thrashingcows

Since moving up north and to our new place on acreage...with no shop ...I am looking to build a shop this coming year. Just brain storming and wonder about putting a hoist in the shop. Now people who have done this how tall a ceiling do you need, and any other pertinent info?

I have a blank slate and want to make this the best I can....within a reasonable budget of course. Thinking of a shop around 40' x 40' or so. So any thoughts, suggestions and comments about your current shop/garage, and the size, shape and configuration and construction materials would also be appreciated.

All comments, suggestions, and ideas are appreciated.

patdaly

Mine is 40X60 and has a 12'1" ceiling. If I were to do it again, I would make that 13 feet. Some of the lifts available get mighty close to hitting a 12' ceiling.

Under no circumstances should you pour your floor without a plastic vapor barrier under it, you can thank me later when you aren't laying on wet floors.

Another thing that I didn't do but would do if I could now would be to lay the radiant heating pipes in the floor even if I weren't going to use them right away.

I did lay my bathroom piping in and capped it off at the outside wall. I never knocked out the plug at the top of the stool fitting and ran a piece of duct tape over the sink drain, then when we poured, we ran about a 1/16" of concrete above to show a finished appearance. It is very evident by tapping exactly where it is when I do get to putting the bathroom in.

One other thing, I am super OCD about things like a fire, and knowing I wanted to cut and weld in it, I ringed the bottom of the shop at floor level with bent aluminum that comes up about 5" or so and goes under a 2X4 fastened to the slab. Notch the areas where the posts are and then when you put down your lower J Channel and put up your wall steel, it will absolutely prevent any possibility of hot slag or a berry from laying against wood and starting to smolder. ( Like I said, OCD )

That's about all I can think of off the top of my head right now, when something else hits me I will post it.

Oh yea, one other thing, before we built, I trenched in from our house to where the electric was going to be for the building and put in a 2" PVC pipe to run my power, phone, water, etc thru. It probably isn't to code, but I don't have to worry about it where I am at. Anyway, it sure is nice to be able to pull whatever I need for the building through the pipe knowing it is below the frost line and never a need to dig again.

oliver foster

You want the walls about 13 feet high, so you can keep your options open as far as shop lifts.
I built my shop on one or two layers of cylinder blocks, dry stacked and skim coated with block bond. This made it so I could use shorter 2x6s and also to keep water or welding embers from resting against wood framing.

Radiant heat pipes in the concrete is easy and cheap to do and I would highly recommend it.
I built my concrete pad over gravel with drainage tile in it, then road fabric or filter fabric, lots of sand, 6 Mil plastic, 2 inch blue foam board then the concrete with radiant tubing and lots of rebar in it. It is very cold here and I live in a wet area, so frost and heaving is a big problem.
I also angled my shop floor 2 inches over 36 feet so the water would run towards the front doors of the shop and not puddle up in the back corners.
I heat it with a outdoor boiler, that also heats my house.
All the framing lumber was milled off off of the wood on my property, and I built my own trusses out of 2x4's which I used 3/4 inch CDX for all the gussets.
If you have any questions or want to see some pictures Brain, fire me off a PM.

SIXSLUG

All great advice mentioned above. Being just north of me, you may want to consider going with 4' tall Concrete walls, rather than 24" and framing off of that, which gives about 2 feet of concrete above finished floor. You get a fire break, and no worries on the exterior concerning weathering etc at the ground, less siding and concrete to pour against when you add shed roofs later on to the sides, plus 12' lumber nets you a 14' ceiling. ....

pind

From experience. 40x40 nets you 38 and change inside, based on a 2x6 wall. Nice for a hobby shop, impractical for much else. Never less than 16' walls. If you use a scissor hoist, you can get away with less, but to get decent height, with either a scissor or a 2 post, 16 is the minimum.
Also, if you have overhead roll up doors, 16 will give you room for a 14' door. People will laugh at that, until you have to fit one of those chach-rocket highway trucks with the "hey look at me" stacks on them. Or you get a little snow built up at the base of the door.
I am currently working in a 50 x 70 (inside) shop, that is divided into 2 bays. 14'6" high by 14 wide doors, 18' ceilings. I had my reservations about the divided interior, but it works really well for what i do. If i were to build new, i would lean toward 50x80 with a mezzanine at one end, to give you a full length x height floor for 60' then 20 feet of 8' ceiling for a toolroom/bench/low level fab area.
Definitely go at least 12" of concrete wall around the slab, 2' is even better, for all the reasons listed above. Consider 2x8 construction. Minimal cost increase compared with 2x6, way easier to heat in the long run. Your added building cost will be offset by reduced heating costs very quickly.
I can probably come up with some other ideas. Pm me if you need any.

olddodgetrucks

16 ft walls give you room for second story to put things that you have to keep and never use

Busboy

What ever size you build it will always be too small. With that in mind going over a 40ft roof truss price increases rapidly and so does the weight of the truss. Having a lean to shop on the side with 8 ft ceilings is great because you can keep that warmer, Pind suggested divided bays, good for heating but I'm sure there would be times you want something bigger in the shop.I'm also not a believer in heated floors as they evaporate the water into the air, I prefer the water run off into drains and use forced air overhead heaters for greater recovery after opening a door. Having the always warm shop on the side is great for keeping warm while the larger area heats back up again, somewhere to have coffee or lunch too.

deere country

You can have water run off into drains and have in floor heat at the same time. For me I wouldn't build any shop without in floor heat. I would agree though no matter how big you build it, you will wish sometimes it was larger.

If you go geo thermal the in floor heat also cools your shop in the summer months. In the winter the snow and ice melts with the heated floor at 3 times the rate a non heated floor does. When washing equipment in the shop it also dries the wet floor off long before forced air. I can't see a problem with the floor heat evaporating moisture being a problem, in the winter that's usually a welcome thing as that's when humidifiers are used in houses especially with forced air homes.

railroaderone

14 foot clings min. 2 - 4 foot of block or concrete above the floor in floor heat if at all possible that away you can add another type of heat if you want an area sperate for a workbench and tool storage is nice

SIXSLUG

Did you win the lottery? If not, a broom will be handy for pushing snow out, and a creeper will keep you from having to lay on a cold floor....

I also agree floor heat is slow to reheat the air after a 14 foot roll up is opened, put that in the master bathroom.....

Scotty

A friend here built his fortress with six foot concrete walls topped with ten foot 2x8 wood.
heated floor and forced air.
Has front and rear 14 foot drive thru doors and office upstairs with work shop below in corner.
He also put a standard garage door off the side as he parks the family cars in there as well.
Spray foam over the concrete and then sheeted with fire rated drywall and then 4 feet of aluminum checker plate.
He spent a lot on this place. Since he built it, the cost has gone up 30% if he was to do it now.

thrashingcows

Thank you everyone for the great advice and suggestions. All will be noted and considered. This is strictly a hobby shop...and I'm mostly done with acquiring more projects. Well maybe one more.....a buddy has a 70 Coronet wagon with sub frames, I might grab that for a potential draggin wagon down the road.

Few things that I like so far....The big door, at least 12' is for sure on the list, with two smaller 8' doors to either side. The high concrete walls is something to consider, and the 2x6 vs 2x8 framing is an interesting suggestion. Not sold on the heated floors though...that is a huge investment, and not sure my budget can handle that....will have to see.

oliver foster

Heated floor big investment? I just don't see it. I installed 3 loops of 300FT of 3/4 inch radiant tubing in my concrete to heat a 36x52. The tubing and staples to put it down set me back $500 or so. The foam board and rebar you will need anyway. I took about 3 HRs of my time to lay the tubes down on the blue board. Then if you want to use it, it is in the concrete if not, just cap it off until you do. That would be the only cost to build the shop the rest can be bought later. Other costs to install it were the manifold I built out of Pex tubes, ball valves, brass elbows and tees- another $200-300. The Taco water pump $90, mixing valve $100, air out valve $20. The first couple of years I heated the shop with a used indoor wood boiler I bought off a local remodel job for $50!
I now heat it with an 2nd hand outdoor wood boiler that I also use to heat my little house.
I would have spent more buying / plumbing up several propane heaters to heat the air in the shop…Propane is expensive, the wood I cut off my land is pretty cheap, just a pain in the butt to cut and stack it all. The only monthly cost I have to heat my shop and house is the water pumps to run the water now.

I would NEVER build a shop using a different heating system than radiant. If the power goes out my shop stays warm for days with the tons and tons of pre heated concrete in the floor. Oh and that Mastiff of yours will love the warm floor while hanging out in the shop with you.

patdaly

I'm with Oliver, that is the biggest single regret I have and will never make that mistake again.

Pex tubing isn't as expensive as you think.

ptm600

I also agree on the heated floor. You only have one shot at it. Do it. You won't regret it.