Help Needed for a Virginia Workshop

[John in OH]

Despite my log-in name, I may soon be retiring to the King William area of VA. A result of such a move will be the design and building of a new workshop/storage building to support my antique tractor hobby work. My vague concept of such a facility will be a machine shop area (lathe, vertical mill, shaper, drill press, workbenches, etc), a wood shop area (table & radial arm saws, lathe, bandsaw, and related workbench), a large multi-use teardown/rebuild area (monorail, welding equipment, sandblasting cabinet, spray painting), a small bathroom with shower, and an overhead second-floor area for general storage. Rough overall size may be in the 40x60 to 60x80 range.

At least this is the dream plan ... not yet ruined by the reality of cost!

Since I've only ever lived in Ohio, I don't know what are critical considerations of such a shop in Virginia. What suggestions/cautions/considerations should I include in my plans? Foundation/flooring types? Construction techniques? Roofing/finishes?(I'd love a steel roof!) Insulation/heating/cooling?

Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[usmc_noma]

so what's bringing you to king billy, va?

 

[John in OH]

Two very significant factors .... Retirement .... and getting closer to the grandchildren that are in Northern VA.

 

[ears]

Most of the construction specific stuff a contractor or the building dept. will know.

Other than that here is a little info on differences.

1. You may be in for some sticker shock from NE Ohio, that area isn't too bad. The further east you go the cheaper as long as you dont get into waterfront retirement areas. Further north is more expensive, NOVA is obscene.

2. Summer will be hotter and more humid. Winter is not bad some years no snow others a little bit. January average maybe 45 in the day. A/C can be a good thing, the land is flat and lots of water, which means lots of mosquitoes. No fun propping your door open at sunset for the breeze.

3. The middle peninsula (King William) and the northern neck are real nice sleepy areas. The people are laid back and dont care what you do on your land.

4. You may be able to find a place with a big shed on it and remodel to fit your needs. There are a lot of small farms etc. big shops are common.

 

[usmc_noma]

king william's a good place to live. a lot of farm areas and not too many neighborhoods where houses are stacked on one another. i know when i was looking i saw a few 5+ acre with smaller homes for 250k or less. it'd be a lot less if you bought the land then built. there's a ton of areas to build a nice size shop where you won't be bound down by hoa's and the such.

 

[brwbier]

If I was starting from scratch I would build a barn. Post and beam and sips for the walls and roof. And a steel roof. It would be a forever building, something I could leave for the future. Oh ya, don't forget the brewing area.
Brwbier