Basic shop questions for beginner

[elliottw]

Hey guys, short time garageless homeowner, long time lurker, on here every day it seems like trying to learn. I'm finally ready to start getting some quotes for a shop/garage and wanted to lay out my basic ideas and see if any of you seasoned vets had things you wish you did/didn't do.

Basically this year I'd be happy if I just got a building up so I had somewhere to store my stuff/park my pickup for next winter. Ideally I'd get concrete in and basic electrical right away but that may be wishful thinking. Then finish the inside myself as funds and time allowed, but I want to make the building as physically large as I can realistically afford so I want to get some quotes to see where I actually stand.

What I've come up with for wants so far for the building nothing set in stone
1. 40x50x16 size
2. 1 14x14 overhead door
3. Single man door
4. 12inch overhand all the way around
5. Steel siding and roof

Most likely pole construction as cost is a factor for me and I don't know if I'll be able to pour concrete and put up building at the same time although stick built would be great. Anything seem out of line here?

Would like to run pex in the slab as I know down the road ill hate myself for at least not giving myself the option. So 2inch insulation, rebar/mesh etc for the floor would be what I would like to do. This will be right next to my house so I don't plan on having a bathroom or anything in it, will bury some conduit for CAT5/6 and whatever else I might want in the future from the house to shop.

Any and all recommendations from anyone would be appreciated.. primary use will be as a storage space/workshop for vehicles, tractors. And light woodworking etc. Located in Western ND

 

[Hot Rod Grampa]

Mighty tall building. Are you an rv er? Big space to heat. A second smaller overhead door for cars and tractors might be handy. Floor can wait and extra time may helps compact the soil before pouring concrete. Insulation, ceiling, lights all can be done before floor. Nice size building.

 

[firebirdparts]

Wow! You are starting at the hero level, which is good.

 

[Krzewinskibe]

Plan looks solid...any thought on windows/natural light?

a second overhead door is nice so you don't always have to move stuff around to have door access.

 

[sberry]

I could do it thru a single door, especially a wide one. I see a lot of small second doors that must have looked like a good idea on paper with weeds growing in front of them.
40x50 is good. If you put a second in put it in front along side the other door in the gable end. Put a drain right under it for winter parking.
40 wide is good, 2 cars fit side by side and allow the space along the walls to be used. My bud had 30 wire and it was too crowded. Huge waste of room.

 

[HoosierBuddy]

One of the best decisions I made on garage was installing floor drains. I went with one under each parking bay. The concrete slopes to them.

Some jurisdictions get really rough on where you can drain these to as they are worried about chemicals getting flushed down the drains. Mine run to a grated box I can use for a clean out and there's a french drain attached to that. I'm sure that wouldn't meet a lot of jurisdictions specs, but it works great and I don't flush chemicals onto my garage floor anyway. It's fantastic for bringing in snow/ice covered cars though as the ice melts and everything drains away without leaving big puddles to deal with.

Phil

 

[Jhoff310]

a 2nd door for sure, possibly a 6x8 on the side towards the rear for lawn equipment

 

[PNWguy]

I also wonder about the height, but it all depends on what you plan to drive into it.

Think about heating costs.

 

[elliottw]

I'd like to be able to put a semi or tractor in there if need be is the reason for a 14' door. Also I may have dreams of potentially putting a little loft in the back at some point.

I'd probably have the windows up towards the top half of the roll up door to let in some natural light and may put some on the south side for some more light, but it's not a priority for me either.

I actually spend a lot of time in other peoples shops at my job so I really like to glean what I can from them, and I may look into adding a second door to the plan but I think I would be satisfied with a large single, but who knows down the road a few years.

Would definitely have drains, would be a watery mess in the winter and a clumpy muddy mess this time of year.

 

[cj7jeep81]

I'd just lay out what all you want to put in there, and make sure it is big enough. I have a very similarly sized shop (40x64xalmost 17), and am very glad I went 64' deep. I put a loft across the back 40', and originally it was only going to be 12' deep, and ended up going 16' instead (to have a machine shop), so glad I went a bit deeper. If you do plan on having a loft, I'd recommend scissor trusses over where that would be. That's the one thing I screwed up on, only put 2 scissor trusses (on 4' centers), and since I went with a 16' loft instead of 12, I have one normal truss over the loft, which gives shorter head room (only about 7'). But its not a huge deal, but something if I had to do over, I'd change.

How often do you plan on being out in the shop once its done? I would have loved to do in-floor heat, but knew I wouldn't be out there all the time. I might be out there 2 or 3 hours tonight, then not again for 3 or 4 days, then out all weekend, or not in there for 2 weeks due to other stuff going on. With in-floor heat, you really should heat it 24x7 since it takes so long to heat up the slab. And with expensive as it is to install, I couldn't justify it. I'm going to put in some vented propane heaters in just a couple areas (machine shop under the loft, maybe an office/gunsmithing room upstairs), vs heating the entire building. But maybe you'll be out there more, and would love the feature.

 

[Elginz]

Wish I had water in mine. You are going to put insulation under the concrete might as well put the pex in but maybe in zones and part can be heated with a more instant heat if need be.

 

[brownbagg]

no, 16 be nice, plenty of height no matter what you need.

 

[glentre]

A basic pole barn construction right next to your house? Have you considered how this might affect resale? There is a lot that can be done to dress up pole barns but that often gets them into the same cost as stick built. Sixteen ft walls with a conservative roof pitch gets you into a 25-30 ft height at the peak. Will this visually overpower your house?

A trick to disguise the wall height is to extend your eave overhangs which brings the soffits down lower on the wall. But, with a 14 ft door, you don't have much space to do this.

Many good ideas offered to get you thinking but, in the end, the final decision on the construction should fit your own particular needs and budget. Keep in touch with further questions as you progress and you will get a lot of constructive input from the forum members.

Glen

 

[Fueler]

Very First step after it is up and closed in. Insulate the heck out of it.
IF you get a bunch of electrical done and stuff in there going back after the fact becomes a major headache.

 

[6768rogues]

Most buildings are in 4 and 8 foot modules, so 50 feet leaves a small framing bay in that type of construction. However, my son has a pole building with 9 foot bays, so it is 45 by 63. When you interview builders, ask what pole spacing (module) they use and chose a size that will not waste material by creating a nonstandard bay. Adding a few feet to complete a bay might cost very little.
I built mine in 1995. Looked into radiant floor heat, but the upfront cost was too high and turning it up had too long a response time. I went with a Reznor hanging furnace. Low cost, fast recovery, zero floor space used. Now I am retired and spend winters in FL. I turn off my water when I leave. Had I used radiant heat, I would have to leave the water on and worry about freezing in power outages or equipment failures.

 

[wdrumheller]

Insulate.

Run water lines so that you have a water supply for washing things.

Another door on the backside for a drive-through.

BIG ATTIC your wife is going to want to store all of her junk in there, and get wide stairs for this or an attic lift.

Make THICK slabs for vehicle lifts it costs almost nothing and big thick slabs under the lift areas are nice.

Drains and sloped floors under drain bays. I only did one of these and it's fine for me.