New Build.. Need Advice

[TallTimbers]

I am building a 42' x 56' Pole Barn, it will have a full metal liner on the inside and have clearance of 13'6" to 15' 7" down the middle. I would like to put a loft across one end (42' long x 16' wide) and have my wood shop under. That would not leave me with a lot of height above the loft. Would i be foolish to build it this way? I do not plan on using the loft for more than storage and maybe wood storage. Not everyday access. Any other idea of what i can do would be great!

 

[thightower]

Sounds like a good idea to me. It will be a good place for out of the way storage. I've got an uncle that did the same in his building and worked in shops with the same. To me it frees up floor space for other stuff.

 

[Sureshot]

My addition has a 13' ceiling. I have an office with storage above. I have no stair access. It is by ladder and the big stuff goes up on a platform on a front end loader. I put it in place for snowmobiles, quads, and motorcycles. I try not to put much up there as I don't want it to be a junk collector. My only thought with going 16' deep is that makes your floor/ceiling need to be stronger and take more vertical space. It may also lead to alot of junk accumulation in the back. How do you plan on accessing the stuff in the storage area?

 

[TallTimbers]

I have been jumping around. Stairs, Attic type door, and just a latter not sure. I redo a lot of furniture so i thought that would be a good place to keep it until i get around to doing it. But stairs take up lots of room and I never know how to use the area under them? Ideas? Also i had planned on running 2x10's for the joist. Would i need to use 2x12's?

 

[oilslick]

What will the ceiling height be in wood shop?

 

[mdkingsley]

My shop is a 48 deep by 30 wide pole barn in 12 on center steel trusses with a 12 eave. In the back 12 I built a l loft, underneath the loft is my work bench area. It is 8 feet off the floor that leaves 4 feet on the sides of the loft and is managable to access that area, I plan on putting shelves there to get the most use of it. I use it for storage and it works great. I would highly recommend it.

 

[TallTimbers]

The height of the shop would be 8' to the bottom of the joist. Did you span all 30 feet with the loft? And how do you access the loft?

 

[jack stand]

!6' is a pretty good span for reg. dim. lumber. A 2x12 will rob vertical (headroom) space. You might add a beam mid-span, although that steals headroom under it as well. This might steer you to steel framing or "I joist" engineered lumber of a smaller dimension on a closer spacing. But this should be either engineered or recomended by asking the I joist rep for recomendations. How about a ladder for interior acess, and an exterior door and landing for moving the bigger stuff in? You can save precious inside floor space by having this outside. If you were to incorporate this into your original build, you could have a small roof with posts to support it all along with some stairs.

 

[Sureshot]

I used 2x4 rec tubing with a 3/4" deck for my loft. Saved the headroom.

 

[NUTTSGT]

If I was building a shop of your size, I would add a loft for some storage. You'll gain added floor space for simple things. If you take a look at Track.one's build, you can see a fine example of a mezzanine deck added.


EDIT: Here is a link to it.

http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=110034&highlight=track.one