Long time lurker, first post.
I've been wanting to build a shop now for the better part of a decade, and I've decided to turn to you guys for advice. I finally bought a house with a couple of acres and I'm trying to figure out the best options for a shop. I will list the options below.
Option 1: Steel building in flood zone (around 30'x40')
Yes, it is a AE type flood zone at the bottom of my property, but I have never seen it actually flood after being at my house for a year now. I'm not saying that it will never happen, but I've never even seen more than an inch of pooling in our heaviest rain in the past year. However, it IS a flood zone, so it would be mandatory to go with a steel building just in case. I would probably add flood vents to the bottom of the building so that worst case scenario, if it ever does flood, it will only get the legs of my furniture, equipment wet, I can squeegee out the building, and not have to worry about drywall, wood studs molding/rotting.
Now for this option I would need to tear down an old barn and remove a 15" diameter tree and root ball. I do have a skid steer to do the leveling, and I would probably build the area up with fill dirt by at least a foot, to reduce the flood risk even more.
The downside to this option, is it doesn't serve as a garage my wife will park in. She just bought a brand new Tacoma (pictured below) and we paid to have the whole truck polished and ceramic coated since we live in a heavily wooded lot. The truck is still getting destroyed by trees because there is nowhere on my property that you can park that isn't under a tree.
Two pros to this option: there is already a gravel driveway, street light, and running (well) water at the barn.
Option 2: Remove 5 medium/large trees at the end of my current driveway and build a stick built shop into a slight grade. (Likely 24x24')
The other option is to build a traditional detached garage at the end of my driveway (not a flood zone). This would likely increase my homes value and my wife could park her truck in there (since it's by the house). This shop would be smaller, but maybe I could build a second level apartment into it. I'm having the trees removed this weekend, and I'm then having an excavator come in and remove the root system, so that I could potentially build a retaining wall and slab here.
Each option has its pros and cons. The detached garage at the end of my driveway does not provide me with all of the possibilities of a large shop. Its right next to my house (and my neighbors), so I can not be up late at night grinding and welding. The steel building would be more remote and I would have the freedom to do as I please out there.
Any help would be appreciated!
See pictures below:
I've been wanting to build a shop now for the better part of a decade, and I've decided to turn to you guys for advice. I finally bought a house with a couple of acres and I'm trying to figure out the best options for a shop. I will list the options below.
Option 1: Steel building in flood zone (around 30'x40')
Yes, it is a AE type flood zone at the bottom of my property, but I have never seen it actually flood after being at my house for a year now. I'm not saying that it will never happen, but I've never even seen more than an inch of pooling in our heaviest rain in the past year. However, it IS a flood zone, so it would be mandatory to go with a steel building just in case. I would probably add flood vents to the bottom of the building so that worst case scenario, if it ever does flood, it will only get the legs of my furniture, equipment wet, I can squeegee out the building, and not have to worry about drywall, wood studs molding/rotting.
Now for this option I would need to tear down an old barn and remove a 15" diameter tree and root ball. I do have a skid steer to do the leveling, and I would probably build the area up with fill dirt by at least a foot, to reduce the flood risk even more.
The downside to this option, is it doesn't serve as a garage my wife will park in. She just bought a brand new Tacoma (pictured below) and we paid to have the whole truck polished and ceramic coated since we live in a heavily wooded lot. The truck is still getting destroyed by trees because there is nowhere on my property that you can park that isn't under a tree.
Two pros to this option: there is already a gravel driveway, street light, and running (well) water at the barn.
Option 2: Remove 5 medium/large trees at the end of my current driveway and build a stick built shop into a slight grade. (Likely 24x24')
The other option is to build a traditional detached garage at the end of my driveway (not a flood zone). This would likely increase my homes value and my wife could park her truck in there (since it's by the house). This shop would be smaller, but maybe I could build a second level apartment into it. I'm having the trees removed this weekend, and I'm then having an excavator come in and remove the root system, so that I could potentially build a retaining wall and slab here.
Each option has its pros and cons. The detached garage at the end of my driveway does not provide me with all of the possibilities of a large shop. Its right next to my house (and my neighbors), so I can not be up late at night grinding and welding. The steel building would be more remote and I would have the freedom to do as I please out there.
Any help would be appreciated!
See pictures below:
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