Splitting Pole Barn into wood+machine shop. Interior material?

[FuturShoc]

Hello from Central Arkansas.
I'm about to close on a new place where I'll be building a new 30x50 pole barn shop. At some point thereafter, I'd like to divide the shop into a subsection to serve as a machine/metal shop. In doing so, I would really like to be able to weld and cut steel inside that room instead of having to roll things out into the drive way to make sparks and short-term fire.
In my mind, I should be able to simply cover the interior walls of this room with some sort of sheet metal. Maybe corrugated sheets from a big box store or something.

Has anyone done this? What are your experiences? Thoughts?
Thanks in advance!

 

[Jesse69]

yes i did something like that. Floor has clear coated with high temp coating and did walls 42” below with corrugated steel for some welding and grinding purposes did not do entire wall but you could if your are welding in close perimeters. Added welding outlets in 3 locations due to location of welding. I had fun and still am as to the design of it all.

 

[FuturShoc]

Beautiful shop, man.

Ok, so it seems like I could even go a full 6-ft of metal for a little extra protection. Depending on the standard lengths of metal available locally.
I didn't know about the heat resistant coating for the slab. I'll have to check that out.

 

[racecougar]

Liner panel. It's available in any length you want.

 

[FuturShoc]

Liner panel. It's available in any length you want.

That looks great. What's the width on those and how much did you have to give per panel? I assume this would vary in my area.

 

[racecougar]

The panels are 3' wide. Pricing varies based on area and supplier. I recommend sourcing from a metal supplier rather than a chain store, as you'll typically save quite a bit. IIRC, I bought 4k sq ft of material to do this shop in late 2018 for just over $2k, including trim and screws.

 

[Augus7us]

I forge weld and torch and i went with 3’ metal wainscotting panels and drywall above that.

 

[dfiler2]

I'm sure the guys who mentioned the 36" panels are aware of this but you may not be, the panels are usually 38" wide but have a 36" coverage as they overlap 2". At Menards right now a 10' panel looks to be about $32. That's cut to length price so you can choose what ever length you want, they may have some stock panels that would work for you at a little better price.

 

[racecougar]

I'm sure the guys who mentioned the 36" panels are aware of this but you may not be, the panels are usually 38" wide but have a 36" coverage as they overlap 2". At Menards right now a 10' panel looks to be about $32. That's cut to length price so you can choose what ever length you want, they may have some stock panels that would work for you at a little better price.

Of course. I didn't want to steer the guy down the path of thinking he'd get 38-1/4" of coverage per panel.

 

[dfiler2]

Yea, I get that but I've also seen posts where the guy spent 2 hours at Menards looking for 2x4s

 

[FuturShoc]

Thanks so much, guys!
I think I'm most relieved to learn that I'm not grossly misguided in thinking this approach would address my need.
I thought I would consult "The Council". lol

 

[FuturShoc]

The panels are 3' wide. Pricing varies based on area and supplier. I recommend sourcing from a metal supplier rather than a chain store, as you'll typically save quite a bit. IIRC, I bought 4k sq ft of material to do this shop in late 2018 for just over $2k, including trim and screws.

Oh, yeah. I'll go with a supplier for sure. I learned the price disparity real quick when I bought steel stock for the first time. Wow!

 

[Mainiac Mat]

Be sure to come up with a strategy to keep out moisture, and eliminate the humidity that does get in, or you machine shop tools may quickly be covered with surface rust. Pole barns (at least as I know them) aren't known for being vapor tight.

 

[FuturShoc]

Be sure to come up with a strategy to keep out moisture, and eliminate the humidity that does get in, or you machine shop tools may quickly be covered with surface rust. Pole barns (at least as I know them) aren't known for being vapor tight.

Understood.
Maybe a de-humidifier?
Pole barns seem to come wrapped in some sort of film-backed insulation before they put the metal exterior on. At least that's what the turnkey outfits that I've seen do. I'd honestly hate to spend the money to come back and ADD spray foam on top of that. Seems like a waste of the first layer of insulation.
However, I imagine spray foam from the beginning would be ideal.

 

[racecougar]

If you're talking about "double bubble" don't waste money on that.

 

[FuturShoc]

If you're talking about "double bubble" don't waste money on that.

It might be. I'm not for sure. I'll see if I can talk to whoever I have put the building up. Maybe I can save some money by leaving that off and then come back and ADD spray foam. I know foam is infinitely better, so I'd be willing to drop on that instead, if my budget allows.

 

[larry_g]

I went with the idea of clean and dirty areas. The clean area is where the lathes and mills reside and the dirty area is where the cutting and welding get done as well as other repairs. You can see my shop in the link below. As far as the wrap I have 2" of fiberglass and a liner. Here they call in insulated vapor barrier. I recommend it.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[FuturShoc]

I went with the idea of clean and dirty areas. The clean area is where the lathes and mills reside and the dirty area is where the cutting and welding get done as well as other repairs. You can see my shop in the link below. As far as the wrap I have 2" of fiberglass and a liner. Here they call in insulated vapor barrier. I recommend it.

lg
no neat sig line

That's a good lookin' shop, Larry.
I mostly do woodworking and only recently got into metal. So, since my woodworking side will have plenty of flammable particles, I figured it would be wise to split the shop in that way.

I think if I were only doing metal, I'd probably do the same as you: dirty vs. clean areas.
I don't do a ton of metalwork and will likely continue to do primarily wood work, so I think grinding and cutting dust will be less of an issue for me in the machine shop side.

 

[Mainiac Mat]

Understood.
Maybe a de-humidifier?
Pole barns seem to come wrapped in some sort of film-backed insulation before they put the metal exterior on. At least that's what the turnkey outfits that I've seen do. I'd honestly hate to spend the money to come back and ADD spray foam on top of that. Seems like a waste of the first layer of insulation.
However, I imagine spray foam from the beginning would be ideal.

Running a de-humidifier is what you do to make up for inadequate vapor barrier.... better to deal with it up front (which you are trying to do... so kudos). You have to think of concrete as a sponge. It simply wicks water up from the ground and passes it into the building.

So you have to do two things... create a vapor barrier and get the roof run off away from the structure.

Poly under the slab is the bare minimum.... better to prep the site. Sand and gravel base will drain water. But then you need a place for it to go. Drain tiles set in stone, pitched to daylight are best, but often the lot doesn't support that and you need to drain to a catch basin and pump it away. Then when you do lay down the poly, do it carefully and if you can get it, use 10 mil poly.

Next, deal with the roof runoff. Gutters are one option, but you can't just dump it at the corner of the structure... you need to pipe it away. Another option is a stone perimeter ditch with perf. drain pipe laid in the bottom, again, piped and pitched to daylight.

The siting of the building dominates this discussion. The first lots to be developed and sold are the ones that are high and dry. So unless you're one of the lucky ones, you're fighting an uphill battle, and need to invest in the means to get the water away from the structure.

 

[FuturShoc]

Running a de-humidifier is what you do to make up for inadequate vapor barrier.... better to deal with it up front (which you are trying to do... so kudos). You have to think of concrete as a sponge. It simply wicks water up from the ground and passes it into the building.

So you have to do two things... create a vapor barrier and get the roof run off away from the structure.

Poly under the slab is the bare minimum.... better to prep the site. Sand and gravel base will drain water. But then you need a place for it to go. Drain tiles set in stone, pitched to daylight are best, but often the lot doesn't support that and you need to drain to a catch basin and pump it away. Then when you do lay down the poly, do it carefully and if you can get it, use 10 mil poly.

Next, deal with the roof runoff. Gutters are one option, but you can't just dump it at the corner of the structure... you need to pipe it away. Another option is a stone perimeter ditch with perf. drain pipe laid in the bottom, again, piped and pitched to daylight.

The siting of the building dominates this discussion. The first lots to be developed and sold are the ones that are high and dry. So unless you're one of the lucky ones, you're fighting an uphill battle, and need to invest in the means to get the water away from the structure.

I totally agree. Better to get it right in the first place.
I'm wondering if many of the efforts you describe here are outside of a typical pole barn contractor's scope of work.

I imagine I can be sure the vapor barrier is addressed - even if I have to pay extra for it. But I assume the other stuff might be handled by me or another contractor after the shop is built?

 

[Mainiac Mat]

I'm wondering if many of the efforts you describe here are outside of a typical pole barn contractor's scope of work.

My experience (worth exactly what your paying for it ) is that the GC is responsible to get this done to the customer's spec. and that he will usually task the excavation contractor with prepping the site, digging ditches for drains, and even installing and back filling drain pipes.

I'm guessing that the "typical pole barn contractor" is on the hook for the structure only, and are probably not be assuming GC responsibilities.

GCs pay the subs directly (and bill you with the agreed upon mark up). If you're acting as your own GC... then it's on you.

 

[FuturShoc]

My experience (worth exactly what your paying for it ) is that the GC is responsible to get this done to the customer's spec. and that he will usually task the excavation contractor with prepping the site, digging ditches for drains, and even installing and back filling drain pipes.

I'm guessing that the "typical pole barn contractor" is on the hook for the structure only, and are probably not be assuming GC responsibilities.

GCs pay the subs directly (and bill you with the agreed upon mark up). If you're acting as your own GC... then it's on you.

Right. In my prospective scenario, I'll be hiring out the land clearing and dirt work to one outfit.
Then, the pole barn company (i have a good local reference) will do the building and probably sub-contract the concrete.
I am considering, however, contacting another company for a separate estimate who does stick-built shops and garages - just to compare the two prices. Either way, dirt work would be by the first outfit.