Building a building in my backyard for a shop seeking advice

[gunsandgunsmithing]

Why not white roofing metal for ceiling and/or walls? You may have a reason but it's hard to beat for a garage/workspace. Lot's of good reasons to go that route and few not to, especially with spray foam insulation, which is a good idea, imo.

Certainly more than one way to do this and nothing wrong with sheet rock if that's what you want. Metal is very functional and a lot cheaper, faster and easier.

edit...just saw Al beat me to it. Indoors and being white, number 2 metal is fine and cheaper than #1

 

[Walt Krafft]

Radiant floor heat is nice. Must be done upfront.
Include a bathroom and washup area.
Do not get Mitsishitty mini splits for heating and cooling. Mine crapped out after 4 years and they couldnt get parts for a month.

 

[Mr.Spradlin]

Plenty of outlets!!!!
And yes put extras in the celling if its standard 8’ or reel drop outlets if its higher.

 

[dryhumor]

Think vertical. Anywhere you can add shelving to store items go vertical. Most used items low, less used items higher. Add wheels or casters to what equipment you can. This gives you better ability to group things together or move as needed.

Get the brightest LED lights you can, switch them separately.

Don’t know how OCD you are, but I’ve learned when you are finished with something put it back where it goes. Finish an operation, clean as you go. Tool storage by the equipment or work station works best.

I have 2 bottom cabinets for tools with a Corian top on them. Gives me tool storage and four sides I can work at. You’d be surprised at what sort of useful tables can be had at a restaurant supply house also.

If it’s a solid work space, then only have work items in the space. If you don’t keep it separate pretty soon you’ll have the the accumulation of what I call junk & crap in your way.

I have 2 20x30 shops. One for work, one for mowers, 4 wheeler, motorcycle, and yes the junk and crap.

ETA If possible, think about a lean to on the front or side with concrete under it. It can become a place to park, cook out, do dirty work, or work when the weathers nice. Mine has a 4’ walk door from the shop.

 

[Walt Krafft]

A few years ago, I moved all the raw materials to a seperate building. It doesnt need temp control. This allows your shop to be much smaller and less cluttered.

 

[rjtfroggy]

I don't know how it is where you live but here in Ct. you better check with zoning before doing anything else.
My suggestion would be a steel building with the enameled finish on the exterior, maintenance free for damn near forever.

 

[Southwest Action Works]

Put several underground’s in your slab. pvc is cheap. Get with your electrician have them stub up in evey corner with at least a 3/4 conduit. 20 amp breakers are also cheap don’t let them just put a bunch of plugs make sure they put plenty of circuits for the plugs. The under grounds save our old asses from climbing ladders for new runs to new equipment. Also keep in mind it’s doubtful any of your equipment will run at FLA (full load amps) or at the same time. My 10hp chop saw, 250a tig,150 mig and plasma cuter all have their own plugs but share a circuit. My big ass tig machine calls for a 100a circuit it’s never tripped a 50 i doubt it would trip a 30. In my 40x60 I have 3 retractable extension cords on my ceiling I wish I had 6. Depending on local codes a lot of places you can run your air lines in pex. hit every wall wit a pex last time I checked it’s even cheaper than pvc conduit. Good luck with your build!!! I’m envious I wish I would have been able to build my shop.

 

[Buckeye_68]

I really don't think plywood walls would be cost effective even though that would be great. I was thinking about having all of the electrical done external to the walls and don't put any of them in the walls. Use conduit on the outside and j boxes.

I think I'm just going to continue to use converters for three phase machines. The machine I just bought has a Mitsubishi VFD. The box is super simple and not very expensive and works like a charm. So I don't see a lot of advantage to having three phase in my little shop.

I would definitely run conduit, If going with a pole barn type of metal building it’s really easy to run conduit under the pad and stub up the poles . Quick and easy and very clean installation. I would stub through the pad in GRC though .

 

[Walt Krafft]

Pex for air lines is ok. Never run air in pvc. Hit a pvc air line so it breaks and you will have jagged shrapnel flying around.

 

[Mike Casselton]

At least 10 foot ceilings 12 would be better, You will need to move gantry crane/cranes within the shop for moving equipment around. Don't cheap out on the electrical, Go over and above with wire size, Don't cheap out on the amount of outlets for both 110 and 220, My first shop had very limited amount of 110 outlets and only one 220 outlet I now have 8 220 outlets in my new shop, make at least 2 of them 50 amp circuits, the others can be 30 amp. I have 30, 2 gang 20 amp outlets in my new shop, Install Hall switches so you can turn on and off lights from either end of the shop . Put each bank of lights on separate switches so you can save on power if you are not on that end of the shop. Use all LED fixtures throughout. Run DOT Truck air line 5/8 in the ceiling and drop out down the walls in convenient locations using manifolds with shutoff valves and air drains at the bottom with water traps, Don't cheap out on that either, put as many as you think you may need in the future, and use hose reels, It makes your shop much safer, Keeps tripping hazards to a minimum. Also add your air filtration system at the same time. Have as much insulation as possible sprayed into the ceiling, Don't use batts. Run data cabling Cat 6 and cable to your office. And also in the office put in fast charging usb outlets, They aren't that much anymore. Also, Place the shop near the house, It makes it nicer in cold weather/snow etc to walk to the house quicker.

I can't think of anything else, I'm sure will think of more later, I am sure others will chime in. When I did this second shop I told myself, I have to get this right I don't want any regrets, Itt's a lot of work to go back and redo something you didn't think of or overlooked, Take your time and think everything through.

Edit: Do not run your air system in the walls, I made that mistake when I built my shop, Like I said, run the air lines in the ceiling and use drops in convenient locations, when you are done have your insulation sprayed over top of them. I had to do that retrofit after condensation built up in my piping in the walls and the subzero weather broke the pipes.

Also build a compressor room and insulate the walls and install vents. Put your compressor switch by your exit door, It reminds you to turn it off.

Install an auto drain system for your compressor. Install a trap within 6' of the compressor and one at every service port. Water in the air system sucks.

 

[rebs]

I too am planning a new building. The one I'm in now, behind my house, is all wood construction and was built in about 1965 or so. I actually have two out buildings. When I bought this place in 1996 I was travelling nearly 100% of the time for years on end and I was single. One result of this is, carpenter ant damage. It could be repaired of course but I do want a bigger better shop and I'm considering a steel building. I have since gotten married and the biggest hold up on the shop is I have an above ground truck lift that needs 15 feet overhead and the wife won't sign off on the added expense for a building big enough and tall enough to accommodate it. Her thing is, get rid of the truck!

So I've seen you're planning on getting married...

why does she need to sign off, did you put her name on the property deed ?

 

[Southwest Action Works]

Pex for air lines is ok. Never run air in pvc. Hit a pvc air line so it breaks and you will have jagged shrapnel flying around.

I agree

 

[Sniperhandle]

Pex for air lines is ok. Never run air in pvc. Hit a pvc air line so it breaks and you will have jagged shrapnel flying around.

I used pex back then, But now I believe the only way to go is D.O.T. Truck air line. Its fiberglass reinforced and it it is made to be out in the elements, And its pretty reasonable. Its riding around in the exposed frames and even hanging down in some cases of Big rigs going down the road everyday. When I retro-fitted my shop, That's what I used.

Although I will say, The pex I ran underground out to my container has been there for several years now and I haven't had any leaks or problems, Coming out of the ground I used galvanized pipe.

 

[Sniperhandle]

Install an auto drain system for your compressor. Install a trap within 6' of the compressor and one at every service port. Water in the air system sucks.

I have traps under every drop, I also installed an air filtration system in my compressor room, That's one of the better things I have done, Haven't seen any vapor or water in a few years now.

 

[Dgd6mm]

A lot of very good suggestions here. Here is one, go with what you can afford now with plans that you can expand in the future if necessary. Most structures are easy to expand with an addition.
Affordability at times definitely enters the situation at hand.

 

[butchlambert]

I built a 30x30 Metal shop with 12 ceiling before our house went up. Foam insulation and the same metal for the inside walls. All air and electrical is attached to the wall. I have 300amp service. I have a small concrete slab outside and covered to hold the comopressor and 2 Rotary Phase convertors. I put a 15x15 room for reloading, bathroom, benches, shelving,and it has a motel type Hvac. I have a heat pump for the shop. I enclosed the 15x30 porch later for the dirty room. It is also insulated. I have a 10' garage type door.

 

[joshb]

You should get estimates for a steel building vs a wood framed building. From what I’ve seen, the steel is pretty competitive.

 

[AccelR8]

why does she need to sign off, did you put her name on the property deed ?

That's a figure of speech. The disagreement is how much we're going to put into this place as we will eventually move. It used to be rural but now it's where all the "luxury" housing developments are going in. All over the place.

 

[urbanrifleman]

I'm in the city. With a small back yard. I think you guys are mostly way more than I can afford or have the space for. I guess I'll be pretty small by the standards of most.

 

[urbanrifleman]

You should get estimates for a steel building vs a wood framed building. From what I’ve seen, the steel is pretty competitive.

Why would steel be better?