Technical So, if you could build the dream shop what would you incorporate

I go across my back alley and see my neighbor Craig who posts on Youtube under "Throttle Stop Garage" work in an incredibly small garage and realize that all I need is to get a "rountuit".

 

I`d have to separate my dream shop into different sections. Divided by walls. A dirty room. A body shop. A mechanics area. A fab area. An assembly area. A display area. Unless you like to clan a lot. You did say your dream shop.

 

It's a good suggestion.

Mine is one big room, and it gets filthy. I wish I could split out the space for heavy fab and clean assembly. I did leave room north for an addition!

 

Went thru a bunch of research on this not to long ago. While looking for property we found a place that had 8200 of building already up. So we bought that and I’m making it work.

If I were building, I’d go with this style roof truss structure for sure.


Radiant heat is the most efficient of all “fact”. But radiators take up space - Fact. Cold concrete floors is the most detrimental thing to the aging human body. Fact.
You do the slightest bit of thinking there and you’re going to come to one of three of these logical conclusions. Fuck this I’m moving where it’s warm, my shop gets heated floor the whole thing will be a giant radiator, I’ll only work out there when it’s warm.
Turning the floor into a heat emitting radiator is easy as falling off a log. Now, getting it to effectively and efficiently heat your space takes some thought and math and science. You get one chance to plan around piers and lift footings and other anomalies under the floor like a flush scissor lift.




To me, a square shop operates more efficient that a long skinny one but it does costs a fraction more per square foot to build. I started out with 100x30 space. Then to the left I got another 100x30 then to the right another 100 x30. Once I moved my stuff to the center of the original 100x30 I walked around a whole lot less with 9000 sf than I ever did with 3000

Hot cold water with shower and toilet is a must. Washer, dryer, And efficiency apartment would be used more than you think.

Do some research on floor specs , Your Ff and Fl numbers you want so you can communicate effectively with the guys doing the place and finish. https://www.archtoolbox.com/materials-systems/concrete/ff-and-fl-numbers.html

Raise the elevation of the finished floor at least 6” above the out side grade. That way There will need to be 6” standings water outside before you flood inside. I opted for a flat floor with no drains I didn’t want the slope with exception of a 12 x 20 section infront of the door that’s sloped back to the door. That’s where I make a wet mess, let em drip, or wash out. The rest of the floor stays dry.

Drive thru doors are very beneficial, cross ventilation and breezes.

Open and closing coupula. This was the antique form of AC . It Worked then and still works now, add a ceiling fan and it works better.



Wide Doors on gable end are much easier and cheaper. You could open the whole damn wall. And if the trusses pictured above are used you can get a 16’ tall door into a 12’ tall building.

 

I want SPACE, like where I could hold a 20 foot stick of tubing and spin around and around with my eyes closed and not hit anything. haha!

I'd love to have a secure building the size of a football field. I'd have all my stations setup with plenty of room in between them. A flatbed truck to act as a mobile work bench, and to move parts/projects from station to station. I'd keep a set of basic tools easy to grab right off the truck. And a machine shop area with a good sized lathe and mill.

I know I wouldn't use the space very efficiently, and I'd be moving around alot, but I would love that.

 

I would have my doors open to the south and north, that's what work where I live.

 

Spray booth and good overhead beam to pull motors .

 

I tried that on this last building. It actually worked against me. I thought I would be smart and have 38’ of the 50’ open to the south and I had 5 windows on the north. The problem under up being the amount of dust and dirt that came in.

The next issue was if 2 of the 3 doors were open, you get a slow volume of air. You can’t feel the breeze once it gots the threshold. I know it’s moving because it has enough force to suck the walk door closed.

the last issue is the angle of the sun. It cooks you in the summer. No shade in the south side and I have a 50’ concrete apron that gets superheated when the temp gets up over 100, which is most of the summer.

This building is going to face East and there will be widows on the south side and north end.

 

My old shop the main door faced south.
The acres of blacktop back there got soooo freaking hot.
The building across the parking lot had doors facing north, their inside summer ambient temps were always at least 10 degrees cooler. But they also had big beautiful shade trees on the south, grass, and just 35’ of blacktop on the south. That made a big difference

My new shop, the door faces north. The south side of the building gains radiant heat (not good in the summer) and also gains heat in the winter which is really nice. There’s also a door on the west. In the summer after 2:00 we got to shut it because it will cook you and blind you. An awning there is in the future because the breeze is nice.

 

The one I am getting quoted has a 15x50 patio on the south side. That with a few windows should help with the breeze not being blow dryer hot.

 

A turntable to spin my cars for viewing and reversing direction.

 

Here in Iowa the local community codes apply farther out than 500 feet past the city limits. Make sure you are in the clear of any city codes before you buy so close to the city limits.

 

Another thing that commonly happens is that the city or municipality will push out their boundaries to increase their tax base.

So celebrating that you’re outside the limits but close because of low taxes and freedom from bylaw restrictions is often short lived.

 

Yep
Urban sprawl is a given in just about any major metro area, you could build in the middle of an Iowa corn field and in ten years you got neighbors.

 

Wow. Fun reading.

Most fun place I had, I lived in. 40' by 50' footprint. 16' side walls, 20' peak. Tall enough for a loft, with mezzanine, & catwalk .. about 600 square ft. Had a bathroom with shower, & a full kitchen underneath it.

You wouldn't have to live there, but great place to office, & store things out of the way .. is up high. Lofts are a good use of space for tall buildings.

A/C .. overbuild it. Mine was rated 2.5 ton, should have doubled it. I had suspended duct AC drops everywhere too. Texas & Oklahoma, man.

Skylights are cool, but we have HAIL !!

So if tall outer walls ... think of windows up high with extended roof overhangs. Mine was single light wood doors, placed on their sides ... framed in. Loved it. It was like an art space in terms of lighting. Cheap too.

I actually built a super structure on the roof, because I did have two large 2' by 8' skylights. I wanted to protect the skylights from said hail ... but since it was an afterthought .. and attached to the roof .. it almost became a hostile piece of debris once with 50mph wind gusts.

In my next life a cupola with windows and a serious roof overhang would be cool. I love long roof overhangs. Keeps the building cooler and dry !!

I had a spiral staircase because it was free. With open loft walls, it wasn't a big deal to hoist stuff up & over .. but if the space was 50' by 50' .. plenty of room to just have a wide staircase. Much better.

Zone air conditioning is cool for common small areas. My place was well insulated, but you still had to climate control the whole building. One of those little bread box .. hang on the wall AC units would be cool for smaller specific area .. like office or man cave. More efficient.

Some build theirs all open. I liked mine compartmentalized. Front third was like a 4 car garage .. with far left glass door lobby, 2nd left office with window, two far right was double garage. This area was underneath the loft .. except the lobby. The lobby was cantilevered 6 ft into by the upper loft .. and open cathedral ceiling like the rest of the building.

I recently visited an old shop with a work pit. That was cool. Had a steel beam trolley chain hoist. Pit had a nice set of tool boxes, large conduit pipe that his air lines and electrical came through. Building was commercially built 60 years ago. Dug the heck out of that feature.

Said it had a massive tank that used to hold fluids, that he removed. Didn't make sense to keep. His oil changes and the like are removed every time, so no tank needed.

Air compressors outside are great. A little lean-to .. or some sort of separate room is good. Annoying if in your shop to play. You know you're going to have TV's & stereo .. so put the non pleasurable machines out of ear shot.

While we're speaking of that ... plan your surround sound now. Doesn't even have to be nutso expensive either. They make nice P/A style ceiling & wall speakers that aren't Bose quality .. because you don't need them to be. So don't break the bank. About a dozen well placed simple built in speakers & you have plenty of stereo coverage for whatever.

Anyhow, thanks for letting me help you spend your $$$$. Have fun planning !!!

EDIT : Freck'n autocorrect. Back to correct booboos.

 

Originally, I wanted an overhead door on the opposite end from the main overhead door to use for drive thru or to get lawn equipment, atv's etc. without having to move cars around. Problem was, I couldn't see what was going on around that door. A thief would have all day to try to break in. So I put it on the side. I can see all doors from my house.

 

I've read about a lot of good ideas here on this thread, and some that are "Pie in the Sky" for me. At 82 I doubt I'll ever do any more major changes to my current shop, much less build a new one.
But one thing I haven't seen here is much talk about security. With the decline in morals we have experienced in the last couple of decades, you need all the security you can get.
I have had 3 burglaries and 2 unsuccessful attempts in the last 34 years at my shop, and each one has prompted further efforts on improving things to make it more difficult to get in.
The shop is in a rough section of town rather than at my home because between local codes and restrictions, plus living on a hillside make having it at my home almost impossible. It's an old commercial laundromat, 1600 sq. ft. with only 8'6" ceiling and a small lot. But it does have 3 phase current.
After the first burglary, I added additional steel bars, and a barred walk in door constructed of 2" channel and 1/2" rebar outside of the wooded door.
Second burglary was of the tin storage house on back of main building, not much of value back there for them to steal, and my solution to this was to no longer have anything worth stealing back there plus a stronger locking system.
Third burglary they either busted or picked the lock on door made of steel bars and channel, don't know which as I never saw that lock again! Then they busted the hasp on the wooden door. Once they got in though, they never stole a thing, apparently the blinking red light on the phone answering machine on my desk spooked them and they left.
This convinced me to spend the bucks for a good, professionally installed and monitored alarm system, with fire alarm too, with no problems since. Later, when the systems changed to allow the use of a dedicated cell phone I changed to that setup, which saved me the cost of a commercial landline, and eliminated any way to cut the phone line. Works great and once in awhile I deliberately set it off, which tests the system and reminds the neighborhood thugs that my alarm system still works. Only problem with the system is that I have to be sure to keep spider webs, mice, and squirrels out as the motion detector can be set off by any of those.
Since then there's been an increase in prowlers and burglars in the area where my home is located, in a much better area literally on "the other side of the tracks".
So I read up on the latest in alarms and bought a system I custom tailored for my needs at home from SimpliSafe, which is a wireless DIY installation, also with it's own cell phone. It's not as expensive as my shop system, either in initial cost or monitoring fees, and gives even better protection to a house lots larger with many more points where forced entry is possible.
Just stop and think what can happen and how expensive good tools and equipment cost now, andI think you'll at least look into what you can get at what isn't really alot of money compared to what you have to lose.

 

Roothawg, that’s why I mentioned a lot of overhead doors. Here in Oklahoma you never know which way the breeze is blowing.....or not blowing! If you have large openings on all four sides you can select which door or doors to open for the best benefit . Also you can open doors 1/2 way near where you are working and with large exhaust fans in both gables it will create a nice draft!








Bones

 

Where I live, land outside town quickly becomes land inside town. I think the big mistake people make is having the overhead door too close to the side wall. Most of the plans I see only give you a foot it seems. Would be nice to have enough room for storage and work area next to the lift.


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I'm currently building a new shop. 32' x 48' pole barn (as mentioned build it on 8' measurements it was much cheaper). Roof trusses are 8' on center 10' high and the left end is a scissor truss; so 32'x32' of the garage is 10' high ceilings and 16'x32' bay for 2 post lift has 14.5' ceiling at the peak. 5" concrete @ 4,000 psi.
I'm currently framing the inside walls (6" insulated when finished) and installing runners every 2' between the trusses for white metal ceiling.

I'm still trying to plan out everything.... lots of good ideas have been mention already!
• Planning out electrical is a big one. I'm running 5 items on 220V (2 welder outlets, 1 for compressor, 1 for lift, and 1 spare outlet for any future equipment. Remaining items on 110V, but still trying to figure out how I want to layout the garage.
• Lighting, I went with 4' LEDs (5500 Lumens) because I could get them cheap through work ($17/ea.), although I had to buy a whole pallet of them (36). I'll end up splitting what I don't use with my father's garage.
• Out Door Lighting: Security Lights at the service doors, lights for the porch, motion flood light at the overhead doors, street lights.
• Outside Electrical Outlets: For yard work, Christmas lights, etc.
• Garage Door Openers: I will be wiring mine for the side mount garage door openers (Liftmaster), less overhang/and lighting obstruction.
• Heating Units: It will be a natural gas unit. Need to plan it's location, run gas line & how the ductwork will layout.
• Ceiling Fans
• Security system
• TV & Music Speakers

Then its onto the finishing... drywall, siding, shelving, workbenches, etc...

 

^^^^^^ Steep steel roof = snow slides off and dents vehicles parked along the building. It happened where I used to work. The insurance company calls it an act of God. Which means it is not covered.

 

So is a tornado , but the damage it creates is covered . Every insurance company is different, but if that happed to me, the insurance company would be talking to my lawyer! They have before! Lol








Bones

 

I finished the interior walls in the last home shop I built with OSB instead of drywall. It was nice for hanging things up, didn’t crack or crumble if bumped while working or moving things around. I also mounted my electric panel on the finished wall & wired everything in conduit & metal boxes. It was easy to add on as I went along.


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On the electric outlets, be sure if a bunch on one wall they are on separate circuits. Had a friend do quad outlets all on one breaker. When he runs his saw and the air compressor kicks in it trips the breaker. May be a time when 2 people are working and trips the breaker. 6 outlets per breaker max.

 

Kinda like this, we also painted ours white to reflect light better, we went up eight feet. We did this years ago, kinda dirty now!










Bones

 

One mistake we made on our shop was the main overhead door is too narrow! Hard to back trailers in. Not impossible, but difficult. When I specked it it was suppose to be 12x10, they put in a 10x12! Didn’t catch it till too late! If I had it to do over the door would be 14 x14!










Bones

 

I plan on security cameras and a monitored alarm. The property has a creek down one side and a farm behind it. The access will be restricted by adding a pipe fence across the front. The neighbors are pretty aware of everything going on, so that helps. It also, is situated on a dead end road, so no excuse for people just cruising around. If you don’t live there, you have no reason to be there.

 

That's one of the compromises we needed to make in design. Originally I spec'ed 12x14' door, but that would have only left 18" on each side wall. Workbenches on one wall trumped the wider door. I'm used to backing the trailers in a narrow drive, so just gonna have to be careful.

 

You lost me at the 40 below zero! Holy cow! That’s cold! On a bad winter here in Oklahoma we may get a few degrees below zero..... but 40 below! Don’t think so!








Bones

 

Yes, it is steep @ 9:12 pitch. We're in a very small neighborhood out in the county, but we do have an HOA (although it's not much enforced). Detached buildings are allowed but have to match the finish of the house, and house is 9:12.
The company that framed it and did the metal roof still has to install multiple rolls of snow guards & bars. It was over looked when they ordered the roof material. Hopefully they will prevent any Acts of God.

I may use OSB. My last shop was finished in OSB. It's slightly cheaper and stronger... PITA to paint. Drywall looks better & fire resistant but a lot more work.