New member building a new building...

[the_cowman]

Greetings, forum! Been lurking unregistered on and off for a while, thought I'd actually sign up and say hi.

Attached is a quick sketch of what I currently have under construction. It's a barn/auto workshop/garage I guess but for tax and permitting purposes we just say "barn".

Not in the sketch is the ceiling height of 16', the rear wall of the shop is actually cut into a hill with a 6' high concrete wall so the hay storage is actually up on top of the hill. Also not in sketch are the entry doors/tools/some other details. The shop will be heated with an outdoor wood burning forced air furnace located in the uninsulated area(outdoor unit so if I'm spraying combustable things there's no ignition point) and cooled with a 25,000 btu window style AC unit.

Will be storing cars/trucks/tractor and an implement or two as well as working on stuff in the shop. Everything from oil changes to major restoration jobs I hope.

An idea came up the other day to maybe put some kind of door between the insulated shop area and the uninsulated storage area so I could pull something in longways if needed.... I'm not sure though as I can't currently conceive of anything I'd need that for and it's an added expense plus I'd loose more space for storage/tools along that wall. Anyone else ever looked at something like that and wish they had/hadn't bothered?

 

[matt_i]

I think you will probably want a man-door which could be an insulated exterior quality door between your unheated storage and the heated workshop. Pain to be working on a tractor (etc), have to keep walking inside and out as you go back and forth.

As on many discussions, anywhere you have the slab below grade, its an excellent idea to waterproof the walls in the same way a residential basement would be done, and manage the stormwater flow so the back wall of your building isn't acting as a temporary dam.

Also just wondering from afar if your building footprint would be better off as a full rectangle instead of having the upper right corner "notched out". Would simplify layout, etc, without adding much more square footage, which we all seem to need more of anyway.

 

[the_cowman]

I think you will probably want a man-door which could be an insulated exterior quality door between your unheated storage and the heated workshop. Pain to be working on a tractor (etc), have to keep walking inside and out as you go back and forth.

As on many discussions, anywhere you have the slab below grade, its an excellent idea to waterproof the walls in the same way a residential basement would be done, and manage the stormwater flow so the back wall of your building isn't acting as a temporary dam.

Also just wondering from afar if your building footprint would be better off as a full rectangle instead of having the upper right corner "notched out". Would simplify layout, etc, without adding much more square footage, which we all seem to need more of anyway.

Definitely going to have a man sized door between those areas, also one into the tack room( I didn't draw the walls there but it's 3 12x12 bays one of which is walled in for storag). The reason we don't have the hay storage running all he way out is that section has a lower ceiling and roof level than the rest of the building.

There's a trench currently behind the wall on the hill side, we'll be putting in drain tile and filling it in with gravel to take care of the water. I'll check with the contractor about sealing the wall further, I think he was but there are so many little details with a project like this, I tend to forget things.



Another thing is I want to epoxy the floor to make all the oil/grease I'm sure to be spilling easier to clean up. I asked about moisture and the contractor says there shouldn't be any. Is there anything I should have them do or not do when they pour the floor to make it better for expoxy later? Most of the stuff I read is geared towards application on an existing floor.

 

[Richard Cranium]

looks good,