways and utilizing more space / size. With the single available spot I'm forced to go with a narrow RV garage style shop. Did I mention the county set back of 5'? :doah: It's not ideal or my dream but it's more than the small, attached, single car garage I've had for the last 18 yrs. It also allows me to park my K5 inside so I can leave it topless and frees up the small garage for the wife to park her Jeep.

I'll give more thought and research to the water idea. Honestly, avoiding it was a knee jerk reaction based on the driveway. It would be nice to have one of those big wash basins there.

Are the a/c window units 220v or 110v? I just assumed 110v.

As for a fridge, I've got my eyes on a nice, cold, working bottle Coke machine. :pimp:
 
A/C is either. If heat and a/c it will be 220.

If you have to pour a slab you could make forms and have it higher in the back a few feet if need be to get it out of the water. You would just have a taller footing back there. It's kind of what Daniel is having to do with his.

You can always plumb the slab for the water and drains now and then tie it in later if you so choose. Just cap off everything outside the footing where you can get to it later but you would have it ready in the slab. I would also consider a floor drain for washing it down.
 
I would put an overhead door on both ends. Having a shop that only has an opening on one end, doesn't allow any airflow through it during the summer, and makes it miserable to work in. As for the AC unit, guys up here have been using Hotel style heater/AC units for the shop offices, and have been having good luck.

Martin
 
I would love a 2nd roll up door but the loft is in the way. Plus it would add another $1k to the price. :doah:
 
I agree with 82355 about cross ventilation. I understand the budget won't allow 2 roll doors but maybe you can add a few more 30"x 30" windows directly opposite of each other so the wind can pass thru.
Remember heat rises, you may want to think about one of those twirly fans on the roof for heat exhaust.
 
For sure figure out some kind of cross ventilation be it a rear walk-in door or windows. I had a 30x40 built in dec. they used "bubble wrap" type. It was around 1/2 price of plastic backed type, works just as good too.

I don't know if your gonna do it yourself or have it built but theses guys did mine http://www.maderightbuildings.com/ . I've got about 15k in it slab, insulation,erection and including the dirt.
 
trukker said:
I had a 30x40 built in dec. they used "bubble wrap" type. It was around 1/2 price of plastic backed type, works just as good too.
Click to expand...

What part of the building are you talking about?

$15k is pretty damn good price. I've been talking to 2 local places, if they come back with crazy numbers I'll give your folks a call. THANKS!
 
Ooooooohhhhhh.... I gotcha! I'll look into that as well. :thumb:
 
I've got everything done but the insulation and sheeting for the inside walls.

So far for the complete materials for the 30 x 50 x 10 shop, I've got under $14K in it.

I'm still looking at an outdoor wood furnace made by Bryan and its gonna run around $2500. Be great to have it outside to save on space and run the duct at the floor to the ceiling and then into those spiral shaped ducts down the center of the shop with vents out every so far.
 
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