New Shop Building Project...

[Jim_in_PA]

I've mentioned in the "What's on your workbench" thread a few times that this year brings (finally!) my new shop building project to the table. We moved to this property a year ago (literally a year ago tomorrow as I'm typing this) and all my stuff has been crammed into the gara...err...temporary shop since. I had a 23x44 building at the old property that was originally built as a garage and it gradually become "mostly" my shop, both downstairs and upstairs. My intent here is not to exactly duplicate that. There will be a few more square feet in the actual shop, but it will be single story. It will have a level floor, too, and be a 24x36x10 post-frame structure. Larger would have been nicer, but when you hit 1000 sq ft, it triggers a whole bunch of very expensive land/groundwater requirements that I have no interest in paying for. Preliminary zoning evaluation was already completed (no way was I going to put a deposit down on a building without assurance that the site would be approved) so now it's a matter of the building permit to get through review and approval. Our jurisdiction uses a professional engineering firm for these processes and they have been pleasantly responsive to-date for other projects so I'll hold some optimism that the permit will be issued in a reasonable amount of time.

I received the engineer-stamped plans today so pending meeting with my electrician, hopefully tomorrow or Thursday, I can get my permit application in within the next week. Here's a peak at the exterior and the post frame layout. The two small changes I've requested was to use full height panels on the gable ends and to move the window on the front gable between the man-door and the overhead door down so the top of that window is level with the top of the door. The latter is for aesthetics and will have no impact on intended use inside.





I will be going the ground prep myself as I have a small, but capable Kubota tractor with both a loader and backhoe. The building firm will do that piece and my electrician will take care of getting power to the building, either separate service or, if we can get the house service upgraded to 400 amp, a feed off there in front of the generator. The floor will hopefully be done by a mason friend of mine if he can fit that in, but if not, the building firm can do it upon request. All other work on the interior including wiring, finished, dust collection, air network, etc., will be on me.

 

[old wrench]

Ten-foot ceiling height is really nice when you are working with sheet goods

Are planning on in-floor hydronic or a split system?

.

 

[Jim_in_PA]

Are planning on in-floor hydronic or a split system?

Mini Split. I had that at in the shop at the old location and it was...divine. Sadly, I had to leave it there because it was an important feature for the property sales process. The good news is that Costco now carries the Mr Cool DIY systems including one that's an appropriate size for the new building and priced right at $1700...half of what the one at the other place cost me with a "repeat customer discount" and also doing all the prep work myself, including electrical. I'm going to do my own install here.

I chose the 10' ceiling for both the additional headroom and for the "feels". Any taller and it would have pushed things proportionally on the outside to where the building height would start to get uncomfortable in a residential setting. I toyed with scissor trusses, too, but decided to stick with normal trusses since my insulation method remains indeterminate at this point.

 

[1bad914]

I will be watching this for sure. I need to talk my wife into building one of these. We call them pole barns or pole buildings here.

 

[Peegoo]

Oooooh, I envy you! That is going to be a nice workshop!

Make sure to treat the foundation ground for termites (trench & pour) after the slab goes in.

 

[Telekarster]

Nice! Good luck on this project, Jim! " Mr Cool DIY" - FWIW, in my little shop I cut a hole into the T111 and installed a medium sized window AC unit, which cost me about 250 bucks I think, and I flush mounted it to the studs so that it's out of the way. On the outside I installed a bracket mounting system using PT 2x4's to support it, since most of it hangs outside. It's been installed now for about 15 years and keeps my shop nice and cool, even on the hottest days, on simple 120v. It runs full blast when I'm in there, but that's ok with me cause it helps keep the air circulated while I'm working. If it ever dies, I'll simply pull it out and put a new one in no sweat. FWIW just wanted to mention what I did.

 

[Jim_in_PA]

I will be watching this for sure. I need to talk my wife into building one of these. We call them pole barns or pole buildings here.

"Pole Barn" was how this format started, but post-frame is more accurate about how the actual structure is made from an engineering standpoint. Today's buildings can also much nicer than old-time pole barns...even the "poles" are laminated posts that are really straight and true so you don't have to have magic powers to get a straight and square structure.

Oooooh, I envy you! That is going to be a nice workshop!

Make sure to treat the foundation ground for termites (trench & pour) after the slab goes in.

We fortunately do not have termite issues here at this property, but adequate treatment is already part of the plan.

Nice! Good luck on this project, Jim! " Mr Cool DIY" - FWIW, in my little shop I cut a hole into the T111 and installed a medium sized window AC unit, which cost me about 250 bucks I think, and I flush mounted it to the studs so that it's out of the way. On the outside I installed a bracket mounting system using PT 2x4's to support it, since most of it hangs outside. It's been installed now for about 15 years and keeps my shop nice and cool, even on the hottest days, on simple 120v. It runs full blast when I'm in there, but that's ok with me cause it helps keep the air circulated while I'm working. If it ever dies, I'll simply pull it out and put a new one in no sweat. FWIW just wanted to mention what I did.

I had a mini split at the old property/shop and will also have one in the new building. I need both heat and cooling and mini splits are uber-efficient, especially in a well insulated space. Hopefully the latter will come from closed cell spray foam, but I'm not yet at the point of getting quotes. Alternative insulation methods have less expensive materials but I'd have to put in a full ceiling Which is costly given it would either require adding structure to support something like drywall or need to be done with metal. In both cases, thats $2.5-3K of cost which could be flipped to the very efficient spray foam as an envelope. Decisions....decisions...

 

[Jim_in_PA]

Official Permit and Zoning applications along with all required supporting documentation has been submitted as of today...and now we wait.

The electrical supply will come from the house...service from the street will be upgraded to 400 amps and it will split after the meter but before the generator transfer switch, providing 200 amps (same as current) to the house and 200 amps to the shop building on the same meter and bill. That was my preferred solution and my electrician came in at the cost I actually anticipated. Actually, he was two bucks under that expectation but who's counting?

 

[old wrench]

From looking at the simple plans of your building, it looks like a modular layout for metal siding and roofing panels - is that what you plan on?

There are some really nice-looking metal panel colors available now -

.

 

[GunsOfBrixton]

Official Permit and Zoning applications along with all required supporting documentation has been submitted as of today...and now we wait.

The electrical supply will come from the house...service from the street will be upgraded to 400 amps and it will split after the meter but before the generator transfer switch, providing 200 amps (same as current) to the house and 200 amps to the shop building on the same meter and bill. That was my preferred solution and my electrician came in at the cost I actually anticipated. Actually, he was two bucks under that expectation but who's counting?

Hopefully The permits Get approved quickly. Then it is hurry up and wait for all the contractors.

 

[Blue Bill]

Wow, what a great project. I'm jelly. I've been dreaming about a garage, but lumber and other materials are through the roof here in Maine, plus excavating and concrete work contractors are booked out for months, even years. Good luck with yours, I'm looking forward to watching the progress.

 

[draggindakota]

Official Permit and Zoning applications along with all required supporting documentation has been submitted as of today...and now we wait.

The electrical supply will come from the house...service from the street will be upgraded to 400 amps and it will split after the meter but before the generator transfer switch, providing 200 amps (same as current) to the house and 200 amps to the shop building on the same meter and bill. That was my preferred solution and my electrician came in at the cost I actually anticipated. Actually, he was two bucks under that expectation but who's counting?

The waiting is the hardest part! It took 7.5 months from deposit to C.O. for my shop last year. 4 months of that was waiting on the engineered plans and the permit. I still don't have the electrical done though (doing it myself).

 

[Jim_in_PA]

From looking at the simple plans of your building, it looks like a modular layout for metal siding and roofing panels - is that what you plan on?

There are some really nice-looking metal panel colors available now -

.

Metal cladding is typical of post frame buildings. The wall and trim colors will exactly match our house...clay/taupe for the walls, a light beige for the trim and gutters, and the roof will be bronze. I will paint the man-door hunter green, again, to match the house's front door and the overhead door (purely for moving machinery and material in/out) will be painted to match the walls so it "disappears". This particular company uses slightly heavier metal panels.

Hopefully The permits Get approved quickly. Then it is hurry up and wait for all the contractors.

Current scheduling is about 8-10 weeks after permit approval with the company I'm using.

The waiting is the hardest part! It took 7.5 months from deposit to C.O. for my shop last year. 4 months of that was waiting on the engineered plans and the permit. I still don't have the electrical done though (doing it myself).

I had stamped engineered drawings within four weeks of handing my deposit to the building company, both in paper and PDF. The PDF version was what was submitted for the permitting process, along with some documentation about the builder, my plot plan, electrical plan, etc. The engineering firm who handles the permit and zoning process for our jurisdiction is pretty good an to-date has been very responsive on previous permits, although this project is a bit larger. There is no plumbing or other complications, so that should be helpful and I already sought and received preliminary zoning review and opinion that was positive.

The actual building erection takes 2 days, notwithstanding any unforeseen things...I will have a schedule of inspections once the permit is issued. That's not including the ground prep that I'm doing myself which will likely take me about a week since I have a smaller Kubota to do it. There's about a 12-14" grade front to back that I need to eliminate and the build up with compacted stone material to a perfectly flat and level surface just a hair larger than the building footprint. I own a rotary laser that will also help make that happen. Access for stone delivery is the largest challenge, honestly. The electrician will likely get the service installed within one physical day. And when I'm ready, a floating concrete floor will go in over 2" of foam insulation that I'll pre-prep for. After that...and after I have my CO...I can start all the interior fit-out.

 

[trapdoor2]

Back in high school, my father and I built a 50X50 hangar at a local private airfield. Took us a summer and we farmed out the 12' high cinder-block walls and the concrete floor.

They poured the floor after we built the building and got the roof on. Single slab...that is flawless nearly 50yrs later.

I just added a touch of class to my workshop.

Mini split in the garage area and another in the workshop. Very comfortable year round.

 

[Jim_in_PA]

That floor looks great!! I'm not sure I'm going to be able to budget for that kind of floor finish, but the need is a long way off at the moment.

 

[trapdoor2]

That floor looks great!! I'm not sure I'm going to be able to budget for that kind of floor finish, but the need is a long way off at the moment.

A week after moving in on that floor, I dropped a 30lb vise on it. Has a nice gouge now...

 

[Jim_in_PA]

A week after moving in on that floor, I dropped a 30lb vise on it. Has a nice gouge now...

 

[jkingma]

Nice big shop Jim. I'm sure you're going to love all that space.

 

[Jim_in_PA]

Thanks, John. The actual shop space will be larger than the old shop and will not have the obstruction of a stairway smack in the middle like the old shop had. OTOH, there's no upstairs for storage. That's both bad and good. Bad because less storage. Good because...less junk being stored.

Still waiting on my permit but hopefully it will not take too long. Sooner is better because at the moment I have access for stone trucks via the property next door that's soon to be demolished. Once the building is down and the driveway ripped out, that open goes away and very heavy trucks will be putting ruts in one side of the front lawn. I only have a couple of weeks or so before that transformation happens.

 

[Jim_in_PA]

I have my permit "in-hand"...time to break ground and timely at that as a contractor neighbor just had the house next door demolished (it was not savable) and will have a trackhoe here to regrade the lot prior to resale. He wants/needs the material that has to come out to build up my base and bringing in stone via the driveway on that priority, as I noted previously, will result in less damage to our lawn. Less work for the "Big Orange Power Tool" I own, too, as it's just a small Kubota TLB. Oh happy day!