New shop questions (also HELLO!!)

[nvbigblue]

Greetings all!
I've been lurking around for a bit and thought it might be time to say hello to everyone.
SO....... Hello.

Anyways, I'm putting things together for a new shop. It was going to be 40'W x 60'L x 18'H, but after drawing things out in Sketchup, that size would have dwarfed the house . So I scaled it back to 40'W x 40'L x 18'H This will be a metal arch building of the 'S' type (straight walls, curved roof). I am going with the factory metal end walls. I know I could save some cash here, but I won't have time put things together during the time that I'll be back in the real world. I just need a complete building, ready to use.
My thoughts are to split the floor space in half, with the right 20' being for office, motorcycle parking, storage, etc, with the left 20' for use as a service bay, etc. I plan on building a mezzanine over the rear of the shop for a storage / chill out area.
I was going to go with a 10'x10' roll up door, but my brother convinced me to go to 12'H. I don't have anything that tall right now, but not much more in price.

I was planning on centering the big door on the left side of the building, which would make a nice, straight pull in, with lots of room on each side of that half. (the center of the door, would be at the center of the left hand pad, 10' from the left wall) But looking at the building profile, I don't have enough vertical head room for the roll-up. So it looks like it will have to be slightly to the right of the center of center. hehe.... make sense? (the center of the door would be 17' off the left wall)

The reason I don't want it in the center of the building is mainly because of a friends shop layout. His door is in the middle of his building (32'W), but his lift is on the left. (it was in the center, but it messed up the layout of the shop too much, so he moved it) So you have to pull in, and the manuevuer the vehicle around to get it lined up on the left.

I was planning on putting the lift on the left side of the building, on the rear 20' pad. That way I can have a car tore apart on the lift, and yet still be able to pull vehicles into the service bay, or get my bikes out without issues.

I'm not sure where I'm going to put the front man-door. With only one roll up, I could put it left of the main door, right of the main door centered on the building, or on the far right of the building. I wouldn't have an issue with it being on the front of the left side either if that's possible (waiting on an answer from the factory...) The other man door will be at the rear left of the building.
I am planning on spray in insulation. As much as I might want to, I'm not planning on in-floor heating. I was planning on using a tube-type radiant heater hung from the ceiling, at least on the front half of the building. I have a friend that has a pretty big shop and he has this set up and it works well. He closes off the back of his shop in winter using a heavy canvas curtain.

So my questions for you guys are:
1. I'm planning on pouring everything at once, so can the concrete guys put cuts in at the 20' marks or do they have to be closer? (I was thinking of four 20' x20' pads)
2. Should I go with the roll up (heavy duty, wind rated), but have to have it not quite where I want it, or should I try and go with a regular type garage door and a low profile kit and maybe get it centered on the left?
3. Should I go with a bigger / wider door?
4. For ventilation, should I use the round 'turbo-lators' that go on top, or square ventilation fans on the end walls? There may not be power on the building for a bit after it's up, but it wouldn't be being used during that time either other than for storage. Personally, I dislike the turbo-thingies..... all of the ones around my area seem to squeak while spinning.

Anyways, sorry so long, but I really don't have a lot of people to talk to about this...... I'm half way around the world from the U.S. at the moment and trying to do pretty much all of this via email, and through SWMBO back home.

NV

 

[SlagFarmer]

A picture would help visualize. Can you post Sketchup pics?

 

[nvbigblue]

A picture would help visualize. Can you post Sketchup pics?

No problemo! I've spent the last week drawing things out. The building isn't quite exact, but the floor size and peak height are good. It 's is nice being able to see and 'walk around' inside the bldg and kind of get a feel for how much room is between this or that.
I put a basic mezzanine in just to get a feel for the size of it. It will probably change though.
Only other thing of notice is that I ordered the bldg. Waiting for the plans to show up so I can get the concrete and permits rolling.

Here's a few exports out of SketchUp.








I did verify with the factory that I can offset the 12' door by 1 foot left of center. Not perfect, but I think it will work out OK.
I can't take credit for the tractor or the lift, I just grabbed them from the library, but they are to scale. The downside to all this drawing that I'm starting to second guess dropping to a 40x40.... if it does turn out to be too small, I can always add 20 more feet of arches down the road.

It will be interesting to see how things turn out in real life once the shop is up.

NV

 

[sberry]

go back to 60 foot first, 40 wide is a good start, a bud has a 30, a lot of wasted space with 2 cars, 2 cramped along the walls, has 2,, 2 small doors, big mistake. with 60 you can get 2 cars end to end if you must and have the end for tool, bench, welder, comp etc. At 40 there is enough width to put narrow shelves along walls. A 40 60 is getting to be a pretty respectable building size wise, its a huge asset if someone wants to fall back and make a living in if he had to, still not bad to heat and the extra cost is minor in comparison, you got some wiggle room.

 

[dbonne]

Welcome!

If the wind blows anything like it does here in Southern Idaho, Wind rated door is a must.

 

[sberry]

i need sketck plan buy no one is paying me so,,, yes, house is there now but a builing this size woyld put an eve out the end where 2 doors would go, a 12x12 and a smaller one with walk door squeezed in. i would do all the building in the other end with walk door in most convenient spot that enters shop,,, then with door to office/utility/chill if you must and stairs to loft over it. only takes one wall to do it and is the support for the loft,,, slightlt different in m pic due to size, mine is in FRONT corner, not a trail to get to office etc. you could actually do this in 40 ft buy i am a sq ft glut to a point.

 

[sberry]

you need a good builder to help with this. even 50 ft long would give a little extra, the whole floor space in this is open with all tools around walls and most utilities clustered back to back,. allows for sheilded compressor, place for laundry tub. there are about 2 versions of this, one with door in each end, office setup in corner like mine with car park next to it and shop space in other end. Get all the 'living' space on first floor.

 

[nvbigblue]

A picture would help visualize. Can you post Sketchup pics?

Well heck..... I submitted a big reply last night, but it didn't take, so I'll try this again....

Here are some drawings I did for the bldg. I verified with the factory that the most I can move my door over is to the 7' mark, so right side of door will be 1' left of center. Not too bad. This will leave the right side of the bldg clear. I 'built' a mezzanine in the bldg to get an idea of how big it is, but layout will probably change. The lift and tractor are to scale, which really helps on getting a feel for how much room I'll have to walk around, etc...
I placed the order for the bldg last week. Waiting for the plans to arrive so I can get the permits and concrete rolling. I bounced back and forth about going 60' long, but I can always add a few more arches down the line if I want. The bldg in the drawing isn't quite exact, the wall height is close and the peak height is good, but the arch is a slightly different shape. I don't have detailed enough info to duplicate it exactly. But it's really helped me visualize things.
NV

 

[pwhittle]

That looks like what I want to do.

Who is the manufacturer of the building?

Where are you building it?

Paul

 

[Angelfire]

Regarding control cuts, it's recommended to have them every 10-15', preferably 12' or so. My guy cut them at 16' even after I told him I wanted 2 control cuts vs. 1 (across a 32' width). Guess who has cracks equidistant from the one control cut!

 

[crewchief888]

if you decide to do 40x40, and maybe, could be, possibly want 60ft depth eventually, is it in the budget to have all the concrete done at once?

may save in the long run i you have limited access to the back of the building.

just a thought