60x40 build..how many doors?

[67FJ40]

I’m a few weeks out from having my first shop built. 60x40x14. Plan right now is for 3 10’x10’ bay doors and a walk through door.

The more I think about it, the more I wonder if I should sub one of the 10x10s for a 12x12, or do away with a 10x10 and just go with 2 bay doors and make one of them 12x12. The plan is to have them on the 60’ wall. This will be a hobby shop for me to piddle with vehicles but I’m just thinking ahead in case I want to get something bigger inside the shop at some point.

One 40’ wall will face the road and not have anything on it. The back 40’ wall will get a 20’ roof extension and the walk through door.

 

[Pluribus]

For that size, I think I'd want at least three doors. Might as well make one big, as you never know what you'll be working on in there. Only one time to do it (relatively) cheaply.

 

[nadogail]

No matter what you do, you can be assured that someone will criticize you for not doing it their way.

 

[Beauregard]

I like having two doors exactly opposite of each other to facilitate a "Drive Through" so you don't always have to back things out. On these two doors, I would go as tall as possible and then have a couple of 10x10's on the side. This is helpful when you have a lot of vehicles or "stuff" as it reduces the need to move things around to get things in or out. I also like 20' concrete aprons outside each door.

 

[longez]

I like having two doors exactly opposite of each other to facilitate a "Drive Through" so you don't always have to back things out. On these two doors, I would go as tall as possible and then have a couple of 10x10's on the side. This is helpful when you have a lot of vehicles or "stuff" as it reduces the need to move things around to get things in or out. I also like 20' concrete aprons outside each door.

40x60 with 12'x14'H doors on each end, and a 10'x 8'H under the lean-to. One door is offset to have the lift in the corner; 16' 2" clear height ceiling

 

[karoc]

That is a good problem to have,but will more doors it kinda takes away some of your floor space. I sure like Beauregard's ideal of drive thur and maybe increase airflow, its better to have I guess to many than not enough.Who says you have to open all of them

 

[Snip]

I am in the late planing stages ( getting quotes ) for a 40x66x14 with a 12x66 lean to on the back. My plan is for one 12x12 door centered in the gable end and one 10x10 on the lean to side with a framed but skinned over 10x10 opening opposite the other if I ever want to make a drive thru at a later date. One of my thoughts for only two doors being it is a one man hobby shop, doors take up space floor space and are less efficient R values than a wall provide. The 12x12 I can see from the house and the 10x10 faces away from the road. Just one persons thoughts

 

[67FJ40]

Good thoughts here. I like the idea of a bigger door on the end, but my lean-to is going on one end. The other end faces a low spot/drainage that cuts across my property. I could put a door there, but any kind of future driveway would be in the middle of the drainage so I don’t really see the point there.

Does anyone have a 60x40 with 3 doors on the 60’ wall? I’d like to see some pics to put that into perspective. I don’t really want to tie up a full 60’ with doors which I fear would cut into floor/shelf/workbench space.

 

[66Caprice]

You really should have at least one door that is 12 foot wide. You can't even roll a 4 post lift into a 10 foot wide door without some wiggling. I have 3 10 foot doors on my carport put in by the previous owner. And they are tight for getting in and out of.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Got a car trailer, open or enclosed ? What's your largest vehicle going in ?

 

[67FJ40]

There will be an 18’ open car hauler in my future. Currently the biggest vehicle going in will be a half ton crew cab truck. The future trailer is why I’m leaning towards a 12’ door. My buddy has 10’ doors and his car hauler barely squeezes through.

 

[NUTTSGT]

There will be an 18’ open car hauler in my future. Currently the biggest vehicle going in will be a half ton crew cab truck. The future trailer is why I’m leaning towards a 12’ door. My buddy has 10’ doors and his car hauler barely squeezes through.

My open trailer had like an inch on each side going into a 9x8 door. A 10' wide door would have been really nice but a 12 footer would make going in/out a piece of cake.

 

[dcg9381]

No matter what you do, you can be assured that someone will criticize you for not doing it their way.

This is true. But it depends on what you're using your shop for.

I have a 40x60. I have 3 "big doors" - two at the 40' end and the 3rd door on the other 40' end is in-line with one of the others. In other words, I have a "drive through" shop.

My 60' wall is used for a shed-roof, so I have covered parking.

Why did I do it this way? Because I own an RV and want to be able to pull my RV in and drive the truck out "forward". If I didn't own such a monstrosity, and just kept things to "normal" cars and trucks, I'd probably put 3-4 doors on a 60' side and be done with it.

Wider doors - better. Note a 12' high door will fit "some" RVs and most trailers.. To fit "anything" on the road, you need a 14' high door.

 

[infinkc]

I have a 50x60, I did 2 12’ doors and a 20’ door. It’s nice to have the large 20’ door to not worry about getting things in. 14’ tall doors also.

 

[Chevy-SS]

Drive-thru idea is terrific. Think about RV's or boats or lots of different things that might benefit from drive-thru. I also like the idea of using 12'x14' doors for the drive-thru concept.

 

[DJF3]

I decided to go to 16 ft walls so I wouldn't limit myself down the road. My neighbor went 14 and can't fit his trailer or boat. Can you go higher? If so, I would do 10 x 12 doors on each side and a 12 x 14 door in the middle. Put the lift in the middle bay so you have lots of room on either side.

 

[jetranger]

Just finishing my 35x50x16... highly recommend doing at least one door on your non-60' wall for airflow and ease of ingress/egress. At first, I only had 2 doors on one side and there was absolutely no airflow. With it being summer here, it was pretty unbearable. I immediately added a 12x12 to the adjacent wall and the difference in airflow and temp is night and day.

Also, I'd highly recommend doing at least one 14x14 for resale value (you can fit almost any RV in there).

 

[Lucid Moments]

I have a 50' X 60' shop with 4 12' doors. 3 across one 60' wall with a single door directly opposite the one of the three on the far end of my shop from the personnel door for drive through.

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

My shop has 2 10x10 doors. Go at least 12 wide.

 

[SkeeterZX200]

Here is what I did on my 30x60.

(2) 12x12 and (1) 8x7. I also put in 2 man doors and 4 windows.

 

[dbldmnd]

I had a 40x64x14 built last fall. I've got 3 man doors and 3 overhead doors. All the overhead doors are on the gable ends due to winter snow shedding. I put 2 10Hx12W doors on one end and a 12Hx14W on the opposite gable end with outside door edges aligned. This configuration will allow for the drive through. Based on reading experiences here, I'm glad I went the 12W, its easy in and out with cars, suburban and the skidsteer.

 

[67FJ40]

Thanks for the responses. I think I’ll end up keeping the 3 doors on the 60’ wall and just have them make one of them a 12x12. I wish I could put a door on one of the ends but with the way this shop is located on the property, it just wouldn’t make sense. One end will have a lean-to and the other end will drop off pretty fast to the low drainage area that cuts across my property. The back 60’ wall will only be 20’ or so from the fence/property line. I chose this location for the building because our place is mostly flat and holds water. This is the high spot on the property and doesn’t hold as much water. It’s not an issue this time of year (Arkansas), but through the winter and early spring this place is like a sponge.

 

[67FJ40]

Well construction finally started after rain delays. Today they finished the roof extension. Should be in the dry next week. I can’t wait to have all this extra space. Been working out of half of a 2-car garage for my whole life.




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[Zmann]

looking good !

 

[Shoester]

Wow looking good! You don't see too many stick-framed 16' tall buildings around here. What drove your decision to go stick frame vs pole-barn style?

 

[67FJ40]

It’s actually 14’. But I was indifferent on stick frame vs pole barn. Just so happens the company I landed on to build it does stick frame until they get to 16’. Then they do pole barn. It’s 2x6 studs on 2’ centers. Trusses on 4’ centers, purlins on 2’ centers. I’m happy with it so far. Just wish the rain would stop so they could finish it up!


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[Jking24]

I have 2 10x12's and a 10x14 in the same size the same way. I chose tens because i wanted four feet between doors so the area isnt dead space and my doors are offset to one side to leave room on one end for additional rooms inside the building. You can get anything through a ten but if you put any trailers or anything that's 102 in their it's definitely on the narrow side especially if you can't back straight into the opening. If i had it to do over again i would have probably made the door in my high bay a 12. Hope this helps

 

[sberry]

I got a bud just did one. I am not fond of a couple things he did but,, took the money from all that door hardware and wend 52 or 56 wide, put one 12 wide in 4 ft from wall on gable end. It's really slick despite himself. Can pull straight in, in to the middle, in to the back right, in to the right a couple ways, all thru 1 door. . I got a larger shop, I use 1 door in the winter.