Building a Shop

[parshal]

Yes, 11 feet since that was the spacing from the outside wall to support poles. I thought it would be way too small but it's actually quite sizable with a safe, rolling cabinets, lathe and mill on one side and the 30' x 30" bench and shelves on the other. Plenty of room between the bench and equipment and too much room to 'store' crap on the floor.

That space is enough for the lathe/mill and a full-scale reloading room. Anything that doesn't need to be in a climate controlled environment can be stored on top of the 'shop' in the barn area or on shelves in the open barn where there's a camper and my truck.

 

[TaperPin]

It seems everyone I know with a lot of toys is going with 40x60 and 16’ or 20’ walls. Most of the guys who like to build things themselves go with wood since it’s easiest to add on to (like interior guest room/kitchen) or modify. One friend that just wants it up and done went with steel and would do it again. Zero exterior maintenance is nice, but you’re locked into spray foam insulation and furing for Sheetrock.

 

[IDShane]

I had a 42 x 44 built with a 16ft lean to 3 years ago with 14ft sidewalls and now I wish I went 60 x 40 and like 18ft sidewalls. I have a woodworking shop in the back of mine and if I would have built it taller I could have built like a trophy/ reloading room upstairs. Heck I thought about looking for another house just because of this crazy idea. With Idaho prices I will pause for now...

 

[Whaledriver]

28x30 here with full room above with attic trusses. Only was a 2k upcharge. R19 in walls, had under the room and gables sprayed with closed cell. I live in CO and 40 degrees is about as cold as it gets in there with no heat. Slab is insulated under. Did pole barn frame and finished with second hand cedar. Turned out pretty well overall. I did entire build under 45k back in 2018. Finished inside by myself. Connecting in ng for a heater this fall.

 

[parshal]

That looks great! No idea how you keep temps in the 40's, though!

 

[DuckDogDr]

Built a 40x48x14 two years ago. Wooden post frame. Metal exterior and interior, batt insulation in the walls, blown in insulation in the attic. In-floor heat with a hanging forced air for quick heat.

Sorry, I don't know anything about the steel structure building packages and how they compare price-wise or what they're like to insulate, finish, etc, but I was able to do most of the work myself and saved a bunch of money.

@cornfedkiller do you have pictures of your shop ? Considering building one myself . Wanted to know if you had any advice

 

[cornfedkiller]

@cornfedkiller do you have pictures of your shop ? Considering building one myself . Wanted to know if you had any advice

PM sent

 

[WKR]

Can anyone who did a wood frame build give me an idea of how much materials cost ?

 

[Pony Soldier]

Treated 6x6s got really expensive for your poles. Rough cut boards in the northwest are 1/2 to 3/4 of planed wood and a lot stronger.

 

[Dust Rider]

Can anyone who did a wood frame build give me an idea of how much materials cost ?

My 70 x 35 in 2018/19 worked out to about $85/sqft. About twice what I expected. Did most of it myself with the help of three guys. Rented a Gehl telehandler to frame, sheet, set trusses and sheet roof.
Doing a shop right will consume a lot of material, time and money.
Build once, cry once. Its only money and a nice shop will give you happiness every day. Good luck and happy hammering.

 

[cornfedkiller]

Can anyone who did a wood frame build give me an idea of how much materials cost ?

I have a spreadsheet of what everything cost me at my office.. I will try to post some numbers tomorrow. My building is on perma-columns, lumber and metal were a little higher than it is now, but other things are probably more expensive.

All said and done, I think I was at about $75k, which is $40/sq ft.

 

[Yellowknife]

You guys are talking prices I can’t even dream of locally. I just finished (2023) a small shop / garage and it ran me $120 / sq ft as built by a contractor. Wood framed, well insulated, and outside finished to match the house, so it’s nicer than average… but still.

The last one I built in 2015 to similar specs was $80 sq ft. Prices are up substantially over that time.

A few comments.

I bought a commercial grade overhead door this time. Hardware was substantially heavier than a typical door and its 3” thick instead of 1.5 or 2” with better air sealing. The cost difference was surprisingly small. Should be a lifetime door and will certainly keep the heat in better than the residential type.

Other thing I did was upgrade one of the man doors from a standard 36” to 42” wide. Super nice for carrying bulky objects in and out, wheelbarrows, lawn mowers, moose racks, etc.

I ran both hot and cold water from the house to a hose bib. Being able to clean muddy gear with warm water from the hose is pretty nice.

Yk

 

[displacedtexan]

nobody is goona peel the wall off in 30 seconds like you can with a 1/4" gun on a metal building

Just spray foam and osb for them to get to with that approach on my shop.

 

[parshal]

nobody is goona peel the wall off in 30 seconds like you can with a 1/4" gun on a metal building

Don't think this doesn't bother me.

They'd just come through one of my windows before they'd do that, I suspect. Unfortunately, where I live, nobody would notice a vehicle sitting near my shop/barn so thieves have as much time as they want if we're out of town. My safe is in a corner and bolted to the concrete but, with time, anything belongs to a thief.

 

[cornfedkiller]

Can anyone who did a wood frame build give me an idea of how much materials cost ?

I just looked back at my emails and the original quote I got from the lumberyard for the building package (permacolumns, lumber, exterior steel, and 2 overhead doors) was $27,000.

I ended up not getting my overhead doors through them, so that got taken off that total.

My other big ticket items were:

Plumbing (floor drains) and insulation under the floor: $6200
Pex in floor: $600
Insulation: $3700
Electrical: $1500
Interior Lighting: $650
Overhead Doors: $7500
Concrete: $5800
Interior Metal: $6250
Water Heater Install: $5500

If you have a local lumberyard, they can give you a materials package quote pretty quickly and easily.

 

[ben h]

About 25 years ago I built a 32x32 up at our cabin and thought that would be plenty.....it's not. By the time you get a couple boats, 4 wheeler and tools, there's not much left. I think for a concrete contractor, 40x40 will be too small, much quicker than you think. Since you have room, I'd go bigger, or maybe build it with an expansion plan already in place, so it's easier to add on later if you need more space.

Curious, since the OP is a concrete contractor, are you thinking of pouring a traditional strip footing and stem wall foundation? Seems to me that would be the preferred way for a traditional wood frame construction. On a different property, I'm thinking of building a new garage and I'm thinking drilled pier foundations and steel portal frames. A lot of people in the area build pole barn type construction, but I just don't know where they come up with the lateral load capacity for wind forces....well, that's not true, I do know that most don't do any engineering, so they don't know either.

 

[WKR]

About 25 years ago I built a 32x32 up at our cabin and thought that would be plenty.....it's not. By the time you get a couple boats, 4 wheeler and tools, there's not much left. I think for a concrete contractor, 40x40 will be too small, much quicker than you think. Since you have room, I'd go bigger, or maybe build it with an expansion plan already in place, so it's easier to add on later if you need more space.

Curious, since the OP is a concrete contractor, are you thinking of pouring a traditional strip footing and stem wall foundation? Seems to me that would be the preferred way for a traditional wood frame construction. On a different property, I'm thinking of building a new garage and I'm thinking drilled pier foundations and steel portal frames. A lot of people in the area build pole barn type construction, but I just don't know where they come up with the lateral load capacity for wind forces....well, that's not true, I do know that most don't do any engineering, so they don't know either.

Negative, it'll be a slab on grade with a perimeter footing and spread footings if needed.. My dad is an engineer so ill have that covered as well

 

[WKR]

What kinda concrete work are ya doing? Are you set up for doing walls?

Structural and civil. We do it all.

 

[Hnthrdr]

I got a 30X30 with a 15X30 lean to on each side. One is enclosed and one is open.

I put board and abttor on the entire thing on the inside. Every single board in that garage came from my own logs on my land that I cut down and then sawed on my sawmill.

It is/was a lot of work but I like it.

I am going to do as steel ceiling with an exhaust fan in teh peaks to get rid of some of that summertime heat though. I was going to insulate it but I decided that that is just isn't worth the cost. Insulation is high right now and its "just a garage".

My labor of love. It was a lot of work to do it all by myself. A borderline nightmare actually. lol

You are looking at about $55K sitting there for just the building and cement. If I had to do it over again, I would have added more windows.



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Awesome set up there!

 

[WKR]

Wonder how much more it would cost to go concrete for the walls

It would increase the cost by a pretty big margin.
Especially with as high as I'd want to go.