New Guy in WA Looking for Ideas and Suggestions

[Willb]

Greetings all,

I was referred to this site by a friend when I told him I'd just bought a new property with a beautiful house on it but no shop, and I *really* need a shop!

For those of you familiar with WA state, I'm at the South end of Snohomish, just north of Woodinville on the wet side of the mountains. The property has a perfect flat area with a second driveway already in and a large slab poured for a sport court, though I may end up using that slab as exterior parking/driveway as it's not very thick or very level and having a paved area in front of the shop is always nice to have, plus I can leave the basketball hoop up and play with my stepson.

At this point I have a pretty good idea in my head as to what I want but I have no clue about construction costs so not sure if my budget can handle my imagination. Of course, my plans are subject to change when someone says "that's not going to work" or "here's a better idea". So, I'm really looking for help with figuring out construction costs, planning, and interior details that will help make it an efficient, versatile, and usable work space. I can do much of the work myself, but I don't want this to take years to finish either, so will probably sub out a fair amount of the work like framing, roofing, plumbing, and drywalling. This is assuming I go with a stick built structure, but I'm open to metal structures also if I can get them to look like what I want for a reasonable cost.

I work on cars a lot and own several project vehicles so that will be the focus of this shop. I'd like to have a lift when it's all said and done, a blasting cabinet, cleaning area for grimy/greasy parts, etc. plenty of cabinets/enclosed storage and nice, big, functional workbench space. I have a small Chinese hobbyist lathe/mill setup that I inherited from my dad that's useful for making/modifying small parts so will need a little space for that too as well as the other space-consuming tools such as table saw, drill press, etc. I've always been interested in woodworking too and have pulled off a couple of small projects (speaker cabinets, storage racks) and I imagine that part of my hobby will expand as the years go on. Finally, I want part of this new shop building to be a separate "habitable space" that I can use as a man cave/office and guest room for visitors.

So, that's probably too much of an introduction.... I'm hoping to meet some cool people here and get some great ideas. Where should I start looking for input on designs and construction costs? My friend said there were lots of great plans and ideas here but I'm feeling just a bit overwhelmed and haven't seen any of that kind of thing jump out at me as I've browsed through the site - at least not for the kind of space I'm wanting to build.

Thanks much for letting me play in your sandbox and for any ideas, thoughts, and suggestions you have!

Will

PS: Here is my number 1 project. This car was my dad's - he bought it new in '72 and I bought it from him in the summer of '85, just before my senior year in high school. It's partially restored at this point and I want to finish the job in the next year or so, so need the new shop space so I can work on it!

 

[four.cycle]

I don't know anything at all about what you're asking about, but welcome to the site!
Hopefully building restrictions aren't as crazy in Snohomish County as they are in Thurston (or Pierce.)
Nice Pontiac!

 

[kbeefy]

Welcome from the dry side of the state!

 

[rd65]

Hopefully you are in unincorporated Snohomish County and not in any city limits. I went with a pole building using Spane in Mt Vernon. They were great to deal with. Much better than some of the other local pole building places that I called. Building was up in a couple weeks. Dealing with my HOA I had to use lap siding on the front and asphalt shingles for roofing. If you are thinking about a lift be sure your slab can handle the load - I am sure mine wouldn't be able to.
Sno Co permitting can be touchy, Spane did my permitting but I have had issues in the past. If you disturb over 2,000 sq/ft you will need sign off from a drainage engineer. Gravel counts as impervious surface. You aren't going to heat or have water right?

 

[Willb]

I don't know anything at all about what you're asking about, but welcome to the site!
Hopefully building restrictions aren't as crazy in Snohomish County as they are in Thurston (or Pierce.)
Nice Pontiac!

Thanks!

I've been reading up on the regulations and zoning restrictions and it looks like I'm all clear to build what I want. The most pertinent restrictions are the setbacks, which are no problem, and the lot coverage area which is maximum 35%. It's a 2.2 acre lot with a single house and a couple small outbuildings that only cover about 2500 sf, so I have LOTS of room to build. Looks like they're gonna require a drainage plan and that's the only thing I see that would complicate things.

I really want to plumb it too, but since we're on septic that would require expanding the existing septic or installing a secondary system and not sure if either of those ideas will fly or how much they'd cost... More to research!

 

[89MustangGX]

Welcome! My setup is a pole style shop that was already here when I bought. I've been working to get it setup how I want and finish inside. It's a lot of time and work. My advice would be to try to get as much done as you possibly can all in one shot so you can go straight to enjoying it rather than forever trying to finish it in spare time. Oh, and nice Pontiac.

 

[Willb]

Hopefully you are in unincorporated Snohomish County and not in any city limits. I went with a pole building using Spane in Mt Vernon. They were great to deal with. Much better than some of the other local pole building places that I called. Building was up in a couple weeks. Dealing with my HOA I had to use lap siding on the front and asphalt shingles for roofing. If you are thinking about a lift be sure your slab can handle the load - I am sure mine wouldn't be able to.
Sno Co permitting can be touchy, Spane did my permitting but I have had issues in the past. If you disturb over 2,000 sq/ft you will need sign off from a drainage engineer. Gravel counts as impervious surface. You aren't going to heat or have water right?

Yes, unincorporated and no HOA (that was a requirement in our house search). R5 zoning but the lot is substandard size which doesn't appear to cause any problems in this case. I don't think I can afford more than 1200 sf, but honestly I don't know what all this is going to cost so maybe I can afford more, or maybe less???. I do want to make the building similar in style to the house so need to find out what kind of construction methods can be utilized to achieve what I want for the least cost. I don't know anything about pole buildings, guess I better read up on them. Thanks for the recommendation to a company that gave you good service!

I know adding plumbing is an issue, especially on septic but I was unaware heating presented any problems. I haven't seen any mention of heating in the county code documents I've been reading. I mean, the place is going to have electric, so why not a heater? I'd actually like to put in a split unit for cooling in the summer, too.

My main questions regarding construction:

How do I figure out how much the various options will cost?

How do I figure out what the various options even are?

Where do I post in these forums to start that conversation?

 

[Nosferatu]

Are you planning on building it yourself or hiring a builder?

If the latter, start talking to builders. They will give you the costs.

 

[Willb]

Are you planning on building it yourself or hiring a builder?

If the latter, start talking to builders. They will give you the costs.

Well, I was hoping to at least have some ballpark $/sf estimates. Like a typical building of construction type A will cost $50/sf, while the same building of construction type B would cost $100/sf. That sort of thing.

I'd really like to have a feel for cost/sf before I even approach builders so that I have some idea of what I can afford. I can do some of the work myself - such as electrical (I'm an electrician), insulation, and the finishing touches like painting and trim work.

I mean, I'd like to think I can afford a 1200 sf building, but without knowing what the typical cost/sf is of building a garage, I really have no idea...

 

[rd65]

My 28x32 came out to about $40k all finished (2018 pricing). Spane put up the building w/ slab, I finished the inside. 10' walls with a ceiling, all in plywood. Blew in cellulose insulation in attic area. 100 amp service, 16-4' double led fixtures (great lighting resource here on GJ). My understanding on heating is that if you say you are then you need to be insulated to code. My shop wasn't signed off for more than 2 weeks when I got my new property tax info from the county. If only their road construction was as speedy.

 

[ladderwell]

I had a 36x48 pole barn, 15' eaves, built in 2013. Rough figures at that time was materials x2= cost. 17k for materials, 17k for labor = 34k. Get a quote for different sized kits from your pole barn supplier, and that'll get you started.

I did my own electrical, about $1500 including permits at the time, all bids were 4k+, even after I did all the trenching and running of conduit. I have a 100 amp sub panel off our house, 175' panel to panel. I run some 220 saws, and a couple of 220 welders.

I also got a permitted roughed in bathroom. "I might put in a bathroom someday, wink wink" I dumped the drain in a 55gallon blue barrel in the ground, with a grinder pump and 2" line back to our house system, we also are on a septic system. Oregon bases septic systems off of number of bedrooms, not bathrooms. Washington may be the same. So my shop bathroom "doesn't exist."

Things I learned form GJ regarding building a shop:
Make a list of gotta haves, nice to haves, lottery winner haves, etc. Work from that. Go as big as you can afford, perhaps bigger.

Run more & bigger conduits, plumbing, wire chases, etc than you'll need. You'll thank yourself later.

Hire out insulation, do it as soon as your electrical is done. I'm just wrapping up my insulation 8 years later.

Don't move anything inside, until its as done as you can live with forever. Interior wall finishes especially.

Just my $0.02. Enjoy this ride.

 

[Nosferatu]

Well, I was hoping to at least have some ballpark $/sf estimates. Like a typical building of construction type A will cost $50/sf, while the same building of construction type B would cost $100/sf. That sort of thing.

I'd really like to have a feel for cost/sf before I even approach builders so that I have some idea of what I can afford. I can do some of the work myself - such as electrical (I'm an electrician), insulation, and the finishing touches like painting and trim work.

I mean, I'd like to think I can afford a 1200 sf building, but without knowing what the typical cost/sf is of building a garage, I really have no idea...

Yeah, I get it. I'm kinda in the same boat with building on our MT property.

However, some will give you a ballpark $**/sq-ft estimate over the phone based on what you're looking for them to do. If you just want concrete, framing, siding, roof, doors, windows done, they should have a rough idea what that's going to cost. Add extra for interior work, walls, framing, insulation, etc.

Things fluctuate year to year and season to season, what Joe paid last year really won't apply, especially during these crazy times.

The Northwest Sportsmans Expo in Puyallup usually has a few steel building and pole barn builder/reps with booths. I picked some brains when I was there a couple years ago. Might be worth checking out. Bonus all kinds of cool hunting/fishing/outdoors gear and toys to play with too!

 

[kbeefy]

Cost per sq/ft varies wildly, and prices of things have been outta control for the past couple years.
Since your PNW plan on things being on the top end of the price spectrum, $50k in the SouthEast costs $125k here.

You can thank 'livable wages' for a big chunk of that one.

 

[Willb]

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions everyone, much appreciated!

I have a lot of research to do and I'm not even moved into the property yet - we're moving on january 8th and before I can start on the shop I promised my girlfriend I'd finish the "tiny house" that's one of the outbuildings. The sellers put electric into it already (and it looks like he knew what he was doing) and have partially finished the interior. I need to get it all finished so my girlfriend's daugher has a place to stay if she needs to move home again (long story) or we have guests and such. I promised her I'd have it done by June and after that I'm hoping I'll have the plans for the shop in place and can get started on that.

Cost per sq/ft varies wildly, and prices of things have been outta control for the past couple years.
Since your PNW plan on things being on the top end of the price spectrum, $50k in the SouthEast costs $125k here.

You can thank 'livable wages' for a big chunk of that one.

This is one of the reasons I've been asking about it here - I don't trust the numbers I'm seeing when I google this kind of stuff. Information that's more than a year old won't be reflective of post-pandemic costs but I'm used to paying top dollar for things in this corner of the country. At least costs for building materials seem to have leveled out at only slightly outrageous levels, which is a lot better than the totally outrageous numbers we were seeing at the beginning of the year.

 

[nadogail]

Welcome to the Forum from Southwestern California. From my conversations over the past 60 years with “Old Timers” I think you will be able to do your work in a repurposed wood shed.

 

[FMB4]

Welcome from S. Idaho.

 

[nadogail]

Welcome to the Forum from the shore of San Diego Bay,