My new 30 x 40 shop

[danb35]

Bought a new home in SE GA a few years ago, but in the process, gave up the shop building at our last home. I wanted this one to last me for a while--time will tell, but I think it's looking good so far.

It's a 30' x 40' x 14', 4:12 roof pitch, engineered metal building from Metal-Con buildings in Sylvania, GA. Their bid covered the slab, materials, and erection, but any trades (specifically, electrical and plumbing) were my own problem. I ran into a few delays for a variety of reasons, but I was pleased with their work and their communication, and feel like I got good value for my money.

So, without further ado, on to the pictures.

Site prep and slab

 

[danb35]

Framing





Sheeting

 

[danb35]

Finished!
Well, the building shell is finished, anyway. Electrical, plumbing, HVAC, flooring still need to be completed.

Outside:


Inside:






The shop's going to have its own meter and 200-amp service; here's the panel (eBay score from a posting here a couple of years back):

 

[danb35]

HVAC is going to be two mini-splits, a 9k unit for the "clean room" at the back (my server rack will be in there, and AC will be running 24x7), and a 24k unit for the rest of the shop.

 

[danb35]

Still to be done:

• Electrical. The electrician is working a little slower than I'd like, but he's making progress. I've been out of town this week, but he's said it should be ready for inspection by the time I get back.
• Plumbing. Most of it is just roughing-in, but I do want a wash-up sink at the back.
• Flooring. I'll be installing ArmorPoxy in Desert Tan, but not before I get the AC running.
• Move equipment in and start making sawdust!

 

[DarrenF]

very nice!

 

[dRayner]

Very wide and spacious garage man, nice!

 

[1/2 Cup]

danb35 a real nice build

 

[rixtrix1]

Nice looking building!

 

[jgkramer]

Nice garage! It's very spacious!

 

[RogueFab]

Wow. That looks bigger inside than the dimensions of the outside. Nice choice on the AC man! It gets hot there!

Server rack? Did I miss something about this? Are you running an online gambling ring?

 

[Homebody]

Very Nice!!

 

[danb35]

Server rack? Did I miss something about this? Are you running an online gambling ring?

No, I just have a large file server and some other network gear, and it gets both noisy and hot in my home office. I'm looking forward to moving both the noise and the heat outside. And though I'm sure it's overkill, I'm running fiber between the house and the shop to make the connection.

That looks bigger inside than the dimensions of the outside.

It's a TARDIS, obviously. Just don't have the travel mechanisms working properly yet.

 

[danb35]

Things are moving along. Indoor unit for the second mini-split is hung:



And most of the lights are up too:

 

[danb35]

After an awful lot of waiting for the electrician, passed final and electrical inspections last week, and power company set the new meter this past Tuesday. The lights work well--25, 2-tube fixtures may be more than is truly needed, but it isn't grossly excessive. The plumber came the other day to run the line set for the A/C--actually came to run both, but the vendor shipped the wrong set for the smaller unit.

Vacuumed down that unit, checked for leaks, all good. Now for the electrician to run power...

OK, got tired of waiting for him, and wired it up myself, ghetto style:





And it works!



And yeah, it's a little humid:



It remains to be seen how well the 24k unit will cool, but it's definitely cooler inside than outside.

 

[danb35]

OK, electrician's done, both A/C units are running, time to work on the floor. I bought ArmorPoxy's ArmorClad kits last year during their Black Friday sale (expecting that this shop would be built much sooner than it was). I bought Desert Tan, and following their recommendation, went with the primer and the two-part clear coat.

As with just about everything in this job, things have taken longer than expected. I etched the floor using the etching solution ArmorPoxy provided on Wednesday afternoon--that went uneventfully other than a very small acid burn on my leg (stupid me did it wearing shorts). In the course of doing that, I realized I needed to do more patching, which meant I didn't get to priming until Friday.

Priming didn't go too well. The fumes were much worse than I'd expected (should have sprung for the low-VOC primer--my wife found the fumes overpowering at the back door of the house, some 60' away), and I didn't do well at all in portioning out the primer. Some spots were thick enough that they didn't set up until today, delaying application of the color coat until today. It was kind of discouraging checking the floor yesterday morning and seeing this:





Today the primer was finally hard, so it was time to put down the color coat. This went much better. I only mixed a gallon at a time, so portioning went much better (200 sq ft/gallon, and I'd marked out 10' increments on all the walls so it was pretty easy to keep it in its place). Chips were applied at 1 lb/100 sq ft, which resulted in quite a bit heavier coverage than I'd expected. Didn't get them perfectly even, but it'll do:







Moving along. Assuming this hardens as it should, I plan on applying the clear coat tomorrow. Then give it a few days to cure, and I can start moving stuff in there.