In the next year or two, I plan on building a new shop building. Probably about 30x40 with 10-12' sidewalls. I am currently still in the design stage and trying to decide on whether to put up all steel or to put up a pole barn type. What are your thoughts and suggestions? This is for personal use. I plan to put heating coils in the floor and design for a lift. Please let me know why you think one type of construction is better than another. Also please let me know any must have feature's.

 

My suggestion would be a double stud frame. It's very sturdy and with using a stud wall it makes it easy to insulate. My dad owns a construction business and that is the way he builds pretty much all of the shop type buildings he does. If you don't want to go that route a pole building would work great to.

 

A steel building would normally be a little more pricey but with the economy like it is now you've got time to shop a good deal.

 

I prefer Popsicle sticks and elmer s glue..

 

It depends on how much money you want to spend. My pole barn is wood framed and serves my purposes. I can only imagine how more money it would have cost with a steel frame.

 

What part of southern IL. are you....Friend tore down an old warehouse, last I talked to him, couple months ago he was trying to sell all the trusses he had left.

 

10-12' sidewalls won't leave much room for a lift unless you get some special cathedral type trusses or go with an all steel building. I built a 30x45 pole barn this summer in a couple weekends with help from a few friends. Fits my needs just fine and was cheaper than all steel at the time. I know steel has dropped since then. One thing to consider is if you'll be adding on a lean-too, doors, etc. i think a pole barn would be easier to modify the existing building.

 

Mike, you are right at the break point for price considerations. For your sidewall height, I would rule out 2X4 or 2X6 construction, leaves pole barn or steel. I built a 40X60X12' high building, the guy helping was freaked out over steel construction, so we went Pole barn style. In the end, i could have done the steel building for a wee bit cheaper, and now I wish I would have found a different person to help rather than change the style.

Done right, either style will be good, if you go wood, and are going to be doing grinding or welding, figure in the cost of the steel inner liner and the labor to seal it up against the sparks.

BTW, I went 12'-2" for the walls, many 2 post lifts require a minimum of 12'.

 

Look at insulated concrete forms ( ICF's) before you make your decision. I cut my teeth as a framer and moved into ICF's before settling in aviation. You cannot match the ease of instalation, strenghth, and insulation value with any other building material. PM me and I'll give you some more info.

 

if u did wood i would do trusses for you roof and those will be engineered and astick frame the rest, with the trusses yuo can have the whole inside open jmo

 

Miracle Truss - Steel frame and you can match any exterior. wood siding, metal, stucco.
Since it's a clear span you can put a lift in the center bay and not have too high sidewalls. I would think all you would have to buy from them was the trusses as the frame is just regular lumber then you attach any kind of siding you want.
Easy to build by a homeowner with a friend or 2.
Don't go with one of those that look like a corrugated pipe

 

i do construction for a job. yes its gonna be more expensive with a steel buildin. but as stated u then have more room up top clear span. plus if u put the 6 in insulation in it your metal bulges a lil an it dont look quite right if i did steel i would blow in foam insulation.. cheaper an just as good. but your wood frame wil be cheaper an u can get trusses engineered to give u more room up top called scissor trusses. it al comes down to how much u wanna spend i guess.. both buildins are good choice

 

I built mine in phases and glad I did. Started off with a 36x36 pole barn and parked all my toys under it (16' center height). I used drill stem for the poles, 6" i beam and then 8" purlins to attach the roof to. I also insulated the roof when I put on the tin. In a couple of months I poured the concrete and completed the shop. So far it's held up good and withstood some pretty nasty weather.

 

Look into SIP's (Structural Insulated Panels) I built my house with these (2500sf ranch style) and it really keeps the cool in and heat out in the summer and heat in and cold out in the winter. It is just a big ice chest

The panel are OSB on both sides and foam in the center.....kinda like an icecream sandwich and they do work. It really makes for a great cathederal ceiling look with great insulation. And they are also stronger than $#@T. I watch a Bob Villa show and a guy made a very nice workshop with infloor heating using these panels.

My energy bill is very low now compared to my last house that was so called energy star rated.

For a rectangular shop it should be a do it yourself job with no problem. I watched two guys put up all the walls on a very large garage in 3hrs. All the windows and door cutouts are precut from the factory and they are screwed and glued together for a solid structure.

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I put up a 30x32x12(didn't need inspections/permits for under 1000 sq. ft.) pole building last year. I have a 9000bl. western lift, that i aquired after the building went up and now I wish I would have went 14' to the bottom of the trusses. I can max out the lift with a pickup and have about 6 inches to spare. Remember it doesn't cost must more to build higher. I insulated it well and I am now in the process of trying to aquire some sort of wood/coal burner to heat it with. When I priced buildings the pole structure was about $2000 cheaper erected on my prepared site. Contractors did all the major work, including pouring 5in of reinforced concrete. All I did was the electrical and finish work.