New shop ideas and tips

[Redone]

When it's all said and done, you can figure $40 a square foot.

We just finished one and it's the smartest thing we have ever done

[biglentil]

Seems all pole sheds are lifting out of the ground around here. Yours okay? How to prevent that?
We did the insulation/Tin around foundation, 6" into the ground , 2" styro 2' out all around the base. Warm floor up to the wall.
Concrete never had frost, NO cracks. No floor heat, furnace recovers in a few minutes. South facing for ice/snow issues is a big deal.

I dug in 4ft of 3" rigid foam on a 45degree angle extending out from bottom of the skirt with extra in the corners. Also have Infloor heat just 15 ft around interior perimeter and under overhead door seals to prevent stuck doors. 1 floor drain on one side of the shop, flat on the fabrication side. Go with T5 bulbed Highbay florecant shop lights can't beat em.

[MBgrower]

Upgrade to larger mainposts, set at least 8' deep, go with in floor heat, heat recovery is fast as whole slab contributes heat, run the in floor heat out past overhead door to external slab so your door doesnt freeze, install air exchanger to get rid of humidity after bringing in snowy equipment, install your elictrical on the surface of the wall in conduit not inside the walls, dont face your door north, remote door opener, ceiling fans, exhaust vents that auto open close, seal the concrete, build it bigger than your planning, small door to bring in the pickup, front end loader, lots and lots of lights with multiple zones, 2 breaker panels one on each side, lots of rebar in the concrete, plumb in a bathroom.....
Get an estimate on your concrete and electrical work, big, big costs there.

[Ache4Acres]

Agree on the 20ft height. Out last one is 22ft height and it seems excesssively High.

Keep in mind on building height that if you have a big bifold it might need the extra building height to have the desired opening height.

[Quadtrack]

One idea I found was to put two layers of 3/4 in plywood all around the base of the interior then tin up from that. It gives a smooth, solid surface to mount electrical, air lines to, and anything else you want to mount on the walls without poking thru the vapor barrier. And it's tough. Have seen several shop interiors where the lower tin gets dented over time, and looks crappy.
I put LED lights in and very happy so far. Also have in-floor heat and very pleased with it-recovery time is a non-issue.
A twenty foot ceiling is good if you want to work on the top of your combine ie the bubble auger or something-then you don't have to worry about head clearance. I've yet to think 20ft was not high enough.

[Quadtrack]

Also, I put a pit in to work underneath everything from cars to semi. That is my 'must have'. Use it virtually every day.

[JDGreen]

Shop being built here right now.. Commercial steel structure.. In floor heat with supplemental forced air for quick recovery. 3" solid foam core panels all the way around including roof. No exposed fasteners and no interior liner needed. 26' sidewalls with 22' doors spanning 48' both ends.. Should be cozy

[jamesb]

been thinking about that a lot , and not that much more $ , even our air drill will go in 17.5" . what have you noticed or advantages have you saw from 20' cieling ? our pole shed is 20'

I found with things like the combine when you put on some of these hopper toppers and such push up the height more than expected.

[RD414]

JD, who supplied the insulation panels, any pics. Roughly how much per square foot. Got a quote on 2 inch spray in foam, $4.30 a square foot. Insulation is way more than steel and footing.

[biglentil]

JD, who supplied the insulation panels, any pics. Roughly how much per square foot. Got a quote on 2 inch spray in foam, $4.30 a square foot. Insulation is way more than steel and footing.

Ask 4 Aaron from Sprayguard in Regina he will come in under a buck a sq ft inch. Great guys and 2 inch will be the minimum they put in unlike some intallers will call it Avg 2 inch BS. What JD is doing is the ultimate but is in another stratosphere of cost when I priced it out years ago.

[tweety]

We went with concrete sandwich wall - very little cost differential over pole, if any, considering the benefits.

Oh the things you think of after the fact!

What's a sandwich wall? Logix Blocks style?

[JDGreen]

JD, who supplied the insulation panels, any pics. Roughly how much per square foot. Got a quote on 2 inch spray in foam, $4.30 a square foot. Insulation is way more than steel and footing.

It is more cost efficient than having it sprayed and then lined. The actual building arrives next week so can take a pic then.. I don't know who actually manufactures them as I have this building contracted out to a commercial Robertson building contractor.

[seabass]

Agree with JD. Make the door entry 20 feet or more. 60 feet wide 100 plus long. Machines dont seem to get smaller.

[burnt]

What's a sandwich wall? Logix Blocks style?

A sandwich wall has SM board in the middle of a concrete wall, pouring concrete down both sides of the SM which is in the center of the forms. Our son runs a concrete pump and has lots of fun on those pours...

In our case, we poured an 8' high x 10" thick wall with 2" SM board (dense blue polystyrene) in the center. The SM board was 6' high, giving insulation 2' below grade. (We have 4' below grade and 4' above.)

By keeping the SM board 1" below the top of the wall, the insulation is fully protected from rodent or mechanical damage. I would likely pour a 10' wall next time (4' below for foundation and 6' wall above) so more of the shop wall is impervious to "bumps" that seem to be inevitable inside a workshop.

We have a 16' high 2"x8" stud wall sitting on that 4' concrete wall. We went with 2x8 on 24" centers instead of 2x6 on 16" and the building crew loved it, saved construction time and gave more space for fiberglass batt insulation. The builder also had another innovative idea in that he ripped 4x8 sheets of 1/2 inch plywood into 2x8 sheets and nailed them around the wall sections for a solid strip of plywood all the way around the top and bottom of the stud walls. This gives the building a lot more structural integrity. He then used 1x4 strapping over top of the plywood to keep the surface even with the 2x4 strapping on the rest of the wall.

I don't know if this is helpful or if I just muddied the waters more!?

[URL="http://www.ebawe.de/sites/default/files/styles/popup/public/produktbilder/ebawe-sandwichwand-05.jpg?itok=FeTXRVGk"]http://www.ebawe.de/sites/default/files/styles/popup/public/produktbilder/ebawe-sandwichwand-05.jpg?itok=FeTXRVGk[/URL]

[tweety]

Do you think this is better or worse advantage/disadvantage then the other way around, foam, cement foam, like a logix? People build entire houses, basement and upper floors this way. Also, no form required. The block is the form.