Good morning everyone, I'm in the process of building a new shop after my old one was destroyed a couple years ago. Just finished the shell last night and waiting for daylight to start on the electrical this morning.

Would love to see some pics or hear ideas about what you have done with your space. My goal is the ultimate 1st gen shop

 

Definitely hard air lines mounted inside the framing and then hidden with the Sheetrock. Tons of lighting. Shelves mounted on walls, the type of shelving to hold the tubs for different types of fasteners, etc.
if your into it, definitely a 1/4 of that space set aside for a reloading room.

Some of the stuff I wish I would have done when I built my garage.

 

I hardly use my air lines and tools most days in the shop.
I love my 1/2 electric impact guns.
I really only use air for tires, the wiz wheel and my air nozzle to blast thing clean.

Definitely you'll want lots of strong shelving, and a lift.
I would love to get a lift in my shop...

 

Think about the layout. Mine has accumulated so much stuff that now I get cramped. I agree on previous ideas for a lift. Also, if you think you have enough light, you don't.

 

Good area set up for parts cleaning, and an easy set up to dispose of the used cleaner solution, too.
Epoxy them floors, so an oil or chemical spill is effortless in clean up.
Heating system, as in a ducted furnace would be slick, and A/C if your area requires it, temp wise. If, not, a couple of industrial paddle fans to keep that place cool.
How about some exhaust? Especially useful for those cold nights when you want to let the car idle for diagnosing purposes, and don't want to open up the shop doors? An exhaust system will pull out those fumes. Make sure and provide accommodations for make up air, though.
Again, more ideas I wish I would have done. Oh, there will be more as I think about them, LOL!

 

I will be honest my shop is almost as dark as a [man] cave.
I use a few of those super bright LED job lights to spotlight what I am working on.
More ceiling lights is on my list as well.

I do LOVE my radiant heat floor as it is COLD up here.
With no lift I spend a lot of time laying on the ground, so it is nice that it is not cold and wet.

 

I have a hoist in my shop. I now hate laying on my back changing transmissions and driveline parts.

I wish I would have put 2 big doors on the building, then I could have 2 projects going at the same time.

Its nice to have a place designated for welding, plasma, and torch work.

I have a 16 ft workbench on one wall, half is wood and the other half is steel, both surfaces are nice to have depending what I'm working on.

And you can never have enough receptacles.

My heat source is an old forced air wood/coal stove. It can make me sweat even on the coldest PA winter days.

 

i second the hard air lines but i would surface mount everything. easier to fix or add onto later. plumbed 2 of my dads shops with 1/2" PVC when i was up in SD this winter. works really well and easy to work with.

heated floors are a must in the cold. i used to scoff at this idea until the 2 aforementioned shops got them. keeps the shop at 55* even in negative outside temps and you don't have a heater blowing on you.

i think we've all cursed at working in a shop with poor lighting. especially when you're doing any cutting/welding. i hate drops lights. my garage looks like an O.R.

 

Wow thanks for all the replys! I'll try and respond to all the ideas:

Reloading area, I have a glorified garden shed that i use for a reloading area, has all the presses mounted up and ready to go

Air lines, I thought about running some RapidAir lines throughout but I really don't use air tools much anymore. Mostly cordless, the tech is amazing on them now. My dewalt 20v Impact puts out 1200lbs of torque! For other uses 2-50ft hoses on reels will do the rest

A lift: yes I have a Bendpak xpr-168-10 ready to install

HVAC, I don't have natural gas at my place so it's going to be oil furnace with duct work
Summer I'm usually to busy to be in the shop so will be ok without AC. The Slab on grade is the slab that was in the old shop. So unfortunately can't go with in floor heat

Yes I agree LOTS of receptacles!

I have a nice welding table that was my grandfathers, salvaged from the old shop

I'm a contractor and asked a electrical engineer I know to help with the lighting. All the fixtures are chain hung lithonia led fixtures that put out over 12000lumens each. She said it is more then adequate for lighting. Also going to add some over the work benches

Here's some pics of the old shop after the wind was done with it, my wife and I cleaned up the 40x80 mess in 4 days!

 

PVC is unsuitable for air over 40 psi, or sizes over 3/4", even at 40 psi. The reason is that it eventually cracks, and when it fails, then totally fails. The failure mode is explosion.

Don't believe me? Look it up at OSHA.

The company know-it-all ran 6" PVC schedule 80 at the tank place for shop air. It failed one day. There were sharp pieces of pipe all over the shop. Luckily no one was hurt, but it could have been pretty bad.

 

 

 

The entire building is 40x80, The front 40x50 area is the heated shop, and the 30x40 area is cold storage. I'll make lots of shelves in the cold storage area. My wife talked me into buying real nice cabinetry for the shop, al diamond plate. Can't wait. Also have a transmission jack, free standing sandblaster cabinet, free standing parts washer and was able to save most of the big power tools from the old shop

 

I can't even tell you guys how jealous I am of your shops...Your pics and descriptions are making me sad Ashley... I really miss not having a shop to work in....the garage is so crowded with vehicle and my parts hoarding, and sometimes the driveway just doesn't cut it.

 

Consider a pit if you can, I love mine.