Dream shop....your opinions

'69FuryIIIConvertible

'69FuryIIIConvertible

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For the first time in my life I have the space to build whatever I want. A standalone shop not being used for storage or filled with crap, no tripping over a snowblower, or moving rakes.

So I know the basics of what I need/want, but I'd love to have some input from people with a different perspective.

Currently what I'm looking at is;

Concrete slab, steel prefab building, seperate 200AMP service, insulated, forced air heat, 30'x50' minimum, minimum of 12' height. 1200-1500 SQ FT essentially (I'm stuck on my SQ FT as I'm already going to have to get a variance from the township).

I'm going to go with a standard style building versus the quonset style so I can utilize the wall height for shelving or whatever I'd like.

Anyway, I'd like your ideas and opinions
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Two things I wished I had done when building my shop were put in a bathroom and lots of insulation. I needed it to keep it cooler in the summer but I'm sure you're more worried about cold in the winter. It really sucks to keep running into the house when nature calls.
 
azblackhemi said:
Two things I wished I had done when building my shop were put in a bathroom and lots of insulation. I needed it to keep it cooler in the summer but I'm sure you're more worried about cold in the winter. It really sucks to keep running into the house when nature calls.
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Outlets, outlets, outlets.

Run air lines wherever possible.

Man cave projector location with space for a screen.

Internet

Landline

Exterior outlets and water, hard and soft.
 
Look into QUALITY floor coatings. NOT paint. The good stuff is expensive, but looks great, is tough and keeps the concrete dust down.
New concrete is the time to do it.
I used Armor-Poxy and did mine myself. I took 3 days but came out nice. https://armorpoxy.com/
Also make use of the space next to the ceiling with high shelving.
I went with 2 rows of block from the foundation to keep water from the siding and interior walls.
I covered my interior walls 4ft up off the block with FRP wall paneling. Easy to clean, looks good and is waterproof. https://www.homedepot.com/pep/Glasliner-0-090-in-x-4-ft-x-8-ft-White-FRP-Decorative-Wall-Paneling
Running water is also a nice touch for washing hands and whatnot. I put hot water in mine. I ran the water line from my house.
I put my compressor upstairs so I don't have to listen to it and used Rapid-Air line system to run my air. Premium Compressed Air Piping, pipes for compressed air – RapidAir Products
lights, lights, lights. Even my electrician thought I put to many in, but I can see.
 
stain said:
Look into QUALITY floor coatings. NOT paint. The good stuff is expensive, but looks great, is tough and keeps the concrete dust down.
New concrete is the time to do it.
I used Armor-Poxy and did mine myself. I took 3 days but came out nice. https://armorpoxy.com/
Also make use of the space next to the ceiling with high shelving.
I went with 2 rows of block from the foundation to keep water from the siding and interior walls.
I covered my interior walls 4ft up off the block with FRP wall paneling. Easy to clean, looks good and is waterproof. https://www.homedepot.com/pep/Glasliner-0-090-in-x-4-ft-x-8-ft-White-FRP-Decorative-Wall-Paneling
Running water is also a nice touch for washing hands and whatnot. I put hot water in mine. I ran the water line from my house.
I put my compressor upstairs so I don't have to listen to it and used Rapid-Air line system to run my air. Premium Compressed Air Piping, pipes for compressed air – RapidAir Products
lights, lights, lights. Even my electrician thought I put to many in, but I can see.
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We had a coating applied by Garage Force coatings. It’s very nice!

Garage Force - Your Local Concrete Coating Solution

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71Polara383 said:
Hey man. You asked opinions about dream shops. Heated floors.
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Its a dream shop for me, but I have a budget to be conscious of, if I had no budget it would be 80x160 with a paint booth, seperate area for blasting, etc etc etc.

Instead it's my chance to build a modest dream shop, a shop for just working in, no storage of clutter, no use by anything to do with my residence, etc..

Its somewhere to run my business and keep my hobby alive. That too me is a dream.
 
'69FuryIIIConvertible said:
I'd love too, but its not in the cards, I got two rough quotes that were 40% the overall cost to build.

When it comes to choosing where to spend money, I just can't justify spending almost half the total build cost on a creature comfort.
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I just use an oil furnace in mine. A Miller Gun. Heats very well. They are a dime a dozen around here. Used in many mobile homes.
 
'69FuryIIIConvertible said:
I'd love too, but its not in the cards, I got two rough quotes that were 40% the overall cost to build.

When it comes to choosing where to spend money, I just can't justify spending almost half the total build cost on a creature comfort.
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A friend laid all the tubes in his shop and saved a lot.
 
Lots of builds over on Garagejournal.com will put the tubing in the slab (for floor heat) so it's there in the future if funds allow to complete the system. I would look into the cost of that, probably not too much, and I would consider that mandatory in Canada.

As for paint on the floors, if you do a lot of work in the shop, I strongly recommend plain white without the flakes. It makes everything brighter, even working under your car. And skip the flakes, you'll thank me the first time you drop a hard to replace piece of hardware.
If you're not doing a lot of work in the shop, look into polished concrete. That's what the big box stores like Walmart have.
 
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I just built a 30 x 40 pole barn. which made for 3 qty 13x30 stalls; each with a 10 foot wide door. I need every bit of that 10 foot door width for the California mirrors on the pickups. If I would have built the barn a little wider yet for those three stalls, I would have a little more room between the garage doors for things like a tire changer or wheel balancer.

Though you can park a car in a 10x20 stall, it leaves little room to work on them. 13x30 works out pretty nice in that you have room in the length to wheel the cherry picker or gantry crane in front of them, and still have room for tool boxes.

You might want more than 12' of ceiling height if you think you might put in a lift. It depends on the lift requirements based on the vehicles you lift. My lift (a TLS 12k) takes up about 13'4" of height. Though you can get lifts that will work with a 12' ceiling, you may be limiting your selection or capabilities. If you are putting in a 2 post lift, you will need at least 6" concrete thickness in that stall. 4 post lifts can be less than that, depending on the lift.

After the electric went in, I had it spray foam insulated. 6" open cell ceilings and 2" closed cell on the walls. It makes it much more habitable, even without heat or cooling. Then I sprayed the spray foam with an intumescent coating to give it some fire resistance (NoBurn). It took 40 gallons to do the walls and ceilings, and I had enough left over to shoot the trusses.

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Must be nice for all of you with your dream shop. I envy your shops. I only have a 2 car garage that I stuff 3 cars into it with all of my tools and equipment to get the jobs done. However, as cramped as it is I have built dozens and dozens of my cars, my buddies cars, restorations, race cars, trucks, quads, dirt bikes, etc out of it over the years.

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'69FuryIIIConvertible said:
I looked into it more and think I may do that, my only fear is setting concrete anchors for equipment and hitting a pipe later on.
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When you get the tubes set take pictures prior to concrete and Map out the dimensions and locations on graph paper. That will give you an approximate reference for later if you need to put anchors in.
 
@'69FuryIIIConvertible I look forward to seeing your progress on the build. You definitely have the acreage to build on with a lot of options.
If contemplating some ideas, 12' wall would be the minimum, but 14' would be my choice in case you were to have a taller vehicle on the lift such as a full-size van and still want something parked underneath. (depending on your rafter choice for the construction)
Rafters instead trusses because there'll be more room for additional storage space depending on the roof pitch, and unlike pre-fabbed trusses, you won't run into any problems on a hard-to-reach building site for delivery.
Running water with a bathroom is a must, even a shower if you plan on spending a lot of time out there.

I was just on Menards website and mocked up a quick design of a 40x60 pole barn as my dream shop. Cost is roughly $31K (after discount) with 6" concrete floor. It'll cost more to rough in a bathroom and water, and adding electric is not factored in the price.
 

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It seems this is something all of us guys dream about. I know I have been. You mentioned having to apply for a variance. If that is restricting your foot print then go up. I would like to build a a 40 x 32 dutch barn, with heated floors, the walls would probably be 12'. Using 45° rafters you will end up with an upstairs that has about 12' ceilings. You could put an office upstairs, storage, air compressor. With this style of truss you could have the ceiling on one end high to accommodate various styles of lifts. As with what the others said map out where the in floor heating tubes will be. You can make a section wider on each side of one stall (or all) for lift mounts. Picture for reference of roof style.
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I second the idea to put in a bathroom. I would put a urinal in there too. Even though guys can just step outside for a pee, especially on a big lot like this, having an indoor head is nice when it's cold out.

As for as floor plan programming:
A small office and/or clean room, such as 10x10, if needed. With windows looking out into the shop.
Mezzanine above office and restroom for storage. This also makes a good location for the air compressor (on that tip, plumb a hard drain line with valve to a conspicuous location, such as next to the main entrance, that you can open each day). Plumb air lines all around shop.
Shop sink
Floor drain in restroom
Pit?
Do you want a shop crane? Could be added later, but for now you could place footings in each corner for future post locations.
Plenty of blocking in walls for cabinets, equipment, etc.
Figure out the location for the lifts so that you can place their footings accurately. Can't just bolt them to the slab.
Place all electrical in EMT conduit and use metal boxes.
Have a nice concrete slab at 2% max slope outside the main door to park on, wash vehicles, etc. Flush transition into the floor slab.
Dormers or skylights for natural lighting.

Be sure to place a vapor barrier below the slab, on top of the base, and seal around all pipe penetrations. Stego Wrap is a good product.

I don't think coating the slab is important for a shop setting, smooth bare concrete can look good and is low maintenance. Personal preference.
 
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