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

That why they make ceiling fans reversible, so that it moves the air from the floor to the ceiling and circulates the warm air without feeling a breeze!

 

At least part of the shop would be insulated/heated/cooled. The rest for storage. Make sure you have proper drainage away from the building for rain/snowfall. Do NOT bury wood support posts in concrete--our shop uses pre-cast concrete posts that go into the footings, with glue-lam support posts bolted to heavy steel U straps that are in the footings, and welded to rebar as part of the pre-cast unit. If you have extreme snow conditions that might shed a lot of snow off the sides of the roof, ensure that your sidewalls can handle the lateral load of snow piling up against them. In winter climates, DO NOT have the roof shed snow in front of your regularly used access doors. Provide the biggest doors you can think of, say for an RV, and make at least one bay a drive through. Insulate the entire building--insulated walls but not a ceiling will lead to condensation raining on your projects. Insulation boards under the slab; in-slab hot water or glycol heating in addition, geothermal heat for the entire building (air-tight piping buried at 8' deep, probably a thousand feet of it, which provides 50-55º air temps all the time, greatly reducing heating/cooling load). Daylighting through north and east windows. Air circulation as needed with a Big Ass fan. Restroom, fridge, sink/coffee maker. Four post lift. Adequate space, ventilation and power for welding, painting, etc. Dedicated area / shelving for parts and fluid storage. First aid kits, numerous fire extinguishers. Security system and internet. Flat panel TV and either cable or satellite. If your vehicles involve wood construction, a portion of the shop for a dedicated wood shop. Adequately sized driveway/slab/pad for working outside, wash-down, and making sure you're not dragging mud into the shop. That's it for now...I'm sure I'll have more ideas later...

 

For summer rotation the fan sucks hot air off the ceiling and blows it down. Not just theoretically, it is actually blowing hot air on you and some breeze is better than nothing. You feel a breeze under the center of the fan but of hot air.
In reverse (winter mode) the fan pushes air up to the ceiling and it’s supposed to push/wash warm air across the ceiling down the walls. The fan chops the air up mixing up some of the stratification of cooler air with warmer air but all above your head. You can’t feel the air moving because it’s not moving by you. You’re gonna feel the very slightest movement of air if there is any. Mixing up the stratification will cause more of the air in the room to be warmer.



Some weird stuff about air movement and heating. Let’s say your house or shop has a wood burner and You have a chilly corner or room you’d like to cool off.
Common sense might tell you to put a fan by the stove and point it to the room or corner. But It will stay cold all day.
But if you put the fan in that chilly corner or room and blow it towards the stove that chilly area will get warm. At first it’s a terrible annoying draft you don’t want and can’t stand. In about an hour that room or corner will be something between nice and cozy warm to unbearably hot. Sounds counter productive and seems really fucking stupid when you first turn the fan on because you’re colder and more miserable than you were before for a little while.

 

As for me, I’d incorporate the usual things, four post lift, high volume air compressor, heating and air conditioning, etc.....


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In floor hot water heat is a must , 50-55° floor temp makes the whole place warm !

 

No one has mentioned a stripper pole!








Bones

 

A few feet down, the ground temperature here is about 58 degrees year around. Wouldnt it make sense here to have the concrete in direct contact with the the earth?

 

I had one in my old shop.
Not really a must have item and more of a novelty.
We code named it a fireman’s pole though. Anyone could slide down but the good ones could climb it up to the ceiling.

 

It might if you insulated the outside perimeter below any frost lines.

 

Really sound advice. I was MILES outside of city and 1 mile off interstate. City wanted to be sure they got tax from any along interstate industry that would come in future and annexed right up to my front door! 1 mile each side of interstate.

1 more car I promise, Rex Winter
Dry n dusty Lubbock TX

 

There are no frost lines near roothawgs part of Oklahoma

 

If the building is a wood structure, put a row of concrete blocks all around the bottom. Then build up from there. That way, the bottom board doesn't rot. Also, the placement of doors. Make sure that when you open a car door all the way. It doesn't touch the car sitting next to it or side wall. I designed my garage that way. I also like to hear my air compressor run. It ran a bit to much last week. I had a fitting that was worn. Replaced it and the compressor runs less now.

 

Here in Oklahoma the concrete kinda cushions the temperature, it feels cool in the Summer and during the winter, you can step into the 40x70 insulated shop on the ranch and it will be 15 degrees, at least ,warmer in the shop than outside and we never fire up the stove. And have never had anything freeze inside the shop in 25 years. Now, I can’t tell that much in the Summer, but I sure it helps!






Bones

 

Make your doors swing out! Makes it harder to force the door open for thieves! And saves space!
Most of the time you can still hear your compressor, even if it’s outside, just not quite as noisy!






Bones

 

I knew there had to be one somewhere o the HAMB! Good job, 31 Vicky!






Bones

 

Swing out doors are fire safe doors, ever tried to run out a closed door that you had to stop and pull it open.

 

There is the United States frost line map.
My zone used to be 36” but everyone’s stuff was freezing so they made it deeper now. It’s safe at 48” here.

 

Couple things that were only lightly touched on:

-overhead garage door tracks can go up the wall and along the roof so they don't interfere with air space for car lifts.

-steel truss n c purlin can be painted white. Hard to believe how much brighter interior is. Steel manufacture might paint it white instead of brown/red.

-Spray closed cell insulation also seals all cracks. White of course keeps bright inside.

-Pipe upright in concrete outside next to heavily used doors. Homemade balustrade protects door jams.

-As easily as r panel is bolted on, it can be unbolted or cut with cordless tool. Interior panel helps.

-Lights on exterior, motion lights, motion sirens, alarms are all an absolute must today no matter how isolated or good neighborhood is. Cameras are good but not as helpful as we hope.

-Engrave everything with your name n phone. No pawn shop will touch them. Even Barflys are reluctant to buy them from thieves.

-Don't allow anyone into your shop you wouldn't trust with your wallet.

1 more car I promise, Rex Winter
Dry n windy Lubbock TX

 

Put up lights on a separate switch that are located above your garage doors when open. Otherwise, when the doors are shut, there`s a dark space. I also used 4 x 8 sheets of white Melanite for my ceiling. No need to paint. It`s shinny too.

 

Here's some of my thoughts:
Bathroom, with hot water tank.
Room for bench grinder, bead blaster
Pallet rack with doors on it. In fact, put doors on everything to keep dust off it.
If you do much body work, have a grinding/dust/prep room walled-off.
An overhead chain hoist.
Air hose reals on the walls.
A welding/fab area, where you will make a mess. This should be on the other end of the shop from where you park your nice cars.
If you haven't had a shop that large before, you'll soon find a lot of things should be on wheels so you cn roll them to the car you're working on.

 

Hey, Dave! Would like to slide down that pole, being a retired Fireman and all. In my 33 year career, I only slid down a Fireman’s pole one time, ( insert jokes here, lol)we didn’t have any of them in our town, but a neighboring town did, so while on a visit I got to do it one time!
Thanks for the compliment on the shop! My Dad built that shop about twenty five years ago after working out of a smaller block shop on the ranch, since 1957. He always said he should have built the big shop a lot earlier! But even now, I don’t have the same “ feel” for the new/big shop as I had for the little shop I grew up/ learned about cars, in. But we outfitted it good, it’s warm, somewhat cool, big / tall enough to work on things. The rear huge doors are large enough to get our D-9 cat in and the concrete is 12 inch thick to support it!
Hey, Oklahoma, is just a road trip away from Kentucky !
Have a happy new year!








Bones

 

Maybe this is a dumb question, but doesn't that expose the hinges for knocking out the pins?

 

That's not a dumb question, it is absolutely right, that's why an outside door always swings in!

 

...or has the hinge pin welded to the hinge.

I spent 34 years working in a hospital where egress and security were of equal importance. All doors opened outward and all pins were welded.

 

Weld the pins in, also they make hinges the pins won’t come out of, with out some work, just for this purpose. If someone is really wanting in your shop, they will get in. Mostly , the best you can do is deter the “ opportunistic” thief. That’s the clowns snooping around for easy pickings. They can kick most doors in, unless you have real heavy dead bolts. Not the kind most folks install. It just makes the a average door harder to break down. And it save room.
My fire dept was going to burn a house the city owned. I was assigned to accompany a woman to go there and do a chore. When we got there she said she forgot the keys, well we were going to burn the house in an hour so I said no problem! I’m pertty good size guy so I just ran into the newly installed door and the door, the dead bolt and the door frame all came out and was laying on the floor! The gal looked at me and said “ wow, those dead bolts don’t do much , do they? “ But it does depend on the installer!








Bones

 

That’s why on most all commercial ,people occupied buildings, the code says swing out doors. You’ve never seen a school that has swing in doors! Or you shouldn’t have seen one, that’s for sure!






Bones

 

You definitely want your doors to swing out. Who has the room required to swing in? Swing out doors have door stops built into the frame which prevent anyone forcing the door inward. Good quality hinges have bearings and a set screw that prevents anyone from driving the pin out. You can install set screws yourself. Just drill a hole,thread it and put the set screw into the divot caused by the drill bit.
https://www.tmhardware.com/Hager-100-Set-Screw-Set.html
notice the bearings in the picture

 

Residential doors swing in.
Weather stripping, sealing, outside storm door, shelter from the elements, longevity of the door, aesthetics all favor an in swing door.
Not much of that plays into a commercial door that swings out.
Btw it’s kind of a PITA to put a decent screen door on an in swing door too.