There seems to be a lot of glass in those buildings. I imagine they use all safety glass so they probably do cost that much money.
Do you need a building with all that glass? Would it be OK if it just had a couple windows in it? If that would be acceptable to you then the cost could be a lot less.
there are different configuration options. I don't want a lot of glass windows on the south, east, and west side of the buildling. but i do want a lot of glass on the north side as it has a nice view to the rest of the yard and allows for nice sunlight that won't heat the place up. i priced out a double outswing door with glass and built-in blinds for about $1400; so I guess I wasn't expecting this to be cheap, but definitely not $14K. that's why i'm asking...
That's pricey. Materials should be about 5k even for decent materials and another 1.5k for a concrete pad to get poured. 10 by 12 is not that big. Maybe hire a carpenter to help.
yeah, although I'm only starting to plan this project, in my head I had a figure about $7K, $8K at most, and maybe even less if I got creative and did more of the work myself. I haven't really priced things out, but as I was searching for ideas online I saw the studio shed thing and thought, "wow, that's almost like what I want" but then the price tag...
I would have the mini-split installed while you are building it. It looks like a solar collector to me
Which isn't all bad, the natural daylight is the best form of light and you get a view of the outside world.
Those are pretty high-end sheds. I'd email that picture around and see what bids you get. Integrating all of the glass and having it all perfectly trimmed out would involve some special details.
when you say "mini-split", are you talking about HVAC system? Not sure how that comment follows about natural daylight so wasn't sure what you meant...
You are paying a huge premium for a style and look. They are using designer materials which quadruples price easily. Only you can make that decision. As a side note, 8 years ago I built a 14x16 Shed. It's double walls with dense pack insulation, sided in hardieplank plank. The rafters are double rafters, again dense packed cellulose 22" thick. Inside is lined with wabash trailers duraplate which is and uber durable steel plastic steel composite. Also have an air solar heater. Foundation is a monolithic slab w 4.5 yards of concrete.
Altogether it cost around 4500$. Neighbors though I was nuts but it looks nice, and it takes nearly nothing to heat all winter long. Worth it to me to have a nice warm place to piddle about deep in winter.
Yeah, I kind of figured that $14 is a high premium on something, that's why I'm asking just to double check if my assumptions are right. i kind of felt those studio shed kits were quite overpriced, but then again I've never done this so I wasn't sure if I sourced the material myself, hired a helper to help me build it, if I would end up spending close to that much anyway? for example, if I did it myself and ended up spending $12K, then I probably would have just gone with the $14K. But if doing it myself ends up being $6K, then I think it's worth it...
For computer equipment, you will def need to insulate and run HVAC of some type.
yes, and no. definitely plan to insulate, and that $14K is unfinished interior, so assuming doesn't include cost to insulate and finish insides. I'm debating about HVAC... we have cool air at night here, and I was thinking of building an automated system with some fans/filters/temp sensors and a raspberry pi to control air flow ; **** in cool air at night, vent or remix hotter air from the back of the rack during the day. i sort of do this by hand right now in our guest room where the server rack is currently residing. part of the goal here is to move that to this shed and regain our guest room again. just by manually managing cool/hot air flow in the guest room, I can get away without using A/C for about 11 months of the year.
Here's my shed build. I've got a little over $8800 in it so far.
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=362295
Nice! thanks for sharing...
Assuming you priced 12x10, that seems expensive unless it has a bathroom and kitchenette.
I had some trouble with the website. Are Studio Sheds a SIP structure?
I don't know what "SIP" means?
No, that price is mainly for exterior finishes structure with unfinished interiors.
Basically, you still get what you pay for, as far as that goes. Doing the work yourself can save loads of money, as well as acquiring the raw materials from various sources.
A 10' x 12' shed is very small and shouldn't cost very much. Simply put together a materials list and price it out before calling a contractor. I also live in So. Calif. and decent framers can be had at $45.00 per hour and with a simple set of plans a couple guys could put up the little shed in a couple days and you do the time consuming detail work. Rather than pouring a slab, consider a raised wood floor on piers for a money savings you can put into equipment rather than fancy looking designer building materials.
what do you mean "you still get what you pay for" ?? Do you mean that's a fair price for something like that? I kind of felt it was overpriced, but that's why I'm asking... do you think that sourcing the material myself and building it with a few hired help in So. Cal would end up being about the same price?
also, I think I'm going to need the concrete slab for sure. The server racks need to be stabilized and can weight about 2000 lbs in about 2 ft x 3 ft area. I'm even considering getting some raised floor panels designed for computer/data center rooms; but I'll dig into that more after I do some more planning on the structure.
Does your price include interior drywall?
no, unfinished interior...
Around me 10x12 is typically the largest structure you can add without triggering any permits/ variance. Is that way you are doing it ? They are not very large inside -- especially after finishing out the walls.
yes, that's the rule in my area too...
and I don't really need a large space. it's mainly to house a couple of server racks, each consumes about 2 ft x 3 ft. the computer/electronics lab portion will have 6 ft x 2ft workbench, maybe some parts/tools storage and that's about it that will consume floor space.
thanks for the replies guys.... it sounds so far, that maybe I'm not too far off thinking that $14K is a high premium for this and that sourcing the materials and building something myself might be the better way to go...
