If you were to build a shop....

[Greg]

... how would you build it?

I'm thinking hard about starting a shop on our property. We have plenty of space, so size isn't a huge concern, but there's no need to go overboard.

I'm thinking something around 30' x 40', enough room for vehicle storage (2 4x4's, a few motorcycles, etc), tools (I have a lot of tools, drill press, engine hoist & stand, welder, torch, tool boxes, etc, etc), shelving for parts storage and then at least the size of a 2 car garage as a dedicated wrenching area. I've never had an actual shop and I know empty space fills up fast, so I'm not sure if my sizing is right. I'm wondering if I should just spring for 30' x 50'? 30' x 60'??

I already have my build plans in mind, it's a bit non-traditional... I'm thinking 10' ceiling, with a 9' tall garage door... so the Lexus with the RTT will fit. I want to frame it up, then use straw bale for the walls, covered with stucco. Finish it off with a metal roof. If you're not educated on straw bale construction, please do some reading before you criticize the idea. I like the idea because of the high R-value, the ease of a DIY'er doing the construction, the simplicity of the process and the minor expense of straw. One thing to consider, the walls will be thick due to the straw bale, so sq/footage inside will be less than the outside measurements would indicate.

Feel free to weigh in on the actual construction of a shop, size, ideas... I think I'm going to do things such as running an air line around the walls, extra outlets all over, etc. I'd like to build an enclosed room for the air compressor, so it's not loud inside the shop.

 

[Stacey]

Love the idea of straw bale walls. Personally I would go at least 30x50 and even 30x60 if you can. 50' will give enough room for 2 vehicles end to end and a work bench or whatever at the end. You might also want to run 220 power for a large compressor, welder etc. Sky lights will help on the light bill.

 

[Greg]

Love the idea of straw bale walls. Personally I would go at least 30x50 and even 30x60 if you can. 50' will give enough room for 2 vehicles end to end and a work bench or whatever at the end. You might also want to run 220 power for a large compressor, welder etc. Sky lights will help on the light bill.

Concrete will be my biggest expense and I think I can do a 30' x 60' slab for under $3000, which is good. Anyone up on current concrete costs? Does that sound about right? I'm leaning towards 60' long, because you can never have too much space.

I would run 220v for sure... my welder and compressor are 220. I love the idea of skylights, my wife & I looked at a modular that had 'sky tubes' inside and they added a ton of light! Good call!

 

[grinch]

I did a 26'x31' in my last place and it ended up not being big enough after tools, 3 motorcycles, hot rod, buggy project.... I would probably go it least 35'x40' the next time around.

 

[Greg]

I did a 26'x31' in my last place and it ended up not being big enough after tools, 3 motorcycles, hot rod, buggy project.... I would probably go it least 35'x40' the next time around.

Good to know, I went out in the street and marked out 30' x 60' and it's huge, but 35' would be much better for moving vehicles around. That would be around 2,100 sq/ft! Bigger than my house!!

 

[Caleb]

Concrete will be my biggest expense and I think I can do a 30' x 60' slab for under $3000, which is good. Anyone up on current concrete costs? Does that sound about right? I'm leaning towards 60' long, because you can never have too much space.

Maybe it's a bit different in your area, but I'm getting my RV pad poured and for the pad alone (about 1100 sqft) I'm at about $4K. Depending on your location and if they charge more for a farther drive, you may be up over $5K for 30'x60'. For all my concrete (about 2200 sqft), my bids have been $8K-$11K.

 

[Greg]

Just another thought... it would be nice to add a 'whole house' electric fan in the shop, for ventilation. Something like that would be great to use after painting, grinding & using a torch in addition to clearing hot air out of the shop.

 

[Greg]

Maybe it's a bit different in your area, but I'm getting my RV pad poured and for the pad alone (about 1100 sqft) I'm at about $4K. Depending on your location and if they charge more for a farther drive, you may be up over $5K for 30'x60'. For all my concrete (about 2200 sqft), my bids have been $8K-$11K.

You're probably right on the pricing, I'm considering doing as much of the work that I can by myself to save money.

http://www.learnstrawbale.com/concrete.html

 

[Caleb]

Just another thought... it would be nice to add a 'whole house' electric fan in the shop, for ventilation. Something like that would be great to use after painting, grinding & using a torch in addition to clearing hot air out of the shop.

For sure. We had one installed at out shop when I was brine shrimping (our shop was ~100'x200') and it made lots of difference in those exact circumstances.

 

[Caleb]

You're probably right on the pricing, I'm considering doing as much of the work that I can by myself to save money.

http://www.learnstrawbale.com/concrete.html

That's with me doing everything but the pour, rebar, and forms.

 

[Greg]

That's with me doing everything but the pour, rebar, and forms.

I think I'd do the rebar & forms myself too, just pay for the pour. I have a friend of a friend that runs a mixer, hopefully he could help out.

If it costs $6k+, I might have to figure something else out. I'm really trying to pull this off with money out of pocket... and I don't have that much to spend!

 

[muleskinner]

My detached garage here in Beaver has a crapper in it.. sure is convenient

Go bigger than what you think you want. On the skylights, there is a guy with a shop near Vernon that has something like 16'' horizontal clear panels just under the roof overhang all the way around for natural light. Great idea IMO.

Build recesses in the walls near the ground for florescent lighting. It's great lighting under your rig when you are working on it.

Plan on Building the attic for storage.

B-rad built a shop last year and it's awesome. Air lines, tons of outlets, speaker wire, coax etc. all in the walls.

Maybe a pit? Heater?

 

[muleskinner]

Another thing Brad did was install a heat pump. Heat in the winter, cool in the summer.

 

[ttora4runner]

Ya, it's going to be more than 3k and don't get your mud from Harper Ready Mix.

Why not add a loft.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Depending on your design you may very well need footings in addition to the pad. My pad was closer to $7500 said on done with footings and rebar. Check your zoning and see what they require or recommend for a snow load calculation in your county. I'm assuming the rural areas will in fact allow the hay bale construction, its prohibited for example in my zoning for SL County, heck some areas don't even allow metal buildings.

I went 33'x36' with my building, 14' walls. I've got a small office with storage on top. As I didn't have much room to go bigger, I went taller and with my pallet racking it was very efficient for space. If room was no issue I would have gone a bit bigger but I'm please with what I have.

 

[Tacoma]

I was just going to suggest straw, and I see you already planned on it. Good choice. It's very fire-resistant (may be of interest given uh.. recent unfortunate events :/), and has a huge R-value for winters.

awesome plans. Second the idea of using clear panels. Natural light is awesome, and in the winter adds a passive heat source. Clerestory windows aren't a bad option either if plans allow for them.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

I was just going to suggest straw, and I see you already planned on it. Good choice. It's very fire-resistant (may be of interest given uh.. recent unfortunate events :/), and has a huge R-value for winters.

My building was fire resistant, the paint wasn't

I am thankful the structure of my building held just fine and held the heat. While it amplified the damage inside it likely saved damage to my neighbors and my home? I think in Greg's case its a non-issue given the local and lack of neighboring fences and homes

 

[Tacoma]

I was thinking more along the lines of wildfires threatening from the OUTSIDE... but even then.

Straw bales are a legitimate building material with a lot of positives. I'd love to have a straw bale house.

 

[Jinx]

Another thing Brad did was install a heat pump. Heat in the winter, cool in the summer.

The other cool thing he did was the dirty room. He has a separate room of his shop for grinding, fab welding, drill press etc.

It is nice to have all "dirty" things separate so when you are wrenching your not laying in nasty.

 

[benjy]

The other cool thing he did was the dirty room. He has a separate room of his shop for grinding, fab welding, drill press etc.

It is nice to have all "dirty" things separate so when you are wrenching your not laying in nasty.

Oooh. That would be very cool. We recently moved, and there wasn't one thing in my garage that wasn't covered with nastiness from all the grinding I did over the last year.

Greg - I told Kami last night I just need to stop reading your threads. Every time it gets me thinking about ways to empty the savings account We've got an empty lot behind us in the new house, and land is soooo cheap right now. I'd love to build a shop on it.