Building my "Dream Garage"

[Aaron Franck]

Well, I believe I have arrived at that point in my life where I can afford to build my "Dream Shop". I tend to obsess and over research every aspect of these type of projects. So, I thought I would start with the best resource I could think of for input...The Garage Journal.

Starting with some background and basics. I will need storage area for vehicles and work area for metal shop. (Not a business, just for myself) Several machines, such as, mill, lathe, Pullmax P-7, TIG and MIG welders, plasma cutter, English wheel, planishing hammer, pipe and tubing benders, etc... I'm leaning toward 70'x50' w/12' ceiling height. Two 12'x12' overhead doors. Maybe a mezzanine for parking vehicles on and under. Spray on insulation. Hidden shelving floor to ceiling one full 50' length wall. Below is a simple sketch.

I own a log home and would like the shop to either match or blend in with the look. The land is partially timber and has rolling hills, I've thought of sinking two walls into the hill for thermal advantage and to help the building blend in.

I've priced the building w/all faux log siding and two poured concrete walls and the price was getting up over $50,000 and that's without any electric yet! I would like to keep the budget around $35,000 if possible. I'll be doing all the labor including dirt work myself, well... with some help from my friends.

What I'm looking for is any and all input, such as... building material, post frame or stick built, shop layout, machine location, heat type, cooling type, insulation, storage ideas, floor ideas, do's and don'ts, air supply layout, electrical, wall material, cabinets, drawers, bench, parking ideas, etc, etc, etc...

Please let me hear your ideas,
Aaron

 

[IHI]

Once you decide to finish a building off, the pole building vs stick framed debate goes right out the window since when the dust settles, there is no price advantage to either, so it boils down to how much work do you want to go through WHILE finishing the building off. Stick built the walls are already done, so you can hang and go..pole buildings take alot of extra building out/"book shelving" to get them to a state of finished product..so in your case, it wont save anymore either way....cold storage pole buildings always win hands down if you build them for what they are...just a big tin shed. Start finishning them off and it washes out.

Have fun, you've got some rocky soil down there

 

[KMR Construction]

Stick built with a truss roof. Better building in the end run and easier to finish the inside. As far as doing all the work yourself, my advice is to know what parts to sub out. Concerete is a big one, and costly if a mistake is made

 

[Aaron Franck]

IHI - Where in Iowa you at?

KMR - I've got friends that do flatwork and I've done my fair share, but if I pour any walls, I'll defiantly hire that out. Anything I need to know for 2"x6" stick built with 12' side walls?

Aaron

 

[IHI]

aaron, i'm up here in Waterloo. We used to turkey hunt down in Stone City and stay with friends of my step dad and his dad's down there that owned a scrap metal place.

as for your 12' stud walls, i'd just ask the city if they require any code for blocking with the additional heigth. in Waterloo which is one of the strictest cities we work in they dont require it, but if you have the time it's never a bad idea to install it since it really does help stiffen the walls up immensely...the only problem i've got with it is chasing wires later on down the road....you have no choice but to bust out wall covering to blow holes through the blocking to allow wires to pass through, and if needed for fire stop the holes will have to be sealed up with a fire resistant/proof caulk so flame cant easily find a easy spot to pass flame inside the wall.

But like i said, just call the local building department and ask them. So folks get nervious calling them and think the city is just trying to hustle them, but in reality, the things they require are established for a reason, namely safety based on historic events to date, so ultimately it's for the homeowners best interest to adhere to them though some folks are too caught up in the "well my dad never did it like that, or my grandfather did it this way and it's still standing" That's great, there is always exceptions to the rule as with everything in life, but if there was'nt ever a problem, then it would'nt ever be a question

 

[IHI]

Anything I need to know for 2"x6" stick built with 12' side walls?

Aaron

That is exactly what we used on this garage and breezeway addtion- no blocking and once all sheeted very stiff. I dont know your budget, but i would definately rent a skytrak/JLB.. forktruck with extendable boom on it...makes hoisting the trusses up into place soooo much easier/safer.

 

[Aaron Franck]

IHI - I called the city before we even bought this house and they said there are no building codes (in the country) and then I said it would have electrical and that would probably need inspected and they said "Nope". I love this place. Explain what "blocking" is. What is the name of the guy who owns the scrap metal place? I do metal fabrication and know most of them.

JBurgess - They make low clearance door tracks that require very little space. Maybe 4"-5". I'll adjust the ceiling or door or both.

 

[e-tek]

IHI = "REAL MAN".....shop 3xbigger than his house, does not need to go outside to get in shop, probbaly doesn't even have (certainly doesn't need) indoor plumbing!!!

NICE SHOP!! Let's see the inside!

 

[IHI]

Aaaron- okay, so your county and typically county has no oversite, so it just comes down to personal morals when doing anything since you will be the final say in overall integrity...we've run into some reeeal doozies when working on "farm houses" and change orders end up running damn near as much as the original bid since we have to go in and fix/redo soo much cobble from so many untrained hands trying stuff...normally i'd say good for us since it's mroe money, but it's a huge headache for me since it adds duration to projects, financial problems for homeowner wanting work done and usually in the end i'll either get stiffed (to date i've paid out of pocket over $60K for labor/materials HO's screwed me out of) of the job scope gets drastically shrunk since now that $5-10K to fix cobble work from before we started does'nt allow them to get the entire project done like they wanted.

The scrap metal folks, Dad's name is Richard..but we just call his ****, Kenny is one of his son's and married to a gal names Sara and i think they have 3 girls, Another brother named Chris, and a sister named Cathy....I'm trying to recall their last name but i was only 10-14 when we were hunting down there in the fall and never really got to know them on a last name basis since i was just a dumb kid along for the ride and the kill LOL!! But they're out of Stone City.....wait...Rowley, does that sound right?? Either way they were always very hospitalble to us and even though i could'nt really relate to the adults they let me play around on some of their toys and i had a blast walking around their scrap yard day dreaming of all the parts and cars i seen piled up down there

E-tek: there is a full bathroom in that little breezway and it also houses his water heater for the bathroom/shop faucets, furnace. Floor drains in the big shop, last i heard he had the floor epoxied and was going to install a lift. Him and his buddies hung a steel ceiling and then he had the walls blow in and sheetrocked. We gotta go over and do some stupid work one of these first weeks so i'll see if i can sneak a picture of what he's gotten done since we left him with the unfinished structure.

JBurgess: nice pictures- spot on

 

[Aaron Franck]

JBurgess - Blocking, that makes sense. I first was thinking industrial style roll up doors, but a couple of people said they don't seal for ****. I'm not sure I want regular garage style doors, but don't know what other choice I have. I probably won't be opening the overhead doors on any sort of regular bases anyway. Do you have any pics of your shop?

IHI - This shop will be of high quality, I'm just looking at my different build options and where I can trim some cost. Rowley is fairly close, but I don't anybody up there.

 

[KMR Construction]

When you do your blocking put it on the plywood seams, nail the plywood 4" o.c. around the perimeter and 6" o.c. in the field. This will give your walls a insane amount of shear strenght. Also block and nail the plywood sheathing at the bottom and top pieces of plywood.