Building a shop in Texas. Advice needed.

[gsebast1]

I'm in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and I'm about to build a new building.

Which is the best direction for the shop to face in Texas? I can easily face the bays to open to the North or to the West.

**Correction: I meant to say that I can face the bays to the North or to the East.**

 

[brent5631]

If you only work in the evenings like most hobby types I wouldn't face it to the west. That is the hottest side due to getting afternoon sun.

 

[2Big2Ride]

You going to include HVAC or open doors and windows for a breeze? You have any trees for shade? Driveway access?

If you are going to rely on a breeze, I am guessing you probably want to accomidate for north-south venting.

Our doors face south, but are under 10 feet of overhang so it is shaded. We also wanted windows on the north side for natural light. ...wife is the artist type and typically artists like to let in the light from the north. We also have HVAC. Our orientation really was dictated by the lot shape, the house orientation, and driveway access.

 

[ckyle29]

I'm just north of DFW near Lake Ray Roberts. My building faces to the south, because that was that way that worked best for my lot and because I wanted natural light and to put A/C in the building. By facing south, I put eave lights up high along the north wall and get lots of natural light without the direct sunlight heating up the building and forcing the A/C to run all the time.

When the summer heat breaks, I get nice breezes blowing in the doors from the southeast, which is the prevailing winds here. And in the winter months, when the wind shifts and blows from the north, the doors are blocked from the wind by the building.

Now, if I had a porch on the front of my building, I would want it to face east for the afternoon shade, but then I would lose the eave lights as they would be facing directly west.

So it really depends on what you want to do with your building. Any shop, facing any direction, is better than no shop at all.

 

[MacTexas]

My advice would be to air condition it and have the doors to the north and the wall to the west be windowless.

 

[plow]

My Dads is facing west and it's freakin miserable in the summer.

 

[YukonXL04]

My attached faces west and it *****. New shop will face south with no windows on the west wall.

 

[pmiranda]

If you have any openings to the west, put an overhang to shade it late in the day. Even with AC, I'd try to set up doors or windows to allow cross ventilation from the prevailing winds.
I'm thinking of setting up a portable weather station on the lot we're buying so I can figure out what that is for us given that the trees and slope of the land alter what might be normal for an area.
With or without AC, I say insulate the hell out of it. I want to do spray foam. I have to imagine that whatever it costs over basic insulation will be worth it pretty quickly.

 

[davo727]

Im in SE Tx and im going to build with the doors facing the east.

 

[8man]

HVAC is the way to go. Then insulate the heck out of the west wall. However, do put doors on the north and the south so you can get some breeze through the building when the weather is right or you need to vent it.

 

[Falcon67]

My west wall runs 130~140F in summer. Of the two, I'd pick north but there will be days in the winters you'd wish it was pointed south. When the wind turns out of the N, it usually blows hard and cold.

 

[My Old Tools]

My overhead door faces west. In the afternoon I keep it open about 2' to keep the sun out but let some air in. The door is insulated. My 6' french door is on the north. It is protected from winter winds by the house. Long term plan is AC. Best answer is to put the doors where they can be seen, never on the back side where a break in wouldn't be seen.

 

[TheEquineFencer]

If you're married, go ask your wife and do the exact opposite of what she suggest unless she's an engineer.

 

[gsebast1]

Thanks everyone for sharing the great tips.

I messed up and meant to say that the doors could face North or East.
Seems like I can't go too wrong facing it either direction.

It will be between 1200-1800 sf with 14 foot walls and insulated. My plan now is to put 2 12x12 doors on the North side and smaller doors on the South and East sides to allow cross breezes. I am going to wall mount large fans to help circulate air.

I will also have a really nice 600+square foot brick freestanding shop that has front and back roll up doors and the attic was built very strong for lots of storage upstairs.
My plan is to make this my year-round "comfort work zone." I will insulate it like crazy and put in HVAC, great lighting, and epoxy flooring.

This seems like a better option to me than trying to put HVAC in the bigger building. What do you think?

 

[pmiranda]

I still think you should look seriously at insulating the hell out of both buildings. Also, I'm starting to think something like a Mr Cool (DIY split unit) could work for even a large shop.

 

[My Old Tools]

In north Texas, the winds will be from the south and southwest all summer. In the winter the winds will be 90% from the northwest. An east facing overhead door is ideal. North facing is next, but will catch the colder wind in winter.

 

[DC73]

I messed up and meant to say that the doors could face North or East. Seems like I can't go too wrong facing it either direction.

The garage on my current house faces east. The sun is pretty brutal in the morning and heats up the garage much faster than I'd like (the door has windows). My last house had the garage facing north. The biggest problem with the north facing garage door is winter ice and snow didn't melt readily with no sun exposure.

DC

 

[OldracerJones]

Regardless of the direction you need to make sure you insulate it. I live in Wise Couture y and my interior temp is usually about 16-18 degrees cooler than outside. I have no AC but oriented the shop so the prevailing winds come through when I open the doors.

 

[wizness]

Mine faces south. Get some sun in the windows in the afternoon on the west side but it's not bad. Just don't build the front west facing and it should be fine. Gets a nice breeze coming from the south, especially when the front and rear doors are open.

 

[stevep500]

I am in the Dallas area and I setup my shop to face east with a slight north shift. I guess kind of a ENE orientation. The setup has worked great for 30 years. The shop is 26' x 41' with the roll up door for cars and the people door on the east. The north, west and south walls have 3' x 3' windows for good light and cross ventilation for those days that will be under 90 deg (a 24,000 btu A/C helps on the really hot days). The west windows have not been a problem with heat. I have light colored blinds that I can close if the light/heat is too intense. One thing I like is that I have good shade in the afternoon on the driveway side. In the afternoon, I can work on large or very messy projects outside even on hot days. On rainy days (if we ever get rain again) I can usually work with the roll up door open. The rain usually hits the north, south, or west walls.

Steve

 

[Falcon67]

Thanks everyone for sharing the great tips.

I messed up and meant to say that the doors could face North or East.
Seems like I can't go too wrong facing it either direction.

East.

 

[38Chevy454]

East facing is better to melt off any snow and ice, north will always be in shade and will just not melt until temps warm up. East is also nice to get the morning sun to help warm up a bit when it is cooler. East is also shaded in afternoon in summer so it is less hot. No matter what insulate as well as you can, it helps both cold and hot.

 

[My Old Tools]

Ice and snow melt is a once every 5 years event in this part of Texas, and it lasts a day.

 

[Hornman]

I had two nasty ice storms at my place in SW DFW last winter. My property faces SE so the detached 3 car and the 1200 sq ft shop door all face SE, which works well, the sun melts the ice off the concrete in front of them quicker than any other orientation.